Total number of parts: 25 each package.

As I’m scratch building a 1/16 scale PT boat, when I saw these neat little shells and cartridges I was curious. What arrived was 4 small packages which included 25 shells or cartridges each in both .50 caliber and .30 caliber. For a large scale I was surprised at how small they were. I was able to compare the .50 caliber ones with a real .50 caliber cartridge and shells, and there is a gigantic difference in size.

These detailing parts are made from brass, have the right dimensions for their scale, and the shell cases even have a hollowed-out end on them. I have photographed them with a real shell just to show the relative size of them. Overall they are very consistent and I’ll bet they will look awesome on any 1/16 scale vehicle, boat, or tank. Their Master-Model website calls them the Ground Master Series.

I want to thank Master-Model and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review these accessories.

Nearly every aircraft modeler has at least one iconic WWII P-51 Mustang in their collection. Based on the quick sell-out of Eduard’s recent 1/48 new tooling at the 2019 ‘Nooga Nats, its popularity is long from over. The subject of this review however is a diminutive 1/144 scale version of the Mustang produced by Japanese model-maker Platz.

According to their website, “Platz was founded in April, 2000, and is based in Shizuoka, Japan. PLATZ comes from the term "place" - or to be more precise, a "gathering place" for modelers from various categories to develop and produce something new, something really wanted by the public and moreover, something "we" would also want.

Based on the knowledge acquired with a 20-year experience in the modelling business, we would like to challenge the market with a combination of renovated ideas, technologies and materials.

One of my planned retirement builds is a Resolution Island, Labrador winter diorama scene. My father, a retired career pilot and Colonel in the USAF, passes along a magazine he receives each month as a member of the Air Force Association. Several years ago, an article in one issue titled “Life on the Pine Tree Line” captivated me. The article details daily activities at a remote DEW-line radar site on Resolution Island in far North Newfoundland back in the 50s and 60s. In particular, photos of an H-21 Shawnee or “Flying Banana” as it is more commonly referred to in Artic Red conspicuity markings, caught my eye. Other aircraft and vehicles documented in the photos included a C-123, a TWA “Connie”, various cargo trucks and vehicles, and a small WWII utility vehicle known as a “Weasel”. Visions of a winter diorama scene began to take shape.