Seldom does a military aircraft gain a reputation the way the MiG 25, NATO codename “Foxbat”, did. When it entered service in 1970, little was known in the west other than grainy satellite photos and radar tracks that showed impressive speeds at high altitude. It was originally developed as a counter to the American XB-70 Valkyrie bomber, Western analysts believed the MiG 25 was a highly maneuverable, high-tech fighter based on the limited intelligence they could gather. Fast forward to September 6, 1976 when Lieutenant Victor Belenko took a MiG 25 from Russia and navigated his way to Japan landing at the civilian airport in Hakodate. Belenko was granted US citizenship by then President Jimmie Carter and the MiG was dismantled and studied by US intelligence officials. Some of the speculation was quickly refuted. The MiG 25 was made primarily of steel and required powerful engines to push the airframe to its Mach 2 plus performance.

When Tamiya announced they were entering the Phantom market in 1/48 scale, the Internet buzzed. And now the kit is out, a 1/48^th scale F-4B Phantom. Let’s start by taking a looking the box. For starters, there are 14 sprues of perfect Tamiya grey and clear plastic. There is also a set of instructions, a set of Tamiya Tech tips and a background information booklet about the plane. There are two large double-sided four-color pages with markings for the three planes and a drawing for stencil locations. Also included is a set of masks (not precut). Lastly, there are two decals sheets with markings for the weapons, planes and stencils.

Markings are included for the following:

• VF-51 “Screaming Eagles”, CAG Plane, May 6, 1972, USS Coral Sea
• VF-111 “Sundowners”, Squadron Leaders Aircraft, NAS Miramar, August 1972
• VF-161 “Chargers), CAG Plane, May 1972, USS Midway

Options included for the modeler to use are:

Toward the end of World War 2, the Germans were coming up with more and more desperate attempts to halt the U.S. and British aerial juggernaut that was daily pummeling their cities and the remnants of their industrial capacity. Cheap, easily assembled point defense weapons became the order of the day, resulting in such oddities as the Me163 Komet rocket fighter and the He162 Salamander, both of which were as much a threat to their pilots as to any Allied airmen. The Junkers EF-126 and its rocket-powered alternative, the EF-127, were supposed to be the logical descendants of the Komet, and although none were built by German industry, the Soviets made prototypes of both aircraft after the war. Apparently the sole unpowered version of the craft crashed on its maiden flight. I couldn’t find where powered versions were ever run.

This is a re-boxing of the very good Dragon kit with addition parts and new decals for five different markings. Included in the kit is a very nice instruction manual by Das Werk. The kit can be built in to one of two different versions – the 10.5cm StuH42 or the 7.5cm StuG III Ausf.G.

The kit contains

• 13 sprues molded in light grey styrene
• 1 Lower hull in light grey
• 1 clear sprue
• 1 Photo Etch sheets
• 2 metal cables
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet.

Construction

The kit is includes a lot of unrequired parts as these are for the other StuG versions that Dragon does. The instruction booklet is great and very detailed to assist in the build. There were a couple of minor errors that I list below that I found during the build.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey had a checkered development history and near cancellation of the project. However, persistence paid off and this unique and versatile hybrid aircraft has seen great success in the US Marine Corp (MV-22B) and US Airforce (CV-22). It is also being integrated into the US Navy (CMV-22B) to replace the aging Grumman C-2 Greyhound’s, as well as a Presidential (Marine MV-22B – VIP) transport. The only export customer so far is the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (MV-22B). There are several other countries who have or are considering the Osprey.