Model Art Issue 59 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions. The Vessel Model Special is a quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. Advertising comprises the inside covers (and back cover) along with another four pages showing what is available and new, always useful for building up that wish list. I counted 596 photos (mostly in color) along with 17 side view or top view drawings. Additionally there are a lot of color scrap drawings highlighting details in the Ship Construction series.

Interstellar came out in 2014 and was a decent movie about team of explorers who travel through a wormhole looking to find a new world to ensure humanity's survival. The ship the stars used was the Transgalactic Survey Craft, Ranger which was launched on top of a secret Saturn V rocket.

Moebius recently released a 72^nd scale kit of the Ranger based on the full scale prop, miniatures and CGI files used in the movie. As 72^nd is my preferred scale, I was interested. The kit has 42 parts molded in white plastic which include 38 for the 72^nd scale ship and 4 bonus parts to make the top of the Saturn launch vehicle with 2 Rangers. The parts for this should fit either the Airfix or Revell 1/144^th scale rockets.

Aires and Aerobonus fill another gap with a Soviet pilot in a K-36 ejection seat meant to be added to Trumpeters very large 1/32nd Su-27. The set includes five well-cast resin pieces - two arms, the head/helmet, the top of the ejection seat and the seat/pilot figure.

Preparation is simple, remove the parts from the casting blocks and add the top of the seat and the two arms. There were small amounts of putty at the arms- I used Squadron white putty smooth with lacquer thinner. The head can be kept separate for painting if you like, or glued in place.

Ampersand’s latest book continues to expand on their Visual History format follows the same look as David Doyle’s “USS California”. Ampersand got their start in 1993 when Pat Stansell distributed a free issue of Military Miniatures in Review at the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta. Ampersand joined forces with HobbyLink Japan in 2008, and have continued to expand their military AFV publications ever since.

What I have here for you guys is a USAF trailer/flat wagon from Aerobonus its in 1/32^nd scale and should add another level of realism to any flight line, hangar or aircraft diorama of your choosing. Aerobonus is produces resin/pe accessories and details sets for armor and aircraft.

The trailer comes in a cellophane wrapper with a printed single sheet instruction folded in half and 3 pour blocks for a total of 15 parts and 1 decal sheet. There are no spare parts at all but honestly it’s pretty straightforward and you shouldn’t get out of hand.

This kit provides three resin exhaust stack units for the FW-190A-8 kit. These snap into place just like the ones provided in the kit, and the only difference is that the Brassin units are drilled out, appearing to be exhaust stacks rather than solid tubes. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Eduard for the review set.

Scale Aircraft Conversions celebrated their Silver Anniversary last year, and now have over twenty-five years of supplying resin and white metal parts to model builders. This is the seventh landing gear set from SAC that I have reviewed, and once again, they have provided an excellent metal option for kit-supplied landing gear. This set is intended for the 1/48 scale Horton Ho 229 flying wing that was released by Zoukei-Mura last year (kit 3 of the 1/48 scale Super Wing Series). The purpose of this replacement set is to provide stronger landing gear that is adjustable if necessary to obtain proper angles. Even with no previous experience in using white metal parts, this set will provide an upgrade that most modelers will have no issue installing.

This set of one piece wheels replaces the more complicated 3 piece units provided in the kit. They are finely molded in resin, and can be easily trimmed off of the sprues. A mask set is also included, making it possible to mask either the tires or the hubs. Detailed instructions are also provided. Recommended.

My thanks to Eduard for the opportunity to review this set.

This is the latest Batmobile from the Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice movie. It is a nice looking vehicle! The instruction booklet is concise and gives great illustrations.

The kit contains

• 8 sprues molded in light grey styrene
• 1 clear sprue
• 4 Black Rubber tires
• 1 instruction booklet.

Construction

The kit is not too complex and can be built in a number of sub-assembles via 8 main steps. The use of sub-assemblies allows you to paint these as you progress through the build. I would recommend that you test fit each part before any glue is used as a few need a little adjusting to fix correctly.

Background

Auto Modeling is a high quality Japanese language magazine from publisher ModelArt. Each edition features models of cars, mostly racecars, from various race series and eras. Many of the previous editions focused on Formula One cars in different time periods.

The magazine has Japanese text, but some of the titles and headings are in English. The photographs are numerous and very high quality.

Contents

This issue, Volume 32, December 2015, has the following sections:

Model Art Issue 932 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions.

This issue covers:

History

The Avia B.534 was developed in 1934 and although obsolete by the time WWII started it was used in combat as late as 1944! The 534 went through a few changes along the way most notably the cockpit and landing gear. A 534 is credited with having been the last biplane to record an aerial victory (A Hungarian Ju 52 on Sept. 2nd, 1944).

The Kit

Upon opening the box you will find a bag of 3 blue grey injected plastic sprue with a zip lock bag of clear parts inside, a zip lock bag of photo etch parts, a zip lock bag containing masks, a decal sheet and 12 page color instruction booklet. The injected plastic is molded very crisply and with no noticeable sink marks very little flash. The photo etch parts are small to say the least but look nice and the decal sheet is printed cleanly and in register.

This is the publication's thirty-third issue and as the subtitle says, it is “the photo journal of the Second World War”. This issue deals with five subjects in 96 pages, the paper being glossy and reproducing the images well in black & white. The only color photos are on the covers (front and back). Two of the subjects are outright allies and one German. The final two started out as allies (French) but after 1940 their tanks were used by the Germans. At the beginning of each chapter there will be a short text on the history of that subject and most of the photos will also have a brief text about that photo. The photo sizes varies, but about 65% of them cover the full page and the remainder have anywhere from two to four pictures per page.