For years I have wanted to replace the old Aurora kit of the Orion III that I lost years ago but the cost was too high and the old Airfix kit has several accuracy issues. But now my wait is over as Moebius has released their second kit from the movie 2001 and it is a beauty.

The new kit of the Orion III Space Clipper is very simple to build with only 12 white plastic parts and 5 clear parts (and that includes 2 pieces for the stand). The parts are well packaged with the tail parts extra protected for the tail prongs. Unfortunately, one of mine was bent but a little finger pressure put it back in line. The fit is pretty good though I still had a little trouble matching up the fuselage seams and there were gaps between the upper wings and fuselage. I used some styrene strip to fill the later.

History Brief

As the Second World War progressed, the Soviets were fielding better tanks. The Finnish Army, on the other hand, had to make due with a large number of old obsolete captured tanks, which were for the most part lightly armored and armed.

The Finns redesign the BT-7 model 1937 tank. They constructed a new turret and armed it with British-made 114.3 mm howitzers that had been supplied by the British during the Winter War (Q.F. 4,5 inch howitzer Mark II, also known as 114 Psv.H/18 in Finland). The Finns constructed 18 BT-42s and these were pressed into service in 1943.

Round 2 has reissued the AMT 1962 Thunderbird with both stock and custom parts, not offered in the original release. The 1962 Ford Thunderbird, known to aficionados as the “Bullet Bird”, was the 3^rd generation of the 3 most classic and beloved Thunderbird designs: “Square Bird” 1958-1960, “Bullet Bird” 1961-1963, and “Flair Bird” 1964-1966. The customizing features include ride lowering suspension with rear skirts, low profile whitewall tires and sombrero wheels, Lucas style headlights and sombrero taillights, and a 4 barrel engine option with separate manifold and air cleaner. The decals are a customizer’s dream: scallops for the hood, rear deck and sides, pinstripes, and “T-bird for Two” logos in black and white. To top off the custom look, choose the soft top, convertible, or tonneau cover. The kit is accurate, well detailed, and for the most part fits well. I elected to make a mild custom version, here are my construction notes:

Short History

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a ground attack aircraft designed for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The delta winged, single-engine A-4 was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company’s chief designer Ed Heinemann. The aircraft was later produced by McDonnell Douglas. The A-4 was originally designated the A4D under the Navy’s pre-1962 designation system. The A-4 was in response to a call by the US Navy for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the older Douglas Skyraider. Ed Heinemann opted for a design that would minimize size, weight and systems complexity. The little Skyhawk quickly began to be called by other nicknames such as “Scooter”, “Kiddiecar”, “Bantam Bomber”, “Tinker Toy Bomber”, and one of its more famous of nicknames, “Heinemann’s Hot Rod”.

The Jagdpanzer IV was a tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretlessJagdpanzer (hunting tank) designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III). Guderian objected to the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the Stug III and Sturmgeschütz IV were still more than adequate for their role. After the Battle of Stalingrad in September 1942, the Wehrmacht arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a new standard for assault weapons: 100mm of armor to the front, 40–50mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50cm, top speed of 26 km/h, and the lowest possible firing positions. The new Panzerjager (tank hunter) design would be armed with the same 7.5cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70.