Figures

This is another kit in ICM’s series of Model T vehicles and figures, and includes two figures that can be posed loading gasoline cans into the rear of ICM’s Model T Light Delivery Car, or other 1/24 truck. The Figures and Delivery Car are combined in another ICM Kit, #28019. Gas and oil can accessories are included with the kit.

The kit comes on three sprues molded in soft light gray plastic, one sprue with the two figures, and two duplicate sprues of the gasoline and oil tanks. The instructions come on a single page, double-sided, 8 1/4“ x 11 1/2“ sheet. One side shows a diagram of the sprues and identifies paint colors in Revell and Tamiya colors. The opposite side of the instructions are color illustrations of the figures showing part numbers and detail painting.

IPMS/USA again thanks Ross and his Team at SAC for supporting the IPMS USA reviewer corps with one more of many monthly releases, with useful and well-thought out landing gear additions for those who build. And thanks to IPMS leadership for sending it to me to be reviewed.

This set has eight parts: two nose gear halves, two shock struts for the main gear, a main rotorhead three-point blade swashplate, a cyclic main rotor mount plate with four points, a main rotor brace, and a tail rotor pitch link assembly. Rotor heads are the main focal point and the failure point of most rotary wing aircraft… and metal is the perfect solution for the fragile bits.

John Geigle of Masterpiece Models gave us a number of review items in Chattanooga this year and because I love to build the quirky and unusual stuff, I volunteered to do the dirty work (I’m going to try my best to avoid puns during the rest of this review, as difficult as that is for me.) and put this one together.

The anti-slip surface on tanks and airplanes are a unique feature and often not represented, especially on airplanes and helicopters. In the past the ways to replicate this were barely passable. Well that has now changed.

Ammo by Mig Jimenez has released not one but, three different versions, of this anti-slip paste. Of course, there are different scale models and so there are different ‘scales’ of this new paste.

The first anti-slip paste is in sand color for 1/35^th scale. These would be used on vehicles like the M1 Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicles.

The second paste is designed for 1/72 and 1/48^th scale models, in particular airplanes can benefit from this paste. The ‘grit’ is a finer one that is typical for airplanes.

The third one is a brown color designed for 1/35^th scale vehicles.

This book is the second in a series on American prototypes and secret projects, the first on cargo aircraft. It covers many different aircraft from WWII types to right up till the early cold war. The authors were granted an unprecedented level of access to the various manufacturers’ archives and the amount of information in the book really shows this! This book covers over 200 designs from the well-known to those beyond obscure.

The book is broken down into nine chapters. The first is a brief overview of the last 80 years of airlift design and usage.

The second chapter covers the design challenges facing aerospace engineers especially when the government demands were outpacing the technology. Everything from wing placement to cargo door size and placement are discussed. Many other factors such as carrying capacity and range are also covered, as are the advantages of prop, turboprop, and jet configurations both real and perceived.