Seated RAF pilots (WWII)

Published: June 16, 2020
Company: PJ Production

Belgium’s PJ Production specializes in resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft, as well as, a few resin aircraft and vehicle kits, and a variety of figures for a variety of aircraft. Their series of pilot and crew figures range from WWI through modern pilots, and include seated and standing pilots for both civilian and military aircraft. They also have a number of crew figures to complete a diorama.

The review set provided included 2 RAF seated pilot figures from WWII. The pilots are seated with one looking to his right, and the other looking straight ahead. Both figures have their hands and feet in position to be in control of the aircraft and are wearing oxygen masks and the common yellow life vest over a leather flight jacket.

Both figures come attached to one… more

SU-101 SPA

Published: February 5, 2017
Company: Trumpeter

One of Trumpeter’s latest releases is a somewhat odd choice. After all, only one version of the SU-101 self-propelled artillery vehicle was ever manufactured, and it never made it past the trial stage. Still, with a number of “paper Panzer” kits out there, it’s not always too surprising to see what choices model companies provide. Also, with the increased interest in online video games like World of Tanks, there seems to be a new interest in these proposed, or prototype versions.

The Soviets developed the SU-101 as a turretless AFV in late 1944, with the intention of using it to replace the SU-100. It was built on the chassis of the T-44, and was armed with the 100 mm D-10 tank gun, which was the same gun on the SU-100. The main difference between the SU-101 and the SU-100 was… more

39M Csaba 20mm Barrel and Mantlet

Published: January 29, 2017
Company: SBS Model

Nicholas Straussler, a Hungarian designer living in Britain between the world wars, designed several armoured cars for Britain. He was eventually able to come to an agreement with the Weiss Manfred factory of Csepel, Budapest to produce armored vehicles for use in his home country. The most popular design, the Csaba, named for Attila the Hun’s son, was based on the Alvis AC2 armored car.

After successful trials, the Hungarian Army ordered approximately 100 vehicles in 1940. About 20 of these were used in combat, with the remaining vehicles seeing service as command or reconnaissance vehicles.

The Csaba had a 20 mm cannon and an 8 mm machine gun fixed on a centrally mounted turret, a crew of three, and was powered by a 90hp 8 cylinder Ford engine.

HobbyBoss… more

Stuart M3/M3A1/M3A3 Light Tank

Published: January 9, 2017
Company: Italeri

Italeri recently began producing a line of 1/56 scale AFVs and figures. This might be an unusual scale for most model builders, but is a fairly common wargaming scale, equivalent to the 28mm scale. The M3 Stuart tank kit is one of their newest releases in that line of kits, and it is done in coordination with Warlord Games, who designed the 28mm WWII-themed wargame, Bolt Action©.

This kit comes packaged in a side-opening box displaying a Stuart tank of the British 8^th Army on patrol in a desert of North Africa, which is where the M3 got its first taste of action. The M3 was the first American built tank to engage Axis tanks in WWII, as it was used by the British across North Africa via the Lend-Lease program. It was under-gunned and under-armored against the German… more

Messerschmitt Bf-109G-14

Published: January 7, 2017
Company: Academy Models

What can be said about the Messerschmitt Bf109 that hasn’t been said before? Actually, as it turns out, not very much. I will say that the Bf-109G-14 was Germany’s attempt to standardize production of the 109, incorporating the variety of changes made to the Bf 109G-6. On paper, this seems to make sense, however, in practice, the G-14 series were added and built in the same production lines as the G-6, so in the end, it becomes very difficult to tell a G-6 from a G-14.

This is Academy’s latest version of the Bf-109. This is an updated version of their 2001 release, so there aren’t too many surprises with the new release. Academy continues to mold a separate tail section from the fuselage, and provides two different cowling covers, which makes it much easier for them to use… more

Bazooka vs Panzer: Battle of the Bulge 1944

Published: December 31, 2016
Book Author(s): Steven J. Zaloga, Illustrators: Alan Gilliland, Johnny Shumate
Company: Osprey Publishing

Osprey’s Duel series is a well-established line of books covering some of the more famous weapons that have faced each other in combat. The series started just over 9 years ago with the P-51 versus the FW-190, with this installment, Bazooka versus Panzer being one of their latest releases.

The books begins with a history of the U.S. Army’s development of the M1 Rocket Launcher, popularly called the “bazooka” by its developers and soldiers, due to its resemblance to 1930’s comedian Bob Burn’s musical instrument. The author explains how the weapon was rushed through development and testing, and sent them to the troops in North Africa without much explanation, or any training.

In fact, the development of the weapon was such a secret, one truckload of weapons sent to troops… more

Royal Australian Air Force Fighter Pilot WWII

Published: December 28, 2016
Company: Aerobonus

Aires Hobby Models provides a variety of high quality resin products to upgrade, or correct, a variety of models in the most popular scales. They also have a line of crew and pilot figures in 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/32nd scale. These figures are relatively inexpensive, and make a nice addition to an aircraft diorama, or to add a better since of scale to a finished model.

Aerobonus continues their series of pilot figures. This release is a 1/48^th version of Royal Australian Air Force Fighter pilot. The figure is posed standing wearing his flight gear, which includes khaki shorts, headgear, lifejacket, and his parachute. In addition, the pilot comes with the addition of being able to hold his oxygen hose and mask in his right hand, further enhancing the pose.

The… more

Russian Pilot WWII

Published: December 13, 2016
Company: Aerobonus

Aires Hobby Models provides a variety of high quality resin products to upgrade, or correct, a variety of models in the most popular scales. They also have a line of crew and pilot figures in 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/32nd scale. These figures are relatively inexpensive, and make a nice addition to an aircraft diorama, or to add a better since of scale to a finished model.

Aerobonus continues their series of pilot figures. This release is a 1/72^nd version of a Russian pilot wearing an overcoat and parachute. The figure is posed standing wearing his flight gear, including headgear and a parachute, and holding his hands in a way that makes it look like he’s explaining something to someone.

The resin figure comes in four nicely cast pieces, with the arms, head, and… more

Commercial Boxes

Published: November 26, 2016
Company: Plusmodel

This kit from Plusmodel includes materials to make seven commercial boxes. The kit is one piece of laminated card with images of 7 different boxes printed on one side. The boxes are in different sizes, and represent seven different commercial products, including a vacuum cleaner, a kitchen scale, a transistor radio, a clothing iron, a soda machine, an FM radio, and an angle grinder. These items would fit great into a modern diorama set in a commercial or residential area.

Construction is simple, cut the boxes out along the outlines, making sure to leave the attachment tabs intact, and glue the sides together. The instructions on the back of the package recommend using cyanoacrylate glue, but I was concerned that would be too strong and might damage the images, so I just used a… more

Soviet Woman Pilot WWII with Parachute

Published: November 24, 2016
Company: Aerobonus

Aires Hobby Models provides a variety of high quality resin products to upgrade, or correct, a variety of models in the most popular scales. They also have a line of crew and pilot figures in 1/72^nd, 1/48^th and 1/32^nd scale. These figures are relatively inexpensive, and make a nice addition to an aircraft diorama, or to add a better since of scale to a finished model.

Aerobonus’ latest offering is of a Soviet woman pilot wearing flight gear and a parachute. Women played an important role in the Soviet army during World War II, making up about 3% of the total Soviet military personnel. In addition to serving in medical and auxiliary roles, a great number of women flew as pilots, and fought as snipers, machine gunners, and in the armored forces. I… more