Thanks first go to Dragon USA for providing us this excellent new release; Can’t say enough as to how generous our suppliers are who provide these kits, which we at IPMS sincerely appreciate!
April 2011
Sprues
- A – This sprue contains the barrel, shield, and gun cradle
- B – This sprue contains the ammo and ammo crates
- C x 2 – Tires
- E – This spure contains the tubular ammo cases
- G – This sprue contains parts for the gun, shield, gun cradle and a lot of unused parts from Kit 35045
- H x 2 – This has the wheel and hand wheels
- N – This has the trails and associated bits
- P – Photo Etched parts
This kit is a representation of the rebuild of a captured Soviet Divisional Gun. The anti-tank performance of the F-22 divisional gun was inferior to the 7.5cm PaK40. However, the Germans had captured over 500 of these guns and made use of them.
Layout of the Sprues:
- Sprue A - Cruciform base and extension legs
- Sprue A4 – Cruciform base top
- Sprue B – Parts for Travel carriages and bits for Cruciform base
- Sprue C x 2 – Parts for Travel carriages and bits for Cruciform base
- Sprue D – Shield and base parts of the Gun
- Sprue E – Plastic barrel and small parts of the gun
- Sprue WA – Shells and shell casings
- Photo Etch A – Shield
- Photo Etch B – More shield parts and ready round box
- Photo Etch C – Shell base
- Other Parts – Metal Barrel, metal tube, Rubber tires
Steps 1, 2, & 3 – Building of the Cruciform base
This book is the first of a series on French aircraft, and follows the excellent format developed by this publisher’s Polish Wings series of books on Polish aircraft. Since Azur produces kit of the Latecoere 298 in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales, this book will serve as a good reference for these aircraft. An 8 ½ x 11” paperback consisting of 80 pages, this book tells the development and service history of the two major French Navy torpedo bombers of the 1930’s. Strangely, the Latecoere 298 is covered before its predecessor, the 290 is described, and to get things into perspective, I began reading about the earlier type, then progressing to its replacement at the beginning of the text, as I wanted to read the story in sequence.
The Book
It is refreshing to see a publication written on a topic that has never been treated in an historical context before, and this book certainly fits that description. After World War II, the United States Army Air Forces had thousands of airplanes in its custody throughout Western Europe, and while many were scrapped on the spot, or in the case of heavy bombers, flown back to the US, some were disposed of a surplus to various buyers.
Hardback, 128 Pages, 8 ½ x 11”, Plus 8 16” x 23” poster sized double sides sheets showing profile drawings in 1/48 and 1/72 scale in separate packet, labeled “not to be sold separately”
This book answers a couple of often asked questions (1) what happened to the battled damaged USAAF B-17’s and crews that diverted to Sweden rather than accepting the hospitality of the Luftwaffe?, and (2) how were these planes acquired by the Swedes and used after the war? This is a fascinating story that answers a lot of questions, but still leaves a few open, such as “Why did the Swedes use B-17’s when the B-24 and C-87’s would have been a better choice for their purposes?”
Oh boy- is this great!!! (Stolen from a famous movie.) I have been waiting patiently since Airfix announced the first 1/48 scale styrene kit of the Sea Vixen and the kit delivers in spades. A quick background shows that the De Havilland Sea Vixen entered service in 1959 and served until the 1970's. It was the first British fighter to be designed without guns relying solely on its missiles.
On to the kit- the basics show very crisp molding with engraved panel lines and are molded in light gray styrene. There are three large sprues in total. A very nice clear sprue rounds out the plastic and has the canopies and windscreens as well as the seeker heads, HUD glass, etc. One thing that hits you right off is the instruction manual: detailed and with 20 pages of instructions and 2 pages of common decals. The last thing is an enormous Cartograf decal sheet with tons of stencils (well over 120) and markings for four different planes:
The usual thanks go to Aires for providing IPMS USA with yet another great review item.
A very simple upgrade to the Hobbyboss Mig 17 kit series; you’ll have to remove the inner details from the kit wings, glue the bay in place on the lower wing interior, and they are done. As to the nose: replace the nose intake splitter/wheel well with the resin item. Nose and main gear doors are also included.
It’s worth the cash and time for these parts. Simple modeling skills required; the improvement is seen when the Aires parts are held up next to the kit items.
This is a great time to be in the hobby, and Aires had obviously decided they are going to continue to compete for our hard earned paychecks. With sets like this, they are succeeding… well done Aires!
I received the bypass doors and Control levers from Quickboost via the IPMS lottery for use in my MIG 23 build. THANKS QUICKBOOST for providing us these items for review. We at IPMS USA appreciate your continued support!
I started this review with the Quickboost bypass doors; Install the doors in the outer intake duct. All that is required is to remove the mounting lip on the intake, and carefully install them in a partially-open position. Nicely done Quickboost!
The control stick is a work of art; three are provided. The three-button stick with the Autopilot “off” paddle is extremely well detailed, and a great improvement over the kit item which doesn’t really look like it should.
Final verdict: an excellent effort from Quickboost!
Description
I have reviewed a couple of ModelArt magazines with their impressive variety of subjects and techniques in each issue. The “Plamo Manual” focuses on one subject theme and describes how to build each subject in detail. From ModelArt’s English web site they describe a Plamo Manual as “Plamo Manual is the key handbook for those who have wanted to perfectly build in cars, aircrafts and naval vessels. Moreover, it even elucidates how to use airbrushes for painting. Plamo Manual is a helpful and necessary guide for all modelers.” This issue focuses on modern jet fighter aircraft. The production quality of this “manual” is exceptional. The 112 pages are high quality and weight paper stock, all color and with superb photos. There are a few general and advertiser pages, but for the most part the “manual” is packed with content. Some other Plamo Manuals focused on Ship, AFV, aircraft carriers, painting models and WWII aircraft.