Following on from their superb yet diminutive FT-17 WW1 French tank, Meng Models of China provides the modeling public with a colossus of a tank model, the French Char 2C. Like the FT-17, the Char 2C was born during the years of battle in World War One, but came too late in the piece to see combat. Before the prototype was even completed, an order was placed for 300 of these gargantuan beasts, but due to the war coming to an end, this order was subsequently cancelled, and only 10 Char 2C’s were eventually delivered in 1921, becoming the largest tank ever to enter service in any of the world’s armies. The 10 vehicles went on to become mainly propaganda vehicles, “staring” in various cinematic productions to show the strength of the French military machine. Each of the ten tanks was named after the ancient regions of France: Poitou, Provence, Picardie, Alsace, Bretagne, Touraine, Anjou, Normandie, Berry and Champagne. Normandie was renamed Lorraine in 1939.

Mr. Neil Yan and the wonderful folks at HK Models deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new and unusual subjects 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 Meteor appeared late in WW2 as a counter to the V-1 threat to England. It was the first operational Allied jet fighter, operated primarily by the RAF throughout its history. The design of the Meteor might seem primitive by today’s standards, but it truly was groundbreaking at the time. Many versions of the Meteor were developed, including stints as turboprop and ejection-seat test beds. HK Models chose the MK 4 version for their new kit.

Upfront, I want to thank Aires and Quickboost for providing these fine aftermarket bits for our beloved models and to the IPMS USA a big thank you for allowing me to review this Quickboost product.

Admittedly I am proud of the fact I love the stubby World War II fighter. The Rita, Buffalo and certainly the Grumman Wildcat. I have several in my stash including the Hobby Boss and Tamiya 1/48 F4F-4 Wildcats kits.

I snagged the Quickboost pitots for the Wildcat before even looking closely at the pitot tubes. Both kits are F4F-4’s and thus use the stubby angled pitot tube mounted near the port wingtip. No problem here, Quickboost provides both the angled pitot found on the F4F-4 as well as the longer straight version found on the F4F-3’s. Just a quick look at the comparison photos you will see the resin replacement parts are much less bulky and more defined than the stock parts. Unfortunately I don’t have a F4F-3 to compare the longer style pitot.

The 100^th Anniversary of the tank going into combat takes place in September 2016, and as this anniversary draws closer I have become fascinated with these first creaking, clattering vehicles of death; part of the first modern industrial war in history. And while the British Army’s rhomboid shaped monsters that took part in that engagement at Flers-Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme were the first tanks to see service, the diminutive French FT-17 can legitimately lay claim to be the great grandfather of the modern tank: the first fully tracked armored vehicle with a rotating turret. And as luck would have it, Meng Models have produced a simply magnificent model kit of this seminal vehicle. Not only is this model exquisitely detailed, it is fully detailed, as it comes with a very complete interior.

Master Model from Poland specializes in metal turned parts for aftermarket kits. In my personal option they are among the best in the market. I really like their products. This set is devoted to the weapons of the Hawker Typhoon. There are two options for that kit in 1/48 scale: Hasegawa and Monogram. This set can be used with all of the above, with different modifications in each case.

For each kit, you are instructed to drill holes in the wings for the fairings and to replace the plastic parts with the metal ones. You are also provided with a small photo-etch fret to dress up with wing area around the cannon fairing. Be aware that the outer and inward cannon fairings have different sizes and should not be used interchangeably. The instructions are very clear about which one is each and how to position them.