For a hobbyist like me, there’s nothing more exciting than opening the box from a new manufacturer. The anticipation of learning what they did differently, how the plastic cuts, what level of detail did they achieve and myriad others questions we all banter back and forth are answered when you open the box. The new Beacon Hobby multimedia ship kit of the Jack H. Lucas and their associated upgrade kit is the subject of these very questions. This appears to be Beacon Hobby’s first ship kit as far as I could see. They came out swinging with this release by not only launching the Arleigh Burke flight III ship, but an upgrade kit designed and produced by the manufacturer. This was really exciting for me because I expected everything to fit and be designed to mate up exactly. I can tell you that they did not disappoint me! All the detail is done crisp and clean and, with the upgrade kit, it adds an element of scale to a lot of the fine detailed parts that they opted to include.

In recent years ICM has been in the practice of producing figure kits as accessories to their model kit releases. This year ICM has released a set of figures to crew their new B-26 Marauder kits. This figure kit includes parts to build four figures: a pilot, a co-pilot, a bombardier, and a turret gunner. While a Marauder had a crew of six or seven, the other crewmen would be difficult to see in a finished model, so I understand why ICM includes only four figures.

Since I like to build in-flight, I attempted to get a gunner in the turret, but it was not to be. The cage within which he was supposed to fit was so tight, that even after cutting off an arm and shaving him down substantially, once I got him in, he was still too tall for the canopy to fit over him. I decided he would be taking a nap down near the rear gun.

The detail of the kit is terrific – nice panel lines and rivets, plenty of detail in the cockpit, etc. The PE added some dimension to the open bomb bay doors, and nice scale to the underwing radar.

Hi everyone - had to split the build due to technical limitations to the web site. Part three will cover the rest of the build until we run out of parts and then part three will do the fixes and modifications.

“He'll find her! That's what he does! That's ALL he does! You can't stop him! He'll wade through you, reach down her throat and pull her heart out!- Kyle Reese”

Step 61 and 62 build the right knee and adding it to the upper section of the leg. One note here. This is getting big so allow yourself a larger workspace. As the knee is inserted, you will need to thread one of the upper pistons at the same time- not difficult because everything fits perfectly. This is also tightened with a Allen wrench and can be fixed tightly of allowing movement.

Agora Models Willis MB Jeep Engine

The SAS Jeep Engine from Agora is highly detailed and goes together easily. Parts of the engine are included in Packs 1 and 2. I counted 52 parts to the engine assembly, not including numerous screws used for construction. There will be many more parts added to the engine bay in later steps. Having all parts and screws packed separately for each step makes it easy to find the right part for each assembly step. Agora has recently switched to recyclable manila paper envelopes for the parts.