Merkava Mk.3 BAZ with Nochri Dalet Mine Roller

Published: July 16, 2013
Company: Meng Model

Background

The Merkava Mark III was originally introduced into the IDF in December, 1989. Sporting upgrades to all major systems, the Merkava was the most modern main battle tank in the world for its time. The Mark III was given a 1,200 horsepower engine, a 120mm Israeli-designed main gun, and new laser designation and fire control systems. The development of the BAZ system in 1995 further increased this vehicle’s survivability and lethality. Some features of the BAZ system are air conditioning, NBC systems, and removable modular armor on the chassis and turret.

The Kit

When you first open the box, the sight of the upcoming challenge hits you. It is a very packed box. Approximately 20 sprues of tan plastic fit tightly inside the large box. There are also… more

Airwolf

Published: April 24, 2013
Company: Aoshima

Introduction

Who doesn’t remember Airwolf? This show is everything good about the 80’s wrapped up into one full hour every weeknight! Highlights from the show include: the spy game, technology, the Communist threat, and, of course, one sleek, futuristic aircraft. Using a Bell 222, the producers of Airwolf designed a supersonic helicopter complete with enough weapons to take down an army, as well as every electronic gizmo. But this review isn’t about the show…so let’s get onto the kit, shall we?

The Kit

At first glance, the kit is a very cleanly cast. Everything is chock full of wonderful detail and very little flash. Included are two versions of the fuselage – clear and black. I will touch on these later, but let’s just say to throw the… more

Administrative Building with Workshop

Published: March 20, 2013
Company: MiniArt

The Kit

This kit is pretty similar to my last review of the MiniArt buildings; most of the parts are the same injection molded plastics. However, the parts in this kit are molded in brick red, black, white, blaze orange, and gray. All parts are mostly free of flash, with the small exception of a minor piece of flash next to every one of the connecting blocks, which, if left untrimmed, will skew the walls during assembly. I approached this one with some trepidation, as it is much larger (233 parts). However, in the end it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Construction

Construction was pretty straightforward, much like the kit I did previously. Wall sections are mated together into sub-assemblies, then larger sub-assemblies, until finally being… more

Goods Shed

Published: March 11, 2013
Company: MiniArt

The Kit

The kit is standard injection-molded plastic, molded in four colors across 78 parts. Wall sections are molded in a brick-red coloration; wooden objects, such as doors, are molded in brown; window frames are molded in white; and the roof shingles are curiously molded in blaze orange. All parts are cleanly molded with very little flash evident anywhere.

It seems as if MiniArt uses a standard set of sprues across all their building kits, as this one yielded quite a few extra parts that were not needed for this build.

Construction

Construction was relatively straightforward; instructions were very cleanly printed on glossy paper. When assembling the walls, I found some gaps between the panels themselves. The attachment points between these wall… more