Tom Moon
Reviews By Author
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German Elite Infantry Eastern Front, WWII EraPublished:
Master Box’s latest release, German Elite Infantry Eastern Front, WWII Era, is a new set of 1/35 scale figures. The set has very minimal flash and no ejector pin marks. The few mold lines present are easily removed with a sharp blade. There set includes no decals and no painting instructions. You will need to copy what you see on the box’s illustration. There are no part numbers on the sprues; however, the back of the box has a picture of each sprue with the part numbers listed next to each part. In addition, there are two inset photos depicting the camouflage painting options for the figure’s smocks, but there no paint callouts listed for the camouflage colors. You will have to use your own references to choose the colors. I found that the figures went together without a lot… more |
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German Wehrmacht Bivouac (3 Figures Set with Zeltbahn)Published:
This set is of 3 figures and a zeltbahn (tent). These figures are in a rest area and are shown just settling in. The box art and instructions are on the back of the box and shows the figures in a completed state. This illustration by Ronald Volstad is a fairly accurate representation of the 3 figures and a great depiction of the camouflage on the tent. This set had very minimal flash, and no ejection pin marks. What mold lines that were there were easily removed with a sharp blade. There are no decals, and the painting instructions are just for the major items. The paint colors are coded only for Testors and Mr. Color. I constructed them using a Tenax type of glue. This softened the plastic enough that as pressure is applied to the join some dissolved plastic will ooze… more |
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Halftrack Sd.Kfz.7/2 auf 3.7cm Flak 43Published:
This kit represents a Sd Kfz 7/2 Halftrack to mount the 3.7cm Flak 43 in the bed. The AA gun basically was just picked up and placed in the bed of the truck. The truck bed was slightly modified to add mounting points and for the sides to be lowered into a fighting condition. This gave the crew more space to maneuver the gun as it was firing. These sides did not provide any protection for the crew. The halftrack has an armored cab and armored radiator shield. There are Magic Tracks for the tracks and if you are careful they will moveable and will allow for a good representation of the track sag. There is one sprue of clear plastic, one small fret of photo etched parts and one large fret of Photo etched parts that make up the Flak gun shield. Be warned, there are no plastic… more |
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Humber Armoured Car Mk IIPublished:
This kit is a representation of the British Army’s Armoured Car that was developed in 1941 after revisions to make the production easier. It served till replaced by the Humber Mk III or the Daimler Mk I. This is a multimedia kit but the use of the Photo-Etch is required, there are no optional plastic parts. Please be aware that some of the plastic parts are very, very small and will take a steady hand to get them off of the sprue without damage. And when they are off the sprue these minuscule parts do their very best to hide or get lost in the carpet or even on the work table. This model has a complete interior for the engine, driving and fighting compartment. The kit has over 500 individual pieces and this gives the model great detail at the expense of time consuming… more |
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1967 Shelby GT-350 MustangPublished:
The 1967 Shelby GT-350 Mustang was not your average Mustang. It was powered by the Ford High Performance 289 engine and many special improvements. However, since this version was intended to be a production car and to be purchased by the general public, it included the Deluxe Mustang Interior, power brakes, power steering, optional air-conditioning, and optional automatic transmission. Even so, its performance was superior for its time:
The kit comes with a basic engine that has optional valve covers and can be dressed up to the builder’s desires. The interior is rather Spartan, and I guess that, for the time frame, even a Deluxe Mustang… more |
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US Artillery CrewPublished:
The set had very minimal flash and no ejection pin marks. The few mold lines there were easily removed with a sharp blade. There are no decals, and some painting instructions. ou will need to copy what you see in the illustration. There are not even any part numbers on the sprue, just a picture on the back of the box with the numbers listed next to the part. The figures went together without a lot of shaping and filling. Two of them are balanced so they can stand without pins or glue. The tools and shells fit the hands fairly well and are nicely made. Painting these figures will require quite a bit of research and thought before attaching any of the extra equipment and ammo. The photos on the back give you general idea of what the colors are, but my advice is to review… more |
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German Tank Crew Afrika KorpsPublished:
This set consists of five figures all conducting some basic tank maintenance. The figures come on two sprues with 35 parts. The box art and instructions on the back of the box show the figures as completed. The first figure is a commander watching the others work, the second is either entering or exiting the right side turret hatch, the third is running the barrel cleaner up the barrel, the fourth appears to be cleaning the turret machine gun, and the last is helping guide the barrel cleaner into the barrel. The poses are well done and depict a reasonable amount of action. The biggest concern I have about this set is that they have no shirts on. This means there are seams where the arms attach to the body that will have to be filled in. This went reasonably well, but the heads… more |
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Sd.Kfz.184 Ferdinand, Kursk, 1943Published:
This kit is basically a slightly upgraded re-box (reboot) of their Premium Edition Kit 6317 that came out in 2008. The new parts are two photo etched tool boxes instead of one, a newly designed photo etched tool box to fit on the rear of the fighting compartment, different Magic Tracks specifically for the Kursk campaign, and a new set of decals that are supposed to allow you to build any vehicle that served with the s.Pz.Jg.Abt.653 or s.Pz.Jg.Abt.653 units at Kursk. This is a multimedia kit comprised of 270+ styrene parts, magic tracks in the early pattern, three photo etched frets, a turned aluminum gun tube, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues with… more |
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3.7cm Flak 43 Flakpanzer IV “Ostwind”Published:
The Flakpanzer IV “Ostwind” (German for East Wind) was a self-propelled 3.7cm anti-aircraft gun based on the Pz IV. It was developed in 1944 as a replacement for the Wirbelwind. The number of units produced was about 43. This is a multimedia kit comprised of 700+ styrene parts, magic tracks, two photo etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues and new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has done so and you will have some sprues with the same letter. You can actually build the production version of the Ostwind. Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels.… more |
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88mm L71 Flak 41 Anti-Aircraft Gun with crewPublished:
This kit is a combination of the Bronco gun kit and the Dragon 6275 crew kit. The gun can only be presented in the firing position as the travel bogies are not present. The crew can be depicted in either anti-tank mode or anti-aircraft mode. However, the crew instructions included with the Bronco instructions only show them in the anti-tank mode. You can get Dragon 6275 instructions and build the crew in different poses, and even in the anti-aircraft mode, which is what I did. The basic point to remember when building this kit is that there are numerous small plastic and PE parts. Care should be exercised during the build, and you may even want to delay attaching certain parts until almost the end of the build.
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