Paul Dunham
Reviews By Author
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U.S. Light Tank M5A1 StuartPublished:
I’ve built a few Tamiya armor kits over the years but never one of their new 1/48th scale kits. I thought that I would dip my toes into Tamiya’s quarter scale pond with their new U.S. Light Tank M5A1 Stuart. By the time the M5A1 entered service it’s 37mm gun was no longer effective against German armor. However, the M5 still saw extensive service in all theaters of the war until its end. The Stuart had the advantages of having speed, reliability, mobility, and transportability, and were available in large numbers. The Stuart was used effectively for scouting and infantry fire support. The kit includes four trees of olive-drab plastic, instructions, decals, polycaps, thread for simulating the tow cable, and two steel weights. The kit depicts a relatively early version… more |
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Vehicles of the D.A.K.Published:
ICM’s “Vehicles of the D.A.K.” kit includes three 1/35th scale German truck kits:
All three kits have been issued previously in various boxings. The Kfz.70 was first released in 2015 and a version including the AA guns was released in 2023. The Kfz.2 was first issued in 2018, a version with the radio parts was released in 2019. The cargo truck was first issued in 2017. Depending on where you buy your kits, getting this boxing will get you three kits for about the same cost as any two of them separately. The three kits come packed together in a sturdy plain cardboard box with the box-art printed on a thin… more |
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P-40E Warhawk Royal Class Dual ComboPublished:
Late last year I asked Santa to pre-order Eduard’s P-40E Warhawk Royal Class Dual Combo kit for me. Eduard’s new 1/48th P-40 is the first newly tooled P-40E that I’m aware of since Hasegawa’s 2005 kit. The Hasegawa kit is pretty good, but there were some engineering choices that made it less fun to build than it could have been. I’m surprised that it has taken 20 years for another manufacturer to get around to kitting such an iconic aircraft. Airfix’s 2016 kit is of the earlier Tomahawk/P-40B version. The Royal Class boxings from Eduard are limited edition kits that usually come with extra goodies that won’t be available in later boxings of the kit. Mine came with a very nice print of Aleutian Warhawks by Adam Tooby and a refrigerator magnet. Since this boxing is a “… more |
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R.O.K. Army K311A1Published:
This new kit from Academy depicts the K311A1 1¼ -ton truck currently in service with the Armed forces of South Korea (R.O.K.) and exported to many other countries around the world. A detailed history of the vehicle is available on Wikipedia, so I won’t repeat it here. The kit provides marking options for two R.O.K. army trucks, one R.O.K. Marines, one R.O.K. Air Force, one Philippines, and two Chilean Marines trucks. The last Chilean option is a single color, providing an option for modelers who aren’t in the mood to paint complex camouflage. The kit comes in a sturdy and surprisingly large box with the entire top covered by artwork of the vehicle. The kit includes separately molded cargo bed, bed canopy, and cab floor, four trees of tan parts, one tree of clear parts, a tree of… more |
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Supermarine Spitfires Over MaltaPublished:
Euro Decals’ new 1/72nd scale decal sheet “Supermarine Spitfires Over Malta” provides decals for nine different spitfires involved in the defense of Malta in 1942 and 1943. There are decals for one IXc, three Vb, and five Vc spitfires.There are enough decals provided to build all of the nine options, so you’ll have some extra roundels and fin-flashes for the spares box. The specific aircraft represented are:
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Volvo S40 BTCC 1997 Brands Hatch WinnerPublished:
NuNu of Macau in cooperation with Platz of Japan offers an interesting assortment of European and Asian racing cars in their range.A recent release and the subject of this review is their new Volvo S40 as raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) of 1997. The kit includes a body and six parts trees molded in white plastic, a tree of chrome parts, a tree of clear parts, soft rubber tires, polycaps, several sheets of decals, a sheet of window masks, a black and white instruction booklet, and a full-color decal placement guide. The parts and decals are protected in plastic bags. The body is cleanly molded. Most mold parting lines are subtle and fall along panel lines. One mold parting line falls on the frond edge of the hood and on my sample formed a slight step that… more |
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WWII Japanese Pilots and Ground PersonnelPublished:
In recent years ICM has been in the practice of issuing figure kits to accompany their aircraft, armor, and automotive kits. One of ICMs newest releases is a set of five 1/48th scale figures to accompany their new Ki-21 “Sally” kits. (You can read Allan Murrell’s review of ICM’s “Sally”.) This kit includes three Japanese Army aircrew figures and two ground crew figures. The three aircrew figures are dressed in flight gear. Two are in relaxed standing poses and the third is saluting. One groundcrew figure is at attention and… more |
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WWII Japanese Pilots Acrylic Paints SetPublished:
The Ukrainian kit manufacturer ICM has recently expanded their catalog to include a range of acrylic paints and varnishes. ICM has begun packaging sets of paints to finish specific kits in their range. In this review, I try out the paint set on ICM’s figure kit “WWII Japanese Pilots and Ground Personnel”. The set comes in a small rectangular box with examples of the included colors printed on the front and a painting guide for their figure kit on the back. The set includes six 12ml bottles of paint. The bottles are open-topped (no dropper-tips). The undersides of the lids have a raised ridge that does a pretty good job of keeping the paint from getting on the threads of the lids. The included colors are:
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WWII British Army 30cwt 4x2 G.S. TruckPublished:
The model represents an Austin 30cwt truck in common use with U.K. forces during WWII. I assume that Airfix couldn’t get a license to use the “Austin” name on the box-top. The kit comes in a big, sturdy, and colorful box. Included inside are two parts trees of tan plastic, a piece for the hood, a tree of clear parts, a small fret of photo-etch, decals, and instructions. The trees are bagged to prevent loss of parts. The clear parts and decals are separately bagged to prevent damage. The hood (maybe I should call it a ‘bonnet’ since it is a British truck?) does not come attached to a parts tree, so make sure that you find it before throwing the bags away. The instructions are printed in a 15-page 8 1/2” by 11” booklet. Assembly illustrations are clear and easy to follow. Painting… more |
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WWII British Royal Navy Aviation Paint SetPublished:
The Ukrainian kit manufacturer ICM has recently expanded their catalogue to include a range of acrylic paints and varnishes. In this review, I try out ICM’s paint set intended for WWII Royal Navy aircraft. The set comes in a small rectangular box with examples of the included colors printed on the front and a painting guide for a Royal Navy Sea Gladiator on the back. The set includes five 12ml bottles of paint and one 12ml bottle of satin varnish. The bottles are open-topped (no dropper-tips).The undersides of the lids have a raised ridge that does a pretty good job of keeping the paint from getting on the threads of the lids. The included bottles are:
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