Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 12, 2020
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

Ok so what do you do when you screw the pooch on the initial release of a model kit and you’ve already invested lots of money on decals? Well if you are Eduard then you simply offer them as a separate item to use on your new kit.

I built three of the initial Bf-109Gs from the 2014 release. The decals were the best thing about the release, despite size issues with kit, the decal were perfect. They were designed properly and even scaled perfectly for 1/48th scale.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
November 12, 2020
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.50

The new Eduard Bf-109 is an exceptionally good kit and a lot of fun to build. What do you do if you have an Overtree boxing with no decals? Well you can get these decals to handle the stencils.

Eduard has started to print their own decals. One of the first ones they’ve done is the stencils for their Bf-109. Packaged in a self-sealing plastic wrapping with a thin cardboard backing, the decals are printed on a 2 ½ x 4 ¾ decal sheet. Also included is a sheet of instructions are included on a half of an A4 sheet. The finesse of the writing is legible in this scale. The colors are perfectly in register. The decals are very thin. So you will have to use plenty of water to move them around on the model once you add them, but they work flawlessly. Even if you don’t use setting solutions these decals will snuggle down beautifully.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
November 13, 2016
Company
SBS Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$13.30

Recently Italeri released a model of the Italian Coloniale – a military version of a popular pre-war civilian vehicle, which proved to be quite versatile and was used extensively not only by the Italian army but by the German army as well, mostly hauling officers around in rear-echelon areas. The kit itself is comparatively simple, which reflects the relative simplicity of the vehicle itself. However, one area where this reductionism has caused a loss of detail is in the wheels, which are simple two-piece castings with very little detail beyond the hubs.

Review Author
Jeff Leiby
Published on
November 13, 2016
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$6.95

The US Navy's New Mexico Class and Tennessee Class battleships mounted the 14in/50 rifles as main armament. The Trumpeter/Pit-Road 1/700 kit of the 1941 version of the USS Tennessee provides injected gun barrels both with and without blast bags. The injected barrels are molded in relatively soft grey plastic. Removal from the sprue results in a large attachment point remnant. Additionally, the barrel muzzles are molded solid and the small diameter, in 1/700 scale, makes them hard to drill.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Eric Christianson
Published on
November 13, 2016
Company
David Doyle Books
MSRP
$28.95

DavidDoyleBooks.com (Ampersand Publishing) out of Memphis TN, is back again with another Military Vehicle book entitled German Panzer II – A Visual History of the German Army’s World War II Light Tank, by popular author David Doyle. Anyone familiar with armor modeling literature and research will recognize this authoritative combination, and this latest release won’t disappoint.

Looking across my personal bookshelf of maybe 200 titles, I can spot several of Mr. Doyle’s books, including 251 Halftrack Visual History and Tiger I In Action, and, of course, my beaten-to-death copy of German Military Vehicles, among others. If you’ve been building armor models for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with his work as well.

Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
November 13, 2016
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.90

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Aires Messerschmitt Bf 109G Correct Undercarriage Bay for the 1/48 Eduard 109G series of kits. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation of the packaging with the sealed flap on the back of package to allow for easy access to parts.

Upon removal of the resin undercarriage parts you will notice the great detail that we have come to expect from Aires QB products. Once you have removed the undercarriage parts from the resin base you will need to do a little clean-up of the flash with your tool of choice on the openings of the bays (I used the tip of my X-Acto knife). After the flash has been removed they are ready to be glued into the wheel wells of the Eduard Bf 109G.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Acrylicos Vallejo
MSRP
$25.95

Vallejo makes several different types of paints- some for hand brushing, some for detailing and some pre-thinned for air brushing. Model Air is a range of liquid acrylic colors developed especially for airbrushing and has very finely ground pigments and an acrylic resin which has been designed for durability.

The set reviewed here is for modern US Navy Colors and contains eight 17ml squeeze bottles of:

Book Author(s)
Stephen Turnbull
Review Author
Ron Verburg
Published on
November 13, 2016
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$15.00

From the Inside Cover

With their deadly curved katanas, colorful lacquered armor and massive bows, the samurai were the ultimate warriors. Bound by their famous code: bushido, the way of the warrior, they were renowned for their martial prowess and suicidal bravery. In this beautiful new book featuring stunning prints, artwork and photographs, Stephen Turnbull explores their history from its earliest origins, through the Gempei War, Mongol invasions and the Period of Warring States to their tragic demise in the modern period with the Satsuma rebellion of 1877. Examining all aspects of samurai life, their homes and strongholds, beliefs and codes as well as their martial upbringing and equipment, Turnbull clears away the myths surrounding these legendary fighters to tell the complete story of history’s most iconic warrior culture.

Review Author
James Binder
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Horizon Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$34.95

Horizon Models of Australia has released their third kit, the Atlas ICBM in 1/72 scale. This comes after kits of the Mercury Space Capsule and Mercury-Atlas rocket both in 1/72. If you have built either of those then you know you how good Horizons kits are and if not the following review will show you.

The kit is made up of 3 sprues of gray plastic. Two of sprue A and one B. The biggest difference from this kit to the mercury atlas kit is that it is missing the mercury capsule sprue. Horizon gives you three options for payload though, option A is the first SAC launch, option b is the “New Nickle” launch from 1961 and option C is the Mk4 RV test flight from 1960. My choice was to build option C as it launched from the Cape and the other two were from Vandenberg.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
June 10, 2020
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.60

PJ Production has jumped in to help 1/48 Mirage III series model builders. This new release provides one Matra AS 37 Martel along with the pylon as featured on the Dassault fighter. This set is probably focused on the new Kinetic 1/48 Mirage III kits, but it should also work well on the Academy, Eduard, Fonderie Miniatures, Heller, and Hobby Boss kits; along with the older ESCI kit that has also been re-boxed by Revell and Italeri.

Notable is the re-sealable packaging that PJ Production uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. You will want to be careful handling the rear resin fins as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster. Painting instructions are included with the small instruction sheet. I found several air-bubbles in the resin parts, on the missile body. Gap filling super glue with baking soda quickly solved the issue.