What a great time to be a modeler! Zoukei-Mura continues their excellent 1/32 scale releases with an A-1H Skyraider. The kit is stunning with the option to fold the wings already included, great cockpit detail, and a full interior. Other options include positionable air brakes, a highly detailed engine, detailed gun bays, and many other options.

The kit is available now and Zoukei-Mura also allows the modeler the option of adding even more aftermarket to it as options, with a complete weapons set (that could be used for other aircraft and is excellently detailed), metal landing gear, turned cannon barrels, and a variety of photoetch and decals. I love the fact these are options, in that it gives the modeler a choice of how far he want to go with his own build and cost.

This kit contains 47 grey styrene parts that will create five “mostly civilian” figures. “Mostly” because two are in uniform. One is a Hitler Jugend (Youth) or HJ, technically a civilian, and the other is an Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) uniformed regular policeman. More on these two later.

The Vehicle

The Sd.Kfz.250/1 (neu) was a compact version of the SdKfz251. Its mission was to carry a scout section for reconnaissance purposes. There was a previous (alt) version which had multi-faceted armor plate which stood up better than the simpler flat plates used by the “neu” version. But because the older version was more difficult to build and cost more, the newer one became the standard in early 1944

The armor of the Sd.Kfz 250/1 could stop rifle caliber bullets and shell fragments, but didn’t stand up to anything heavier, such as a .50 caliber or larger weapon. The half track design was superior to wheeled armored cars when off-road, so the 250 was preferred in many situations.

The Model

Ace has produced a vehicle which we haven’t seen kitted previously. ESCI had a 250/9, but it’s a different vehicle in that it has a screened top to prevent insertion of grenades and other litter.

After the American Civil War, the railroad gun became a common weapon system throughout Europe. They provided a rapidly deployable heavy artillery gun that could defend a coastline or bombard enemy positions and fortifications. By the end of World War I, these guns grew in caliber and popularity. In the 1930s, Hitler initiated several programs to develop and procure more of these systems. Krupp initiated its own design and this program resulted in the" 28cm Kanone 5 Eisenbahngeschutz." The name is often abbreviated to 28cm K5 (E) (Eisenbahngeschutz means railroad gun) and 24 examples, the largest quantity of any rail gun, were produced. They were initially deployed along the English Channel to support the invasion of Britain. After this aborted event, they were deployed on all fronts to support other actions.

I received this conversion set with great anticipation and look forward to installing it on my latest venture.

I have built quite a few Tamiya 1/32nd Phantom kits since its debut, a total of 77, to be exact. (I know this guy's lying…but it's true.) I used to build for a decal manufacturer that had over 100 decal sets for the F-4 and he wanted a model built for every one of them, all in 1/32nd. Well, he is out of business, so now I build for myself. I have used just about every aftermarket product out there for the F-4 and I'm always looking for something new. Eduard has come aboard with a very nice exhaust nozzle set.

Opening the package revealed some nice protective foam and each assembly was in its own plastic bag. No damage or lost parts. You get direct replacement parts for two engine intakes, discharges, tubes, and nozzles. Also included is a new arresting hook. All the parts are of a very high quality resin casting and photo etch.

This publication covers the development and acquisition of armored vehicles for the Polish army from 1919 until 1939. Each page has several period images of the miscellaneous vehicles. Included are color profiles along with some line drawings and one blueprint of a Polish tractor. Although the text is minimal, it is quite informative. One gets the sense of the lambs being lead to the slaughter inflicted by the much superior German armor in September, 1939.

Vehicles addressed include the Vickers 6 ton Mark E types A , B and E, the C6P and C6T Tractors, the C7P artillery, and recovery and combat engineering tractors. Granted, these vehicles are certainly not as well known at those of the major World War II powers, but are quite interesting in their design and performance, and provide some unique topics.

It’s hard to think of an aircraft that has had a longer career than the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, frequently called the Scooter. That career started in 1954 (a very good year, by the way) and continues to this very day. The design was the result of Ed Heinemann’s efforts to give the Navy the attack aircraft it wanted while making it fit on any aircraft carrier the Navy used. The maximum unfolded wingspan the Navy stipulated for carrier aircraft, 27’ 6”, determined the span of the A-4. The ability to carry the then-current Mk. 7 nuclear weapon resulted in the stalky landing gear with which we’re all familiar. The product of Heinemann’s genius was a reliable aircraft that could carry a useful weight of weapons a considerable distance while being tough enough and maneuverable enough to bring the pilot home after delivery.

Modern special operation forces made their first appearance during the Second World War and have been involved in every major and many minor conflicts since. The current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with wide open spaces and heavily armed insurgents, have seen the employment of a large variety of special operations patrol vehicles. These vehicles allow the special operators to cover long distances rapidly while carrying the weapons necessary to confront a wide range of targets.

IN THE BOX

The kit replicates the back engine housing/afterburner assembly used on the F-14A Tomcat. Material is made from resin and is gray in color. Also included is a photo etched sheet of afterburner nozzles. All the parts were in excellent condition.

CONSTRUCTION

Initially, I trimmed the engine housing exhaust and afterburner housing. The end sprue material was not needed. I painted the interior prior to the assembly of the fan blades, can interior, and afterburners. Note: the F-14 kit I used did not have a “kit part” as noted in the instructions. I was able to adapt this exhaust nozzle kit to the F-14A Testor’s kit. It worked just fine – I did have to make some adjustments, however.

FINISH

The paint used was store-bought spray primer (gray), ModelMaster enamel (steel), and on the outside exhaust housing I used acrylic (steel).

COMMENTS

This kit can be assembled by any age model builder. The plans are very easy to follow.

Wheelliant has several offerings of wheel chocks in 32nd scale. Set # 132-013 is for use with land-based USAF and US Marine aircraft. The castings are exceptionally clean and crisp with no sink marks or imperfections. This set of chocks provides four larger chocks and a pair of smaller ones. A short length of “rope” is included, and has a texture and appearance that is very much appropriate for 32nd scale. These chocks are ready to go directly from the package and will add a touch of realism to the appearance of the subject being modeled.

This product is highly recommended. Thanks to Aires for the review sample and IPMS for the opportunity to review it.

Griffon Model has released another universal product for modelers of armor. This time they have come out with a round-cornered 3.7cm ammo storage bin for German 3.7cm Flak. Two types of bins can be made. One has holes for the shell to fit thru on top and with half moon cutouts at the other end so that the bottom of the shell can rest on it and keep it from moving. The other type has bars which fit across to hold the shells in place.

Included in this “Universal” kit are one large photo etched fret, decals, and a small length of brass wire with four ABS rods. These cases can also be built with working hinges if you choose.

The H.IIB Launch Vehicle by Aoshima is a great little kit. When mounted on the display base provided in the kit, the model measures just shy of 6 inches in height. The display base has a small footprint, measuring about 2 inches by 4 inches. The completed project will not consume much volume in your model display case.

While the space required for display of the H-II is very small, the eye appeal of the finished model is quite large. The color scheme is dramatic, as is the shape of the vehicle and payload shroud.

The H-II features four SRBs attached to the main rocket body, with a payload shroud topping off the full stack. The rocket nozzles are molded as single pieces while the SRBs, payload shroud, and main rocket body are molded in “right/left” halves.

History and Performance

The Grizzly armored personnel carrier is part of the Canadian Armored Vehicle General Purpose (AVGP) family. Also included in this family are the Coyote and the Cougar. Originally purchased by the Canadian military in the 1970s, the Grizzly is no longer in front line service. The surviving vehicles have been converted to support vehicles and some were sold to other countries.

Instructions

The instructions are in a twelve-page book form that include 15 construction steps. Each step involves exploded views with parts numbers for placement. The plans are supplemented by a two-sided painting and markings guide. The first is an IFOR vehicle marked in green and black, while the second is an all-white UN vehicle. Paint reference colors are shown for Mr. Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol. The Tamiya colors are noted incorrectly for the IFOR vehicle: each should be moved up one cell on the paint chart.

At least to me, Master Model has been putting out some of the most affordable gun barrel upgrades in the industry without sacrificing detail. This set is no exception, providing a quick upgrade to the armaments on what is already a well detailed kit. The set includes barrels for both guns, cooling jackets, ring sights and their mounts (extras included) – don’t overlook the tiny turned bead for the handheld MG either (mine almost was eaten by the carpet monster).

When compared to the kit parts, you can see the difference in refined detail and size. Both of the kit-supplied barrels look clunky in comparison. No other modifications are really required aside from replacing the barrels on the kit parts, so it couldn’t be any easier.

Recommended without reservation.

Thank you to Master Model for the review sample (I just won an AR 196 in our club raffle – so the timing was excellent!) and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this upgrade.

Let me begin this review by stating that there are four different part sets for the Hobby Boss F9F-2 Panther in 1/72 scale. I was impressed with the fine detail that Quickboost was able to put into each of these aftermarket part sets. They are cast in a tan resin with easy to remove casting blocks. The finer parts were very thin, so care must be taken when handling them. I would also recommend painting some of the parts before removing them from the casting blocks.

Wing fences QB 72-342 $4.25
Exhaust nozzle QB 72-340 $4.25
Pitot tube/antennae QB 72-339 $4.25
Undercarriage covers QB 72-343 $5.50

The instructions consist of exploded views but are very clear and complete. The undercarriage covers and exhaust nozzle do not have exploded views as they are not really necessary.

Spoiler alert – if you don’t want to know what I think, go to the next paragraph. This is THE only book you will need to own for reference on the P-39 Airacobra. Printed on high quality gloss paper, this paperback book is printed on A5 size with 160 pages chock full of information. Modelers will love the information included in this book.

The very first thing you will notice upon opening the book is four view drawings of the P-39F and Q in 1/48th scale and the P-39Q in 1/32nd scale. If you build 1/72nd scale, fear not – there are plenty of 72nd scale drawings throughout the book. OK, 1/144th scale guys, there are drawing in the book for you as well.

When you look at any of Master Model’s brass gun barrels, you always marvel at what you see. The detail is remarkable regardless of the scale, and the price is hard to believe because it is so low. One of the things that always bothersed me in German WWI aircraft, almost as much as rigging, was annealing and rolling that stupid cooling jacket on Spandau machine guns. And when I finally get it rolled, I had to join it somehow. Soldering is supposed to be how you do it, but I have yet to be successful. So, I ended up with a very soft brass roll that was barely held together on the bottom by superglue. It was guaranteed, at some time during the build, to get dented or just plain squashed. Master Model comes to the rescue with one-piece, turned and perforated cooling jackets and exquisite muzzle and flash suppressor, plus a gun barrel that cannot be duplicated by stretched sprue or brass rod or plastic rod.

The Grumman Tigercat was the epitome of WWII US-designed, twin-engined fighters, and was an exceedingly heavily armed aircraft for its size, either for the fighter or strike role. As a night fighter, it shared similar attributes with its Air Force cousin, the P-61 Black Widow, not the least of which was a reduction of its built-in armament as it evolved. As with the Widow, the Tigercat eventually dispensed with its four original 50 caliber machine guns, keeping its remaining four 20mm cannon (necessitated by the installation of its nose-mounted radar, thus displacing the nose-mounted 50s). The 20mm barrels are represented by these Quickboost replacements.

If you enjoy building armor, you must get this kit.

Upon opening the box, one finds 15 sprues comprising 501 plastic parts, 1 photo-etched sheet, 216 individual track links (you will need 202 for the main tracks), and decals for four versions covering vehicles used in both the North African and Italian campaigns. There are 29 parts not included in the instructions, and several for options that are either/or. Molding is very fine with no flash that I could find. The instructions are in booklet form, with a parts sprue layout which you will need during construction. Ejector pin marks are not a problem with this kit. At several points during assembly, the plans call for adding bolt heads which can be found on several of the sprues and which will need careful lifting off – but there are plenty of extras for your next project.

History and Performance

The GAZ-69A was a four-wheel drive light truck designed and built for the Russian military in the late 1940’s. Supposedly, the design was based on the American Jeep provided to the Russians during the war as part of the Lend Lease program. The four-door GAZ-69A was a field car for officers or up to eight troops. The car weighed in at 1,525 kg, with a carrying capacity of 500 kg. The car was powered by a 55 bhp, 2.12 liter diesel engine. The car was exported to several nations in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

In 1950, Volkswagen brought out a vehicle that, like the Beetle before it, would become an icon of the 1960’s – what we now know as the Micro-Bus. It was available in many different versions over the years: panel vans, pop-up camper vans, and even as an open-bed pickup truck. But one of the most popular was the Samba Bus, also knows as the 23-window van due to the large number of windows. There have been a number of versions of this vehicle in kit form over the years; let’s take a look at the latest one from Revell.

The kit is molded in white, with chrome and clear trees as well. Four vinyl tires and a large decal sheet round out the list of parts. All engraving is crisp, and there is no flash to speak of. Seams are fairly light and easy to remove.

The instructions are a 12-page booklet of clearly-drawn line drawings. Parts are named and numbered, and there are numerous paint call-outs that appear to be fairly accurate.

History:

The Rumpler C.IV was one of the outstanding high altitude reconnaissance aircraft of World War I, and it was produced in substantial numbers during 1917 and 1918. Preceded by the C.1 and C.III biplanes, the C.IV had excellent performance, and it could fly higher than most Allied fighters of the time. In addition, it was able to outrun some of them in a shallow dive, making these aircraft extremely popular with their crews. They served throughout the remainder of the war, and a few survived to be used as civilian airplanes in the immediate postwar period.

The Book:

The P-38 Lightning was used in both European and Pacific theaters during World War II. It operated from paved strips as well as fields barely straight enough to throw rocks at. If there was one critical part of the aircraft on which the pilot placed his life during takeoffs and landings, it was the tires.

Ultracast, located north of the border in Canada, offers quite a few accessories for many different modeling subjects. This offering, #48227, is a block tire tread design replacement for any 1/48 scale P-38 kit. The package contains three spoked wheels, two main and one nose. All are cast in a tan resin, and have the pour gate still attached at the flattened bottom of the tire. A razor saw removed the gates quickly, and painting was the next step.

Being primarily an armor modeler, I was interested in this kit after seeing a fellow modeler’s build on the web. After all, it has tracks, doesn’t it?

The kit is, in a word, miniscule…really. I was a little surprised that, for a 1/32 kit, it was so small. Don’t let size fool you though, Fujimi has provided a little gem here. The kit features only three small sprues; two molded in bright yellow styrene that make up the excavator itself, and one molded in white styrene containing 13 parts that provide some general construction site supplies – wheelbarrow, cones, etc. No decals or markings of any kind are included in the kit, an unfortunate drawback in my opinion.

The mere 60 parts are crisply molded and required little, if any, clean up. A few parts may require a quick pass from a #11 blade to remove some minor mold seam, but that’s it.

Quickboost has now added a Spitfire seat to their ever-growing line of ‘drop-fit’ resin accessories. This one comes with a harness molded in, and should be applicable to any but the very early and very late models of the Spitfire.

As with all their products (at least, all that I have seen), the molding is extremely crisp and leaves little to be cleaned up. The belt detail looks very good, and has clear distinction that should make painting this fairly easy. The seat has a nicely-molded adjustment lever on the right side that also has very nice details. There are no flare cartridge holders present at the front of the seat – something that some Spitfire seats did have. The cushion on the backrest portion of the seat does have a nice (to me) textured look. I didn’t get the micrometer out, but it looks correct proportionally to photos in my references and on the web.