Jim Stratton
Reviews By Author
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German Armored Cars In ActionPublished:
The Squadron Signal “In Action” series has been around for many years and is well liked by modelers and vehicle historians alike. This newest volume concentrates on the German heavy armored cars used throughout World War II. The title may be a little deceiving as it only addresses the heavies and not the smaller light armored cars. This volume does, however, look at all the heavy armored cars from the early war Sd.Kfz. 231 6-wheeled vehicle to the late war Sd.Kfz. 234 series of 8-wheeled vehicles. There is minimal text, which mostly serves to introduce the different variants. There are no technical drawings in this issue but there is an abundance of “in action” photographs, each of which has a descriptive caption. Several of the images are closeup shots that show plenty of… more |
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US Marine Corps Tanks of World War IIPublished:
This latest release in the New Vanguard series by Osprey Publishing helps to fill the void of the history of USMC armor. The 48 page format of the series makes it necessary to limit the amount of information; thusly, there is no coverage of the armored amphibious assault vehicles. This issue only covers land-based armored vehicles. Perhaps we will be blessed in the future with another volume that will concentrate on the LVTs. This issue does, however, give a brief history of the early beginnings of Marine armor, starting with the US copy of the Renault FT, the M1917, as well as the barely adequate Marmon-Herrington tankette. Early US Navy shipping restrictions required lightly armored small tanks that proved to be under powered and under armed. Eventually, the Marines were equipped… more |
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BF2C-1 Goshawk DecalsPublished:
History In the years prior to WWII, the US military had some very colorful aircraft that helped christen the era “The Golden Age”. These brightly colored aircraft were undoubtedly a carryover from the WWI where aircraft were often painted in bright schemes that reflected the pilots own tastes. This was also a transitional period that saw military aircraft evolve from bi-planes to monoplanes. Between the wars, both the US Army Air Force and the US Navy were painting the upper surface of the upper wing with a highly visible orange-yellow that was used for search and rescue in the event that the aircraft was forced down. The US Navy carried this even further and painted their aircrafts’ tail surfaces in different colors that indicated the carrier group it was… more |
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1950 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup TruckPublished:
In the 1950’s the American trend saw greater use of the pickup trucks as second vehicles, Due to good marketing Chevrolet set records in the production of trucks with a market share of almost 37%. The 1950 3100 had a 6 cylinder Thriftmaster motor that utilized a GM Model ‘B’ downdraft carburetor with a concentric fuel bowl and a centrally located discharge nozzle. This carb had an improved fast-idle/choke mechanism that helped cold weather starts. The deluxe cab had optional Nu-Vue windows with chrome trim, a wooden floor in the cargo box and optional chrome grille and bumpers. This AMT kit comes with optional parts to make a stock 3100 pickup or a road service vehicle for a Texaco service station truck. The kit also comes with a color pre cut placard with the box top art work suitable… more |
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Hansa-Brandenburg W.29Published:
HistoryThis is another superb kit from the guys at Wingnut Wings. According to the detailed history on the instruction booklet, the Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 was allegedly designed by Ernst Heinkel on the back of a cabaret wine list and was basically a W.12 biplane with the top wing removed. This advanced monoplane had markedly improved performance due to the reduction of drag afforded by the loss of the upper wing as well as the lack of guy wires. The solid construction was achieved because of the rigid strut arrangement for the floats. Three prototypes were constructed in January 1917 and each was powered by a different engine for the comparison purposes. When production began in April of 1917 it was decided to use the 150hp Benz Bz. III. A total of 199 W.29s were produced in… more |
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Kurtis Midget Racer Edelbrock Equipped V-8/60 with TrailerPublished:
Frank Kurtis founded the Kurtis Kraft Company in the late 1930’s. They designed and built race cars and in a twenty year period they built over 1,100 midget racers. 500 were built ready to race and another 600 were sold as kits. The midget racers came with different engines, most notably the Offenhauser and the Edelbrock V860. The Kurtis midget racers won several events all over the country for decades. Some are even still running today in vintage race events. Revell has released a brand new 1/25th scale model of the Kurtis Kraft Midget Racer. This model represents the midget racer as seen during the ‘50’s and onward into the ‘60’s. This kit is all new tooling and Revell makes great use of slide mold technology to give us a beautiful rendition of this small racer. Revell has… more |
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Tom Daniel's - Ice TPublished:
This is a re-release of a real “Golden Oldie” show car. The original kit was released in 1970. As the box top art states, this is a Tom Daniels design. Tom Daniels designed 87 model cars for Monogram between 1967 and 1976. As I stated in the review of “Rommel’s Rod” most of his kits could be built in an evening or two. The KitThis kit is comprised of 65 parts and a decal sheet. There are 24 parts molded in bright yellow, 35 chrome plated parts and 6 parts to make 4 vinyl tires. The rear racing slicks are molded in two half’s and are molded with wrinkles and a flat spot. The instruction sheet is in the style of the old Monogram sheets seen in the late sixties and early seventies. You may remember them where they not only have the part number but actually the name of… more |
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Valentine Mk. IV Red Army with CrewPublished:
IntroductionThe Valentine tank was designed by Vickers-Armstrong as a private venture and was offered to the British War Department in 1938. Production for the Valentine started in 1939 with an initial order for 250 tanks. Eventually more than 8,000 Valentines in 11 different marks as well as various purpose-built types were produced, accounting for approximately 25% of British wartime tank production. Over the length of the war it was produced in several variants including the Archer ATG with a 17pdr and the Bishop SPG with the 25pdr. The Valentine saw service on several fronts including North Africa, Italy, NWE and the Far East. The Mk. IV Valentine was equipped with the British QF 2-pounder (40 mm) gun and the engine was a GMC 6004 diesel. The Mk. IV was exported… more |
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German s.Sp. Artilleriewagen with Waffen Tank Crew (1944-1945)Published:
IntroductionCyber-Hobby.com has released another kit in their armored train series. This is a re-release of the heavy railcar which mounted a Panzer III Ausf. N. turret with the 7.5cm KwK L/24 gun. These heavy armored rail cars were introduced in 1944 and saw extensive service in Russia and Yugoslavia. After the war Czechoslovakia used them until the mid 1950’s. These rail cars were self propelled and could run independently; however, they were designed to be operated in trains of 20 cars or more. In actuality, due to fuel shortages, they often ran alone or in small numbers. The armored rail cars were built for the Deutsche Reichbahn by Steyer starting in May 1944 and were operational from November 1944 to April 1945. They weighed around 18 tons and had 20mm armor plate.… more |
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Creature from the Black LagoonPublished:
IntroductionThis newest release from Moebius Models the 1/12th scale Creature from the Black Lagoon is a continuation of their popular Universal Studios “Monsters of the Movies” series of famous movie monsters. This kit is smaller than the previous releases of Frankenstein and the Mummy, which were 1/8th scale. This kit is also a Snap-Together kit with only 14 parts. The entire kit only took 15 minutes to clean up and “Snap-Together” the parts. In the past I have never been fond of Snap-Together kits. Usually they are designed for the younger modeler and ease of construction is the underlying factor in these kits. The finished kit also has moveable parts that include both arms and the head. Once the kit is assembled Moebius has included a neat… more |