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Review Author
Len Pilhofer
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$82.00

In recent months, we have seen a plethora of King Tiger kits hit the market. Most notable have been the Takom releases of the Sd.Kfz. 182 with full interiors…and it seems these have so far been a hit with armor modelers around the world. ICM and Meng have also released similar models of this iconic tank so it should not be a surprise that Dragon has also entered the fray with yet another release of this “king” of the WWII battlefield. One can point out numerous Dragon releases of this tank in past years but this time around they have upped their game to stay competitive. The question is, will these extras be enough to keep this newest Konigstiger on the Forward Edge of the Battlefield?

Review Author
Keith Gervasi
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$42.00

History

Ju 87G-2…The First flight of a Ju 87 occurred in 1936, and although obsolete by 1943, the airframe found a new lease on life with the addition of two 37 mm (1.46 in) Flak 18 guns under the wings. The first flight of the G model occurred on January 31st, 1943. In April of '43 the first production G models were delivered to frontline units and, even though obsolete and outnumbered, proved very successful in their role as tank killers.

JS-2…. Designed as a breakthrough tank with armor that could withstand the fearsome German 88mm gun and an armament that could take on the Tiger and Panther tanks, the JS-2 (named after Joseph Stalin, IS-2 Iosif Stalin in the original Russian) entered service in 1944. Armed with a massive A-19 122mm main gun and up to 120mm of armor in vital areas, the JS-2 was a very formidable weapon that was better in every way than its predecessor, the KV-1.

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.49

The L-29 Delfin was a jet-powered trainer airplane that was designed by the Aero Company of Czechoslovakia. An excellent kit of the Delfin has recently been released in 1/72 scale by AMK. Although this kit, in my opinion, is very good, our friends at Aires/Quickboost have found some areas where the accuracy of various parts can be improved.

This set from Quickboost provides wing mounted pylons. The AMK kit provides combination pylon and fuel tanks. These look good but there are cases where the modeler may want to build a model without the wing tanks. The modeler may want to include some wing mounted munitions or they may simply want a model with only the pylon. Many photos of the L-29 on display etc. show the plane with only the pylons.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$14.99

MiniArt has released a nice set that would look great in your WWII dioramas. MiniArt provides twelve trees representing the crates composed of five parts per tree. The crates appear to be molded in tan soft styrene as the parts are somewhat flexible and are easily cut. The twelve trees for the milk bottles contain ten clear milk bottles out of a clear styrene. The clear plastic seems to be a bit harder than the styrene for the crates. The waterslide decals provided offer markings for English US/Britain), French, and German milk companies for both the crates and the bottles. Packaging is quite nice with the finished product depicted on the top of the box and the contents / instructions / paint guide on the back of the box. The total parts count is 180 parts. I would recommend that you wash all the parts while they are still on the sprues to remove any remaining mold release.

Book Author(s)
Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Specialty Press
MSRP
$56.95

Yefim Gordon was born in 1950 in Vilnius, Lithuania (then part of the Soviet Union) and graduated from the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute in 1972. He has been researching Soviet and Russian aviation history for more than 40 years. A professional photographer, Yefim Gordon has published hundreds of features and photographs in Russian and foreign aviation magazines. He has authored and co-authored more than 120 books on Soviet and Russian aviation.

Dmitriy Komissarov was born in 1968 in Moscow and graduated from the Moscow State Linguistics University in 1992. He has worked as a translator ever since, with the most of his work associated with his interest in aviation. Dmitriy Komissarov has authored two books and translated or co-authored more than 50 others. He has also written numerous magazine features in two languages on Soviet and Russian aviation.