North American P-51D Mustang, Part 1

Published: July 4, 2020
Company: Tamiya

Considered by many to be the finest piston-engined fighter aircraft ever to take to the skies, the P-51 Mustang is legendary among aviation aficionados and modelers alike, and needs little introduction in this “first look” at Tamiya’s exquisite rendition of the defining Mustang variant, the P-51D.

Riding on the tremendous popularity of its 1/32 Scale Aircraft series thus far, Tamiya… more

MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Published: June 25, 2011
Company: Skunk Models Workshop

General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper was conceived and birthed as a super-sized version of the MQ-1 Predator, which had met with great success in the time-critical-targeting (TCT) role in the late 1990’s and early part of this century. Despite Predator’s utility in the TCT role, it was limited by the size, quantity and diversity of payload it could deliver, as well as by limited range and service… more

USS Coronado LCS-4

Published: June 25, 2011
Company: Cyber-Hobby

USS Coronado, scheduled for commissioning in October 2012, is an Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS). Designed by Lockheed-Martin and constructed by General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works, Coronado is the second of her class, and features a high-speed trimaran hull and reconfigurable mission bays tailored to specific mission profiles.

Cyber-model’s… more

NASCAR 2010 Chevrolet Impala

Published: July 21, 2022
Company: AMT

Introduced mid-season 2007, NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow” (COT) hit the track in an effort to improve driver safety, decrease operating cost, and level the proverbial playing field between the monster multi-car teams and the smaller race teams competing in the Sprint Cup Series. Although received with skepticism and initial contempt by some drivers, the “wing thing” proved to be a more rugged,… more

NASA Space Shuttle Owners’ Workshop Manual

Published: May 16, 2011
Book Author(s): Dr. David Baker
Company: Zenith Press

Possibly one of the world’s most recognizable flying machines, the NASA Space Shuttle was the first reusable piloted spacecraft, and to this day remains unrivaled in versatility and success in that role. Having its genesis in waning years of the Apollo Program, the Shuttle evolved throughout the early 70’s, dodging the lethal pens of budget-cutters, and matured into what now is the icon of… more

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XVIe

Published: May 15, 2011
Company: Tamiya

Introduced in the latter half of 1944, the Mk. XVIe variant of Supermarine’s legendary design was optimized for low-altitude operations, featuring a Packard-built Merlin 266 powerplant, clipped wings, teardrop canopy, packing a pair each of 20mm cannon and 12.7mm machine guns, and toting either a pair of 250-lb bombs or a single 500-pounder. The Mk. XVI was the last Merlin-powered Spitfire… more

USCGC Roger B. Taney

Published: March 14, 2011
Company: Revell, Inc.

US Coast Guard Cutter Roger B. Taney retains the claim to fame as the last surviving vessel of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Its keel laid in 1935 and commissioned in 1936, Taney served for over 50 years, seeing combat action during World War II and Vietnam, as well as performing weather station, search-and-rescue, and drug interdiction duties. Taney… more

RQ-4B Global Hawk

Published: January 24, 2011
Company: Skunk Models Workshop

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4B Global Hawk was conceived in the early 1990’s as part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s initiative to develop and field advanced concept technology demonstrator (ACTD) unmanned aerospace vehicles (UAVs). By the late 1990’s ACTD versions of the Global Hawk were demonstrating the viability of the concept of High Altitude Endurance (HAE) UAVs in some… more

P-39 Airacobra over New Guinea

Published: September 25, 2021
Company: Eduard

Although not as glamorous or well-known as some of its contemporaries during World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra was an innovative and effective weapon system -- when employed to take advantage of its strengths while minimizing vulnerability to its shortcomings. Originally commissioned in the mid-1930’s as a high-altitude interceptor, the Airacobra’s lack of a supercharger limited its… more

Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Refit

Published: November 18, 2021
Company: Polar Lights

Background

It’s hard for some of us to believe it’s been nearly a half-century since Star Trek’s debut in 1964. Over the decades, the Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701, has arguably become the most recognizable, esteemed, and influential vessel in intergalactic travel -- so influential that even the first NASA Space Shuttle bore her name as the result of a massive write-in… more