Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
February 28, 2011
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$20.95

History

Yet another classic design from Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed F-80 was America’s first practical, jet powered fighter. I say practical because the real “first U.S. jet was the Bell P-59 which was really a transition trainer for new jet pilots, not a viable combat aircraft. The first “Shooting Star,” was produced in 141 days and flew on Jan 8, 1944. Teething issues included fuel consumption levels higher than anticipated (a common problem of early jet engines) which required hanging extra tanks under the wings. Armed with 6x 50 cal. machine guns and a stable flight profile, the F-80 proved its worth in the Korean conflict primarily as a ground support aircraft.

Book Author(s)
William K Fowler
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
February 27, 2011
Company
Concord Publications Company
MSRP
$16.99

This book is Number 6530 in Concord’s Warrior Series. There are 3 pages of narrative on Operation Saturn and Heeresgruppe Sud (Army Group South), including the break down of which units were included. The rest of this volume is just filled with rare pictures of what the soldiers had to endure on the Russian Front, I was getting cold just looking at these pictures. The pictures are printed on glossy paper and are very clear so that you can make out everything in them. I especially liked how thorough the descriptions under each photo were. These pictures are just “diorama heaven” for the modeler showing everyday troop living and pointing out various uniforms and equipment.

Review Author
Rick Bellanger
Published on
February 26, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$49.95

History: (taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The USS Chevalier was a Gearing Class Destroyer, the second ship to be named after Lcdr. Godfrey De Chevalier (1889-1922), a pioneer of Naval Aviation. She was launched 29 October 1944 at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. She was commissioned 9 January 1945 with Cdr. F. Wolsieffer in Command.

She cleared her trials in June 1945 and reached Pearl Harbor on 9 July 1945. On the 24th she sailed to join the bombardment of Wake Island which occurred on 1 August 1945. Arriving in Eniwetok the next day she joined Task Force 38 (TF38). She sailed the next day for Honshu and arrived on 18 Aug 1945. TF38 entered Tokyo Bay on 26 Aug 1945 to take part in the Surrender of Japan and the end of WWII.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
February 26, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$57.95

History and Performance

In the summer of 1943 a proposal was offered by Steyr Werke to the Ordnance Department for the mounting of a PaK 40/4 on a RSO chassis as a small self-propelled anti-tank weapon. 60 machines we converted for testing. Combat trials on the East Front began in early January 1944.

The Kit

The kit is packaged in Dragon current sturdy box, with a color image on the front and a montage of features on the box bottom and sides. The box top shows that over 460 Parts are included. There are eleven sprues, molded in the familiar grey plastic with crisp detail. The hull and chassis front are molded separately.

Instructions - The instructions are typical Dragon, with eight fold-out pages. There are a total of 21 construction Steps, with numerous subassemblies noted. Very busy for such a small kit, but it gets one’s attention. There are no unused Parts indicated.

Review Author
Chad Richmond
Published on
February 26, 2011
Company
SuperScale International
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$10.00

This decal sheet initially has you scratching your head about whose sheet it really is. It’s a SuperScale International sheet, with Squadron Products logo on the bottom of it, and it’s printed by Cartograf ion Italy. It doesn’t really matter, because it is a really well done sheet. It features markings for two very colorful Harriers. The VMA-214 bird bears Pappy Boyington’s markings and is in a different than normal two tone grey scheme, FS36118 and FS35237 with a black fin and black wing tanks. The VMA-211 bird is in the same two tone grey scheme with a bright red fin trimmed in yellow. The instruction sheet is in full color, which is a nice touch, and there are enough stencil data to allow you to do both aircraft. You have to really pay attention to all of the marginal notes, because all of the marking data is on one side of the crowded instruction sheet.