MK I "Female" British Tank, Somme Battle Period, 1916

Published: December 22, 2021
Company: Master Box Ltd

Tank History

A bit of research on Wikipedia reveals that the British Mark I tank entered service in August 1916, becoming the world’s first combat tank. It was developed during World War I to combat the trenches and machine guns that dominated the battlefields of the Western Front. Despite the primitive nature of the first “tank,” a designation chosen to maintain secrecy, it was able to deal successfully with the various tasks found on the battlefields: small-arms fire, fortified enemy positions, challenging terrain, and the need to carry supplies. The Mark I’s first combat usage was on September 15, 1916, during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive.

Kit Contents

The kit includes 54 parts, seven photoetch parts, and vinyl ‘rubber band… more

U.S. Scooter Sidecar

Published: March 4, 2014
Company: Plusmodel

This is another in the Cushman Scooter series of models recently released by Plus Model.

Cushman made 4,734 airborne scooters for the military beginning in 1944. The rugged, simple Model 53 could travel through water, climb a 25 percent grade and had a range of approximately 100 miles. Some scooters had a hitch to pull a utility cart. This version of the Cushman airborne scooter was configured to carry a sidecar with either an additional seat or a utility bin.

Kit Contents

The kit has 21 light gray resin parts, one clear headlamp, one piece of wire, four photoetch pieces, and one detail sheet. The instructions include three color schemes – U.S. Navy (gray), U.S. Army (olive drab) and Airfield Service (deep yellow).

The resin is fairly soft and all of… more

5cm Pak 38 auf Zugkraftwagen 1t – Smart Kit

Published: February 26, 2014
Company: Dragon Models

Introduction

This is another in Dragon’s series of Sd.Kfz.10 halftracks and makes an interesting version that is a nice kit to assemble.

Background from Dragon’s Website

Germany fielded a wide range of halftracks during WWII. The Sd.Kfz.10, one of the lighter types, was conceived as a prime mover for small, towed anti-tank or antiaircraft guns. Several specialist vehicles were based on this design, with a rather unique conversion appearing in 1941. This saw a 5cm PaK 38 L/60 gun being mounted on the rear of an Sd.Kfz.10 to create a light anti-tank platform. In addition, armor plate was added to the engine compartment and driver’s cab. It’s thought these unique vehicles were mostly issued to Waffen-SS units.

Dragon originally… more

KrAZ-255b

Published: February 14, 2014
Company: Roden

Introduction

This is one ‘Bear’ of a truck and one bear of a kit! The KrAZ weighs twelve tons, has a payload of seven and a half tons, and is nicknamed ‘The Bear’. The kit will definitely not fall together out of the box on a Sunday afternoon. A difficult kit to assemble, it’s worth the effort and builds into one massive truck!

Background

Excerpt from the instructions:

In the mid-1960s the Kremenchug automobile plant manufactured the KrAZ-214B truck in large quantities, playing a very important role in the structure of the motorized forces of the Soviet Army. This truck was assigned the role of a transporter of various auxiliary engineering installations, as well as of fuel, missile systems, etc. Considering the operating conditions of… more

US Scooter

Published: May 18, 2020
Company: Plusmodel

This is another in the Scooter series of models recently released by Plus Model. The kit is a 30-series Cushman Autoglide and includes Army & Navy markings.

Kit

The Plus Model kit comes in a blister pack containing 12 resin parts, 1 clear plastic part, 4 photoetch parts, brass wire, and decal sheet. The photoetch parts are very small but add nice detail to the scooter.

Assembly

All of the parts have flash and casting blocks that must be removed. The front fork, part #2, is very fragile and I removed the flash before removing the fork from the casting block. None of the parts were deformed or broken. There is not much detail to the engine, but then it is enclosed in the shroud and not very visible.

Finishing

I washed & primed… more

U.S. Airborne Scooter with Machine Gun

Published: January 16, 2014
Company: Plusmodel

Background

U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet

Cushman Airborne Scooter - In the late stages of the war in Europe, Allied paratroopers used scooters like this one to maintain contact between units, increase their mobility and haul small loads. The Cushman Motor Works designed the Model 53 Airborne Scooter to be airdropped by parachute or carried by glider, and it had a hitch to pull a model M3A4 general-purpose utility cart. By adding certain equipment, the cart could be converted to carry a .30-cal. or .50-cal. machine gun or an 81mm mortar, though the scooter often could not pull a heavy load. Cushman made nearly 5,000 airborne scooters for the military beginning in 1944. The rugged, simple Model 53 could travel through a foot of water, climb a 25 percent grade and had a… more

U.S. Airborne Scooter with Reel

Published: January 3, 2014
Company: Plusmodel

This is a nice little (very little) kit that has great potential as a vignette or diorama accessory. This kit is not for the faint of eyesight or those with more than their share of thumbs, but can be a nice one or two day build. The kit is a challenging ‘craftsman’ type build, but that adds to the enjoyment for an experienced modeler.

Background

U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet: Cushman Airborne Scooter-In the late stages of the war in Europe, Allied paratroopers used scooters like this one to maintain contact between units, increase their mobility and haul small loads. The Cushman Motor Works designed the Model 53 Airborne Scooter to be airdropped by parachute or carried by glider, and it had a hitch to pull a model M3A4 general-purpose utility cart. By adding certain… more

Sd.Kfz.3 Maultier Ambulance

Published: December 20, 2013
Company: Dragon Models

This is a great kit that Dragon has produced and it’s a joy to assemble!

Background

The Opel Blitz Maultier (“Mule”) platform was developed in 1942 to deal with the lack of paved roads on the Eastern Front in Russia, and was produced until 1944. An Opel Blitz wheeled truck chassis was modified by replacing the rear drive wheels with caterpillar tracks. The Maultier half-track Sd. Kfz.3 chassis was used with a cargo truck bed, antiaircraft gun mount, and truck bodies used for offices, workshops, & the Maultier ambulance.

Dragon has produced a previous Sd.Kfz.3a Maultier Half-Track kit, #6761 with a cargo truck body. Testors, Revell, and Italeri have also produced kits of the Opel Maultier with a cargo body in 1:35 scale.

This kit is part of Dragon’s… more

US MRAPS in Action

Published: November 26, 2013
Book Author(s): John Adams-Graf
Company: Squadron Signal Publications

This is another book in Squadron Signal’s In Action series that profiles a family of military vehicles with photos of them in actual use. The series uses in-field photos to trace the history and development of the vehicles.

The history of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles is chronicled from the earliest armored security vehicles (ASVs) that were built to replace armored HMMWVs and provide greater resistance to roadside bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) during the Iraq wars.

The book’s introduction describes the categories of MRAPs depending on their use, level of protection, weight, and number of occupants. Vehicle types included are M117 Guardian ASV, RG-31, RG-33 4x4, RG-33L 6x6, the Cougar Family, the Caiman Family, the MaxxPro… more

L1500S LLG WWII German Light Fire Truck

Published: November 15, 2013
Company: ICM

This wonderful ICM kit has been kindly furnished by MMD Squadron for IPMS review.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, all fire services came under the newly created Fire Protection Police (Feuerschutz-polizei) as an arm of the Order Police (Ordnungspolizei), commanded by Heinrich Himmler. The fire equipment color changed from red to Polizei dark green. After the war, fire-fighting equipment was changed again to red. The L1500S truck was produced between 1941 and 1944 during World War II for use by the German Fire Police.

ICM also will be producing another version of the Fire Truck, L1500S LF 8, kit# 35527, and MiniArt has announced a similar kit, #35171, German Fire Truck L1500S AF8 with TSA Trailer.

ICM’s kit includes the Fire Truck L1500S LLG… more