Reviews of products for scale miscellaneous models.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
June 19, 2015
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$9.95

This is an excellent book that briefly summarizes many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War, and provides detailed descriptions of the significant sea and land battles. The book is 264 pages, plus 56 pages of black-and-white photographs, and eight pages of colored maps of several of the military operations. Each of the chapters are written by different authors and have previously been published as separate titles.

The Forward by Captain Dale Dye, USMC (retired) prefaces the book, describing the war in the Pacific as a dollar job on a dime budget. When the rest of the country was worrying about Europe and Hitler, the fighting men in the Pacific had a perverse pride fighting an obsessive enemy without the publicity that attended allied advances in Europe.

Book Author(s)
Neil Short
Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
June 16, 2015
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

The book is divided into 8 chapters with an introduction, index, a Bibliography and Glossary & Abbreviations:

  • Chronology
  • Design and Development
  • The Principles of Defense
  • Tour of the Sites
  • The Living Site
  • Operational History
  • Aftermath
  • The Sites Today

This illustrated volume analyses the different defensive elements of the East Wall, the phases of their construction, the shifting strategic focus, and what life was like for those manning the defenses in the final days of the war.

Conclusion

The book is a quick read and is well researched and documented. From the modelers perspective this will not give you many ideas for dioramas, but as a quick review of the East Wall German fortifications it does the job.

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy and to IPMS/USA for the review space.

Book Author(s)
Philip S. Jowett; Illustrated by: Stephen Walsh
Review Author
Steve Zajac
Published on
June 10, 2015
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$17.97

Osprey Publishing’s latest Men-at-Arms monograph focuses on the fighting men, weapons and equipment used during the war between the Greeks and Turks, in the aftermath of World War I. This from the website: "This is a comprehensive guide to the armies that fought a devastating and decisive conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean between the two World Wars of the 20th century. From the initial Greek invasion, designed to "liberate" the 100,000 ethnic Greeks that lived in Western Turkey and had done for centuries, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's incredibly efficient formation of a national government and a regular army, this was a war that shaped the geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean to this day. It gave birth to the modern Turkish state, displacing millions and creating bitter memories of atrocities committed by both sides.

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
May 22, 2015
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$11.75

Another neat set from Hauler comes this wooden barrel and milk can set. Do not be fooled by the box photo. You do not get two large barrels. You get one large, medium, small wooden barrel, 2 large and 2 small milk cans. You also get a small PE set for the milk can handles. The only thing that would make this set better would have been to include tops for the large milk cans and wire for the handles. The small milk cans have lids attached and maybe the large ones should have been designed that way as well.

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
May 11, 2015
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$9.40

Hauler has been around for a few years now. I mostly thought they produced resin items in the 1/48 scale arena. I was surprised to see this 1/35 item offered in the review area and since I had requested the Bronco Loyd Carrier and I figured I could knock this nifty looking item out as well.

The items come packed in a cellophane bag with a hard paper backing. Included are a small instruction sheet and three resin parts. The resin parts are the stove, the stove pipe and a small pile of wood. The parts are beautiful castings. The only thing I would have changed is the pipe attachment. The kit has you gluing the pipe to the stove. I think the stove should have had a depression that the stove pipe actually fit into. This would have provided a far more secure join.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
March 26, 2015
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$9.79

Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty eight years.

The December issue starts off with seven pages of models and modeling tools that were shown at the 2014 All Japan Plamodel Hobby Show

The main article this month is a feature using several model ship kits that were released in 2014. The article is composed of in progress shots of the kits, a diorama, line drawings and archive photos. Some of the kits used are the Fujimi 1/700 IJN Light Cruiser Kitakami 1945, Aoshima 1/700 IJN Seaplane tender Kimikawa-Maru and the Gallery 1/350 USS Intrepid.

Following the main article are several small monthly reoccurring articles. Some of these articles are Union Fleet Organized Course, Modeling JASDF and IJA/IJN Airplane Illustrated.

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
March 26, 2015
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$9.79

Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty eight years.

The November issue starts off with two quick articles. The first is a build article of the Zoukei-Mura SWS 1/48 Ta152H-1 and the second is on the Daco Products 1/48 F-104 Starfighter Improvement & Correction set.

The main article this month covers the design and development of the JGSDF Type 61 Tank. This article features five different 1/35 scale model kits including two different versions of the Type 61. The other three are a M4A3E8, M-46 and a T-34/85. These are used in the article to show the lineage to the Type 61. There is a multitude of color photos of these models throughout the article. Also included is a some technical drawings and a write up about Japans armor progression from the beginning of the JGSDF to modern times.

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
February 20, 2015
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$7.99

Hauler gives us one photo-etched sheet containing 66 wheels of four different sizes. Each size comes with a six spoke and a five spoke design. You get a set of three of each spoke design. Most have a round indentation in the center that can be drilled out to use a mounting point.

It is recommended to use a new blade to cut these off the sheet, since cleaning up the attachment point is very hard. These are so small and thin, I bent a few trying to cut of clean them up. I also found that gluing to a toothpick before cutting, helped to not damage them.

I left these glued to the toothpick and used photo-etched burnishing fluid to darken them.

These would work great in an open top artillery or self-propelled gun to replace some of the cranks on the guns laying drives. You could also use as half steering wheels by cutting off a couple of the spokes.

I would like to thanks Hauler and IPMS for the opportunity to reviews this product.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
February 13, 2015
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$9.99

Military Miniatures In Review (MMIR) is a bi-monthly publication by The Ampersand Group of armor and other military vehicles. Each issue typically contains new product reviews and detailing articles, as well as regular monthly features. The magazine is 8.5 x 11 and includes 80 pages printed on a high-quality gloss paper. MMIR is a high quality publication and my favorite modeling magazine.

Articles this issue include:

The M103, A Primer, Part 2

A walkaround and detailed photos of a M103 tank at the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment Museum at Fort Hood. This particular tank is a T43EI. Various details are shown in high-quality photographs of the tank exterior.

Review Author
Jim Coatney
Published on
February 10, 2020
Company
Iwata Medea
MSRP
$114.95

The NEO line is Iwata’s entry-level airbrush and is advertised as ideal for first-time airbrush users. Per Iwata, “Think you want to give airbrushing a try? Not sure you want to spend much to get started? The NEO is perfect for you…. AND you’ll have a great first experience! Iwata-Medea designed the NEO for the first time user.”

The Basics

The TRN1 is a gravity-feed, dual-action, internal-mix, pistol-grip brush. The paint cup is removable, and two sizes (10cc and 2cc) are included. The needle is .35mm. No air hose is included.

Impressions

This is the first-pistol grip airbrush I’ve used, and I was surprised by how immediately it felt ‘right’ in my hand. It’s heavy enough to feel solid, but no too heavy to feel cumbersome. It is nicely balanced, so I was able to get comfortable with it in short order.