Ultracast has been producing some of the best and easiest to use aftermarket items for years. Well, they haven’t changed their key for success.

• Ultracast 48238 Shrouded Exhaust, $4.85
• Ultracast 48239 Unshrouded Exhaust, $4.85

The latest releases are designed to be added to the Accurate Miniatures P-51B/C Mustang kit. What can you say about these little gems? In both sets you get two banks of exhaust stacks molded in light cream-colored resin. The exhaust ends are hollowed out perfectly. They are beautifully cast and are easy, drop-in replacement for the kit parts. Just remove the parts from the pour block and paint – a simple and easy way to do a tedious job.

Since Tamiya released their version of the Elefant, it had been on my wish list. Upon obtaining the kit, I noticed that it needed some more details. Italeri and Dragon both make a 1/35th scale Elefant and with proper adjustments they can be make into nice models.

The Tamiya detail set from Eduard contains two frets and nice, readable instructions. The fenders are really well detailed compared to the kit parts. It is a shame to have to cover them up with zimmerit. Thinking about this, I plan on putting their fenders on a Ferdinand kit, since the Ferdies didn’t wear zimmerit. There are also a bunch of small PE tool clamps and clasps. When applied, they look so much better than the kit’s molded-on ones.

In my opinion, this is a well-detailed set on PE which will make it onto two of my kits. Just now I need to get a good etch-mate folding tool. I would like to thank Eduard and IPMS/USA for a chance to review it, and you for taking the time to read it.

This second installment covers the midsection interior, which is from the aft bulkhead of the bombardier and navigator compartment through the bomb bay and to the ring mount around the ball turret. Instruction steps 1 through 15 are used to construct this mid-section subassembly. I continue to be impressed by the fit and detail of the moldings.

Please consider that the associated pictures illustrate in-progress shots. There will be much touch-up, and I was reluctant to get too carried away with painting until I had a better feel for what was visible or need dry-brushing, etc.

Being an avid fan of Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) destroyers, I was eager to get my hands on this book. The Japanese had two major advantages on the US Navy during the early days of WWII: a superbly trained and equipped air arm and their excellently equipped and crewed destroyer flotillas that made themselves utterly terrifying weapons during engagements like the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. The first chapters of the book provide a good summary of Japanese doctrine and how it developed from the naval treaties and influenced design. The meat of the book specifically addresses the early post-WWI designs leading up to the legendary Fubuki-class destroyers and their successors up to the Shiratsuyu class. Finally, the author provides a summary, defining why these magnificent machines utterly failed to make a lasting impression on the results of the Pacific War.

SAC continues its prolific output of gear to handle the loads on our models. This is yet another drop-fit set designed for an aircraft which can put it to good use, particularly if you load it down with resin aftermarket ordnance (guilty, Your Honor) like an F-4.

Everything was a perfect fit. Main gear legs fit nicely in the resin gear wells (toldja I was guilty). The nose gear slid into place just as easily; the actuating ram also went right into place.

And as usual, my favorite, most-best part…now I don’t have the concern of collapsing gear within a year after I finish the model.

Highly recommended and well done to SAC for yet another winner! Thanks as usual to our friend Russ at SAC for providing IPMS USA this set, and IPMS for sending it to me for review.

Eduard has given us some really great 1/72 Bf-110’s in the last few months, and now they have given us the stencils for them. Get out your Optivisor or your favorite magnifier, because you will need it. They are tiny! At first, I thought there were enough stencils for four aircraft, but that is only partially true. There are only enough for two aircraft in some cases, enough for three in some, enough for four in some. Even though they require magnification to read them, they are readable. Just another case of the quality of Eduard products. And, they are super thin. You can barely see the carrier film.

Two placement charts are provided to help you with placement. The decals are designated by a letter on the charts, but not on the decal sheet. They are easily figured out, however. These are very high quality decals, and are highly recommended.

My thanks to Eduard for the review sample and IPMS/USA for the review opportunity.

If you have been waiting for a great way to display your favorite 1/72 scale modern US Navy aircraft, your wait is officially over. I have personally been waiting for at least two decades for someone to release a molded plastic version of a modern aircraft carrier deck section, and Italeri has answered my prayers. This kit provides a large portion of deck showing a section of the catapult, jet blast deflectors (JBD’s), and JBD control station for what appears to be a Nimitz-class carrier, number 2 catapult area. Measuring an impressive nine and a quarter inches wide and about 15 and three quarter inches long, this base will hold any aircraft launched from a US Navy carrier deck since the Nimitz was first introduced. In short, I cannot recommend this kit highly enough for a more realistic display of your favorite Tomcat, or any other Navy plane flown from 1974 to today, from the decks of these fine ships.

USS Lexington (CV-2) and her sister USS Saratoga (CV-3) played a critical role in the development of the modern naval aviation and the way the US Navy wields air power. Built on the hulls of battlecruisers cancelled in the 1920s under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, Lexington and Saratoga were far more different and innovative than the first US aircraft carrier, USS Langley CV-1, and any foreign contemporaries. They were the largest US carriers built until the Midway Class CVB. Both ships were quickly integrated into the battle fleet and participated in every major exercise in the 1930s and early 1940s. It was on these ships that the Navy envisioned, developed, and put in to practice the doctrine and procedures that would define an American way of Naval warfare and lead to victory at sea.

Summary

Tamiya has enhanced their venerable T-55A Main Battle Tank kit yet again with all the parts needed to convert it into an Israeli Tiran 5, which is not surprising when you consider the mileage they got out of the same kit last year when they released the T-55 Iraqi “Enigma”. One thing is for sure – the kit these new versions are based on is one of the finest armor models ever produced by Tamiya. I never get tired of building these tanks, so keep them coming!

The Tiran 5 was used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s. Constantly modified throughout its service life, many were fitted with the 105mm M68 gun. Even after it was retired from IDF service, the Tiran 5 continued to see action in various guises in a number of countries around the world.

Eduard Mask CX337, A6M2b, is intended for Tamiya’s recent Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter (Zeke) (Tamiya item no. 60780) in 1/72 scale. The package consists of one sheet of diecut masks for one model and a set of instructions. The masks are for the aircraft’s canopy and main wheels. The kit comes with a closed canopy (1 part) and open canopy (3 parts).

The masks may require careful cutting at some corner points to ensure they separate cleanly from the paper backing. Use a sharp hobby knife, preferably with a new blade. With the exception of the masks used in the center section of the canopy (the portion that slides open), all of the masks fit well within their panes.

The masks for the center portion were too large, requiring some careful cutting down to size. If your manual dexterity isn’t all that great, this is a nerve-wracking task—and it defeats the purpose of masks in the first place!

For the longest time, the only 1/48 scale model of the workhorse Sikorsky H-34 helicopter was made by Revell, whose molds at one point were rumored to be “lost at sea.” Then, after being missing in action for nearly 25 years and fetching high prices on eBay and elsewhere, the venerable Revell kit was joined by a new-tool H-34 coming from MRC’s house brand Gallery Models. The announcement was released in 2012; MRC displayed test shots and box art for two forthcoming versions in Orlando at the 2012 National Convention – a USMC version and a US Navy version. The USMC version is the subject of this review.

When you open the largish box, you are greeted by no less than 231 parts on eight sprues of light gray plastic, three sprues of clear pieces, and two frets of brass photo etch parts. Decals are provided for three different H-34’s:

Thank you to Mr. Neil Yan of HK Models and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the opportunity to review a wonderful new model release in large-scale aircraft. This next installment covers the waist interior and fuselage assembly, which is from the ring mount around the ball turret through the Cheyenne tail turret, and closing up the fuselage. I originally thought it might be more instructive to work up the armament first, but after reviewing the kit more with some experience, I elected to skip the all of the cool-looking 50s and describe them when they get installed. Instruction steps 15 through 25 are used to construct this subassembly.

This is a very small item when assembled, as the photographs will show. The model is composed of four parts: the body of the indicator, cast in a slick, red plastic; a bezel made from thin steel similar to a photo etch part; the wind vane assembly which appears to me to be of plastic or resin; and two identical instrument dials printed in black on a thin plastic sheet coated with what appears to be white paint.

The instructions are on the reverse of the packaging sheet and show all of the parts painted, prepared and ready to go. The resulting photographs show an extremely detailed and precise completed wind powered indicator. However, reality does not meet up with advertising in this instance.

Hasegawa’s 1/48th scale J-35 Draken kit is an excellent representation of the plane. Like most injected kits, the ejection seat is not as good as the rest of the kit due to molding limitations. Now Quickboost comes to the rescue with a highly detailed resin Saab ejection seat with molded belts.

I have enclosed pictures of the Quickboost seat as well as Aires seat and the kit seat. Aires has a set of PE seat belts that need to be built prior to installing the seat, Quickboost's belts are molded onto the seat and the kit seat has no belts at all. The Aires and Quickboost seat are similar with excellent detail on the fabric and seat. The Aires seat comes with an entire replacement cockpit.

The HMS Warspite was one of the Queen Elizabeth class dreadnaughts launched during the First World War. These were the state of the art battleships of the time and the general soundness of their design shows in the fact that the last of them was not disposed of until the 1950's! They went through many refits that changed their appearance quite a bit over the years. The WWII Warspite has been modeled several times in several scales, most recently in the newly popular 1/350, but never in her WWI fit. The Trumpeter kit is of her appearance when she was launched, thus she joins a very small group of injection kits of WWI ships and I believe the only one as she was during that war. As I build ship models very slowly, this will be a two-part review. This first will be an in the box review and the second will be an actual build. Now, let's open the box and see what we have.

Platz has added to their stable of excellent kits with its issue of the Curtiss C-46D, in their JASDF series. The size of the real aircraft means that even in 1/144 scale, this is a pretty good-size model and doesn’t require micro-surgery to work on. The kit’s molded in light gray plastic with beautifully engraved panel lines and detail.

Ships are not something I normally model but I jumped at the chance to review this submarine. It is by a new company from Hong Kong and if this kit is a sample of things to come, I am surely looking forward to their future releases.

To begin with, I was thinking 1/700 or 1/350 scale when I asked to review this kit. It is in 1/200 scale and is rather long, 19 inches to be exact. The packaging is in a large sturdy box and the parts are molded in light grey plastic on 5 sprues. There is one sprue of clear parts for the OS2U-3 Kingfisher and two in black for the base.

Meng exploded onto the modeling scene several years ago and has begun to roll out a variety of post-World War Two vehicles. The AMX-30B is one of Meng’s newest releases and it’s a keeper. Of the same generation of the US M-60 series, this was meant as a multi-national tank serving the needs of France and Germany. Germany dropped out of the project. The prototype was ready in 1960 and went into series production in 1966. Over 4000 were manufactured and exported around the world. It saw service in Desert Shield/Storm and continues to serve in other countries. The kit is composed of seven sprues molded in green and five sprues of track links and pads molded in brown, a small sprue of clear parts, a small fret of photoetch, and a lower hull and turret. There are decals for two vehicles. There are a total of 730 parts.

Model Art Modeling Magazine is a Japanese publication that is released monthly. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One quality about these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

In this months magazine the feature article on probably one of the most daunting tasks that many modelers fear. Finishing models in natural metal finishes! This tends to send fear into the hearts of many modelers, including myself.

Model Art covers this subject in thirty seven pages using plastic models, actual pictures and paint examples with a mix of color and black and white photos. The models used are an F-86, T-33, C-46, H-21 and T-6. They use several different mediums to get the desired effect. The paint of choice for the article is Mr. Color and they use multiple colors and one color set, JASDF Aluminized Old-Timer Colors. The other medium that is used is a metal foil that is called Duralumin Finish.

History

The Messerschmitt BF-110 has received a lot of bad press in recent years, mainly because it was not able to contend with comtemporary RAF fighters during the battle of Britain. However, following the Battle of Britain, the type continued in production, and actually was quite successful in the close support role, especially against the Russians, and later, with more powerful engines as the “Gustav” model, as a night fighter it was very useful against RAF night bombers.

The May issue's Cover article features the new Xuntong Tu-2T in 48^th scale. This feature article serves as an excellent resourse for those planning to build the Tu-2T. Author and builder Marco Preto presents an in-depth review of Xuntong’s first release. Marco’s workmanship and skill are evident in the text and accompanying images. The article is a “must read” for anyone who wishes to build the Tu-2T.

This issue of SAM contains a “Feature Build” article and this particular article features the Wingnut Wings DH-2. Dai Williams does a fantastic job building up the WNW kit, sharing his techniques for shading and achieving a “translucent rib effect”. Being a fan of Wingnut Wings kits, and having one on the workbench at this time, I found Dai’s article timely and very useful.

As is the case in each issue of SAM, there are a number of “Compact Build Reviews”. In this issue there six CBRs.

History

Production for the Type 95 began in 1936, and was first introduced in combat in 1937. The type 95 was a small, light tank weighing in at 7 tons and having a crew of 3. It was armed with a 37mm main gun augmented by 2 Type 97 light machine guns. The early version was powered by an 110hp Mitsubishi diesel engine for a top speed of 25mph (road) and was later replaced by a 120hp Mitsubishi NVD 6120 diesel that brought the speed up to 28mph. The Type 95 was obsolete by 1941 but soldiered on till the end of the war being used mainly in banzai charges or dug in as pill boxes. It was a good tank in the 30s but should have been replaced by 1941. There are at least 11 Type 95 survivors in the world today with 1 that is operational.

History

The Ju88 was first flown in 1936 and remained in production until the end of the war (or as factories were overrun). Probably the most versatile aircraft flown by the Luftwaffe in WWII as it was used as a level bomber, dive bomber, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance, photo reconnaissance, day fighter, night fighter, pathfinder, pilotless missiles… (You get the picture). The Ju 88S version was developed to be a high speed, low drag bomber. Due to increasing armor and armament, the idea of a ‘Schnellbomber’ that could evade or make interception a tough thing to do was becoming a problem for the Ju 88s by the summer of 1942. The S version used an A-4 airframe as a starting point that was aerodynamically refined and was first flown in 1942. The refinements included deletion of the ventral gondola, a smoothly rounded Plexiglas nose and reducing the armoring. Also the defensive armament was reduced to 1 MG 131 firing aft.

Hasegawa's 1/48th scale kit of the Stuka is a gem with great fit and detail and there are several aftermarket parts available for it. One thing that is lacking in the basic kit is seats with belts. Quickboost latest issue has that covered and is a two piece set with the pilots seats and gunners seat as separate parts. The parts are Quickboost's excellent, bubble and flash free gray resin. To use the parts is simple, cut the mold block off of each and sand.

I want to address the two parts individually. The attached photos of the pilot seat show the enormous improvement that the Quickboost seat is with its corrected shape, seat belts and much finer detail. in a word, the kit part is wrong and Quickboost fixes it in spades.

The gunners seat has the seat belts and the open structure. When compared to the kit seat (which I have already added PE seat belts too), the parts are pretty close for either. The Quickboost parts does have the belts so a slight edge to it.

I would like to thank Master Model for this review sample.

Master Model has been literally “turning” out numerous metal details for the model maker. This latest offering is the Alpha Probe and angle of attack probe for the F-14 in 1/48. The alpha probe is the pitot at the forward end of the radome. For a model this is a very vulnerable place and no doubt, like me, you have managed to bend or snap off the plastic one provided in the kit. Quite frankly, they never look as crisp as the real thing and once the mold seam is removed can be a bit oblong in cross section. The angle of attack probe is the pointy short probe on the left side of the F-14 below and forward of the cockpit. On the Hasegawa kit it is molded with the fuselage. I managed to snap mine off while assembling the model. It is not an easy thing to replicate.