History

The Rockwell Commander was developed during the late sixties, its first flight being in 1970. It was intended to compete with the Beech Bonanza, Mooney M20, Piper Low Wings and high-performance Cessna products that were so common during that era.

However, after production started problems occurred that resulted in modifications that made the airframe heavier and more complex. As these problems were solved, more powerful engines were installed, but production ended in 1980 with a total of 1306 being produced. The Models 112TC, 114 A, and 114B are the subject of this kit. As popular as the airplane was, I saw very few of them at local airports, and only photographed a couple of them over the past fifty years. Actually, I was surprised that anyone would produce a 1/72 scale kit of this aircraft.

Red Army Weapons of the Second World War is a very well researched and written book that does a deep dive into the history of the Russian military’s ground forces weapons. This book is a departure from the usual Images of War format. Rather than a brief summary of the chapter to come with a dizzying number of great photographs, each of this book’s chapters opens with history, weapon type, development, etc, then follows with black and white photographs that are worth the price of the book alone.

In the forward, US Army Tank-Automotive Command Historian (Retired) Randy Talbot writes,

“During the First World War in an oft-told story, Russian infantrymen were on the line when an aeroplane flew overhead. They quickly fired upon the plane, shooting it down. There was no way it could be a Russian plane because the Russians were not smart enough to build something so complicated.”

He continues with the essence of this book,

ICM has released kit based on a character from the TV series the Squid Games – this is one of ‘O’ guards from the show.

In the box is:

• 3 x light grey sprues
• 1 stand base
• 1 black sprue for stand
• 1 small black sprue with the mask
• 1 small decal sheet
• 1 instruction sheets
• 1 box art print

Construction

The construction of the figure is very easy, and they assemble very well. You do need to do a little filling here and there during the assembly.

The base is a nice touch and has optional ground finishes to choose from.

Painting was easy, although I did not use all the reference colors as shown on in the instructions. I did use all Tamiya paints on the figure. There was just one decal for the mask.

I really enjoyed building this kit and loved the TV series it is based on.

Summary

This was a fantastic kit and fun to build.

Historical Background

This book presents a complete detailed history of the development and combat career of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber during World War II. It begins with the backgrounds of the designers, including Reuben Fleet, describing the early development of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation during the twenties and thirties. When the U.S. Army leaders decided to develop a replacement for the Martin B-10 medium bomber, Boeing began development of what was to become probably the most famous bomber of the World War II period, the B-17 “Flying Fortress”. When war in Europe seemed to be approaching, Consolidated decided to develop another heavy bomber type, the B-24, using several innovations, including the “Davis Wing”, which had some aerodynamic advantages, and the tricycle landing gear, which simplified takeoffs and landings, and which is now standard on nearly all production aircraft in use today.

This is the SAC gear is made with the brand-new Modelsvit P-51H. This was the last in the Mustang line, and essentially was a totally different aircraft; in outward appearance the lineage was there, but new wings, fuselage, cowling, combined with sub-parts of the previous P-51D tooling, led to a faster aircraft, with a bit more performance. Unfortunately for it, the Jet age had arrived, and as the jets arrived, the majority of users being U.S. Air National Guard units. And no, you can’t turn a D into a H. (well, if someone wants to try, go ahead, new wings, prop, fuselage, cowling, canopy… landing gear, wheel well… I guess you could use a stabilizer and fin/rudder, with an extended bit for the latter).

As the previously reviewed F-82, This is a kit not for the faint hearted, and in the end the final product has proven to be worthy of display next to the rest of the High-tech models of the P-51 to grace our building benches.