History

The Toldi was a light tank manufactured for the Hungarian army and was based on the Swedish Landsverk L-60B tank. It was named after the 14th century Hungarian knight Miklós Toldi.

The 38M Toldi was produced and developed under license from Swedish company AB Landsverk between 1939 and 1942. Only 202 were produced. There were four variants:

History

Shortly after the beginning of World War II, it became apparent to US Army planners that there was a dire need for an armored, self-propelled artillery vehicle to support the troops involved in armored operations. Until something more viable could be developed, the army used the M3 half-track with an M2 105mm howitzer mounted in the crew compartment. This vehicle was designated as the T-19. However, this quickly proved inadequate and needed to be replaced, preferably by a fully tracked, armored vehicle able to offer better crew protection. Using the chassis from an M3 medium tank, two pilot models designated T32 were built and tested. Upon successful completion of the tests, the T32 was accepted for service in February 1942 as the M7 HMC (Howitzer Motor Carriage) with production starting in April 1942. The main armament was the M2 105mm howitzer, along with the M2 .50 cal. machine gun for AA and personal defense.

For the lovers of Soviet cold war armor, decades have gone by without any accurate, readily available kits. What was out were either resin or very limited run, and usually done from sketchy plans and grainy photos as a reference. The fall of the Iron Curtain saw the availability of reference material open up some, and a few kits from former Soviet Bloc countries trickled in, but we were still left wanting. Tamyia, Esci, Dragon, and others started covering the “heavy hitters” during the 1990s, yet that still left many vehicles untouched.

Enter the 21st century market with an onslaught of kits from the Far East. Trumpeter has been steadily working its way through the Soviet inventory, or so it seems, and after starting a series of eight-wheeled vehicles, they begin the four-wheeled with the release of the early model BRDM-2.

History

The design of the P-51 Mustang was led by the North American design team of Ray Rice and Edgar Schmued. The first unit was rolled out of the North American factory at Mines Field (now L.A. Airport) in just 127 days; the plane, however, had no engine. The plane was initially given the name of Mustang by the British, who had purchased it from the United States.

At this time, an Allison V-1710 in-line 12-cylinder engine was installed. The first flight was in October, 1940. Many versions were made during World War II, with the D being the definitive version. It had six 50 caliber wing-mounted machine guns and a new bubble canopy.

The British Rolls Royce Merlin engine had been adapted to the D version and gave the fighter its high altitude performance and long range, required for bomber escort duties. The Mustang served throughout World War II and during the Korean conflict.

The US Navy’s most widely-used torpedo bomber of World War II, the Grumman TBF Avenger, filled a critical gap in combat capability shortly after the United States’ immersion into the war. The Grumman TBF’s and license-built General Motors TBM’s replaced the aging and obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator. Avengers operated in a host of roles through 1954, including torpedo bomber, level bomber, and anti-submarine duties.

Academy proudly rolls out the first of its recently licensed Accurate Miniatures (AM) classics in the form of the TBM-3 Avenger. First introduced to the market under the Accurate Miniatures brand in 1996, this kit is truly a “Sweet 16” (year-old) work of art. The hallmark AM tooling’s detail and precision rivals that of Tamiya’s, with exceptional fit and minimal fuss.