When this all new release became known to the modeling world, the announcements were accompanied with a plethora of photographs of an unpainted builtup with plenty of close-ups showing the incredible detail contained here. That created a near riot in the modeling community with posts on almost every forum stating that they couldn’t wait to receive it. Well, it has arrived and it appears to be well worth the wait!
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The Junkers JU-52/3m was to the Luftwaffe what the Douglas C-47 was to the American military during World War II. Stemming from Junkers’ World War I all-metal designs, the JU-52 first appeared in 1931 as a large, single engine transport, the last of which was produced during 1935. Only a few were built, but the trimotor JU-52/3m first flew in 1932, and it was an immediate success, being sold to Bolivia and Colombia as well as other European governments. Lufthansa began operating the type in 1932. Powered by a variety of engines, including a Diesel, the type quickly became a standard airliner during the middle thirties, and when the clandestine Luftwaffe was created after Hitler’s rise to power, the JU-52 was adapted as a bomber, seeing service in Germany and during the Spanish Civil War. It was World War II, however, that proved the versatility and usefulness of the type, and it was said that it was used for every military role possible except as a fighter.
At the first glance, you only will notice the reboxed plastic along with a photo-etch fret and a masking set. But when removing the plastic from the resealable bag, you’ll see all the hard work put into the kit by the Eduard crew. The level of detail is incredible and the offering is just as nice today as it was 10 –11 years ago when first released.
The only detectable blemishes to note are a few minor sink marks that are easily repaired. The first ones are four dimples located on the empennage two on top and two on bottom. The others are under the cockpit opening.
I began the straightforward construction as set forth in the instruction sheet with no difficulties, adding the photo-etch details when called for. The cockpit turned out to be a little gem of sorts and will mostly be hidden.
The latest release from Quick Boost is a complete set of resin exhaust tubes for the 1/32 scale A6M5 Tamiya kit. Once again the quality of the molding is flawless, no bubbles, or pin holes and the only flash is between pipes where there are more than one. I strongly suspect this is intentional for added strength while being shipped and handled. The resin is the light blonde color we have become accustomed to. And, of course, the ends of the pipes are hollow.
As can be seen in the photos of the packaging, each pipe is numbered and each number is referenced to the Tamiya part number that the part replaces.
If you have or anticipate getting a Tamiya 1/32 A6M5, you will want these exhausts to enhance the detail of the kit engine.
I can highly recommend this set.
Update 21 July 2011
I have just been advised by the author, Robert M Stitt, that he has prepared a 34-page additions and amendments document for this book. It is available from the Mushroom Books website; here is the link to the product page which has a download link on it: http://www.mmpbooks.biz/ksiazki/123/#765
Lots of valuable information -- the author and Mushroom are to be congratulated for this all-too-rare effort.
John Ratzenberger
This is Mushroom's 100th book, and a grand one it is!! It's 248 pages in their fairly new A-4 format and although still a soft-cover, it includes a dust jacket with ads for about 18 forth-coming books, including the much anticipated (by me) Gloster Gamecock and Grebe and another in the Gladiator series.