The Kit

The Zrinyi I was an attempt to convert the successful Zrinyi II, 105mm howitzer-equipped assault gun into an anti-tank weapon. The Hungarians replaced the howitzer with the German made Pak 40, 75mm anti-tank gun. Since the Germans were willing to provide STU-III/IV SP anti-tank guns it was decided not to go beyond the single prototype.

You will find the following inside the box:

The wonderful folks at Stevens International Hobby Distributors deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new products to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published.

The Albatross was a common utility amphibian aircraft in the post-WW2 era, carrying a number of designations and operating with the USAF, USN, USCG and many foreign services. The distinctive high-wing, twin-engine plane worked mostly in the search and rescue role, with some examples serving in the unusual triphibian mode with snow-landing capability! Trumpeter provides markings options for two different aircraft, a USAF HU-16A and a Taiwan HU-16A.

Background

During the 17th through 19th centuries, Grenadiers were considered the shock troops of an army. In addition to their muskets, they were equipped with rudimentary hand grenades. Typically, they were chosen from the tallest recruits for the sake of intimidation, and this was visually increased by the use of tall mitre hats or bearskins. The kit represents an enlisted man from the Dutch Imperial Grenadiers circa 1810. Some quick research in one of my older references, as well as online, shows that this kit indeed represents a Third Dutch Grenadier. This unit was part of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard at Waterloo. The colors recommended in the kit seem to be accurate for an enlisted man. According to Wikipedia, “This regiment was created as the Royal Guard in Holland, when Louis Napoleon, brother to Napoleon, was made King of Holland.