Phantom Airframe Data (Stencil Type) F-4B & F-4J Panels and Markings

Published: August 10, 2020
Company: AOA Decals

AOA Decals is making a name for themselves with some of the very best decals found on the market. Whisper-thin, spot-on register, easy to apply, and with excellent opacity, they really make for an extremely pleasant modeling experience.

I was offered a chance to check some of these out and started with their stencil set for Vietnam-era Marine or Navy Phantoms. This set comes on one… more

Gloster Gladiator Mk. 2

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

The Gloster Gladiator was one of the last biplane fighter aircraft to serve during World War 2, and despite its obvious obsolescence, served for the British air service surprisingly well on a number of fronts. It made a name for itself in the early middle eastern desert war, and went on to serve in Greece and even further with a number of foreign air services.

I recently built and… more

Bucker Bu 131D with German Cadets (1939-1945)

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

The Bucker Bu131D “Jungmann,” which means “young man” or “cadet”, was developed in the 1930s as a light primary trainer for all Luftwaffe pilots. Extremely small and agile, it was mostly steel tubing with a fabric covering, and proved so popular that over 200 are flying in private hands to this day. I even found an entire scene in the European “Tintin” series of comics which shows this durable… more

Gunslinger Series Kit No. 3

Published: December 18, 2021
Company: Master Box Ltd

If you were ever a fan of the Saturday morning cowboy series back in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, or enjoyed the classic Sam Peckinpaw movies, this figure should be fairly familiar to you. Labeled as “Pedro Melgoza, bounty hunter”, the beautiful illustration on the box cover bears an unmistakable resemblance to Tom Selleck. As I’ve discussed before, Masterbox is unique in the modeling world for… more

British Pilots in Tropical Uniform

Published: December 24, 2020
Company: ICM

Following directly on the heels of the release of their truly lovely Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter in 1/32^nd scale, ICM has released a figure set to create an instant diorama with the aircraft. Consisting of two pilots, clearly fresh from a flight, and a ground officer taking notes, the figures create a lovely tableau straight from the box. I suspect they’re discussing about… more

Chernobyl #1 - Radiation Monitoring Station

Published: December 24, 2020
Company: ICM

I don’t think it’s necessary for me to go into the details regarding the horrific Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster that shook the world in the 1980’s and created the largest uninhabitable radioactive region on the globe, ultimately costing hundreds if not thousands of lives. The Fukishima disaster may ultimately turn out to do more damage, but Chernobyl certainly stands out as one of the… more

Gloster Gladiator Mk. 1 in Foreign Services

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

Recently I had the pleasure of tackling ICM’s new Gloster Gladiator aircraft kit in 1/32^nd scale. As is, the kit comes with a couple of British Air Service options for early World War 2 campaigns, but if you want something a bit more exotic, ICM has answered the call with a new decal sheet offering markings for four different nations which also used the Mk. 1 – China, Greece,… more

Tank Battles in East Prussia and Poland 1944-1945

Published: May 5, 2020
Book Author(s): Igor Nebolsin
Company: Helion & Company

Towards the end of World War 2 some of the most vicious tank battles were being fought on the Eastern Front as Russian forces pushed their way into the back door of the Third Reich. Although not on the scale of the Kursk campaign earlier in the war, these slugfests involved some of the heaviest, most sophisticated armored units the world had seen up to that point, and most engagements were… more

French Zouaves

Published: December 30, 2020
Company: ICM

Zouaves were a branch of light infantry serving in the French Army from 1830 to 1962. Their flamboyant costumes were patterned after indigenous Algerian Berber troops, and were so popular that variations on this costume were adopted by countries worldwide, several zouave units serving with distinction in the American Civil War. The French units served in these outfits for a brief time at the… more

I-16 Type 10 WWII China Guomindang AF Fighter

Published: January 4, 2021
Company: ICM

This Polikarpov fighter, developed in 1934, took a lot of its design ideas from the then-revolutionary Gee-Bee racing airplane of the same period – that is, the largest engine that could be fit into the smallest airframe. Adding retractable landing gear and four rifle-caliber machine guns and you had the miniscule I-16, a staple of the Soviet air force through the early part of World War 2,… more