WW1 ANZAC Desert Patrol

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

ICM has been going full bore on World War One ground war models for some time now, and during this process have come out with a variety of Model T variants from the period. As was the case elsewhere at the time, the Model T was pretty much ubiquitous, and served on all fronts in a remarkable range of roles. This latest offering provides no less than three variants all in one package.

Listed as “Anzac Patrol” the packaging offers a staff car, a utility truck and a scout car, all on a common chassis, the late-model 1917 variant of the Model T. Both the scout car and utility truck share the exact same sprues, with only the sprue with body parts distinguishing the scout car. Because of so much commonality among the vehicles, they can be built in an “assembly line” fashion that… more

Wasp Flamethrower Jeep

Published: February 9, 2020
Company: Meng Model

Meng sure does like to pop up now and then with the unique. This model is a case in point – a model of the single prototype flamethrower jeep developed for the British special services unit referred to as “Popski’s Private Army.” Why this particular concept didn’t take off isn’t really too hard to grasp. Imagine running around behind enemy lines in a completely unarmored vehicle with several gallons of extremely volatile fluids under pressure in tanks at your back. A single stray bullet could really ruin the crew’s entire day, I would think. The only effective way to survive a patrol in this contraption would be with the sincere hope that you have the element of surprise. Otherwise . . .

Meng has made a terrific little kit here of this one-off machine. The only non-styrene… more

Desert Battle Series: Skull Clan – New Amazons. This is not the place for strangers!

Published: December 18, 2021
Company: Master Box Ltd

Master Box sure enjoys exploring new venues for its range, and their growing post-apocalyptic series is one really worth watching. As always, the concepts are inventive and the execution quite pleasing. This latest five-figure set (really a diorama in a box) is no exception.

Four lovely ladies of the notorious Skull Clan have captured some unfortunate from another tribe and are enjoying their moment of gloating before hauling him away to an uncertain fate. All of the characters in this set are completely distinctive and have a LOT of character. As I’ve mentioned before, Master Box is unique in the modeling world for sculpting their figure sets based on illustrations rather than the other way around. As a result, there are typically small differences between the illustration and… more

WWII German MG08 MG Team

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

ICM has made something of a name for itself in recent years by releasing some of the nicest WW1 figure sets available on the market. Along with infantry figures, they have started releasing machine gun sets with crew, which is certainly an appropriate addendum to their WW1 line.

Their excellent MG08 is actually available with two separate crews – one appropriate to its World War I use and another for its later utilization during World War II. Although tasked with providing information on the WW2 version, I actually had both in my kit collection, so could make some comparisons.

The WW2 variant includes the famous MG08 machine gun on its distinctive sled mounting, two crew members, two styles of ammunition cans, and two different water cans. Molding is very fine and… more

Building Gemini: A Guide for Scale Model Builders (Space in Miniature #9)

Published: January 14, 2020
Book Author(s): Mike Mackowski
Company: Space in Miniature

Mike Mackowski has made something of a name for himself by his relentless pursuit of All Things Real Space in Miniature. This, his ninth publication along these lines, continues the saga as he delves into a number of models both real and speculative regarding the infamous Gemini space program from the 1960’s.

One of the lingering frustrations of those interested in this era of NASA is the issues surrounding the most (at the time) available copies of this iconic spacecraft. Revell released two version of this craft – one in 1/24^th scale and an identical item in 1/48^th as a companion piece to their Mercury capsule of the same scale. Both versions were released onto the market before the Gemini capsule had actually flown, so that both reflect the prototype… more

Helen Parsons At the Edge of the Universe Figure

Published: December 28, 2021
Company: Master Box Ltd

Master Box Models is proving time and time again to be at the cutting edge of figure modeling – providing the modeler with figures and figure sets that would normally only be seen in the expensive garage manufacturing field. They’ve created post-apocalyptic sets, fantasy sets and science fiction sets -- all of them innovative and surprising.

This latest figure comes from their science fiction series At the Edge of the Universe, and features a future crew member earning her keep in a futuristic arena of death. Parselen, otherwise know as the “master of two blades” wears mostly traditional gladiatorial garb including a simplified take on a Mirmillon helm. The only modern touch on her that I could discern was the use of very contemporary footwear rather than sandals.

… more

Tiger 1 "Early Version"

Published: December 30, 2019
Company: Airfix

Airfix doesn’t have much of a history creating 1/35^th scale armored vehicles (in fact, none) so I was a bit surprised to see them leaping into this particular market with a series of famous tanks all in one fell blow. Turns out that Airfix is doing what so many other manufacturers are doing – reboxing other manufacturer’s models under their brand name.

In this case, it’s a reboxing of Academy’s Early Tiger 1 model with interior. I can think of a few reasons why this would be a good idea, although this one leaves me a bit nonplussed. The Academy kit is still quite available on the internet and the prices are comparable, so I can only assume that Academy kits are hard to come by in Great Britain.

On to the kit itself. Having recently completed the incredibly… more

F4U-1A Corsair VF-17 "Jolly Rogers" Part 2

Published: February 4, 2020
Company: HGW Models

HGW Models has been putting out some interesting stuff lately, and this latest set of markings will prove useful to anyone (like me) who has a soft spot for Corsairs. In this second set catering to VF-17, five birds are presented, with all the bells and whistles, including national markings and full stencils.

The decals are clean and crisp with excellent registration, and copious documentation is provided, including all five aircraft in four-view drawings, which seems a bit redundant given then all five aircraft are very similar in appearance. Still, you can’t ding a company for being thorough. Separate drawings are provided for all interior and exterior stenciling, so if you screw this one up you’ve really got no one to blame but yourself.

This set of decals offers a… more

M1919 Browning .30 caliber (7.62mm) Empty Shells (25 pieces)

Published: December 14, 2019
Company: Master Model

Every once in a great while you run into something in the modeling world that really makes you stand up and take notice. I think Master Models has finally hit about the limit of size feasibility in the scale business – 1/35^th scale empty .30 caliber shells that are literally on the edge of visibility for an old coot like me.

This package comes with 25 pieces that are absolutely remarkable for their size and detail. Despite their minuteness, they’re not just little pieces of brass rod, but actual shells with rims and a shell opening on one end. I honestly don’t know how they are even capable of manufacturing something this small – they’re smaller than grains of rice and are closer to the size of (hope this isn’t too disturbing) head lice. As you can see, they’re… more

British Reflector Gunsights WW2

Published: December 14, 2019
Company: Brengun

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t used a lot of Brengun products over the years. This has nothing to do with their quality – more like modeling inertia. Often by the time I see a need for additional detail on an aircraft kit, I’ve reached the point of impatience where I simply want to get the thing done. This has not always worked in my favor.

An area where 1/32^nd scale kits, especially older ones, often let the modeler down is in the area of the gun sight – one of the most visible aspects of any cockpit from the era. Due to the limitations of injection molding, these are often represented by little more than lumps of plastic with only the faintest resemblance to the real article. Brengun has done something to fix this problem.

Brengun’s British… more