Aerobonus continues to release pilot figures to staff planes in 1/48^th and 1/32^nd scale with the pilots seated in the appropriate seats. This latest release features two German Luftwaffe pilots for the Revell 1/32^nd scale IDS Tornado. The hand position is different on the two figures with one in pilot stance and the second in a different stance. Molding is superb with no bubbles or casting issues.

Introduction

In 2020, Italeri re-released their big 1/72nd scale B-52H Stratofortress as kit number 1442. This kit is a re-box of the B-52H kit #1262 from 2006 with new decals representing three different aircraft from around the 1979 - 1981 time frame. In 1980, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was still in charge of the nuclear bomber and ballistic missile forces, the B-52Hs had only been in service for 20 years and Boeing’s AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM) were into full rate production. This new-old kit brings markings for three new versions of the B-52H for modeler’s that can’t get enough of this great old bird.

A sincere thank you to Italeri for re-issuing this kit in tribute to the mightiest and most recognized (most feared in many places) of military aircraft.

The company OKB-Grigorov from Bulgaria has released idlers wheels for early T-34 tank models. These replacement idlers have the rubber bandage (solid tires) pressed onto the outside rim. Later models were only all metal.

There are six two-piece resin wheels included in the bag. The front and back of each idler are molded on one resin plug. The resin is dark gray and feels more like plastic. It is easy to cut the wheels off the plugs and sands up great with little resin dust. They supply six wheels, but you only need two per tank, so you will have enough for thee kits. I did not see any air bubbles or other molding errors on any part. Super glue works fine to join the two halves together and pant held fine to the surface without any cleaning beforehand. The idlers have a small pin on the back that might need to be altered depending on what kit you will be mounting them to.

I would like to thank OKB-Grigorov and IPMS for the chance to review these wheels.

This is book number 1 in Kagero Publishing’s “In Combat” series. This book is the larger A4 or European size with high gloss paper and is 80 pages long that has 12 chapters. The pages are laid out with English on the left side of the page and Polish on the right. The first chapter is about the development of the base Panzer III, then it jumps to Ausf. (model/version) H. Each chapter deals with a different Ausf number up to Ausf N. The detailed about each model is very extensive and a few charts are included that show production numbers. There are two to three photos per page showing the Panzer III version being written about. Some of the photos seem to be computer enhanced to bring out details.

The Lockheed C-130A through H model aircraft are powered by a series of Allison T-56 engines driving a set of Hamilton-Standard 4-bladed props. The 4-bladed Hamilton-Standard props were original equipment on the C-130B through the C-130H models, and the props were later retrofitted to C-130A aircraft. Each C-130B through C-130H engine is housed in a nacelle that is slightly longer than the nacelles on the C-130A aircraft. The difference can be seen in a side-by-side comparison of the Italeri kit nacelles (designed for the C-130A) and this aftermarket kit.