The Kit

Atlantis continues to re-release some of the kits a lot of us grew up with. This example is the 1954 Revell U.S.S. Pittsburgh. The kit was re-released many times over the years as the Pittsburgh, the Helena and with new parts updating it with Terrier missies as the Boston and Canberra. This release is in its WW II guise. You get decals for every ship in its class (Baltimore heavy cruisers), but you run short of bow numbers for some, like the one I did, the U.S.S. Toledo. The model is a member of Revell’s “Flat Bottom Navy” and has no hull detail and a flat bottom. Better for scooting across the floor by young budding captains I suppose.

Summary

This appears to be a re-issue of an older kit. While the level of detail is okay, the details themselves are a bit soft. The parts layout and build sequence is simple and straight forward. Anyone with a kit or two experience should not have any troubles with the few issues I encountered.

Background

The Opel Blitz was the "working mule" of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was deployed on all fronts in multiple variations. Thanks to the sturdy frame, robust rigid axles with leaf springs and twin back wheels the Opel Blitz could carry a payload of over 3 tons. While the most popular version was a rear-wheel-drive 4x2, a 4x4 version was operated in both Russia and North Africa. A model with the rear wheels replaced with tracks also saw action in the Russian and European theaters.

This kit depicts the 4x2 mobile command post with radio communications for battlefield management of ground troops.

I discovered HMH Publications and Duke Hawkins Series recently and they are quickly becoming favorites of mine. The quality of the content that is covered (i.e level of detail) and the printing are fantastic. The paper quality is super, with a satin finish. All pictures are in color, with proper exposure and very sharp focus, so all details are crisp.

The pictorial book is split in the following sections: Types, Forward Fuselage, Fuselage, Air Intakes, Wings, Cockpit, Front Landing Gear, Main Landing Gear, Vertical Tail, Maintenance, Engine, Pylons, Action and then an extra 20 pages on the Mirage 5 and Mirage 50.

As you can see, the pictures have very descriptive and relevant captions, helping you understand what detail is being highlighted in each image. Not only you are getting all the walk-around images you need for your build, you are also learning details of the aircraft as you read along.