The domestic animals set is a welcome addition to the 1/35 scale diorama, adding some more every-day objects (or animals) to the traditionally military-focus aspects of dioramas.

Master Box has released a single sprue of 26 parts containing two cows and one goat. The box shows two goats, but it is just two suggested painting options. The sprue attachment points are medium sized and some part preparation and cleaning is needed. Care is needed when removing parts from the sprue as to avoid damaging detail. Overall detail is good, with clearly detailed faces, eyes and ears. You can even see the ribs in the cow sides. The goat hair might be a bit overdone but that makes painting and washing easier.

Oh boy- is this great!!! (Stolen from a famous movie.) I have been waiting patiently since Airfix announced the first 1/48 scale styrene kit of the Sea Vixen and the kit delivers in spades. A quick background shows that the De Havilland Sea Vixen entered service in 1959 and served until the 1970's. It was the first British fighter to be designed without guns relying solely on its missiles.

On to the kit- the basics show very crisp molding with engraved panel lines and are molded in light gray styrene. There are three large sprues in total. A very nice clear sprue rounds out the plastic and has the canopies and windscreens as well as the seeker heads, HUD glass, etc. One thing that hits you right off is the instruction manual: detailed and with 20 pages of instructions and 2 pages of common decals. The last thing is an enormous Cartograf decal sheet with tons of stencils (well over 120) and markings for four different planes:

Sprues

• A – This sprue contains the barrel, shield, and gun cradle
• B – This sprue contains the ammo and ammo crates
• C x 2 – Tires
• E – This spure contains the tubular ammo cases
• G – This sprue contains parts for the gun, shield, gun cradle and a lot of unused parts from Kit 35045
• H x 2 – This has the wheel and hand wheels
• N – This has the trails and associated bits
• P – Photo Etched parts

This kit is a representation of the rebuild of a captured Soviet Divisional Gun. The anti-tank performance of the F-22 divisional gun was inferior to the 7.5cm PaK40. However, the Germans had captured over 500 of these guns and made use of them.

This set consists of 4 figures all conducting land mine removal.

The figures come on two sprues with 67 parts, the bulk of which are the odds and ends that the soldiers are carrying. The box art and instructions on the back of the box show the figures as completed. The first figure is using a probe to find mines, the second is digging with a spade, the third is removing (or placing) a mine, and the fourth is using a mine detector. 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 are no decals and the painting instructions are just for the major items. You will need to copy what you see in the illustration or consult your references for actual colors for the badges, shoulder boards, and metals. The paint colors are coded for Vallejo, Testors, Tamiya, Humbrol, Revell, and Mr. Color.

Short History

The YW-531a was the first APC manufactured by Norinco for the PLA. It was designed in the early 1960’s and first appeared in 1964. It can carry a crew of 4 to 10 troops. The YW-531 was first used in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and was in action again in the Iran-Iraq War.

APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), or mortars. They are not usually designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry troops to the battlefield safe from shrapnel and ambush. Amor on APCs is usually composed of simple steel or aluminum, sufficient for protection against small fire arms and most shell fragments. Just about any type of anti-tank weapon can defeat the armor of an APC. Some APCs also come with NBC protection, which would protect its crew from radioactive fallout or the like.