Seaview 8-window Movie Version

Published: October 30, 2012
Company: Moebius Models

I first heard about the Moebius 8-window movie version kit when reviewing SciFi & Fantasy Modeller Vol. 25 for IPMS/USA, http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/scifi-fantasy-modeller-vol-25, so when the kit became available shortly thereafter I had to give it a shot.

The kit is very large. It measures 38 inches long when built, with over 90 parts molded in light grey and clear styrene. Like all modern, digitally-designed kits, all parts fit perfectly; there was no warpage at all and very little flash. The instruction manual is basically a fold-out poster with concise instructions and full-color photographs of the painted kit. The box art is painted by famed Japanese artist Yoshiyuki Takani. This is… more

SciFi & Fantasy Modeller Vol. 25

Published: June 15, 2012
Company: Happy Medium Press

This is the first issue of SciFi and Fantasy Modeller I have had the privilege to review. Since first seeing the review in the IPMS/USA Journal on Happy Medium's “The Steampunk Modeller” and getting my hands on this issue, I have subscribed to the publication and purchased “The Steampunk Modeller” vols. 1 and the upcoming vol. 2, as well as the special issue “Exercises in Iimagination and Scratchbuilding” . You could say I have become a fan.

This issue is 98 pages in full color, and includes 13 articles within those pages. The largest and most important article is, of course, the cover story about Moebius' new 29" long movie version of the Seaview submarine from the 1961 film “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” There are actually 2 articles in this issue about the Seaview sub,… more

Metal Fence

Published: June 15, 2012
Company: MiniArt

This kit consists of 4 identical sprues molded in light grey styrene and containing 140 parts and a double-sided instruction sheet, which is vital, since the kit has so many options.

4 different configurations of fence and gate options are given in the instructions, but you can make any combination of those options with the available parts. I would highly recommend studying the rear of the box art and the instruction sheet to get the most out of this versatile kit.

Absolutely no flash or warpage was present on any of the parts, which is typical of Miniart's excellent injection molding process. Very fine mold lines are present, and they are quite noticeable on the rounded parts, so a thorough sanding of every piece is highly recommended for the best finish.

I built… more

Diorama with Ruins

Published: June 11, 2012
Company: MiniArt

MiniArt has released a huge number of diorama and scenic kits, designed with the scratchbuilder and kitbasher in mind. This kit is a simple unreinforced brick building ruin, suitable for almost any era or location in the world that has used this type of construction technique.

This kit consists of 35 parts, including a vacuformed base measuring 238x170mm, one sheet of vacuformed walls, one sprue of injection-molded styrene accessories (the accessory sprue seems to be the compulsory treat included in all MiniArt kits), and a one-page, double-sided instruction sheet.

The vacuformed walls are two parts each that need cut out of the sheet and joined together along the length of the brick walls. However, the fit of these wall parts is very bad. Large gaps are evident… more

Cobblestone Pavement

Published: June 11, 2012
Company: MiniArt

Miniart has released a huge number of diorama and scenic kits designed for universal use. Miniart also includes excellent injection-molded accessory sprues in their kits. This kit includes the same accessory sprue as kit# 35530 Street Accessories.

This kit consists simply of two sheets of semicircle-patterned vacu-formed cobblestone brick streets, a sprue containing parts for a park bench and other accessories in 1/35 scale, and a 2-sided instruction sheet, which is really not necessary.

The streets are in two vacu-formed sheets which, when combined, measure 336x249mm. I only used a 40mm circle of the streets as basing for a scratchbuilt steampunk Walker project of mine, which is really in about 1/54 scale, so it is quite universal for modelers of all genres and multiple… more

Iron Man Mark VI Suit

Published: May 11, 2012
Company: Moebius Models

Moebius’ latest is the Iron Man Mark VI armor, as seen in the 2012 film "The Avengers", and also in the previous film "Iron Man 2". The kit was made directly from the film's CGI files, so is a 100% movie-accurate kit. Iron Man is dynamically posed and ready to fire his hand energy weapon. The pose is very well done, including the undeniable swagger and stance that Robert Downey Jr. puts into the character on-screen.

47 parts are molded in Red and white on six sprues. The kit is sold as a Skill Level 3 kit, not because of the complexity of the construction, but because a good working understanding of advanced modeling techniques, especially gap and seam-filling, are required. Absolutely no flash or imperfections in the kit were found at all.

Assembly is straight-forward,… more

German 81mm Mortar with Crew

Published: January 23, 2012
Company: Zvezda

Included in the box are two identical sprues, molded in hard grey plastic. Each sprue contains 9 parts to build a complete 81mm Mortar and a crew of two with a base, as well as 3 additional parts for use with the Art of Tactic ruleset. Also included are two game data cards for use with the Art of Tactic ruleset and an instruction sheet. Only minor flash was present and was easily cleaned off with a sharp knife.

Assembly is easy and straightforward. The kit is a snap-together kit, and the model builds quite well in this manner with no major gaps are seen. However, I glued my sample together for stability while painting. The plastic base supplied with the kit is superbly detailed with ground texture compared to other figure manufacturers in this scale and price range, and all the… more

Captain America

Published: September 9, 2011
Company: Polar Lights

In 2003, Polar Lights re-tooled and re-released the classic 1966 Aurora kit in a larger 1/8” scale. This 2011 re-release includes 31 parts molded in blue and clear styrene. Parts had no flash and includes a new face sculpt, giving you the option of 2 different faces within the kit. This release also includes a newer comic book cardboard back highlighting a scene from the included comic book instruction manual where through the flames of war behind Captain America, visions of Bunker Hill and Iwo Jima can be seen among other American icons.

The overall construction is very simple, the comic book instruction manual has color instructions presented in the classic Aurora style. The Manual suggests that different sub-assemblies be constructed and painted separately, but I felt this… more