Kotare has released a brand new tooled injection molded kit in 1/32 of the Mid Production Spitfire IA, which hasn’t been done since 1967. This kit was released on March 7, 2023 and is the first from this manufacturer. IT includes a beautifully illustrated color instruction booklet with actual period photographs of wartime Spitfires, which is a nice touch! This is very similar to another New Zealand company that did 1/32 World War One aircraft! This is a brand new company led by model enthusiast and builder Mark Robson , who is a practicing veterinarian, along with Richard Alexander from Wingnut Models who rounds a team of great modelers and enthusiasts that have various skills in model production.

First, I must express sincere appreciation to the editors of Cross and Cockade; IPMS USA sincerely appreciate your provision of a great read.

I decided since I am closet WWI interest-type individual, (when Stationed in Germany I visited Verdun at least 10 times…) I might as well do some reading on “The Great War”.

The society itself has developed a large following (based on people who know more than I) and is considered “the go-to place” to research details on WWI aviation. They are set up with memberships, not storefront operations. Their website also has a plethora of books and resources for research.

From their website:

“Welcome to the web site of The Great War Aviation Society!

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999, and since then they have built up a list of books on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

Contents Description

The Lichtenstein radar was one of the earliest used by the German Luftwaffe and was also the first used for air interception. There were four variations of this radar - the FUG-220 being the third and operated at a low frequency of 90 MHz. This Brengun PE set is suitable for the following aircraft: Ju-88C/R/G, Me-110G, He-219 and Ta-154V15.

The instructional guide is one page and illustrates how to replace the plastic parts with the PE parts. This Brengun set will certainly create a realistic look for your model!

UP FRONT thanks to Brengun for sending us this Gem… This kit is a re-release of Brengun’s earlier Dauntless. The A-24 was used by the Army Air Force in several theaters of operation, and pretty well seems to have been as successful in operation there as in Blue water conflict. (Midway anyone?).

Total time in work: 3 hours over a week including paint and decals. NO filler.

The kit has only the box and decals as a difference from previous release. The end-opening box arrived in the usual condition of such items (flattened) but this did not impact the plastic or the remaining contents.

I was a bit more careful on this build than the last iteration. Not using the Micro photoetch aftermarket helped. (Yes, it provides that little extra “detail” but is a bit too much for my hand-eye coordination). I also used “itty bitty” kabuki tape dots from Gundam stuff to mask the wheel on the tires… such cool stuff we have available to help these days.