Bottom Line: New molding for 1/700 scale IJN Nagato as she appeared at the beginning of WW2 (1941). Excellent detail, excellent fit, accurate appearance.
IJN Nagato
Description:
1 pair of intake FOD covers designed for the Academy MiG-29A. And will also work on the Academy MiG-29UB (dual controlled two place trainer).
Inspection:
Packaging is the typical orange-labeled Quickboost clear envelope along with a piece of card stock and a simple instruction note sheet.
From Vietnam to the present day, and many conflicts in between, the M108/M109 and its many variants have been the backbone of the Field Artillery’s axiom, “Shoot, Move, and Communicate.” It’s presence on any field of battle has provided the ground commander with unparalleled, timely fire support throughout many years, and continues to this day.
Quickboost just keeps adding to their line of resin aircraft accessories. The latest addition is for the Tamiya Mosquito. It is up to their usual standards; molded in grey resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation. It only took me a couple of minutes with my saw blade to remove them. Another plus is that the exhausts are bored out, which would be a real pain if you tried to do it on the kit part.
The exhausts that come in the Tamiya kit look alright and would make an acceptable model but the Quickboost replacements are superior because of how they are bored out which makes for more realism, especially in a photo. These exhausts are very easy to install, and they just fit right in.
“This is #177 in the New Vanguard Series which explores the design, development, operation and history of the machinery of warfare through the ages.”
So says the tag line of Osprey’s advertising copy, and it is a fair description of the contents of this volume. The author, Richard Doherty, has a number of books to his credit, the most notable of which are about the reconnaissance corps which used the Humber car during the Second World War.
Contents:
This publication has become a premier showplace for some wonderful model aircraft. The publication’s cover banner “SHOWCASING THE VERY BEST IN SCALE AIRCRAFT MODELLING” is an accurate promise. Everything David Goudie said in his review of Issue Number 32 can be said of Issue Number 34. It is Quality…I’d go so far to declare it as High Quality.
There have been many books published on the Vought F4U Corsair over the years, so why, you might ask, has another one appeared? The reason is that this is not only a comprehensive history of the development and combat career of the Corsair, but it is also a very complete modelers’ guide to all Corsair kits in 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 scale. I don’t know why they left out 1/144, as there has been at least one kit issued in this scale. In any event, this is a really complete history of the type, and it explains the developmental problems and how they were solved, with the Corsair evolving into not only an outstanding fighter but also a highly effective close support aircraft, with a production life beginning in 1941, and continuing until 1952, when the last Corsair, an F4U-7, was rolled out of the Dallas plant.
Quickboost has continued to issue sets that make building the Hasegawa A-1 Skyraider easier and with better details. This time around Quickboost presents a set with completely assembled pylons, the centerline, the fuel tanks (2) and the wing pylons (12). The parts are cast in the usual fine grain, gray resin with no defects and very little clean up.
With the plastic kit the wing pylons are assembled from two parts and with the fuel tanks and centerline pylons you’ll have to glue on the sway brackets. The plastic parts have seam lines that have to be removed, possible glue smears to contend with and the fuel tank pylons have punch out marks that have to be removed.
Quickboost has provided modelers with a means to attach P-51 propeller blades to the spinner for the Hasegawa kits in a repeatable manner. The resin pieces were cast in a fine grain resin without flaws and with very little clean up. What one has to do is to remove the casting gates off the bottom of the spinner and the blade setting tool. I used a disc sander for that and a snip to remove the blades and shaft from the casting block.
Just when you thought that everything had already been published on the subject of the Focke Wulf FW-190, along comes another book that destroys that theory. This is Volume 2 of a set of books on the FW-190’s that were captured by various Allied countries during and after World War II, and concentrates on the colors and markings rather than their ultimate histories, although some individual aircraft histories are provided. Volume 1 included aircraft captured by the British and Americans, as they obtained most of the FW-190’s in the West. Volume 2 covers those FW-190’s collected and/or used by the Soviet Union, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Japan, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Turkey, France, Sweden, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Photos illustrate the aircraft not only in their Luftwaffe markings, but often in the markings of the air forces testing or operating them.
ModelArt Spring 2011 No. 39 is entirely devoted to US Light and Escort Carriers in WW2. Armor, aircraft and car buffs will only have a few small ads to peruse, with one exception. Aircraft modelers will love the section on aircraft markings for individual carriers. No. 39 turns out to be an excellent reference work on US Navy WW2 smaller carriers, but as usual the text is entirely in Japanese. However, the historical data section is still useful, and the usual scrutiny of recently available kit builds are very helpful for modelers. This format is larger than regular monthly ModelArt magazines, and the printing quality is of high standards. The book measures 210 X 296 mm (that’s 8-1/4 by 11-3/4 inches). The majority of the article photos are in color. My chief complaint with their layout is that many larger photographs of ship models cross pages, resulting in a dead zone where the spine is – it really breaks up otherwise spectacular photos.
Bombshell Decals continue rolling out extremely nice decals! This release of the B-26C Marauders contains decals to build two aircraft except for one set of the National Stars, and one set of standard Curtis prop blade markings. A note explains that two of the Curtis markings would often wear off; therefore enough decals are provided for two aircraft. If you used Bombshell decals already, you will find the same quality in this bag. All the decals have a sheen and easily seen against the flat paper surface. The clear flash around each decal is minimal if you elect to trim them. Veterans of decal applications using gloss surfaces and solvents will probably not trim them. All the numbers and letters have clear film for proper spacing and decrease distortion when applied. There are no signs of color overlap which makes the decals crisp and clear. This is very obvious just looking at the nose art ladies. You can actually see blush on their faces and highlights in their hair.
The Trumpeter F-100 series is a welcome addition to plastic modeling and the F-100 F two-seater fills a big hole for the serious model builder. Eduard is a well-known company with a reputation for providing very nice detail sets for many of today’s new model kits. Eduard has now produced several photoetch details sets for the F-100 F such as seatbelts, cockpit interior, undercarriage and exterior.
The seatbelt set, #49540, contains all of the seatbelts, buckles and pads for both the front and rear seats as well as the foot rests for the ejection seats. The belts are pre-painted in the appropriate colors, all you have to do is apply a drop of super glue and put the part in place. It is a slow and tedious process but the finished kit parts look fantastic.
How to write a Wingnut Wings review:
I have heard wonderful things about the Wingnut Wings models but I didn’t realize that they were this good. When John Noack posted that he had one of their models for review, I practically begged him to give it to me. I wasn’t disappointed.
Upon opening the very substantial box, I was greeted with many sprues consisting of 265 plastic parts and 11 photoetched parts. I opened the instructions and I really cannot call them mere instructions as it was a 30 page book in color. They were the most complete instructions I have ever seen and they even had photographs of the real aircraft in several places to help locating where various parts were to be placed.
I recently built the Hasegawa 1/72 T-2 for a detail set review. I ran into a large problem. The decals in my T-2 were many years old, had yellowed, and I didn’t want to do the Blue Impulse plane anyway. I went to my bookshelf, and I had only two references to the T-2, and one of them was for the Blue Impulse. I found a photograph of an aggressor which I used, but this book would have been a super reference, and saved me a lot of trouble.
The text is Japanese, but by golly the profiles, photographs and 1/48 scale drawing all translate nicely into whatever language you use, and there are 4 pages of English translation in the back of the book. It’s the history of the T-2/F-1 and assigned units, which covers pages 10-18.
The YW-531C has a history dating back to the early sixties. The Chinese firm Norinco produced the first indigenous vehicle and rolled it off the assembly lines as the Type 63 in 1963. It was fraught with mechanical and technical issues that were quickly overcome. As with all base vehicles, many variants and ideas were applied to and tested on the design. In 1982 the Type 63C started rolling off the assembly lines and the export version was designated YW-531C. The vehicle has a German air cooled diesel power pack, weighs in at 12.8 tons, carries a 12.7mm machinegun for self defense and anti-aircraft and holds a 15 man crew (13 soldiers and 2 crew members). The Iraqi Army received at least 150 of these vehicles. They saw extensive use in the Gulf War. Photographic evidence is very limited and there are several in museums but I have not uncovered any interior shots as of yet.
Despite the use of “tanks” in the First World War, and their use in the opening stages of the Second World War in Poland, September 1939, it was in the Battle of France in May 1940 that these weapons were used for the first time on any large scale. The battles around the French towns of Stonne, Hannant, and Gembloux for the first time in history saw massive clashes, involving hundreds of tanks on both the French and German sides. And it was during these battles that actual “armored divisions” from both sides were involved. This book covers the two major armored vehicles of the Battle of France, the Wehrmacht’s Panzer IV, and the French Army’s massive Char B1 Bis. The author, Steven Zaloga, is a well known military historian of the Second World War, and also a keen modeler. He is also a very good writer, and the prose of this book flows very well.
I’ve built a couple of 1/72 scale Zvezda kits, and they’ve always been quite complex, with lots of parts. The Stuka is a complete departure from that norm. It’s very simple, with only a few parts, and there’s not much detail on the kit. The explanation comes from the Dragon website. Zvezda not only makes scale models, they also make table-top games. This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There’s a reference card for the Stuka’s part in the game included in the kit. There are other aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Il-2 Sturmovik, plus 1/72 ground units.
Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll ruin it while playing. So simplicity and low price are virtues for this kit.
The kit is a single dark green sprue with the single-piece canopy in the plastic bag with the decals.
When I got the new Zvezda 1/144 Il-2 Sturmovik and Ju-87B Stuka, I thought they’d be highly detailed standard kits like the Mi-26 I built a while back. Well, no, they’re not. Zvezda is not only a manufacturer of plastic models, but they also have a large assortment of board games, and recently they’ve gone into war games using miniatures.
This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There are other 1/144 aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Ju-87B Stuka, plus 1/72 ground units.
Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll ruin it while playing. So simplicity and low price are virtues for this kit.
The Sturmovik kit is a single dark green sprue with the single-piece canopy in the plastic bag with the decals. Also included is a reference card for the game.
New from Squadron/Signal Books USA is the B-25 Mitchell in Action by David Doyle. Very possibly the most significant twin engine bomber of WWII is beautifully showcased in this new “in action” series book.
72 pages with artwork by Don Greer, this publication contains more than 200 photos (80 of them in full color), most of them original period photographs. This aircraft is covered in detail by taking it from the North American Aviation Prototype (NA 40) to the final production run of the B-25J, in use for some time after the close of the war. USN and USMC versions (PBJ series) are also well covered within, as are B-25’s in Foreign Service used by Allied Air Forces at that time. Also contained are several color profiles of the B-25.
Another beautifully mastered set, nicely cast in light tan resin without warps or pinholes. These are exceptional in that they go a long way to enhance an already extremely nice model and require a minimum of surgery to install. For me, they earn the “most highly approved” designation. Many thanks to Quickboost and to IPMS/USA for the review sample.
Specific Instrument Panels
The Lavochkin La-7 was in many ways a Lavochkin La-5, strengthened internally and modified externally to improve performance. It was introduced into operational testing in late 1944 and then served with numerous Soviet fighter units as they contributed to the push into Germany in 1945. The La-7 was considered by many to be one of the very best fighters built during WW II. It equipped the elite Guards fighter Air Regiments and Divisions and was the fighter flown by many Soviet aces who achieved that status by downing some of the Luftwaffe’s best late-war aircraft. These included Colonel Vasiliy A. Zaitsev, Ivan N. Kozhedob and Major Vladimir D. Lavrinyenkov.
This was a “mom saw it, and I bought it” modeling effort. Here in OKC (the home of Hobby Lobby Corporate) they have a discount outlet for the wedding crowd; and that is where they drop the occasional “model samples”; the store is called the “Basket Mart”…. Depends on when you show up if you get cool stuff. 98% of the time, nothing… but in this case I walked in and instant birthday gift for the horse-loving mother of mine, who just turned 21 this week. (HA!)
Ya’ll know I am an aviation/naval/sometimes armor guy. And in this case, I had an opportunity to do something a bit different. Waaaay different. Having visited Waterloo, I was aware of the time period this model represents; Warfare was changing again, and the use of cavalry was still being finessed. This kit represents a time period unlike any other… Muskets, Swords, and Horsepower.
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Eduard produced several new photo-etched sets for the TA-4J, a couple of which are applicable to other A-4 variants.
First we will look at the airbrake set. A single fret of etch is included along with one page of instructions in the usual Eduard style. The final assemblies completely replace the kits flaps, plus provide parts for the upper spoilers seen on the TA-4J, TA-4F, A-4F, and A-4M. Also one advantage the etched parts have is there is no ejector pin marks as seen on the kit parts.
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Eduard produced several new photo-etched sets for the TA-4J, a couple of which are applicable to other A-4 variants.
The set covers the following:
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further.
Canopy masking is always time consuming and among aircraft modelers is one of the least favorite tasks to complete a model. Precut masks have been around for a while, but it wasn’t until the introduction of Kuboki tape that precut masks really matured. Eduard has been doing masks for some time now, and EX273 works perfectly with Hasegawa’s TA-4J.
Quickboost continues to push out affordable details for scale models and one of the latest is a straight refueling probe for Hasegawa’s family of A-4 Skyhawks. The part is solid resin, and appears to be strong enough. The tip is shaped a bit better than the kit part, but does require a little clean up to remove a small nub that is there to ensure that the tip is completely filled in with resin during the pour process. It’s a direct replacement for the kit part, so requires no modification.
This probe is applicable to all A-4B, A-4C, and some A-4E, TA-4J, TA-4F. Do consult your references when building a particular aircraft to be sure it had the straight probe installed, or the later “bent” probe.
Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS for the review sample!
Frank Kurtis founded the Kurtis Kraft Company in the late 1930’s. They designed and built race cars and in a twenty year period they built over 1,100 midget racers. 500 were built ready to race and another 600 were sold as kits. The midget racers came with different engines, most notably the Offenhauser and the Edelbrock V860. The Kurtis midget racers won several events all over the country for decades. Some are even still running today in vintage race events. Revell has released a brand new 1/25th scale model of the Kurtis Kraft Midget Racer. This model represents the midget racer as seen during the ‘50’s and onward into the ‘60’s. This kit is all new tooling and Revell makes great use of slide mold technology to give us a beautiful rendition of this small racer. Revell has released 2 versions of the midget racer: One with the Offenhauser engine that has a choice of carbs or fuel injectors and the other with the Edelbrock V-8/60 engine.
Classic Airframes created quite a stir when they released their TA-4J in 1/48 scale. At long last, decal manufactures had a great excuse to make some of the very colorful markings found on the two-seat Skyhawk! Afterburner Decals wasted no time, and quickly released this sheet. Now, we all know that Hasegawa very soon after released their version of the TA-4J, but fear not as even though this sheet was printed for the Classic Airframes kit, they fit the Hasegawa kit just fine. For those that have noticed, the Classic Airframes kit looks to be a modification of the Hasegawa A-4 kit, thus both TA-4J kits are virtually identical in size and shape. In fact, for this review, I used a Hasegawa kit.
Editor's note: This review contains an embedded review of: Bronco Models 1/35th scale Sherman T51 Workable Track Set Kit: AB3542 MSRP: $19.95.
Dragon Models Ltd. has blessed the Allied WW2 armor modeler with yet another version of the Sherman tank. This time around the modeler is presented with the 105mm howitzer version of the M4. This vehicle consisted of a 105mm gun, mounted in the so called “high bustle” turret, atop a “large hatch” (47 degree) M4 hull. The kit consists of 11 sprues of injection molded parts, slightly more than 450 parts, together with a fret of photo etched brass parts, a pair of DS 100 rubber tracks, and a short length of metal cable, and decals for three vehicles. Perhaps 100 parts are “surplus to needs”, and care needs to be taken when figuring out which parts go with which variant.
Editor's note: The kit's title is "Natural Metal"; however the author opted to use a different scheme for reasons explained in his text.
History
The P-40 history is covered in plenty of detail. The P-40N was the last and most produced version of this iconic fighter. In 1943 the 49th Fighter Group was stationed in the Southwest Pacific. They had been flying the P-40E, but they were getting very war weary. Enter the P-40N. The N model was assigned to the flight leads. One of those was Lt. Sammy Pierce. At that time he had three kills from flying the P-40Es. In keeping with his practice of naming his aircraft after a feature film, the P-40N was emblazoned with “Kay The Strawberry Blonde”. The crew chief side had “The Hialeah Wolf” on the right side.
Kit
I'm a big Spitfire fan and I was really excited to review this new item from 3D-Kits. The decal sheet provides marking for four Spitfires. You get two identical sprues containing all the parts needed to convert two Spitfire Mk I's to Mk II standards. This set reminds me of the old Airform conversion set for 1/72 Spitfires from the mid-seventies, but much better. The parts are flash free and very nicely molded. A new seat, control column, Rotol propeller, blunt spinner and teardrop shaped Coffman starter fairing complete the conversion parts. This conversion is intended for Airfix (old and new tool), and Tamiya Spitfire kits. Although it may also fit the aging Hasegawa, Heller, and Revell kits as well (I don't have these kits handy and could not verify). The new parts are direct replacements for kit parts. However I found that the new seat will require a little adjustment to fit the Airfix kit to get an acceptable result. The decals options are as follows:
This 96-page book---#87 in the Osprey Combat Aircraft Series---follows Osprey’s usual 7-¼” x 9-¾” format, and is comprised of six chapters:
The first order of business: Extreme thanks to Squadron Mail order/MMD for providing IPMS/USA yet another review item. These folks are one of the oldest and most well-known plastic model kit distributors in the world, and we appreciate their providing us with review items!
This sheet highlights one of my favorite aircraft; the “Aardvark”, or F-111. Designed for use on the new Hobbyboss kits, it would be equally at home on the Academy versions.
The markings on this sheet are for three aircraft of a unit that I used to track while assigned to 17th AF in Sembach, Germany; the 20th FW from Upper Heyford in the UK. They used to fly down and “practice bomb” us on occasion… quite a “free” airshow, and guaranteed to soil your pants if you didn’t see them coming in full afterburner.
3 resin parts, decal sheet and a decal / paint guide to convert the stock Wingnut Wings SE5a 'Hisso' kit to James McCudden's B4863. Included with the conversion are the shortened exhaust stacks and a replacement cockpit deck representative of McCudden's aircraft. As an added bonus you get 8 resin parts used to construct a 1/32 scale figure of McCudden.
Quickboost just keeps adding to their line of resin aircraft accessories. The latest addition is for the Hasegawa Ta 154. It is up to their usual standards; molded in grey resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation. It only took me a couple of minutes with my saw blade to remove them. Another plus is that the exhausts are bored out, which would be a real pain if you tried to do it on the kit part.
The exhausts that come in the Hasegawa kit look alright and would make an acceptable model but the Quickboost replacements are superior because of how they are bored out which makes for more realism, especially in a photo. These exhausts are very easy to install, and they just fit right in.
The references I used for this review include Panzer Tracts No 20-1, Paper Panzers, and Germany’s Tiger Tanks VK 45.02 to Tiger II.
The production contract to build these vehicles had been awarded in February 1942. The subject vehicle for this review never made it to full production. Several turrets and hulls were completed, but because of significant problems with the Porsche designed and built engines and suspension the contracts for the production series were terminated in November 1942. The fifty turrets manufactured for this vehicle eventually were used on the first 50 Tiger II tanks, and were known as the “Porsche“turrets...
I love the look of the Cyber-Hobby Bf-110s, especially the separate engines. One of those things that even slide mold technology won’t mold as well as I’d have liked is the oil tanks. Quickboost offers you two replacement oil tanks complete with the filler ports and lead in holes for wire for those so inclined. A very simple resin addition that could be a beginning for a scratch builder.
The oil tanks are molded in light grey resin that is blemish free. They would be very nice addition to your model. If you have never worked with resin or done any scratch building this is a good first kit to try it on.
Highly recommended
Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.
If you are like me, you like to articulate your elevators but you are never happy with the way it comes out. Well Quickboost makes that a whole lot easier. This set has four light tan resin pieces which replace the kit horizontal stabilizer and elevators. The trailing edges of the stabilizer are thinned and have a concaved area that the elevators, which are rounded on the leading edge, will slot into. The Tamiya kit is a really nice looking kit and this set will just make it that much nicer. It is up to the modeler to position the elevator as they wish. Don’t forget to offset the control stick.
Highly recommended
Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.
The Dragon Ta-154 Moskito Tri-kit will benefit from this simple update set. Cast in light tan/grey resin the six pieces will add to the look of the kit. The set includes five air inlets and a pitot tube. The air inlets are hollowed out perfectly, especially noticeable in the larger ones. The set is the easy to use and simply replaces kit parts. I guarantee I could not have gotten such a deep cut that looked as good. The pitot tube is very thin and perfectly straight. The only thing I worry about is the fragility of the pitot tube. Overall, a very simple upgrade to the Moskito.
This set could also be used on the Promodeler Ta-154.
Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy
The Trumpeter Bf-109F-4 is a nice kit but there are some pieces that could be better. One of those things is the Tropical Filter. This beautifully cast three piece affair is simply inserted into the supercharger scoop and your Freidrich is a Tropical version. I see no reason that this filter couldn’t be used to upgrade the Hasegawa kit filter. This set could also be used on the Bf-109G-2/4/6 kit as well.
You get an open filter assembly with two mounts. The filter has some really fine screen that is perfectly cast and representative of the real thing.
Highly recommended
Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.
I hate using rubber tires on my model kits. So whenever anyone such as Trumpeter comes out with a kit that has them I cringe at the thought of using them. Luckily for me, Aires offers a replacement set of wheels. You get two main wheels, a tail wheel and the strut.
These perfectly cast replacement parts are simply gorgeous. These are some of the best wheels for the Friedrich I’ve seen. They are beautifully cast in light grey resin. Of course just having wheels is not Aires style, so they include a set of masks for them. The tail wheel itself is as good as a casting as you are ever going to see. The area between the forks and tail wheel is hollow and simply perfect. The pour stubs are easy to remove.
Although designed for the Trumpeter kit you could easily use this set on a Hasegawa or 21stCentury kit. This set is simple yet detailed and will add to your kit and you won’t even have to worry about the rubber eating the plastic or drying out.
I love the Hasegawa Bf-109s and the newest Bf-109F-4/Trop is no exception. One of the areas of the kits that could be better is the wheel well. As provided the kit wheel wells have the G-6 kidney shaped areas which obviously isn’t correct for the Friedrich. Aires provides you with the correct wheel wells by providing you with two pieces of light grey blemish free resin and a fret of photo etch.
This set requires that you remove the molded on wheel well and thin the upper wing. Then Aires replaces it with the resin one with the photoetch on top of it. The resin wheel wells have superb detail inside, including the zip in liner. The photo etch will require you to build it up in layers for the proper thickness of the stiffeners but this is easy enough to do.
Often overlooked in historical accounts of U.S fighter operations during World War II, the 57th Fighter Group (FG) served with distinction during nearly three years of continuous combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Activated in January 1941, the then 57th Pursuit Group deployed to North Africa in July 1942, launching their Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the deck of the U.S.S Ranger, and in the process, becoming the first U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) unit to deploy in group strength from the deck of an aircraft carrier. The 57th FG joined the British in “The Blue,” Royal Air Force Desert Air Force slang for the North African desert stretching west of Cairo, earning the distinction of being the first USAAF to fight in North Africa.
This fret of photo-etch is pre-printed on both sides with the Hebrew rendition of “Remove Before Flight”. Included in this release are covers for ejection seats, seventeen yellow warning tags for the interior, and twenty three exterior red flags. I’ve used similar items before the US “Remove Before Flight” tags. These are easy to drape for a realistic look. You have to be careful to not chip the pre-painted print so you can’t fold it back over on itself but by using your fingers you can give a candid look to them to the flags.
The printing is of the quality I’ve come to suspect from Eduards pre-painted sets, very clear and perfectly printed. Using them is easy enough. Drill a hole where you want it on the model and insert the ‘string’ into the hole and add a small drop of glue. Very easy and very realistic.
The April publication of Model Art Modeling Magazine focuses on the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircraft in 2021, air defense power after ten years, with several articles on this topic filling the first fifty-five pages of this issue. The magazine also includes new kit reviews, modeling tips, and new kit and item releases. As is typical for Model Art, the magazine measures 182mm by 258mm (about 71/8 by 101/8 inches), and is printed on thick, glossy paper. The production quality is high with these magazines, and just over half of it is printed in color with black and white pages interspersed throughout of the issue. Just in case this is the first review of a Model Art magazine that you are reading, understand that the entire magazine is printed in Japanese with only an occasional English subtitle for those of us who are monolingual, or are just unable to read Japanese text.
The March publication of Model Art Modeling Magazine focuses on Formula 1 racing with several articles filling the first sixty-three pages of this issue. The magazine also includes new kit reviews, modeling tips, and new kit and item releases. As is typical for Model Art, the magazine measures 182mm by 258mm (about 71/8 by 101/8 inches), and is printed on thick, glossy paper. The production quality is high with these magazines, and just over half of it is printed in color with black and white pages interspersed throughout of the issue. Just in case this is the first review of a Model Art magazine that you are reading, understand that the entire magazine is printed in Japanese with only an occasional English subtitle for those of us who are monolingual, or are just unable to read Japanese text.
Operation Milk Man is another fine “vignette-in-a-box” from the folks at Master Box, and distributed by Dragon Models. This clever vignette depicts four German soldiers taking a brief respite from the rigors of combat to enjoy a few spoils of war …fresh milk!
The four figure set shows two soldiers milking the cow (one doing the pulling and one to hold the cup), a third figure is supervising the milking operations while leaning up to the cow. The last figure is gulping down a cup of the fresh milk from his canteen cup undoubtedly wishing he had a big hunk of Apple Strudel to go with it!
