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Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$11.00

Hauler produces high quality photo-etched sets for AFVs, airplanes, cars, railway vehicles, resin accessories for dioramas and resin kits (1). Since this is my first association with Hauler-Brengun I think it is appropriate to mention something about the website. The company is located in the Czech Republic and the website is in British English. Other than the occasional misspelled word the website is user friendly, easy to navigate, uncluttered, and well laid out with clear links to the products available, contact info for the company, and a shopping cart for online purchases. I did not use the shopping cart to obtain this review sample. It was provided by Hauler as a courtesy item to the IPMS Reviewer Corps.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$12.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the Academy 1/48 P-47D, which has been boxed by Italeri and Eduard too.

The set includes 5 parts, two landing gear struts and scissors plus the tail wheel, finely molded in white metal. These parts are drop-in replacements for the plastic parts.

You can see from the pictures the parts are very cleanly molded and formed. Attaching the struts scissors is very easily accomplished with superglue as regular plastic glue will not work on white metal.

While dry fitting the parts, I’ve noticed that the white metal landing gear struts are molded a little bit shorter than the plastic ones. I was able to tell that when I presented the metal part to the landing gear cover and the alignment pins did not completely line up. Not a big issue and actually the shorter struts represent a combat loaded P-47 better in my opinion.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/8
MSRP
$25.00

The Vickers .303 machine gun is synonymous with Britain and World War I. Used in the air, on the ground, and on the water, the Vickers .303 was capable of a firing rate of about 600 rounds per minute.

This kit produces an excellent representation of this well-known weapon, and considering the ease of construction, Hasegawa deserves a “Well Done”.

The Instruction Sheet

The instruction sheet is actually a broadside, one piece of paper printed front and back. With a combination of phrases or single words coupled with some detailed line drawings, the instructions are very easy to understand. The construction process is not at all complex and presents no problem for the beginner or the more experienced model builder. The paint call-outs involve only two colors, and those are “steel” for the entire model with the exception of a wooden handle which is designated as red brown.

Review Author
Andrew Birkbeck
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$19.95

Within the past year, Dragon Models has issued a brilliantly executed model of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Type 95 Light Tank “Ha-Go,” arguably the most important Japanese tank of Pacific War (review at http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/type-95-light-tank-ha-go-early-producti…). Unfortunately, figures to go with such a vehicle have been in short supply over the years, with the various manufactures much preferring to produce German or even Italian figures from among the Axis forces of WW2, with Japanese subjects a distant third. Of late, though, this has changed with MiniArt, Fine Molds, and Master Box all releasing sets of WW2 Japanese figures in the past year. Now, Dragon joins them with a set of their own.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Hasegawa 1/32 Spitfire Mk II, Vb, VI kits. The gear strut attachment points will also match up with the Revell I/II kit, and perhaps some others with the same wing tooling. I have reviewed several of these sets, and have purchased a few more on my own, because in all cases, they have been superior to the kit items.

The white metal replacements are a clean drop-in for the kits plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts and braces, and one tail gear assembly. Also included are white metal tires. The tires are a significant improvement in detail over the kit tires, which are devoid of any tread pattern. The SAC tires also have tread and improved rim/lug detailing.