In recent months Eduard Models has been releasing some very useful tools for the modeler, like this series of templates. I have previously reviewed three other sets in the range: http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/shapes-templates

This first set reviewed in this article is “Ovals and Oblong,” part number 00031, with a total of 25 shapes. There are four subsets of shapes: two oval subsets, a teardrop subset, and a circle with a flat edge subset. The last shape is very useful when scribing fuel/oil caps onto airplanes or vehicles.

The next set is “Ovals,” part number 00032, with a whopping 60 oval templates. Their dimension ranges from 1x1.8 mm to 2.8x7.6 mm. You will be hard pressed to claim there was an oval shape you couldn’t find in this template set.

Background

The 1st Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 to stop further Japanese expansion. On August 17–18, 1942, the US Marine Corps’ 2nd Raider Battalion conducted an amphibious raid on the Japanese-occupied Makin Island in the South Pacific. This operation was intended to divert Japanese reinforcements bound for Guadalcanal, over 1,000 miles to the southwest. The Raiders were to destroy the seaplane base and radio station, take prisoners, and collect intelligence. The Raiders suffered heavy causalities and even left some Marines behind, but the raid was an invaluable test of the innovative training and tactics employed by the Raiders, and a crucial boost to national morale at this difficult stage in the war.

AK Interactive provides a set of three clear colors in this set. AK 267 Clear Orange, AK 265 Clear Red, and AK 266 Clear Green. These colors are perfect for navigation lights on aircraft, turn signals on cars, lighting on armor, lighting and windows on spacecraft, and even jewerly on figures.

In tests, all three colors did precisely what AK advertised they would do. When applied, the end product is a very realistic approximation of a color tinted bulb, or light cover. AK states that a new formula prevents the issue of a ring or rim of “Paint” around the area to which the colors are applied, and my tests verify this claim.

These tests consisted of the application of each color on an un-prepared plastic surface. In some tests I applied each color to the tip of a thread of stretched sprue. The Paint dried in a matter of minutes and has a smooth Surface and a transluscent appearance.

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-six years.

In the June issue of Model Art it seems as if they have changed the layout of the magazine. Along with the special feature article there is a separate intro feature article, a special article, and the monthly features.

This issue starts out with an intro feature article. This article is a full detailed build of the Tamiya 1/32 McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II "Black Bunny." This model is just gorgeous. Anything that could be detailed appears to have been. The article includes a multitude of color photos and line drawings of the various details.

This book tells the story of the events leading up to, during, and after the battle of El Alamein from June to November 1942. Prior to this victory, the British had not been able to defeat the German army anywhere. The author uses a huge number of first-hand accounts to illustrate the viewpoints on both sides of the hardship faced by the common soldier, the decisions that had to be made by the commanders in the face of political pressure, the actions and the consequences of the battles leading up to the stand at El Alamein, and the abilities of some of the (for lack of a better term) ‘superstar’ generals in charge on both sides.