Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
December 6, 2010
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$38.99

The Revell 1/32 Panavia Tornado is a nice kit, but now approaching 20 years old, it is somewhat lacking in detail. Various resin and PE detail sets have been created for it, but until now, no-one has tackled the complex exhaust area – Aires have come to the rescue with this new set.

The exhaust detail in the kit is not bad, but the jet pipes are a bit short and the detail overall is a bit soft. The Aires set solves both these issues and then some! Each exhaust comes in three parts – the burners, the jet pipe and the can and externals. Detail is excellent, even deep down in the internals of the afterburners. The jet pipes are at least half as long again, and the external detail is excellent.

Book Author(s)
Eduardo Cea
Review Author
David Goudie
Published on
December 8, 2010
Company
AF Editions
MSRP
$30.00

This is a very interesting publication. First of all, the title is misleading. This may be caused by the translation from the original Spanish and my lack of ability to do the same. If the word “Aircraft” is changed to “Aviation of the Japanese Imperial Navy” it would be more accurate.

Secondly this book is a continuation of Volume I. The interesting thing here is that the book apparently begins where the previous volume left off. By this I mean no preliminaries, such as a table of contents, publication data, or an index in the back. There is not even a prolog or introduction. It's like walking in when the movie is half over.

Book Author(s)
Eduardo Cea, (English translation by Sally-Ann Hopwood)
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
September 24, 2021
Company
AF Editions
MSRP
$30.00

This 104-page soft cover book is the fourth title in Casemate’s AIR COLLECTION series about Japanese military aircraft. Like its predecessors, it is an English translation of a Spanish title originally published in Spain in 2008. The book includes 170 full-color aircraft profiles, beginning with a twin-seat 1913 Nieuport NG and continuing up to such naval aircraft in service at the end of the war as the Yokosuka D4Y2 Judy and Model 11 Koo Nakajima J1N1-Sa Gekko. It is obvious the author/illustrator has a great knowledge of the subject and the artistic talent to present it visually. Sixty-nine different aircraft types are represented and the nicely rendered illustrations display the variety of color schemes and national markings that were used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the period. There are no photographs, but they are not necessary.

Review Author
Ken McDevitt
Published on
December 9, 2010
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/6
MSRP
$18.99

Description and History

Quoting from Dragon's web sitde product description:

“The kurzer 8cm Granatwerfer 42 (abbreviated to kz 8cm GrW 42) was developed as a lighter version of the standard 8cm GrW 34 mortar. It was commonly referred to as Stummelwerfer (“stump-thrower”) by troops. The smaller size made it particularly useful for German paratroopers who needed a weapon that was easier to move around, but still offered more punch than the diminutive 5cm leGrW 36.

It had a shorter tube than the standard 8cm mortar (tube length is 747mm), but it could still fire a round weighing 3.5x the earlier 5cm mortar weight, two times as far. Furthermore, at 26.5kg, it was half the weight of the leGrW 36. Maximum range was in the order of 1100m. Produced from 1941-45, the kz 8cm GrW 42 could be broken down into three loads for transport. Its effectiveness meant it served with Wehrmacht and other units as well as the airborne users it was originally intended for."

Review Author
Ben Guenther
Published on
December 9, 2010
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$63.00

Once again Dragon has taken a previously released armor kit and has added Zimmerit, re-releasing it as a new kit. This is a good thing if you don’t feel you want to try to apply the Zimmerit using various types of putties and tools. To achieve this Dragon provides us with 26 plastic sprues of varying sizes. Two Brummbar sprues, four STUG III G sprues and only a few specifically for the STUG IV, most of the sprues are for the Panzer IV. Total part count comes to 751 parts; the number of unused parts is 207 leaving 544 parts to build the model. Several sprues have the same letter; Dragon gets around this by having one letter in black and the second same letter in blue. I mark the outside of the bags to make it easy to find the right sprue when I need it.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
December 9, 2010
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$189.95

Roadbed parts come in a separate box and will make a roadbed long enough to hold the completed model.

This kit is a representation of the Br 57 Armored Locomotive. There was extensive use of armored trains by the Germans to provide rail security and to suppress partisan activities. Trumpeter has produced almost everything required to assemble an armored train except the tank carrier. This is only made by Ironside.

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
December 11, 2010
Company
Greg Buechler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.00

Editor's note: The following review was purchased independently and submitted for review by the author. Should you have an interest in the product you will need to purchase directly, as noted in the review.

The history of this gun goes back as far as 1980. The Israeli’s had these mounted in M113 series vehicles as well as several wheeled styles. For one reason or another it never really took off. However, the Chilean army purchased several upgrade packages for their aging M-50s (supplied by Israel) and their M-24s. These guns and Fire Control packages were relatively cheap compared to other offers and had an incredible amount of hitting power for the size of the gun.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
October 9, 2021
Company
Pavla Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$14.00

First, thanks to Pavla for first producing and then providing this kit to IPMS/USA for review; your excellent products continue to amaze me!

This is an extremely simple kit; yet it has complexity in the fact that it is a limited production item and therefore has ejection pin towers for cleanup. Fortunately these are all on the inside of the kit parts… it also has extremely small photoetch; be forewarned if you are an old guy like me. The overall presentation is excellent; I had little or no issues with getting things in place. The instructions are basic diagrams, showing where everything is supposed to go. I caused a minor problem in that the rear cockpit needed to be installed a bit higher than I installed it, as there are no locating pins or rails. The kit contains a runner of parts, one Photoetch fret, two excellent clear canopies, and a decal sheet with optional Luftwaffe and Soviet “captured aircraft” markings.

Review Author
Jack Kennedy
Published on
December 13, 2010
Company
Authentic Decals
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$8.00

One item that is the curse of all figure painters is that molded insignias and badges on the figures are way out of scale. They are usually raised and if in scale, they would stick out about an inch or more. Now, Authentic Decals has produced a set of decals for modern US soldiers with insignia, rank and regiment badges. With this release one would think that their prayers were answered. Unfortunately they were not with this set.

I realize that the modern US soldier does not have the colorful badges and insignia that were seen in WW II, but these are all monochromatic. Not only that, they are too small for 1/35 scale. I would also note that the regiment badges seem to be out of register.

There is only one set of each rank so if you screw up one, you will have to change the rank of the figure. The decals are so small that it is hard to distinguish one from another. They are numbered on the decal sheet, but there is no other reference as to which one is which.

Review Author
Jim Stratton
Published on
December 14, 2010
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$47.95

Introduction

The Valentine tank was designed by Vickers-Armstrong as a private venture and was offered to the British War Department in 1938. Production for the Valentine started in 1939 with an initial order for 250 tanks. Eventually more than 8,000 Valentines in 11 different marks as well as various purpose-built types were produced, accounting for approximately 25% of British wartime tank production. Over the length of the war it was produced in several variants including the Archer ATG with a 17pdr and the Bishop SPG with the 25pdr. The Valentine saw service on several fronts including North Africa, Italy, NWE and the Far East.