IPMS Number
46363

Reviews By Author

Cover

Italian Medium Tanks (1939-1945)

Published: January 21, 2013
Book Author(s): Felippo Cappellano and Pier Paulo Battistelli
Company: Osprey Publishing

Osprey Publishing continues expanding its New Vanguard Collection. This is the issue 195 of this line and it is devoted to the Italian Medium Tank.

The book sections covers the characteristics of the Medium Tanks (M 11/39, M 13/40, and M 14/41), plus a brief section on the Heavy Tank (P 40). It also includes the self-propelled guns that were based on the above-listed chassis. Later in… more

Box Art

Seafire Mk.Ib – Limited Edition

Published: January 2, 2013
Company: Hasegawa

The Seafire Mk.Ib was basically converted from the Spitfire Mk.Vb. The kit follows the heritage of the actual subject, being a “regular” Hasegawa Mk.Vb with a resin plug for conversion into a Seafire Mk.Ib. Be aware this model is a conversion; that means you will have to cut and replace some parts of the plastic fuselage with the resin replacement parts. But as conversion goes, this is an easy… more

Box Art

Il-2 Sturmovik Single Seat Ski Version

Published: November 1, 2012
Company: Academy Models

Academy has re-boxed the rendering of the Il-2 originally released by Accurate Miniatures in 1997. The box shows a “Mold by Accurate Miniatures” on the cover, so no doubts about it and that is a good thing. The Accurate Miniatures Il-2 model is a nice one that is now available again in the market.

This boxing has decals printed by Cartograf, including seatbelts and instrument panel… more

Box Art

Wessex UH.5

Published: October 18, 2012
Company: Italeri

The Wessex family of helicopters has always been popular among modelers. There has been only one kit in 1/48 before and it has been out of production for a few decades, so this newly molded kit is certainly creating some positive ripples in the modeler community!

Italeri brings a brand-new mold of the Wessex UH.5. Surface detail is good, with most of the detail being recessed, but in… more

Box Art

Soviet KV-1S Heavy Tank

Published: September 29, 2012
Company: Trumpeter

I want to begin this review with a disclaimer. I am not an armor guy. I am an airplane guy. But I just wanted to try out – at least once – building an armor kit.

This kit has about 440 plastic parts, about half of which are individual links for the tracks. It also has a small photo-etch fret and a turned metal barrel for the cannon. The surface detail is superb and there was no flash… more

Detail Parts

Hurricane Mk I Antennas

Published: August 20, 2012
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost continues to provide simple, yet effective, ways to improve the Italeri Hurricane Mk. I. This set is named “antennas,” but it covers the radio mast, pilot step, and pitot tube.

The parts are finely casted in cream-colored resin, easy to release from the pouring stub, and they would automatically enhance your model. The only minor drawback is that the pilot step has a bit of… more

Box Art

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Published: August 14, 2012
Company: Tamiya

Tamiya has re-released its Space Shuttle Orbiter kit. It has included a few new sprues to depict more modern payloads, like the “Raffaello” multipurpose module, the Orbiter Docking Systems, and a few others.

Even when the kit boxing is called “Atlantis,” the boxing actually provides markings for the whole Shuttle Fleet and for all the program stages (early, mid, and late). The markings… more

Detail Parts

Hurricane Rotol Propeller (with Rotol and Spitfire spinner) and tool

Published: August 14, 2012
Company: Quickboost

QB 48446 (Rotol Spinner) and QB 48447 (Spitfire Spinner), each $6.50

The Italeri Hurricane is getting a lot of attention from the aftermarket manufactures. Quickboost has released two resin Rotol propellers for it. One of the sets has the typical Rotol spinner (more pointed); the other set has a Spitfire spinner (more blunt). I’ve read that during the Battle of Britain there were some… more

Detail Parts

Hurricane Mk.I Cockpit Set

Published: August 14, 2012
Company: Aires Hobby Models

The Italeri Hurricane has been molded with the option of having both the escape door and canopy open, allowing a great view of the cockpit. The original cockpit is fine but there is always space for enhancement and Aires is offering a nice resin and photoetch cockpit detail set for it.

Sadly, the review sample I got only had the Hurricane photoetch fret on it. The resin parts were for… more

Detail parts

Hurricane Gun Barrels

Published: August 14, 2012
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has released several items to enhance the Italeri Hurricane. Among them are these “drop-in” replacement parts for the gun barrels. They are very nicely rendered in medium grey resin, with crisp panel lines and good depth for the barrels.

During construction, however, I ran into problems. The replacement parts are a bit too wide to fit in their slots in the wings. Maybe the… more