Reviews of products for scale miscellaneous models.

Review Author
John Noack
Published on
Company
Model Car World
MSRP
$7.50

Back in the mid-90’s, the late Ed Kinney and I co-founded IPMS Fame Cities in the Akron/Canton area. While many ribald tales could be told of those days, the tenuous link to this review is that the owner of MCW Finishes, Mike Guest, is a member of Fame Cities. I reconnected with Mike after I read about the new line of military colors he’s producing in gloss lacquer. I asked mike to supply us with a group of sample colors and he more than obliged. I was recently building the little Brengun 1/144 Horten 229 night fighter, which called for an RLM 75/76 upper finish, so this gave me my first opportunity to try these paints.

I generally don’t write overly superlative reviews, but I have to tell you that these are absolutely fantastic paints. Mike and crew formulate their own colors using PPG base, and these are provided in ready-to-spray format.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
Tru-Color Paint
MSRP
$32.95

Tru-Color Paint was formed in 2008 by Rick Galazzo and Scott Cohen, both of whom come from extensive backgrounds in formulating paint on the commercial scale. They set out on their own to develop this paint line of solvent-based paint by reformulating the old Accupaint formulation to flow better and give a more glossy appearance after drying. They currently offer over 600 colors offered with more to follow. Sets and single bottles are available and include lines for railroad, automotive, and military aircraft and armament lines.

The specific set I tested was specifically for NATO and modern armor and includes a sample of their masking frisket papers as well as the following colors in 1 oz. bottles:

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
CMK
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$3.80

Czech Master Kits, known as CMK, is one of the prolific model companies out of the Czech Republic releasing full kits and aftermarket parts for aircraft, AFVs, ships, figures, and more.

This includes a series of brass chains which are listed as Fine (72nd scale), Medium (48th) and Coarse (35th). This review covers the Fine version of these products as I build mostly 1/72nd scale kits. What you get is a very nice chain in brass that is 30cm long (almost 12 inches). The links are 2mm long and 1.2mm wide. The quality is high. You can either use the chain at its full length or cut it into smaller sizes for different uses.

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
AK Interactive
MSRP
$27.00

Courtesy of the AK Interactive website: As the title suggests, Abandoned Little Treasures is a book that offers you detailed descriptions of how to create models of various abandoned objects. Following the concept of the best sellers Extreme Reality, we release this new super-book. The best modelers from around the world share their scratch-building, painting, and extreme weathering techniques in richly illustrated step-by-step articles. Amongst the subjects covered, you will find a tank, an aircraft carrier, a WWI airplane, a sci-fi vehicle, a tractor, a building, and a few others. This book shows us how realism can be achieved in scale modeling and will be a good experience for our next projects, 136 pages of quality modeling!

Included in this publication are detailed articles for modeling abandoned versions of the following:

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$19.95

This is a Brassin resin set to make 8 American Vietnam War Era M16 rifles in 1/35 scale. This was the most common rifle used by the Americans and it comes in two variants (4 of each) plus 4 magazines.

The set contains the following sets:

  • 8 x resin M16 rifles (4 of each of the two variants)
  • 4 x resin magazines
  • 1 colored photoetch sheet
  • 1 instruction sheet

The resin parts are very clean and no flash. The resin base part is easy to remove. The photo etch parts form the straps for the rifles and comes in three parts each. There is also a mix of dark and light colored straps for variation.

The parts assemble very easily and give a very realistic rifle when complete. They are idea for adding to figures, as stowed equipment or for dioramas.

Summary

This is a great set for adding very detailed rifles to any model that needs it. I would recommend this set to everyone who has this kit.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$19.95

This is a Brassin resin set to make 8 Russian AK 47 rifles in 1/35 scale. This is the most widely used assault rifles in the world.

The set contains the following sets:

  • 8 x resin karabiner 98k’s
  • 4 x resin magazines
  • 1 colored photoetch sheet
  • 1 instruction sheet

The resin parts are very clean and no flash. The resin base part is easy to remove. The photo etch parts form the straps for the rifles and comes in three parts each. There is also a mix of dark and light colored straps for variation.

The parts assemble very easily and give a very realistic rifle when complete. They are idea for adding to figures, as stowed equipment or for dioramas.

Summary

This is a great set for adding very detailed rifles to any model that needs it. I would recommend this set to everyone who has this kit.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Tru-Color Paint
MSRP
$5.69

I have heard of Tru-Color Paints probably a year ago by now. They have an extensive line of railroad and car paints and they are continuously expanding their military line (aircraft, naval, armor). I’ve heard good things about them and I was interested to try them out. But honestly, the price was putting me off a bit. When I had the opportunity to review a few free samples, I jumped to it.

This review covers Tru-Paint TCP 1445 RAL 7021 Dunkelgrau, TCP-1446 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #1, TCP-1447 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #2, TCP-1448 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #3, TCP-1449 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #4 and TCP-1449 RAL 7008 Gray Green.

Review Author
Blaine Singleton
Published on
Company
Tiertime
MSRP
$499.00

If you have ever been interested in 3D printing, then this printer will get you started. 3D printers take a plastic filament material and melt it into an extruding nozzle, then ejected on to a moving build plate forms an object, so as the material cools it hardens. 3D printers can use several materials to melt plastic and create objects of different plastic type materials.

I have no experience with 3D printing but have always been intrigued about the idea.

I have experienced times when a special tool or part would be good to have, but there is nothing available. Now if I think about the part I can design it and at the same time learn a new skill of 3D printing. I will be honest and say the kicker for designing a part was the last time I knocked over my Tamiya cement bottle and said to myself, I wish there was something I could put the bottle in to keep from tipping it over. Guess what my first design and project was with the 3D printer.

Book Author(s)
David Campbell
Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$29.00

From the Publisher’s Website:

Operation Torch, launched on 8 November 1942, landed Anglo-American forces in Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria to create a second front against the Axis forces in North Africa, catching Rommel's German and Italian forces in the claws of a giant pincer.

Book Author(s)
Gareth Williams; Illustrator: Johnny Shumate
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

Gareth Williams has been a curator at the British Museum since 1996, with responsibility for British and European coinage, about AD 500 to about 1180. Within this area, he specializes in Anglo-Saxon and Viking coinage. Much of his work focuses on the use of coinage as evidence within broader historical and archaeological studies. Gareth has authored at least fifteen books and led several projects at the British Museum, with a "Viking Voyages" exhibition that recently finished a run from March 2015 through February 2017. He has been actively involved in historical re-enactments. Check him out at the British Museum.