While most Americans might believe otherwise, the first production automobile was built in Germany in 1886 by Karl Benz (of Mercedes Benz fame). The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was built in very small numbers between 1886 and 1893. ICM first released a kit of this vehicle in 2020, with photo-etch parts for the wheels and and drive chains. This year they released an “easy” version of the kit that replaces the photo-etch parts with plastic versions at a significantly lower cost.

The kit comes in ICM’s sturdy thick cardboard box and consists of several sprues of parts in a soft gray plastic. The softness of the plastic is good, because it means that the many small, delicate parts tend to bend rather than break.

The parts had almost no flash and very few mold lines. This is fortunate, because filing or trimming off excess plastic is almost impossible on many of the parts due to their small size and fragile nature.

Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 Exhaust and intake set for your Trumpeter A-4.

Consisting of four printed resin items, this one is truly necessary for tightening up a neglected area of many models.

The exhaust turbine section has the four support blades and centerline flow bullet molded as one piece. Easy to paint on this non-afterburning engine. And for those who like to look up the chute in every orfice in a model competition, this item will take care of the look.

The book is part of Casemate Illustrated Men/Battles/Weapons Series. This book is Volume One of the 12th SS Panzer Division history. The book covers the formation of the unit through the fourth Battle of Caen encompassing the events between February 10, 1943 and July 7, 1944, at which time they became part of the German forces trap in the Falaise Pocket. The book is divided into seven sections and an epilogue. It also contains a bibliography and index. The sections are as follow: