Tom Moon
Reviews By Author
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Valentine 25 Pdr SP Bishop with No. 27 Ammunition LimberPublished:
This kit is a representation of the British Army’s attempt to mount the 25 pdr Field gun on the Valentine chassis to create a self-propelled gun. The need was created by the fluid nature of the North Africa battles. This stopgap design served the British Army till replaced by the American M7 Priest and the Canadian Sexton.
Box ContentsSprues and decals
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US Marines in Jungle WWII EraPublished:
The set had very minimal flash, and no ejection pin marks. The few mold lines were easily removed with a sharp blade. There are no decals, and no painting instructions. You 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. The weapons fit the hands and are nicely made. As noted, there are no painting instructions and the photo on the front is useful as it gives you a sense of what the artist conception is. The photos on the back give you general idea of what the colors are, but my advice is to review your figure references for proper color. Conclusion – Master Box is… more |
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Road to Victory WWII British Leader SetPublished:
The set had very minimal flash and no ejection pin marks. The few mold lines that exist were easily removed with a sharp blade. There are decals and painting instructions. The decals were a pleasant surprise. Now all the small details like shoulder patches and campaign ribbons are better shown. The figures went together okay, but the Horricks figure has the hands and arms molded in one piece and that created a gap in the shoulder attachment that required some additional effort to close up. Colors are called out in Hobby Color, Mr. Hobby, Humbrol, and Tamiya paints. Conclusion – Riich Models is a new company and is off to a decent start in 1/35 scale figures. The figures depict a section of a period photo taken of them. The action is very minimal, however. Since there is… more |
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leFH18/40/2 (sf) auf G.W. Pz.Kpfw. III/IVPublished:
This is a multimedia kit comprised of 15 sprues, magic tracks, one photo etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. You can build the howitzer as either installed in the vehicle or in the towed format. The vehicle looks very plain without the gun mounted, so that is how I built the model. 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 not done so; only the road wheels, suspension and a couple of pioneer tools are from prior kits, and everything else is new molding.
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German Infantry Western Europe, 1944 - 45Published:
The set had very minimal flash and no ejection pin marks. What mold lines I saw were easily removed with a sharp blade. There are no decals, and some painting instructions. You 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. There are two insert photos of possible camouflage painting of the smocks but the paints listed don’t match the colors. 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 weapons fit the hand fairly well and are nicely made. The painting of these figures will require quite a bit of research and thought before attaching any of the extra… more |
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Pz.Kpfw.III with IG.33 GunPublished:
This is a multimedia kit comprised of 650+ styrene parts on 17 sprues, Magic Tracks, one braided metal wire (which is very stiff even after annealing), one 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 with new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has mounted the s.IG 33 field gun to the Pz III chassis. In doing so, you will have some sprues with the same letter but are called out by the color or upper or lower case (example: Sprues Blue A, Blue B and Black b). A whole plethora of parts will be unused and relegated to the spare parts box. Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets,… more |
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Soviet Medical Personnel WWII 1943-45Published:
This set contains 5 figures. These are arranged in two groups. The first group is two litter bearers carrying a wounded soldier. The second group is a female medic comforting a wounded soldier. These figures come on a sprue with 44 parts. The illustration on the box front is an approximation of the 5 figures. There are significant differences in the poses of the two wounded soldiers and the female medic. The computer-generated picture on the back of the box is an accurate representation of the figures. This set had very minimal flash and no ejection pin marks. What mold lines found 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. I constructed them… more |
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Panzer III Ausf M with Wading MufflerPublished:
This is a multimedia kit comprised of 650+ styrene parts on 17 sprues, magic tracks, one braided metal wire (which is very stiff even after annealing), one 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 with 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 but are called out by the color or upper or lower case (see Sprues Black G, Blue G and Black g). Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels. There are no problems here other than the removal of the mold line which is noticeable on the road wheels… more |
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British 17pdr Anti-Tank Gun CrewPublished:
This set consists of 5 figures, all conducting loading and firing of the 17 pdr AT Gun. The figures come on two sprues with 48 parts. The box art and instructions on the back of the box show the figures as completed. The first figure is watching what is going on, the second is the observer using a pair of binoculars, the third is holding a ready round, the fourth is ready to load the gun, and the fifth is the crew member aiming the gun. The poses are well done and depict a reasonable amount of action. The set had very minimal flash and no ejection pin marks. What mold lines that were there were easily removed with a sharp blade. There is a good note here on the decals – the arm badges and rank stripes are included. The only name on the sheet is Bronco, but they look good and… more |
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QF 25 Pdr Field Gun Mk. II/I with No. 27 Ammunition Limber (Trailer)Published:
This kit is a representation of the 25 pdr field gun used by the British Army during WWII. The original design was for a field gun designated as Mk II. It replaced two WWI field guns. In 1943, an anti-tank round was designed for the gun and a muzzle brake was required due to the higher muzzle velocity. This was designated as Mk II/I if modified, and Mk III if built from production. This gun served with all British and Commonwealth forces during WWII, Korea, and into the 1990’s. This is a multimedia kit but the use of the PE 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… more |