By the turn of the Twentieth Century, Great Britain was at the height of its industrial and colonial power, with the largest ironclad navy in the world. By 1904, Britain ruled the seas with 45 “pre-dreadnaught” battleships. Each of these carried a main armament usually consisting of four 12- or 13-inch main guns in two twin turrets (one forward and one aft) along with a number of lesser caliber weapons (6”, 12-pounder and 3-pounder) for close in defense. Other navies, primarily Germany, the United States, and after 1905 Japan followed on Great Britain’s heels. The stage was set for an abrupt alteration in the status quo, as industry, technology and the critical thinking of one man combined to change the face of naval power in the decades to come.

Oh great another 109 decal sheet. Well yeah, but this one is different. This one has cartoon characters on the sides. Big cartoon characters!

Contained in a standard ziplock bag is one decal sheet with markings for six airplanes from 7./JG-53 based in Sicily in 1943 and two smaller sheets with fuel stencils. I believe they are printed by Cartograf these are some gorgeous decals for some very unique airplanes. The sheet is the standard 9x6 decal sheet with markings for the known cartoon aircraft. All of them are basically marked the same with the exception of the cartoon character. The decals provide you with all the aircraft numbers and characters. You get crosses, swastikas and fuel stencils for eight aircraft . Four sets of JG-53 emblems are included. There are no additional stencils included. You’ll have to source them elsewhere.

For the 1974 racing season, four Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera RSR cars were produced for the Martini Racing Team introducing a turbo boost to the 911 platform. Powered by a 2.1 L turbo-charged engine providing nearly 500 HP, the #22 car driven by Muller & van Lennep took second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

This 2023 model kit re-release has been issued numerous times by various manufacturers. Italeri gives it a skill level 2 rating. It’s a simple kit to build in out-of-the-box (OOB) form (minus the decals). The kit contains 42 pieces. The body is molded in a silver color. The rest of parts are on one tree molded in black, and there’s a clear window piece with headlight lenses. The model features soft rubber tires and colorful Cartograph waterslide decals. There are instructions for 2 versions with full-color decal placement images and paint callouts.

Boxing up multiple kits into a single boxing and offering a discount is not a new concept, however, it has yet to be as effective as what ICM currently offers in their product range. This offering offers two great aircraft and a set of figures to compliment them. A diorama waiting to be put together.

As there are three kits in this boxing, the O-2A Skymaster and the OV-10A Bronco along with USAF Personnel in Vietnam, I’ll offer three reviews in one as well.

Pilots & Technicians

First off, the personnel. This single sprue contains the parts for five figures found on a USAF flight line.

Finding figures in 1/48th scale for Vietnam is a pretty hard chore. Whether you want to depict USAF or Army helicopter pilots your choices in the past have been pretty slim. Well thanks to ICM there is at least a new option.

A Very Brief History the Typ 320 (W142) Cabriolet

WWII German Staff Car (from Manufacturer’s kit notes)

“The Mercedes-Benz 320 (W142), developed by Daimler-Benz AG, was launched in 1937. It was equipped with a six-cylinder engine with a volume of 3.2 liters (3.4 liters in later versions), which had 78 horsepower. It was available with a short (2880 mm) or long (3300 mm) wheelbase. The Mercedes-Benz 320 (W142) was the most prestigious of the three 6-cylinder middle-class models. One of the body variants for long-wheelbase cars was the Cabriolet. In turn, there were also several versions of this version of the Mercedes-Benz 320, which differ with number of seats, doors, and side windows. The four-seat Cabriolet B version had two doors and four side windows. This car was used by the Wehrmacht as a staff car and was also used as a vehicle for the transportation of senior commanders.