At the end of World War II Admiral Chester Nimitz ordered the formation of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team to showcase Naval Aviation. In June 1946 the Blue Angles flew their first show with the Grumman F6F Hellcat. In 1986 they completed their 40th anniversary season when the team transitioned from the McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk II to the F/A-18 Hornet. The main difference between the Blue Angles F/A-18 and their combat brethren is the removal of the weapons systems and the addition of the smoke generator system. The system consists of a tube on the left engine that injects paraffin based oil into the exhaust. The oil produces a white smoke making it easier for spectators to follow the maneuvers.

(Editor's note: This kit is from Dragon's "Smart Kit" line)

History and Performance

During their early offensive operation during WWII the Germans were faced with several river crossings. Taking bridges intact was always a goal, and when that was not available bridging units were brought to the front. The Wehrmacht did not have any true means of amphibious crossings on hand during the war. The Landwasserschlepper was the initial solution to the river crossed challenge.

The Landwasserschlepper was a large amphibious vehicle that carried troops or cargo internally. Several experiments were made with a barge that connected two of these vehicles together. The concept was eventually discarded mid-war as something that was no longer affordable. The vehicle modeled here is the prototype of the armored version.

The Kit

The kit is molded in the grey plastic typical of the current Dragon line.

I just received the new “Steel Navy”, Vintage US Navy Warships: 1860s – 1900s from Ray Bean. Ray has produced a ton of photo CDs that has helped any number of fellow ship modelers over the years. As a professional photographer, he has a very detailed eye for any photograph that goes out with his name attached. That eye for detail and photographic quality continues with this new photo CD.

The CD comes in a very sturdy envelope along with a full color jewel case insert and contains more than 300 high quality, high resolution images. It will take you at least two or three sittings to go through all of these images. Due to the time frame of the CD, all images are halftone which I expected. In fact, if any of them were “colorized”, I would have been very disappointed.

Dragon advertises that they squeeze 1/35th detail into 1/72nd scale – and I can testify that they do indeed! The Pz IV F2 was the first of the series to mount a long 75mm gun. Originally designed to carry the short 75mm in an infantry support role, the gun versus armor race in early WWII found the Germans up-gunning the Pz IV to meet the threat posed by heavier Allied tanks. The first Pz IV F2’s, called Mark IV Specials by the British, appeared in March 1942.

The Mitsubishi T-2 was a supersonic trainer for the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF). Like the T-38 and F-5 in the US, it was used as an aggressor aircraft and demonstration team mount as well as the original trainer mission. The T-2 used the same engine as the SEPECAT Jaguar, the Rolls Royce Turbomeca Adour, built in Japan by Ishikawajima – Harima Heavy Industries. The Jaguar T.2 and the Mitsubishi T-2 look similar, but they’re definitely not the same aircraft. It’s a case of engineers with the same problem coming up with similar solutions.