Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
December 10, 2015
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Thank you to Aires-Quickboost and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the privilege of reviewing this excellent aftermarket resin details set. The ICM C-45 kit is very nice in its own right, but the Quick Boost exhaust pipes add an eye-catching detail in a highly visible part of the kit.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
December 10, 2015
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Thank you to Aires-Quickboost and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the privilege of reviewing this excellent aftermarket resin details set. The ICM C-45 kit is very nice in its own right, but the replacement engine cooling gills add an eye-catching detail in a highly visible part of the kit.

A single casting plug with 4 replacement engine gills is in the package, molded in medium brownish-gray color polyurethane resin. The application is very simple; use the appropriate Quick Boost engine gills to replace kit parts D35/36 and D24/43. This is nearly a direct drop-in replacement; all you need to do is carefully remove the gills from the casting plug. The gill have very thin edges, warranting special care when removing them from the casting plug. No directions are provided and none are needed. However, be careful to use the correct part. The number 2 part of the plug that replaces parts D24/43 is slightly wider.

Review Author
James Binder
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$64.99

The Strumpanzer Ausf.L als Befehlspanzer was a command and control infantry support motorized gun based off the Panzer IV chassis. It was used at the Battles of Kursk, Anzio, Normandy, and was deployed in the Warsaw Uprising. It was known by the nickname Brummbär by allied intelligence but a name which was not used by the Germans. Just over 300 vehicles were built and they were assigned to four independent battalions. Dragon has released a model of this tank in 1/35th scale with its new Zimmerit molds, DS Tracks and PE side skirts. I had not built a tank in many years and when I saw this new kit come up for review I thought it would be a nice way to renter the world of armor modeling. Dragon gives you 20 sprues of grey plastic with certain parts having the Zimmerit molded in, 2 clear sprues, 3 sheets of photo etch parts and two vinyl single piece “DS” tank tracks.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 14, 2020
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$10.95

The Super Fabric are quite a unique product. They are paper thin. The belts and shoulder harness have beautiful detail and the silver looks metallic. I found that when compared to the pre-painted photo etch seatbelts that the Super Fabric ones were a little orange and not as tan.

The belts can be added with white glue. DO NOT USE CA GLUE! They are easily removed from the backing paper and added to the kit parts. There is no special preparation required. The fabric allows you to fold, spindle and mutilate the belts exactly like real fabric.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 14, 2020
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

British aircraft have a hard edged camouflage. Getting those hard edges in the proper position is difficult. How do you make that hard edge? If you are like me you’ll be using the Eduard masks. They are made of highly flexible Kabuki tape. This set includes two large masking sheets. One for the fuselage and tail surfaces and the other for the wings.

How do you know if you need Scheme A or B? The only real way to know is to look at photos of the real aircraft. It has been postulated that even serial numbered aircraft had scheme A and odd serial numbered aircraft had scheme B. This is not always correct. It seems to me more of a guideline than a rule.

Review Author
Joe Porche
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$22.95

I have been a fan of Tom Daniel and his hilarious model concepts since I can first remember building model kits. The very first model I built was the Red Baron and the second the Paddy Wagon. Over the last 45 years, I’m pretty sure I have built well over 75 of Tom Daniels models.

Enter the 2015 reissue of the Monogram “Jinx Express” which was originally minted in 1971 and then again in blue plastic as the “Fast Buck” in 1973. Conceptually it appears to be just a hot rodded armored car but as you look closer you will find a combination lock on the rear panel where access doors should be and on the roof there is what appears to be a coin slot. YES, this “thing” is actually a piggy bank in disguise. Monogram refers to it as the “screamin’ Fort Knox.”

Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
December 11, 2015
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$42.95

History Brief

Given the codename "Grace" by the Allies, the Aichi B7A Ryusei was a large and powerful single engine, two-seat carrier-borne torpedo-dive bomber. It was produced by Aichi Kokuki KK for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during the Second World War. The B7A first flew as a prototype in May 1942, but problems with the experimental NK9C Homare engine and airframe issues delayed the type and it didn’t enter into production until two years later in May 1944. Despite the plane's weight and size, it displayed fighter-like handling and performance, it even outperformed the A6M Zero which was in service at the time. Not only was it was a fast, agile and highly maneuverable machine it could also carry a single 800 kg bomb, two 250 kg bombs or six 60 kg bombs at once.

Book Author(s)
Adam Wilder
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
December 13, 2015
Company
Meng AFV Modeller
MSRP
$49.00

Mr. Wilder provides a series of YouTube video’s displaying some of the same techniques that are in Adam’s Armour 1. The book, however, contains far more information than the videos.

Two publications are now available through Casemate and AFV Modeller Publications. Adam Wilder, a talented and gifted modeler, as well as an excellent writer, has authored “Adam’s Armour 1” and “Adam’s Armour 2”. This review focuses on “Adam’s Armour 1”.

“1” focuses on the construction of the model while “2” covers painting and finishing.

Reviewing the Table of Contents is an appropriate and enlightening place to start. There are ten chapters (the ToC mistakenly identifies two chapters as Chapter 8):

Book Author(s)
Aaron Skinner
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
June 21, 2021
Company
Kalmbach Publishing Company
MSRP
$22.99

Walk into any modeler’s hobby room and you will find a library. Scan through the publications and titles on the shelves and you will find a book or publication on “airbrushing”. Airbrushing is an essential skill for almost all modelers and those modelers need to develop a high level of competency to use and master this basic tool.

Kalmbach has released a new publication by Aaron Skinner entitled, “Airbrushing for Scale Modelers” that provides a comprehensive guide to airbrushing from “basic” to “advanced”.

You probably recognize Aaron’s name as he is the senior editor for FineScale Modeler and also a very well-known modeler. In this publication Aaron guides the reader through airbrushing basics and then uses “project models” to demonstrate airbrushing techniques.

Book Author(s)
Matthew Willis Drawings by Richard J. Caruana
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
December 14, 2015
Company
Scale Aircraft Modelling
MSRP
$21.00

This is the first WWI title in the Warpaint series and includes all the usual Warpaint features – historical text, a glossary for the modeler, color artwork by Richard Caruana and a three page color walk-around by author Matthew Willis.

This softcover publication is 38 pages, including the inner front and rear covers, of data, information, illustrations, period B&W images, and a 3 page walk-around of the fully restored aircraft owned by the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in Bedfordshire, UK.

Not as well-known as the Sopwith Camel, the Pup distinguished itself during its operational lifespan, and was a stalwart aircraft during the RFC’s most difficult time, Bloody April, 1917. Although a bit slower than some of its contemporaries, it proved to be a nimble and powerful Air-to-Air warrior which contributed much to the control of the air over the Western Front.