I will start this review by stating that the new Dragon release of the German Neubau-Fahrzeug is a well-engineered, fun to build kit that goes together nicely to produce a very realistic replica of the “new construction vehicle”. My assembly time was short as there were no fit issues, and I probably spent more time researching this vehicle than anything else, but more on that later. The slide mold technology being utilized by Dragon allows for the front idler wheels and road wheels to be single-piece items, but with an impressive amount of detail for this scale.
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1/48 Pitot – AM 48 060, $5.50
1/32 Pitot – AM 32 048, $8.00
Thanks very much to Iwona and Piotr at Master Model for providing us these review items, and thanks also to IPMS/USA for passing them on to me for review.
Like all Master Model (MM) pitot tubes, these are “gems”. I used the 1/48 version to upgrade my Eduard MiG 29 build from earlier this year. At the time of the original build, I ground down a piece of wire for a pitot; didn’t do a great job, but it fit the bill. Now, here comes Master Model with their jewelry-quality brass version. Had to do it!
An instruction card is included as part of the packaging, containing excellent drawings and clear instructions on “how to do it”. Other companies could follow suit…
From Master Model in Poland comes a well made add-on to Trumpeter’s 1/32nd MiG-21 kit (although I think it might work on the older Revell kit, too). This set is a replacement pitot tube consisting of two brass parts and a set of photoetch fins for the probe.
The two pitot tube parts are sleeved and fit into one another perfectly. There are also locating holes for the fins and even two extra fins (which I needed when I lost one). I assembled the part and attached the fins. The fins are fiddly but look great one attached and you can see how much finer the detail is than the kit part. Once assembled, the base from the kit is used and a slight bend is induced in the probe to align it.
Overall, an excellent improvement to a nice kit, and at an excellent price. Highly recommended. My thanks to Master Model for the review item and IPMS/USA for the chance to review it.
When I was in Montreal a couple of years ago for the GrandPrix, I saw an Audi R8 and went nuts over it. I sure wish I had $164,000 to get one. I got the next best thing, the new Revell kit of this car.
When I opened the box, I was surprised by the number of parts. Upon looking at the very complete and well thought out set of instructions, I knew I was in for a fairly easy build. This is the first 1/24 kit I have built in many years and I was really impressed with the quality of the parts since I last built one of these cars.
The build was very straightforward with the engine being built first and then the interior. All of the parts fit beautifully. I had sprayed all of the parts with Duplicolor automotive primer grey. I actually used this grey for the interior color. I also used Duplicolor for the body of the car.
The suspension was a treat to build. I don’t know who engineered this kit but they sure knew what they were doing. The suspension even steers.
When I heard Squadron was releasing this book, I just had to get my hands on a copy. During my time serving Uncle Sam, I was in an Air Cavalry unit in Vietnam, the 7/17th Air Cavalry, to be exact. The Aeroscouts were the bravest, toughest, scariest, craziest bad-asses in the unit, going out and picking fights with the North Vietnamese Army on a day-to-day basis. Getting shot out of the sky, then dusting themselves off and going back out to do it again the next day. I wanted to read about them!
Wayne Mutza has written several books on aviation, helicopters, and firefighting, and is well known to modelers through his work for Squadron/Signal and Schiffer Books. Mutza was also an Aeroscout during the Vietnam War, and gives us a good feel for what it was like to strap on an OH-6A “Loach” and fly off into “injun country”. Aeroscouts were the only aviators who fought the enemy face to face.