If the first two volumes of TANKART didn’t provide enough “eye candy” and inspiration to armor modelers looking to up their game, TANKART 3 provides another potent dose of armor building and finishing “how to” and “why to” for creating true works of scale modeling art – specifically for modern armor subjects.

Consistent with the first two editions, Michael Rinaldi provides an image- and narrative-rich guide for modelers to create jaw-dropping finishes and weathering effects through techniques centered around layering and “artistic scalism.” In TANKART 3, the author shares with the reader his latest learnings in his quest to create fantastic finishes while improving the overall efficiency of the process. Notable examples, and a take-aways for this reviewer, are the reduction or elimination of washes in favor of Oil Paint Rendering (OPR), and improving the execution of the Hairspray (HS) chipping technique.

I’m old enough to remember a time when Heller was the only game in town if you wanted to reproduce some of the fascinating French armor of the Second World War. Now we seem to have been presented with a number of choices, each with their good and bad points. However, permit me to discuss this particular rendition of this lovely little two-man vehicle on its own merits.

Hobby Boss has taken its own stance on reproducing this tiny machine by providing it with a complete interior, viewable through the numerous open-able hatches on the model. Frankly, this is one kit that begs for a maintenance diorama in order to show off its features -- anything else seems a waste of detail.

During World War 2 the Russians created a large number of flamethrower-equipped vehicles, useful for burning Germans out of strongpoints. Some of them replaced a turret or hull machine gun position with the weapon. Others, such as the OT-130, replaced the main gun itself and made this a dedicated flame thrower tank.

Like the original vehicle itself, Hobby Boss’ OT-130 tank is a modification of the tried-and-true T-26, which by this time in the war had outlived its usefulness as a main battle tank. The 45mm main gun was removed and replaced with a flamethrower unit and its appropriate internal tankage. The kit itself features over 900 parts including two sheets of photoetch and seeming hundreds of tiny pins used to assemble the workable tracks. There is no interior provided, although all of the crew hatches do open. No figures are provided with the kit, although it comes with a clear lens for the headlight.

After a massive scratch building job on my 1/35th scale Werner’s Wings MH-47E I needed something simple. Quick. Easy. I needed a Tamiya kit.

Many of you may remember the old Bandai 1/48th scale series of military vehicles. Until Tamiya revived the scale with modern renditions in this scale Bandai was the only game in town for 1/48th scale armor. One of the unique vehicles that Bandai put out was the BMW R-75 motorcycle with sidecar. Finding these was always a pain. I built one of them a long while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Could Tamiya do better? That is a rhetorical question.

Packaged in a sturdy 6 x 9 cardboard box with typical quality box art the modeler is treated to a single sprue of light tan plastic wrapped in plastic along with a small decal sheet. The instructions are printed on a long scroll of high quality paper in typical high quality fashion. There is a small decal sheet of license plates and some unit emblems.

Riich.Models continues expanding its line of British Universal Carriers. This recent addition is the Mk.II series. I expect we will continue to see more versions of this vehicle, which saw widespread service during World War II.

Upon opening the box, you will find 13 sprues (one clear), two photoetch frets, a piece of thread, a piece of chain, brass tubing, and 32 springs (for the road wheels). In total, there are over 400 plastic parts and over 120 photoetch pieces. Add in the thread, chain, and springs and you have a truly multi-media kit in your hands.