F6F-5(N) Nightfighter

Published: May 4, 2017
Company: Eduard

Eduard has released a full line of Hellcats in 1/48 scale, covering from the early -3, to the late -5, including night fighter versions and even Royal Navy service markings. This particular boxing is the Weekend edition of the -5(N), with neither mask nor photoetch, but with two options for decals and a small number of resin parts to make the conversion to “night fighter”.

When I… more

The Suomi Submachine Gun

Published: April 26, 2017
Book Author(s): Leroy Thompson; Illustrators: Adam Hook, Alan Gilliland
Company: Osprey Publishing

Osprey Publishing continues to expand its weapon series, this time by adding a book on the exemplary Finnish-made Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun.

The book has a very reasonable breakdown of the following chapters: Introduction, development, use, impact, conclusion and bibliography, plus an index.

I’ve found particularly interesting the development, use and impact chapters. They… more

F6F-5N Hellcat Nightfighter - Weekend Photoetch

Published: April 4, 2017
Company: Eduard

Eduard has an outstanding line of F6F Hellcat models in both Profipack and Weekend boxings and it has released photoetch frets for the Weekend line as a stand-alone item. The Weekend models have only plastic parts (as opposed to the Profipack boxes), but at times you might want to enhance the look of them by adding some photoetch, hence the Weekend Photoetch frets. Often they only cover the… more

Macchi 202 Folgore

Published: March 26, 2017
Company: Eduard

Eduard has released a boxing of the very good 1/48 Hasegawa Mc. 202, which is enhanced by the addition of two photo-etch frets (one pre-painted), resin parts and a paint mask. Not only that, but you get Cartograf-printed decals with markings for 6 colorful Folgores. It is an amazing offering.

Like most airplane model construction starts with the cockpit and with two photoetch-frets it… more

Decal Solution Mark Fit and Mark Fit Strong

Published: March 21, 2017
Company: Tamiya

In recent years Tamiya has expanded their model line to include finishing supplies like panel line accents, diorama materials, decal setting solutions, etc.

This particular review will cover the following decal setting solutions :

• Tamiya Mark Fit Strong: MSRP: $4.50, Stock: 87102

… more

Tape for Curves 2 mm and 3 mm

Published: March 13, 2017
Company: Tamiya

Tamiya masking tape (yellow) has been known to modelers for many years and it is still one of my favorite tools in the bench. This tape for curves is made of a different material; it has a plastic feeling to it so it is not the typical Tamiya tape trimmed to a few millimeters.

This tape is designed to mask curves. It easily “bends” for a curve, but it does not stretch as well as it… more

Bf-109F

Published: March 5, 2017
Company: Eduard

Eduard has released a new mold of the Bf-109F-4, perhaps the most elegant and streamlined of all the 109s.

In the Profipack package you get 5 sprues (including a clear one), a color photo-etch fret, two decal sheets for 5 markings (all Luftwaffe) and a mask set for the canopy and the tail wheel. No flash anywhere and very sharp, recessed panel lines are a signature of those sprues.… more

Diorama Texture Paint - Snow Effect

Published: February 10, 2020
Company: Tamiya

Tamiya is expanding its line of Textured Paint, this time with two different snow effect paints: Snow Effect and Powder Snow. This particular package also included a third bottle, which is “dark earth”, perfect to show some groundwork underneath the snow.

The first thing I noticed is that the snow bottles weight at least twice as much as the earth one. I suspect a different kind of “… more

Panel Line Accent Color

Published: March 4, 2017
Company: Tamiya

Tamiya has released a “Panel Line Accent” line with 4 colors: Black, Brown, Gray and Dark Brown. They are an enamel-based wash, so it is smelly and it could attack bare plastic, so test it on a scrap piece (a runner or extra part) first.

The panel line accent is packaged in the same kind of bottle than the Tamiya Glue down to the small and thin applicator brush, which comes in very… more

Axis Aircraft in Latin America

Published: February 22, 2017
Book Author(s): Amaru Tincopa and Santiago Rivas
Company: Specialty Press

During the 1920 and 1930’s most Latin American countries started developing air routes and air services; at the same time that their own armed forces started developing their air arms.That fledgling market brought intense competition from industrial countries, including Germany and Italy, which landed significant contracts for both military and civilian aircraft.

This book is organized… more