For a long time, Airfix has continued the tradition of reboxing their older kits from their 1/76 scale line. Since this is a reissue, despite the newer box with red highlights, this Sherman M4A2 comes from a mold that is pushing 60 years old (and it shows). The kit includes rubber band tracks and a couple of sprues. Given the age of the mold, the parts are in okay conditions, though there is flash. Certainly, the parts are not as crisp as in a new kit, but they are adequate. When you compare this Sherman with newer kits, the details are soft. I can only assume that the vehicles depicted through the decals are new to this reissue.

Every once in a great while you run into something in the modeling world that really makes you stand up and take notice. I think Master Models has finally hit about the limit of size feasibility in the scale business – 1/35^th scale empty .30 caliber shells that are literally on the edge of visibility for an old coot like me.

This package comes with 25 pieces that are absolutely remarkable for their size and detail. Despite their minuteness, they’re not just little pieces of brass rod, but actual shells with rims and a shell opening on one end. I honestly don’t know how they are even capable of manufacturing something this small – they’re smaller than grains of rice and are closer to the size of (hope this isn’t too disturbing) head lice. As you can see, they’re hard to photograph because they’re so small. Absolutely amazing!

Fly Models has released a multimedia kit of a very obscure subject: The “Rotachute”.

This aircraft was a combination of an autogiro and a parachute, intended to deliver airborne soldiers to the battlefield in an alternative way to the parachute. From what I read online, the main reason behind this aircraft was due to a shortage of silk during the war. You can find some other interesting stories about this contraption online, including pictures of the prototypes being towed by different trucks (diorama anyone?).

In a diminutive open-side box you get 14 injected plastic parts and 9 photoetch ones. There are no clear parts as the original aircraft had none. The decal sheet is miniscule. While the box calls this model “Rotachute Mk.IV”, it might be possible to build the Marks III and V from this box.