The short version -- I liked the kit. Hasegawa has engineered this kit well.

Now, the details.

History

The final and most built series of the Mitchell, the B-25J looked less like earlier series, apart from the well-glazed bombardier's nose of nearly-identical appearance to the earliest B-25 subtypes. It had the forward dorsal turret and other armament and airframe advancements. Also produced was a strafer nose first shipped to air depots as kits, then introduced on the production line in alternating blocks with the bombardier nose. The solid-metal "strafer" nose housed eight centerline Browning M2 .50 caliber machine guns. All J models included four .50 in (12.7 mm) light-barrel Browning AN/M2 guns in a pair of "fuselage packages"; conformal gun pods each flanking the lower cockpit, each pod containing two Browning M2s. Total J series production was 4,318.

"It’s Back!"

I was quite caught off-guard when I discovered that the Tom Daniels “Beer Wagon” was to be reissued by Monogram/Revell this summer. There had been nothing noted on any recent publications from Revell that this kit was to coming back out, but I am so happy it has resurfaced. Now, how many different variations to this kit can I build?

Historically this is the single kit that launched my interest in scale modeling. Not the first kit I ever built, but the first kit release from Monogram in 1967 under the Tom Daniel’s banner. Many more would follow of which I have built nearly 50 of the various Tom Daniels designs and have a collection of over 80 of the 80+ he is given credit for drafting.

Bronco’s 1/35^th scale model of the Horsa Glider Mk. 1 is quite an impressive model, as anyone who has built it will tell you. They may also mention that the landing gear of this kit is fairly fragile, as it’s obliged to hold up a fair amount of weight on this over two-foot long kit.

Scale Aircraft Conversions have come to the rescue with a very nice set of white metal parts which are direct replacements for all of the landing gear components including the front fork. The only thing not reproduced is the skid itself.

As you might expect, these are stronger for the most part than the styrene items included in the kit, and should assist in keeping your model from “drooping” over time – something I’ve been a bit concerned about with my own copy.

Model Art Modeling Magazine is an excellent periodical from Japan providing an abundance of modeling subjects in each issue. It doesn’t matter what your modeling focus is, each issue will provide something of interest for you, and more than likely, you’ll find something interesting that you didn’t know you would.

Although the magazine is published entirely in Japanese, the quality of the photos in each issue is really amazing, and goes a long way in telling the story. There are plenty of “work in progress” and “how it was built” photos highlighting the tools, materials, and techniques used by the master builders. These photo guides go a long way in explaining the builds visually, although I’m sure some details are missed without a proper translation. In fact, the photography is so good, even the advertisements were interesting. I found myself perusing the advertisements almost as much as the work in progress photos.

Master Model produces finely crafted small detail parts for models which have been damaged or may be subject to rough handling. Their collection of antennas and pitot tubes are invaluable for the modeler whose friends (or former friends) handle models less than carefully. There’s a picture below. This particular set is the guns for a Spitfire IXe.

The Spitfire IXe had a pair of 20mm cannons in the wing. These had been moved outboard to allow more ammunition for the Browning .50 caliber machine guns. The cannons stuck pretty far out from the wing, but the Brownings barely showed. The “fix” for the Brownings was to put the muzzle inside a tube which extended from the wing.

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 70+ styrene parts, DS tracks, no photo etched parts fret, and a standard set of instructions, they need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together.

The PBK-500U glide cluster bomb dispenser (the Russian acronym translates to glide bomb cassette, 500-kg) is a single-use weapon that houses either a single warhead or multiple elements. Unlike the previous generation, the PBK-500U can deploy at longer distances to enable standoff attack capability for tactical aircraft acting against targets with pinpoint anti-aircraft defenses.

Eduard re-released the very nice Mig-21MF kit in an awesome dual combo box of the MF in Czech and Czechoslovak service (39 marking options!) and with it they also released the overtrees of the kit and the Photo Etch (P/E) set (for an additional $14.95 - price above is only for the kit). If you have the Dual kit or even the older Profipack kit the overtrees are a nice and inexpensive way to add another kit. You get all of the plastic that comes with the kit but no instructions (No problem as Eduard has them on their web site) or decals (Again no problem as the Profipack and dual kit have many extras). As far as the interior goes, no problem, you can still get Eduard P/E for the early or late variants.

Спасибо! THANKS VERY MUCH Mikhail and Victory models for importing and distributing these sets, and also sending IPMS USA another of your growing line of resin accessories for Russian/Soviet aircraft. Much thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

A word about customer service; Mikhail, the Proprietor of Advanced Modeling, provided Dave Morrissette with reference pictures of the actual MER installed on three aircraft; it looks like Sukhois and one TU-22m; Dave then forwarded to me. THAT saved me a lot of time on correct colors. Most excellent service Mihail!

History Brief

In March 1959, the M-60 was officially standardized as the 105 mm Gun full tracked combat vehicle. Then in December 1960 the M60 Patton was introduced as the Army's main battle tank and became the primary tank during the Cold War. Bearing a strong resemblance to the M48 Patton and continuing in the namesake, the M60 series was a product-improved descendant of the M48 in the Patton tank series. Powered by a 750hp Continental, the V12 air-cooled twin-turbo charged engine gave the M60s had better range and fuel consumption than the M48s. The M60 underwent many updates over its service life. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies and remains in service throughout the world today. More than 15,000 examples were eventually manufactured.

Thank you to David Doyle of David Doyle Books for choosing the IPMS Reviewer Corps to examine and report on one of his new titles, all of which may be viewed on the website listed above. I am very appreciative of the IPMS Reviewer Corps support, whose efforts make this review program so good.

Author Doyle’s treatment of the USS California strikes an excellent balance of book size and detail. The content is laid out in a picture-rich minimum-text format from keel-laying to cutting-torch life stages of the ship. Design concepts, politics, renaming, and many other facets of the California’s history are covered, in addition to her thoroughly-documented long and distinguished career, punctuated by survival and salvage at Pearl Harbor. The image-rich format is a wealth of information for the scale model builder, using hundreds of high-quality images, complemented by select line drawings and color renderings.

Furball decals has scaled down their decal sheet for the Low Viz and Camouflaged Scooters to cater to the 1/72nd scale crowd and what a decal sheet! It has a total of 16 (!) different profiles and enough stencils and national markings to complete two airframes.

However, if you use the markings and stencils from the original decal sheet you can make a very large group of models.

These are the airframes included

One piece of equipment you’ll almost always need any place where freight is handled is a way to quickly move palletized goods from one place to another. Whether a moving a short distance, or in tight quarters a hand pallet truck, or as they’re more commonly called here in the States, a pallet “Jack” or “Mule”, is an indispensable piece of equipment.

Hauler, from the Czech Republic has introduced in 1/48 scale a pallet jack made from resin and photo etched parts. Cast in medium gray resin the kit consists of 7 resin parts and three photo etched parts. No decals are suppled or needed. A one-page sheet of directions is included.