Lamborghini introduced the Aventador in 2011 as the replacement for the Marcielago. Aoshima introduced its 1/24 scale version in 2012 and the model is every bit as cool-looking as the real thing. Aoshima accurately captured the stealth jet fighter proportions of the one-to-one car.

The model comes packaged in separate bags for the different trees. The body parts are molded in white plastic, the interior parts in gray, and the chassis in black. The wheels, headlight/taillight bezels, exhaust, and a couple of other pieces are molded in a satin chrome finish. There are painting mask for the windshield and side windows, and all of the clear parts are packaged separately. The taillights are molded in clear red, so no painting needed. The instruction sheet, mostly, is clear and easy to follow.

The Type IIB U-Boat was used throughout World War II as a coastal patrol boat, and only twenty were made. Since it could not operate very far from its home port and carried very little armament, it was used to train new crews and prepare new Kapitans for their commands. Surprisingly, most of the Type IIB losses were from the Kapitan scuttling the boat. The first Type IIB was launched on June 29, 1935. It was interesting doing research on the boats that are referred to on the instruction sheet and finding out that markings and specific details of many of the U-boats are not readily available, and in some cases are best guesses.

History Brief

By June, 1967, Bell Helicopters delivered the first AH-1G Huey Cobra. The Snake, as she was also known, was the genesis, the initial production model gunship for the US Army’s attack helicopter fleet. It was flown by a crew of two, one pilot and one co-pilot/gunner (CPG), sitting in what is now the classic gunship tandem step-up configuration. The overall design was conventional; it was derived from the Bell UH-1 Huey. They basically slimed it down and added stub wings with hard points while keeping the aft empennage and the two-bladed tail rotor. It also retained the large 44’ diameter main two-bladed rotor. The Snake sported an M-28 chin turret with optional 2 × 7.62mm (0.308 in) multi-barrel miniguns, or 2 × M129 40mm grenade launchers, or one of each. It was powered by one 1400 shp Avco Lycoming T53-13 turboshaft.