Bottom Line: Brass barrels in 1/700 scale for all WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) warships mounting 14cm (5.5in)/50cal guns, for mountings without (-058) or with (-059) blast bags.

What You Get

A 2 ¾ by 5 1/8 inch 2-piece cardboard card wrapped in clear plastic containing a small Ziploc bag with Instructions and another card with a small plastic bag holding 20 barrels taped to the card (Figure 1). For no blast bag mounts (-058), each barrel is 7mm long with a 1mm tab at the end. For mounts with blast bags, each barrel is 4.5mm long with a 1mm tab at the end (Figure 2). The tip has a fine hole that is difficult to see, but it’s there.

For some time Master Box has been exploring an up-to-now largely ignored area in the mainstream modeling fraternity - science fiction figures - through their "Spaceport - At the Edge of the Universe - Strange Company’s Adventures" series. Up until now, the action centered mainly around a rogue’s gallery of characters in a sleazy cantina somewhere on the fringes of the law and known space. Laurie adds an interesting potential element of additional trouble as she is one of two new figures who are clearly intent on raiding the cantina, although I do find myself wondering who her target might be.

As with most of the figures in this range, she comes on a single gray sprue with a limited number of parts. Assembly is quite straight-forward with only a little filling needed around the shoulders. I chose to lower her arms slightly to offer a better view of her face. That really is an AWFULLY big gun!

History and this Kit

The Magach tank was produced and based on both the M48, and with the Magach 6B on M60 tank hulls. I took this review assignment because of my interest in the M60 Patton tanks. Having built several over the last few years and AFV’s M60A1 kit #35060 and Takom’s M60A1 with the Explosive Reactive Armor, I was equally up for the challenge of the Magach 6B. This latest version of the Magach 6B has mostly aspects that we modelers can’t see: the British 105mm gun and 750hp diesel engine. As the M60 tanks were modified into the Magach 6 series the most noticeable difference is the explosive reactive armor panels surrounding the turret and the frontal hull area, and the addition of a M2 50 cal. and two 30 cal. machine guns on the turret.

In my stash are a couple of Hobby Boss 1/48 EMB-314 Super Tucanos. These aircraft are used by several nations as the primary and advanced trainer platforms, as well as light attack and CAS roles for their Air Force pilots. Among those air forces are those from For the modeler it represents a blank canvas for a multitude of colorful camouflage and markings. For that reason, I was eager to review this excellent reference paperback offered by Casemate Publishers.

This 80-page paperback follow-up to the EMB-312 series by the same publisher provides the modeler with a fully-packed and detailed reference book on the type. The reader will learn about the conception and development of the Super Tucano and the differences from the earlier 312 series, along with a short detailing of the Tucano’s run at JPATS for the US.

Pen and Sword Books’ latest release in their Tank Craft series details the Pzkpfw VI Tiger 1 Heavy Tank. This series of books is designed to provide model builders and tank enthusiasts a detailed visual reference of the actual tanks featured, as well as their scale model equivalents. This book focuses specifically on the Tiger I tanks deployed to the southern front for the North Africa campaign through the retreat and withdrawal into Sicily and up Italy until the end of hostilities in May 1945.