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September 2018

.50 cal. Shells

Browning .50 cal. Cartridges and Empty Shells
Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$8.00

One of the perks about being a member of the IPMS/USA Review Corps is that occasionally you get pre-notification from a manufacturer on their latest releases. Along with this notification comes the opportunity to order, for review, any of those newer items. Such an opportunity was recently presented to reviewer corps members by Master Model of Poland.

Master Model of Poland is a company that was created by a passion for modeling. Their focus is on providing metal details to give the modeler the opportunity to build replicas of the originals. Their turned brass and aluminum items include gun barrels (naval, armor, and aircraft), antenna sets, ship masts, and aircraft pitot tubes. These items range in scale from 1/700th to 1/24th.

Direct Website:

Product packaging

Gunships Raining Fire (1) - USAF/VNAF AC-119G Shadows & AC-119K Stingers in the Vietnam War
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$11.50

When something in 1/144 scale comes up as available for review, I will quite often jump on it. There isn’t NEARLY as much in 1/144 as in 1/72 or 1/48, so I’m quite often looking at a list with nothing for me. When I saw the AOA Decals AC-119 decals in 1/144, I grabbed it. And I’m glad I did.

The Roden AC-119K Stinger is a pretty good kit, but I really wish the Eastern Europeans would start putting locating rings and tabs on their parts. A simple butt joint doesn’t always hold up well to handling. In this case, if you look at my Stinger, you’ll notice that the tail booms don’t line up very well with the fuselage. That’s because I managed to rip these parts off the kit THREE times.

So I’m very happy to review AOA’s decals for the AC-119.

Book Cover

Japanese Anti-Submarine Aircraft in the Pacific War
Book Author(s)
Ryusuke Ishiguro, Tadeusz Januszewsk; IIllustrators: Dariusz Karnas, Zygmunt Szeremeta
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books

MMP has brought out another large, hardbound book on a topic that has been underrepresented in the world of reference books on WW2 aviation.

This book is hardbound and comprised of just under 250 pages. Production quality is quite high, and there are photos and 3-view drawings throughout the book. At the end of the book are several pages in color, including 21 pages of color profiles, 1 page of color photos, and a few pages of cutaway drawings.

Box Art

Ringtrichter Richtungshörer Horchgerät (German WWII Acoustic Monitor Tool)
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
CMK
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$34.50

Background information from Wikipedia:

Ringtrichter Richtungshörer Horchgerät, or literally ‘hearing aid for anti-aircraft guns’ were developed in the First World War as military reconnaissance devices to locate guns on the battlefields. The successes were modest, however, because artillery fire is only short-term sound events, and there were several gun positions on the battlefields so that the localization was difficult. The directional receiver was much better suited for the localization of aircraft. By means of several devices, the true position of a relatively slow sound source moving in the subsonic range could be determined by cross-bearing. They were still used during the Second World War in order to locate enemy aircraft, even in weather such as fog or darkness. With the increasing speed of aircraft and the invention of radar technology, the Richtungshörer was largely obsolete.

Product packaging

Ju-87B-2/R-2 Canopy Masks
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$10.95

Many Luftwaffe aircraft had canopy framing on the inside but not on the outside. How to replicate and paint this has always been a challenge. The Stuka has a few of these panels. Well, what is a modeler to do? Well if you are like me you look to Eduard to help you because I hate to mask canopies.

Eduard’s masks are made from Kabuki tape which is just like Tamiya tape. The tape is precisely cut and conform to curves perfectly. This sheet of masks comes in the traditional resealable packaging that Eduard uses. The larger than usual masks includes all the masks you’ll need for your Airfix Stuka, except the camouflage.

Product packaging

Ju 87B-2/ R2 Zoom
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

The ZOOM series of photo-etch from Eduard features the absolutely essential parts to upgrade your model. Typically, it includes the things in the cockpit that provide dramatic impacts such as the pre-painted instrument panel and various other knobs, buttons, and stuff in the cockpit.

It is packaged in a resealable packaging. The set includes one fret of nickel plated pre-painted brass. The detail contained in the pre-painted parts is phenomenal. The detail that is painted is better than I could ever do. Some like it and some don’t. I love it.

In addition to the instrument panel are rudder pedals, radio faces, and all the little parts that are in the cockpit area. The amount of detail contained is impressive, to say the least. Adding this set to the kit cockpit elevates the cockpit to the level of some resin sets.

Front Cover

The History of the Panzerjager

Book Author(s)
Thomas Anderson
Review Author
Andrew Birkbeck
Published on
September 10, 2018
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$45.00

According to Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law describes the action of warfare as well, and so when the Allies introduced the revolutionary “tank” onto the battlefields of Western Europe in 1916, the opposing German forces quickly attempted to blunt the tank with the introduction of anti-tank weapons together with dedicated anti-tank units, known as Panzerjagertruppe. During the Second World War the anti-tank units were known as Panzerjager, or “Tank Hunters”, a separate arm of the Wehrmacht dedicated to the destruction of enemy tank forces. These troops utilized a wide variety of weapons, from man portable items such as anti-tank rifles, to towed artillery pieces such as the 3.7cm PaK and 8.8cm Flak 18, and self-propelled weapons such as the Panzerjager 1.

Packaging

A6M5c Zero Type 52 Gun Barrels
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
September 11, 2018
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$6.97

I love a quick fix. Lord knows there are plenty of labor-intensive so-called “fixes” out there in the modeling market (some photoetch sets spring immediately to mind). Quickboost, at least in this lovely little detail set, does all the heavy lifting for the modeler.

If you have the old Hasegawa 1/32nd scale Zero, the limitations of the molding process definitely shortchange the weapon systems of this classic craft – no fault of the manufacturer. Quickboost offers this simple, beautifully crafted set to bring this older model into the 21st Century. It also offers a similar set (QB 32 153) for the newer Tamiya offering.

Comprising five gun barrels – three machine gun caliber Type 3 and two 20mm Type 99-II cannon – this set is a direct replacement for the kit parts. Molding is exceedingly fine and without any blemishes or mold lines. Each gun features an open muzzle and the cooling holes in the machine gun barrels are beautifully reproduced.

Packaging

German 30mm Autocannon Mk 103
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
September 11, 2018
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$15.99

I’m not sure I need to discuss the utility of having a really good rendition of the German Mk 103 cannon available in this scale. It was used on a number of aircraft - slung under the wings of tank-destroying Fw190s and Hs129s, mounted in the Do335 and the Horton Flying Wing, and even used in a fair number of ground mounts. This 30mm weapon was not to be trifled with.

It is, however, a fairly difficult shape to successfully mold using the standard styrene molding processes. Master from Poland has come to the rescue with a lovely little kit from their Air Master series. The kit supplies two complete barrel assemblies, including the barrels and adapters in brass and two variants of the complex gun muzzles in resin.

Box Top

1957 Chrysler 300C
Review Author
Jim Stepanek
Published on
September 13, 2018
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$31.95

Engine

There was little flash on the engine parts with excellent details. You get just a basic Hemi engine.

Interior

Deep engraving can be seen on the door panels making it easy to detail paint. Seats and side panels are separate pieces from the floor. I used a Testors flat tan and flat black as called for on the detailed instruction sheet.

Body

The body went together very well with no adjustments necessary. My choice was to go with the Tru-Color artic white paint to maintain the factory stock look.

Chassis

The frame rails are separate from the chassis pan. Front, rear suspension, and exhaust are all separate pieces. All together, they make for a very pleasing assembly.

Instructions

The instructions are several pages long with suggested paint color for specific parts and a numbered list to tell you what part is what .