Cyber-Hobby has recently entered the model aircraft community, and their latest offering is that of a 1/72 scale F6F-3 Hellcat. The kit builds up reasonably well, with good fit for most of the parts, and options such as extended or retracted landing gear, open or closed canopy, and extended or retracted wings. Cyber-Hobby also does a nice job of including the markings for six different squadrons, and in the case of VF-27, there are markings for three different planes with the legendary “cat mouth” motif. The kit itself contains 124 light gray parts spread across seven sprues, as well as 5 clear parts on a single sprue and 4 photoetch pieces on a single fret. The directions are on eight pages (a single sheet of paper with three folds), and are printed in black and blue. The kit will make a great addition to the collection of any modeler who is interested in the venerable Hellcat in this scale.

History

The type 73 light truck is one of a series of light utility vehicles used in the Japanese self-defense forces. JSDF deployed these vehicles from 1973. Almost all of them were phased out by 2010.

Items in the box

The model is made of injection molded plastic, olive drab in color. The instructions were made up of a foldout form, printed on both sides. Clear molded plastic window and headlight lenses were supplied.

The Churchill tank had one of the largest production runs of any British WWII tank and was built in more variants than any vehicle except perhaps the Sherman. However, until very recently, it has been woefully under-serviced by the modeling manufacturers. The first kit was the old Airfix one from the 50's, which had many limitations. Then came the Aurora 1/48 one in the 60's which was almost toy-like. In the 70's came the 1/72/76 scale kits; the Hasagawa Mk I/II, ESCI Mk. III, Matchbox Mk IV bridge layer, and finally the 1/35 Tamiya Mk VII Crocodile. Since then, nothing has been released. However, Dragon has now released several small-scale models of this historic vehicle. The subject of this review is their kit of the Mk III version with the welded turret and 6 pdr. main gun.

The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9-cylinder radial engine was developed in 1927 from an earlier engine dating back to 1925. The R-1820 entered production in 1931 and became one of the most widely used aircraft engines ever. Aircraft builders liked it because of its excellent fuel economy, durability, low cost maintenance, and low weight/horsepower ratio. Since its introduction the R-1820 has powered thousands of military and civilian aircraft both past and present. One of these aircraft is the North American T-28 Trojan.

Quickboost has released a new R-1820 recommended for use in the 1/48 Roden North American T-28D Trojan (Kit #450). This engine is molded in a medium gray resin. It is smooth, seamless and bubble free. Clean up is minimal. The cooling fins on each cylinder are very well defined and much more complete than those found on the kit engine. This is evident in the comparison picture below.

Osprey Publishing’s latest monograph focuses on the waning years of the Habsburg Empire, and the Kaiserliche und Konigliche (k.u.k) Kriegsmarine's effort to protect its southern coast on the Adriatic Sea before and during WWI. Today, the coast and the cities along the coast, Trieste, Pola, and Fiume, among others, are parts of present day Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The book features fine illustrations of the 5 ship classes, 2 “in action” paintings, and many sharp black and white photos, sure to be of interest to ship modelers. The only weakness is the lack of a map of the 1914 Habsburg Empire's coast, and theater of operations during WWI.