A Brief History

The High Transfer Vehicle nicknamed “Kounotori” or “White Stork “was designed as an unmanned resupply module for the Japanese Experiment Module and for the International Space Station. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) began development and design work in the early 1990’s with the first flight of “White Stork” taking place on September 10, 2009. “White Stork” can dock with the I.S.S. and unload its cargo in a shirt sleeve environment. Cargo can also be unloaded through a large opening in the fuselage of the “White Stork” using the Canada2 arm. Cargo can be mounted on a retractable payload “sled” which simplifies the extraction of the cargo, and that “sled” is represented in this excellent kit.

The Model:

Now this package is deceiving - it is marked as 1/48 scale. But Aires goofed in the printing of the packaging and these are really 1/32; if you have the Esci kit, you will instantly see the size difference. But no matter and on with the review…

While there is still no state of the art Mig-23 kit in 1/48, we now have the Trumpeter one in 1/32. Typical of the large Trumpeter aircraft, the basics of the wheel wells are there and are accurate, but they lack a lot of the detail that this scale cries out for. In 1/32 scale, the wheel wells are easier to detail, but the wells of the Mig-23 are complex and it will take a lot of effort to replicate the complexity of the space. Aires to the rescue!

Many times one of the areas that we find lacking in kits is the wheels. Usually the tread pattern is very shallow, incorrect, or incomplete. Plus, whatever tread is present on the kit parts tends to get removed when smoothing over the seam created from having the wheels in two halves.

Ultracast has recently released a series of 1/48 wheel sets for the P-38 Lightning. This review concentrates on the “diamond tread” version. The parts are cast in flawless cream colored resin and feature beautiful detail including valve stems. Also on the main wheels, the internal brake drum is visible through the open spokes. The tread pattern is good and defined, and is more accurate than that in the Hasegawa kit. Comparing photos of wartime P-38 wheels, the Ultracast pattern looks correct while the kit tread pattern is very small. There is also a very slight flattening effect in the resin parts, which looks far more authentic than the “other” more common resin wheels available.

Those of us that enjoy building dioramas will like this new set from MiniArt. The kit titled “Flat Tile Roof” contains all the parts for two panels of tile roofing. These panels can be used single, covering a 9-1/2 x 5-3/4” area each, or used together to formed a peaked roof that will cover roughly twice the size of a single panel depending on the pitch.

Parts:

I continue to be amazed at the variety and quality of the product line from Master Models. I have had the pleasure to review their replacement ship gun barrels but this is the first opportunity I have had to review their aircraft accessories. This latest offering from Master Models is a pair of replacement .30 caliber barrels, perfect for the rear gun mount on most two-seater US Navy aircraft. These barrels are little jewels. Okay, I am not a machinist and so I am always impressed by quality lathe work. I was a bit astounded by the perforated cooling jackets. I will not even ask how it was done, but there had to be a computerized milling machine with an indexing arc to even space the dimples in this fine brass. Installation is easy, cut off the plastic barrel, drill a small hole and glue in the replacement barrel. Is the barrel worth the cost and effort?