History

The Messerschmitt BF-110 has received a lot of bad press in recent years, mainly because it was not able to contend with comtemporary RAF fighters during the battle of Britain. However, following the Battle of Britain, the type continued in production, and actually was quite successful in the close support role, especially against the Russians, and later, with more powerful engines as the “Gustav” model, as a night fighter it was very useful against RAF night bombers.

Model Art Modeling Magazine is a Japanese publication that is released monthly. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One quality about these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

In this months magazine the feature article on probably one of the most daunting tasks that many modelers fear. Finishing models in natural metal finishes! This tends to send fear into the hearts of many modelers, including myself.

Model Art covers this subject in thirty seven pages using plastic models, actual pictures and paint examples with a mix of color and black and white photos. The models used are an F-86, T-33, C-46, H-21 and T-6. They use several different mediums to get the desired effect. The paint of choice for the article is Mr. Color and they use multiple colors and one color set, JASDF Aluminized Old-Timer Colors. The other medium that is used is a metal foil that is called Duralumin Finish.

Meng exploded onto the modeling scene several years ago and has begun to roll out a variety of post-World War Two vehicles. The AMX-30B is one of Meng’s newest releases and it’s a keeper. Of the same generation of the US M-60 series, this was meant as a multi-national tank serving the needs of France and Germany. Germany dropped out of the project. The prototype was ready in 1960 and went into series production in 1966. Over 4000 were manufactured and exported around the world. It saw service in Desert Shield/Storm and continues to serve in other countries. The kit is composed of seven sprues molded in green and five sprues of track links and pads molded in brown, a small sprue of clear parts, a small fret of photoetch, and a lower hull and turret. There are decals for two vehicles. There are a total of 730 parts.