History

At the end of WW2 Industries within the US were encouraged to design more sophisticated military equipment based on experiences gained during the war.

The US Navy Bureau of Ships invited multiple civilian engineering firms to submit proposals for a new tracked landing vehicle (LVT). The Borg Warner Company submitted a design for a new LVT. The prototype was completed in August of 1951. It’s large box like structure could transport 34 fully equipped infantry and possessed excellent seaworthiness. The vehicle was designated the LVTP5. Developed concurrently with the LVTP5 was the LVTH6, the support version armed with a turreted 105mm 24L Howitzer. The LVTH6 entered service in 1957 with 210 units produced.

Kit

The kit is produced by AFV Club, a well-known model company. The box art work in outstanding! The scene depicts marines landing on a pacific island beach.

Fly Models has released a multimedia kit of a very obscure subject: The “Rotachute”.

This aircraft was a combination of an autogiro and a parachute, intended to deliver airborne soldiers to the battlefield in an alternative way to the parachute. From what I read online, the main reason behind this aircraft was due to a shortage of silk during the war. You can find some other interesting stories about this contraption online, including pictures of the prototypes being towed by different trucks (diorama anyone?).

In a diminutive open-side box you get 14 injected plastic parts and 9 photoetch ones. There are no clear parts as the original aircraft had none. The decal sheet is miniscule. While the box calls this model “Rotachute Mk.IV”, it might be possible to build the Marks III and V from this box.

Every once in a great while you run into something in the modeling world that really makes you stand up and take notice. I think Master Models has finally hit about the limit of size feasibility in the scale business – 1/35^th scale empty .30 caliber shells that are literally on the edge of visibility for an old coot like me.

This package comes with 25 pieces that are absolutely remarkable for their size and detail. Despite their minuteness, they’re not just little pieces of brass rod, but actual shells with rims and a shell opening on one end. I honestly don’t know how they are even capable of manufacturing something this small – they’re smaller than grains of rice and are closer to the size of (hope this isn’t too disturbing) head lice. As you can see, they’re hard to photograph because they’re so small. Absolutely amazing!

For a long time, Airfix has continued the tradition of reboxing their older kits from their 1/76 scale line. Since this is a reissue, despite the newer box with red highlights, this Sherman M4A2 comes from a mold that is pushing 60 years old (and it shows). The kit includes rubber band tracks and a couple of sprues. Given the age of the mold, the parts are in okay conditions, though there is flash. Certainly, the parts are not as crisp as in a new kit, but they are adequate. When you compare this Sherman with newer kits, the details are soft. I can only assume that the vehicles depicted through the decals are new to this reissue.

Brengun produces a wide range of unique resin and photo-etch accessories in 1/32, 1/48, 1/72 as well as 1/144. This wheel set is cast with zero flash with prominent pour blocks up half the wheels. The finish is slightly textured but realistic and raised lettering is not visible however in this scale, reading the lettering should not be an issue to most modelers. The tread is not that deep but visible and realistic to 1/144 scale.

These wheels are for the “Super Hornets” which differ from the “legacy”. The tread does match reference photos, although shallow, they are true to scale. Each tire has a slight expanded section for weight on wheels. Compared to Dragons EA-18G Growler injection molded wheels, you can see the advantage of the Brengun wheels.