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Review Author
Brian M. Neary
Published on
March 20, 2011
Company
Fine Molds
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$62.95

Editor's note: Dragon Models USA is the Fine Molds Models Importer in the USofA but this review author provided his own kit, out of pocket, for this review. The kit is currently very difficult to find on the retail market.

Pros:

  • Superbly engineered kit, very little filling or correcting will be needed.
  • Best kit of this subject ever released.

Cons:

  • Expensive, now increasingly hard to acquire. (I apologise for teasing you with the review)
  • Instructions in Japanese (note: may not actually be a con if you *are* Japanese)

Overall

A pricy kit but you get what you pay for in this case. Given the cost and the fact that viable alternatives are around, this not for a casual SW fan or model builder. Instead, this kit is for somebody who wants to do a really nice job on a Y-Wing fighter with a maximum of detail and a minimum of grief.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
March 19, 2011
Company
CB Model Products
MSRP
$25.00

I love tools. I don’t think you can have too many. Occasionally I come across one that I say "how did I live without that?" That is what this tool is. More than a simple jig, this machined metal tool allows you to flat sand the bottom of the wheels evenly and consistently. Let’s face it a perfectly round wheel is not realistic nor are the flat wheels that are common on aftermarket wheels. That is where this tool comes in, the perfect balance of weight without being flat.

How do you use it? Simple get your tire from the kit, clean up the seam lines, set the angle, clamp the wheel between the flat spots on the tool and leave about 1/8 inch out the bottom. Then simply sand with 320 sandpaper while applying pressure to the base plate. It is that simple, but does it work?

Review Author
Ken McDevitt
Published on
October 7, 2021
Company
Happy Medium Press
MSRP
$19.95

Description

Another excellent issue from the folks at Happy Medium Press with high quality production materials and a variety of articles to suit to suit many themes and interests of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy modeler. Between the heavyweight glossy covers are 98 color glossy pages containing 13 articles. There are fewer than 6 advertisements so the content is very high.

The articles are well researched and relevant to the topics they cover.

What I like about the articles is the balance of Sci-fi and fantasy along with a lot of subject matter variety within each genre. Also, there are OOB builds, kit-bashing, scratch building (both partial and complete), painting, in-depth background articles and enlightening interviews.

Review Author
Ben Guenther
Published on
March 17, 2011
Company
Albatros Productions, Ltd.
MSRP
$11.00

Fans of World War I aircraft and Wingnut Wings models will enjoy this issue.

Nine pages have been devoted to a build of the Wingnut Wings 1/32 scale Pfalz D.IIIa and have 45 color photos showing how to put this model together. Needless to say, tips and hints abound on how to proceed, including one page (“Pfalz Archiv”) that has four photos of actual aircraft and a three-view drawing. If you haven’t bought the kit before this you’ll most likely want to after reading this article.

Roden’s 1/32 scale Sopwith Triplane has an in-the-box review followed by “Rara Avis” this time about Lloyd LK.I (40.08) Austro-Hungarian Triplane bomber. One page with a brief history, specifications and two photos of the only prototype built. A two page 1/72 scale 3 view drawing from Ian Stair archives really shows off the strange features of this aircraft.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
October 10, 2021
Company
Zactomodels
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$10.00

If you have not dealt with “Zactoman”, and you are in to 1/32 Soviet aircraft, visit his website. Your wallet will automatically open… In this case, Chris graciously provided review items.

When I built the Trumpeter SU-25 back about three months ago, I noted the outboard pylons were not included in the kit. Serious sadness, as I had never seen an SU-25 without these pylons. The holes for the pylon mounts were in the wing, but the pylons were not on the runners anywhere…. Who could figure out why? Cost cutting over 1/100 of a dime…

In steps Chris at Zactomodels. He’s about as crazy about cold war Soviet aircraft as I am… and he has provided a 1 or so-hour solution to the missing pylon. The PD-62-8 Pylon and APU-60-1 launch rail he provides, along with the detail parts to make it more realistic, are for lack of words, perfect resin castings. Suddenly my SU was about to be complete…

Wash the parts with 409 or similar degreaser, let dry, and get busy.