Mark Aldrich
Reviews By Author
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“Fireball” Roberts ’57 FordPublished:
A rather large box arrived from the Review Corp helper the other day, containing several car kits and one airplane. The boxes all were the same to me. These are cars and to be honest, other than helping a nice lady sell off her late son’s collection, I know nothing about cars. I am however learning a large amount of information from them. This kit had a lot more weight to it than all the others and I wanted to know why. Was it the two metal axles, additional parts, super detail stuff that added to the weight? I had to know! We all know the story of Monogram and Revell becoming one entity. I thought that most of the Monogram line was re-kitted using the 85- as an identifier. However, I also thought Monogram kits were all 1/24 and only Revell kits in 1/25. This is an 85- numbered… more |
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Generic/Universal Wooden CratesPublished:
Value Gear has been on the model scene for about two years now. The company is out of Ireland where the owner/operator is a Daytime Dad and a nighttime casting machine. These are almost his words off the website. The premise behind the idea is “Any Army Any Era. This is a great concept and a wonderful application. NO helmets, roadwheels or weapons that will “set” the stowage. These items, and there are plenty, can be used on almost every vehicle from WWI to the Present. This set is number three in a series of eight. All are different but I bet some are repeats. Each set contains a number of wooden crates from small to large size. In this set you get a total of 19 wooden crates. There are several duplicates which is great for using a certain crate. There is wood detail on all… more |
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Deal’s Glitter BugPublished:
Memory Lane……As a bonafide TreadHead, I am not much of a model nostalgic. My first armor kit was the old 1/48 Aurora Sherman. While it was a great kit and got me hooked on my TreadHead ways, I have no desire to find one and build it again. However, building the first model that I ever built would be neat! I actually have one of those. I paid $95.00 for it on Ebay and thought I would never get to actually build it as I could not bring myself to open the seal and have at it. However, I might get to do just that thanks to Revell. Those of you that are car builders know the name Dave Deal. If you don’t, look him up. He hooked up with Revell back in the 1970s and released thirteen model cars and four aircraft. These were not your typical run of the mill kits. They were three dimensional… more |
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Thunderbirds The Mole MiniPublished:
Thunderbirds are GO!!!!! For those of my generation, that was a great call tag! For the younger crowd, I am sure they have still heard about International Rescue. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson created one of the greatest series ever to be broadcast! There were only two 50 episode seasons created. However, those two seasons spawned two movies and tons of different merchandising items to include plastic and die-cast models. Bandai, Imex and Aoshima are the ones I can remember. I have seen several others over the years adding their twist to the old classic which just proves the greatness of the original models used in the series. Aoshima’s website is not super user friendly but as near as I can tell they offer at least 12 different Thunderbird models. Six are part of their MINI series… more |
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Meng Shi 1.5 ton Military Light Utility Vehicle – Convertible Version for Special ForcesPublished:
The EQ2050 Meng Shi (also known as Dong Feng Armour) is the 1.5 ton capacity, four-wheel drive troop/cargo carrier truck developed and built by Dong Feng Motor Corporation (DFM). The vehicle was based on the General Motors High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) with some minor modifications. This would definitely explain why it looks so similar. According to Chinese media reports, the military version WQ2050 is made with 100% Chinese made parts. Like its hardtop predecessor (HobbyBoss 82468), this is another new kit from HobbyBoss! HobbyBoss has really been cranking out the wheeled and tracked vehicle kits in the last couple of years. These are not kits that other companies are releasing but new and previously unreleased kits. HobbyBoss now has three vehicles based… more |
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20-foot Military ContainerPublished:
In the current hobby where making obscure one-offs has seemingly become the norm and where every manufacturer feels they have to make a kit with more than 300 pieces and at least one 2x3 sheet of photo-etch, Italeri stands alone! I must applaud them for making that stand! One of their latest releases is a kit that contains only twenty two pieces. There is no PE, no clear or colored styrene, and no metal. OMG!!! This is ridiculous! There must be a mistake! It isn’t even a kit of an armored vehicle of any kind! However, it is more valuable than any M1, M1126, M113 or M117. It is also more easily recognized and used than any of the above mentioned vehicles. Italeri has made a bold move and issued a model kit of a 20-foot container. This may seem like a lame idea for a model kit,… more |
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Russian BM-21 Grad Multiple Rocket LauncherPublished:
This was another item that had been on the review list for some time before I volunteered for it. As this vehicle comes with almost no external markings, Steve said I could do it as a Middle East Vehicle. I am thinking Syrian Militia based on a picture I came cross surfing the web. However, I do need to include some information about this particular kit as it might actually be a “What If”. Trumpeter touts this as a BM-21 Grad. According to the information I have been able to figure out this is not quite correct. The BM-21 was a 122mm 40 shot rocket launcher mounted on a URAL-375D 6x6 truck designed in 1963. The vehicle included in this kit is what I believe to be a URAL-4320 6x6 which was designed in 1976. This makes the actual designator BM-21-1. Most of the Middle East… more |
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BagsPublished:
You simply can’t get any easier than this. You get 14 resin bags in different combinations almost ready to be used as you need. Seven of them appear to be large potato-filled bags, while the other seven might be sand bags. One piece is three of the potato filled sacks already stacked on each other. Three of the four single potato bags have the same pose and the other is different. Three of the sand bags are single and then there are four stacked on top of each other. All you have to do is cut off the pour lug and paint. Even the simplest of us modelers can do this! But Plusmodel may need to sharpen its quality control measures; in my sample set, one of the sacks had a ¼” wide by ¼”-deep air bubble that will require filling. Luckily, I have become pretty good at using baking soda and… more |
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Israeli Merkava ARVPublished:
This was on the review list for some time before I volunteered for it. This vehicle comes with the anti-slip texture that is missing on so many newly released Merkava-based kits, and I could not understand why no one wanted to review it. Maybe it was because it is one of two prototypes currently being evaluated by the Israeli Defense Forces. This version is called the NAMER ACHZAKA and it’s bigger brother is called NAMERA. Imagine these vehicles similar to the M578 and M88. The big difference is that both IDF vehicles are based on the Merkava Mk. III chassis with many Mk. IV components. The NAMER ACHZAKA crane can lift the engine pack of the Merkava for quick and easy changes. Supposedly, these are based on modified Merkava III hulls. Well, one thing right away that stands out is the… more |
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US GPW ¼ ton 4x4 Utility Truck (Mod.1942) w/10-CWT Trailer & Airborne CrewPublished:
Bronco has joined the list of manufacturers that have released a kit of the venerable “Jeep”. I believe Heller was the first, then Italeri, then Tamiya (twice) and Dragon. This (by first looks alone) is the New Standard! Bronco of course calls it a, “U.S. GPW ¼ ton 4x4 Utility Truck” but it is a “Jeep”! The title was probably changed for fear of copyright infringement attorneys. The box art states this kit represents a 1942 Model and I have no idea of the differences between a 1942 version and other versions. However, the rear panel does have the “Ford” logo stamped on it and only about the first 1000 or so vehicles produced had this. At some point, the War Department had “Ford” and “Willys” remove the embossed trademark stamping. The same “Ford” logo is also stamped onto the tires. I… more |