Pro Art Models has come up with another idea for filling a simple niche with respect for modelers who build dioramas or need items to use as stowage on military and/or civilian models. This time Pro Art Models have put together 1/35 scale resin backpacks for military and civilian use. The detail is so precise that you almost can’t wait to paint them just to see how real they’re going to look. There are 10 different white resin pieces, of which there are two each (total of twenty pieces), with half being military and the other half being civilian. Even in close inspection, I could not find any apparent bubbles or flaws. Pro Art has positioned them on their resin stubs so as not to cut off any major details which would affect the detail of each piece. The handles, belts, buckles, and zippers can be seen so vividly that it seems to be almost real.

The Panzer

The Panzer III was built by Daimler-Benz, and the A models were first produced in 1937. The first mass production version was the Ausf F, which entered service in 1939, just in time for Poland.

The Panzer III was upgunned and armor added due to the experiences in Russia in 1941 and ‘42. The Ausf J, the model preceding the L, was equipped with the 50mm KWK L39/60 gun, which could penetrate the T-34s front armor at ranges under 500 meters.

The L had the same armament, but the armor was increased to 50mm, with 20mm plates on the front and rear. This made the L pretty safe from the T-34 at longer ranges, but the KV-1 could still put it in the hurt locker. Also, with lighter side armor, even anti-tank rifles could penetrate from closer ranges at the flanks. The Ausf M was often equipped with side skirts for the hull and turret.

Mushroom Model Publications keeps expanding its “Green Line” (dedicated to armored fighting vehicles) and its latest installment covers the Valentine family of tanks, from the design in the late 1930s through its operational use during WWII and other uses in post-war years, up to the 1960s.

The main sections of the book includes the development of the tank, technical description, description of each mark of the family, operational use, painting and markings, overseas use (Canada, New Zealand, India, USSR, among others), variants, and a walk-around.

I found the historical pictures to be very valuable from a modeling point of view, as they provide details on the markings of the tanks plus the environment in which they operated. The picture of the Malta Valentines (with their stone wall camouflage) is very unique.

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 650+ styrene parts on 17 sprues, Magic Tracks, one braided metal wire (which is very stiff even after annealing), one photo etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together.

Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues with new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has mounted the s.IG 33 field gun to the Pz III chassis. In doing so, you will have some sprues with the same letter but are called out by the color or upper or lower case (example: Sprues Blue A, Blue B and Black b). A whole plethora of parts will be unused and relegated to the spare parts box.

Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels. There are no problems here other than the removal of the mold line which is noticeable on the road wheels.

This latest release in the New Vanguard series by Osprey Publishing helps to fill the void of the history of USMC armor. The 48 page format of the series makes it necessary to limit the amount of information; thusly, there is no coverage of the armored amphibious assault vehicles. This issue only covers land-based armored vehicles. Perhaps we will be blessed in the future with another volume that will concentrate on the LVTs. This issue does, however, give a brief history of the early beginnings of Marine armor, starting with the US copy of the Renault FT, the M1917, as well as the barely adequate Marmon-Herrington tankette. Early US Navy shipping restrictions required lightly armored small tanks that proved to be under powered and under armed. Eventually, the Marines were equipped with the M2 and M3 series of light tanks that saw a baptism of fire on Guadalcanal.