Model Art Plamo Manual - Ferrari Formula 1 Cars

Published: February 3, 2020
Company: Model Art

This is the second book I have reviewed for IPMS that is entirely in Japanese. This time it is on the Ferrari F1 cars made by Tamiya and Fujimi.

I have several Ferrari models at home and thought this would be a nice companion guide to some of my older Ferrari books. This guide covers several Tamiya models and, from what I can tell, a Fujimi and possibly a Hasegawa F1 Ferrari. Like I said, the fact it is missing subtitles is a bit of a hindrance. It does show a bunch of neat tricks, though, that I would not have normally thought of. There are painting tips, wiring tips, and wheel tips. The pictures go into great detail, which helps. You don’t need to read Japanese if you follow the pictures.

There are still plenty of useful tips and tricks to help you make some great… more

Fokker Dr. I: The Aces' Aircraft

Published: July 4, 2020
Book Author(s): Tomasz J. Kowalski & Marek Rys
Company: Kagero Publishing

I was fortunate enough to review the new Kagero Fokker Dr. I: The Aces’ Aircraft, Legends of Aviation in 3D book. This is the first book in a series of aviation books they are releasing in 3D. Now don’t get freaked out, the whole book is not in 3D, just some prints that show the plane and its components. You get a really nifty 1950’s style pair of 3D glasses, too (the old blue and red kind that some of you might remember from your childhood).

The main reason I asked to review this is because I have six or seven Fokkers at home that need to be built and I figured this book would not only inspire me but give me some photographic references to build a somewhat accurate model. The book did not disappoint in that regard. There is plenty of information, all in English, which shows… more

A6M3 Hamp Detail Set

Published: December 19, 2011
Company: Eduard

Okay, I stepped up to review this since nobody else asked, nor volunteered. I have never used a Big Ed add-on before and I have a Tamiya A6M3 so I thought, “Why not try it?” When the Big Ed arrived, I opened it with joy like a kid at Christmas who had a good year with Santa. Then, while looking at the instructions, I realized I had the new Tamiya Zero and this Big Ed is for Tamiya’s OLD A6M3 Hamp kit. So, for a few months, I watched a bunch of these kits on eBay sell for more than I could pay. I have been unemployed for two and a half years now, so I don’t get to buy kits any more unless I can get them for under five bucks. Earlier this week I was able to borrow an old Tamiya Zero so we can at least get the review done. Of course, that Zero did not arrive until today...

Now,… more

Wildflowers and Butterflies

Published: December 11, 2011
Company: Eduard

I’m the rookie on the reviewer corps, and I was beginning to think that we rookies get the difficult assignments in order to weed us out. Not so this time. I received the Eduard Wildflowers and Butterflies today, and have already used them and I like them. Don’t worry the review is not going to be that short.

First of all, let’s start with what you get in the package. You get several sizes of wildflowers in various colors that are pre-painted. There are some red ones, some yellow ones and some blue ones. If you look at the picture of the close-up you can see how well done they are, and how neat they look. The flowers can be bent, which allows them to conform to your specific terrain. Even though these are 1/35, they can be used for 1/48 as well. I placed a yellow one on a base… more

Ferrari 458 Italia

Published: August 20, 2011
Company: Revell

As an armor builder I wanted to review this kit partly as a challenge to see how well I could build a car. Mainly I wanted to review this kit because I love Ferrari’s. The kit is molded mostly in white, with a sprue of chrome parts and some rubber tires. The decals are nicely done, but a few items required an aftermarket set to enhance the model. At first glance the kit looks very nice except for a few minor details that are an easy fix.

The Ferrari 458 comes in several colors, and I found pictures on the internet of one I liked that is white with black rims and an all black interior.

You begin by building the engine, which is cool, except for the fact that the majority of this work is hidden by the engine bay and cover. I painted the engine even though on my curbside… more

Spitfire Mk.Vb Position Lights

Published: August 20, 2011
Company: Quickboost

So, I had this 1/72 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb sitting in the closet, and I was given the chance to review this new product from Quickboost for the Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb, so I decided, hey what could go wrong?

The position lights are molded in clear resin in two colors red, and green to simulate the lights in each wingtip. At first glance the lights look very nice. They are attached to a resin casting block which came apart easy enough with the razor saw. That’s where the easy part ends. There are three drawbacks to these position lights. First they came with no instructions. Second, the way these lights are cast they force you to build one of the clipped wing versions, Version B to be exact. Fortunately for me I don’t mind building the clipped wing version of this little Spitfire.… more

Decal Set: Fokker D.VII Part 3

Published: July 20, 2011
Company: Lifelike Decals

Originally when I asked to review these I had the intention of putting them on my Eduard Fokker D.VII Weekend Edition, as you may or may not know that is Herman Goring’s white Fokker. I already built Herman’s plane so I thought these would be a colorful option to the plain white version. I was right they are a colorful option however this review has turned into a non-build version for the simple fact that all four choices in the Lifelike Decal sheet require the dreaded Lozenge camouflage.

Unfortunately the decal set does not contain the lozenge sheets, and neither does my Fokker kit. That being said let’s take a look at what you do get. The set contains decals for four different Fokkers. You get one Fokker built version, two Albatros built versions and one O.A.W. built version… more

Model Art AFV Profile, #2, Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger I

Published: May 26, 2011
Book Author(s): Editors of Model Art
Company: Model Art

This book is the second of a series on German armor in World War II. These are written specifically for the AFV modeler. The subject of the book is the Tiger I. It is written entirely in Japanese with English subtitles on some of the pictures and illustrations.

The book begins with an illustration of the driving mechanism and part of the transmission. It is taken from the German manual on the Tiger I. These pictures are without English subtitles. Next the book shows us 18 color plates of the Tiger I from the early version to the late version. These illustrate camouflage patterns and markings. These are very good color renderings in fact. The title of each drawing is in English.

After the color plates, there is a short section, once again entirely in Japanese, which… more