Michael Reeves
Reviews By Author
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Insignia, Patches, and Vehicle Camouflage of the Armed Forces of UkrainePublished:
ICM has been releasing quality kits, figure sets, and recently paints to support their vast library of releases. This is a new sort of release for me as included in the card stock envelope are sheets of decals that the modeler can use to add unit patches, shoulder boards, and ribbons to your Ukrainian 1/35 figures, as well as digital camouflage for the Kozak-2 models in their line. The cover art of the envelope lists the set has 468 combat unit patches of AFU, 56 patches of AFU, 34 shoulder boards, and 2 sheets of decals for the Kozak-2. For a little bit of bling, the set comes with a Ukrainian patch as well. What’s Inside the EnvelopeThis set really covers any sort of addition to the figure uniforms you might want to utilize. The sleeve insignia includes a set for… more |
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German 75mm Ammo Crates w/Rope HandlesPublished:
Value Gear resin products are well known to most modelers for the excellent quality resin stowage and gear to use on your models and diorama scenes. Owner Steve Munsell is a quality guy who, more often than not, throws in some extra pieces into most of the packages and one package can often inhabit more than a couple builds if used wisely- or you can completely deck out one model if you wish. His 1/16 product lines are growing as more companies release more 1/16 scale kits. What’s Inside the BoxThis set contains a small zip bag with five 75mm ammo crates for whatever 1/16 scale StuG or Panzer is sitting in your stash. A card with preparation and priming instructions are included. The quality is excellent in this scale and one might want to ding them up a bit to add some… more |
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Feldküche - WWII German Field Kitchen w/ CooksPublished:
I continue to be amazed at the capacity of this Ukrainian stalwart company to release new and interesting kits monthly it seems without skipping a beat despite the involvement in a long tedious war. The field kitchen in the kit is identical to the one released in ICM’s recent AHN ‘Gulaschkanone’ kit. Unlike that kit though we get a crew of 4 cooks that would rival anything Gordon Ramsey could cook up. The German field kitchen, or Feldküche, was a vital part of the German war machine in combat conditions. Various sizes could feed anywhere from 60 to 225 men and were transported either behind tow vehicles or horses. They earned the nickname ‘Gulaschkanone’ for one of the main sources of food for the troops but they served all sorts of different courses. A large kettle with an… more |
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Studebaker US6-U5Published:
ICM continues to pump out new and interesting kits despite a war affecting all in the Ukraine, but especially in their home base in Kiev. This present reiteration of the original tooled Studebaker kit from 2007 (#35511) has new parts to make it into the U5 fuel truck specifically. This adds two tandem 375-gallon tanks with racks on the side to store a good number of 5-gallon Jerry cans. Let’s get into it… What’s Inside the BoxYou get six green plastic sprues- the four original sprues present in the earlier versions (A-D) and two copies of sprue E which contain the parts for the fuel tanks and their mounts, and the jerry cans. Sprue F is a clear sprue containing the windows, windshield, and headlight lenses. Decals include options for two nondescript schemes- one with a… more |
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Krankenpanzerwagen Sd.Kfz.251/8 Ausf.A WWII German Ambulance with Military Medical PersonnelPublished:
This newest release derives originally from the 2018 release (#35101) and the kit is a combination of two of last year’s releases from ICM—the Krankenwagen kit (#35113) and the Military Medical Personnel figures set (#35620). The well-crafted instruction manual starts with an extensive parts map with unneeded parts highlighted in color and there are quite a few including all the clear parts and the weapons which would not be ideal for medical folks. The kit comes in ICM’s typical box art cover that slips over the front closing hinged cardboard box. Inside are six sprues of gray styrene, a clear sprue, two vinyl tires and sets of vinyl tracks, and a decal sheet featuring two schemes. Construction starts as usual with the lower hull tub and chassis, side stowage boxes, and… more |
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WWII German Mobile Field Kitchen AHN 'Gulaschkanone'Published:
Based on the original 2014 Lastkraftwagen 3,5 t AHN German Army Truck kit, this kit adds a field kitchen and loads of accessories to kit it out. Field kitchens were used to provide hot meals to Wehrmacht soldiers in the field- either directly into the soldiers’ pots or into special large thermoses for delivery to units a bit farther away. They were often pulled by horses or towed behind vehicles- but this particular version was served out of the back of the truck. Soldiers’ humor gave the field kitchens the name ‘Gulaschkanone’ (‘Goulash Cannon’) for what was often served out of them. The kit comes in ICM’s typical box art cover that slips over the front closing hinged cardboard box. Inside are nine sprues of gray styrene, a clear sprue, seven vinyl tires, and a decal sheet… more |
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Wehrmacht Afrika Korps Acrylic Paints SetPublished:
ICM is once again providing an excellent product despite soldiering on through an intense war to give modelers a unique set of paints focused on Wehrmacht Afrika Korps vehicles. This set spans the entire war and provides a useful palette of paints for armor or vehicles serving in the desert. ICM provides a diagram on the back of the package showing two vehicle profiles (corresponding to ICM kits of their s.E.Pkw Kfz.70 with Zwillingssockel 36 and Sd.Kfz.251/8 Ausf.A WWII German Ambulance) with painting colors for the featured schemes. This particular set contains six 12ml wide mouth bottles of paint that have the same viscosity to me as Vallejo Model Color paints. I am not a huge fan of the wide mouth bottles here, as I prefer the dropper bottles that companies like Vallejo and… more |
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WWI and WWII Weapon and Equipment Acrylic Paint SetPublished:
ICM is one of a few Ukrainian companies soldiering on through an intense war to continuously create exciting new products for the modeler. They have been releasing amazing kits and increasingly useful paint sets that are tied to specific themes. This sample features paints that can be used to paint infantry equipment and weapons from both World Wars. ICM provides a useful diagram on the back of the package showing two halves with painting colors for guns, gear, and tools from WWI and WWII respectively. This particular set contains six 12ml wide mouth bottles of paint that have the same viscosity to me as Vallejo Model Color paints. I prefer the dropper bottles that Vallejo and AMMO have as these wider mouth bottles can lead to messes when transferring from your bottle to your… more |
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Fokker Dr.I - Landing Gear StrutsPublished:
This Scale Aircraft Conversions release for the Meng 1/24 kit is a replacement set for the plastic struts that are the kit parts. I am not an expert on the Fokker Dr. 1a by any means - but there is a definite size discrepancy between the kit parts and the white metal parts in the conversion set. The white metal parts are noticeably longer than the kit parts as you can see from my photos. I am not sure which is more accurate - but I can at least say they got the shape dead on from the kit parts and the width is pretty similar. Alas, shortly after painting the parts to compare them to, I lost the sub wing the landing gear attach to so I can’t necessarily try them out. But basically the set contains four pieces that make up the landing gear struts, two struts for the rear elevator… more |
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75mm Crates w/Rope HandlesPublished:
Value Gear resin products are well known to most modelers for the excellent quality resin stowage and gear to use on your models and diorama scenes. Owner Steve Munsell is a quality guy who, more often than not, throws in some extra pieces into most of the packages and one package can often inhabit more than a couple builds if used wisely- or you can completely deck out one model if you wish. His 1/16 product lines are growing as more companies release more 1/16 scale kits. What’s Inside the BoxThis set contains a small zip bag with five 75mm ammo crates for whatever 1/16 scale StuG or Panzer is sitting in your stash. A card with preparation and priming instructions are included. The quality is excellent in this scale and one might want to ding them up a bit to add… more |