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September 2012

Box Art

Soviet KV-1S Heavy Tank
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
September 29, 2012
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.95

I want to begin this review with a disclaimer. I am not an armor guy. I am an airplane guy. But I just wanted to try out – at least once – building an armor kit.

This kit has about 440 plastic parts, about half of which are individual links for the tracks. It also has a small photo-etch fret and a turned metal barrel for the cannon. The surface detail is superb and there was no flash whatsoever in my example.

Assembly of the hull and rolling wheels is simple. I had all the body and wheels assembled in about 4 hours. Fit is good, with little need for filler in the body. The turret is molded in two halves, which leaves a large seam that needs treatment with filler. It is not difficult, just a bit surprising, given that the rest of the engineering of the kit is really good.

Box Art

Bad Medicine Dragster
Review Author
Randy Robinson
Published on
September 29, 2012
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$22.99

History

The Bad Medicine Model was created in 1970, designed by the infamous designer Tom Daniel. With over 85 designs to his credit, this one doesn't disappoint. It's based off of an old delivery truck c-cab with a skeleton at the wheel.

The Kit

Upon opening the box, one will find a one-piece body molded in purple, a leather-look fitted seat/casket for the driver, two soft wheels for the front and the two rear wheels molded, in two pieces each, from black plastic. The parts found on the sprues were molded in white, purple, and chrome-plated. A nice touch is that the rear wheels are flat on the running surface and the rubber on the sides appears to have the pull marks that a true drag car's tires would look at high speeds. Parts were individually packaged to prevent damage in transport.

Box Art

Grumman C.C.F. Goblin Mk. 1
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
September 29, 2012
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$26.50

History

The Grumman FF-1 biplane two-seat fighter was the first complete airplane design from the Grumman Corporation, located in Bethpage, New York. Prior to this, LeRoy Grumman had separated from the Loening Company, and had manufactured amphibious floats for the Vought O2U and O3U observation biplanes, using landing gear designs he had developed for various Loening types.

Cover

AIRfile – Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea
Book Author(s)
Compiled by Neil Robinson, Illustrated by Peter Scott
Review Author
Mike Hanson
Published on
September 30, 2012
Company
AIRfile Publications
MSRP
$32.50

After receiving this review sample, I have to say I have yet another favorite publisher. I have a particular interest in the Pacific theater of WWII, and this book succinctly discusses the history of the air war between the start of the conflict at Pearl Harbor through the battle of Coral Sea. It also discusses many of the battles in between. The book includes not just the US and Japanese forces, but also sections dedicated to Allied forces from Russia, England, the Netherlands, and the AVG in China.

There are ten sections to the book: