Recently Italeri released a model of the Italian Coloniale – a military version of a popular pre-war civilian vehicle, which proved to be quite versatile and was used extensively not only by the Italian army but by the German army as well, mostly hauling officers around in rear-echelon areas. The kit itself is comparatively simple, which reflects the relative simplicity of the vehicle itself. However, one area where this reductionism has caused a loss of detail is in the wheels, which are simple two-piece castings with very little detail beyond the hubs.
Reviews
The new Eduard Bf-109 is an exceptionally good kit and a lot of fun to build. What do you do if you have an Overtree boxing with no decals? Well you can get these decals to handle the stencils.
Eduard has started to print their own decals. One of the first ones they’ve done is the stencils for their Bf-109. Packaged in a self-sealing plastic wrapping with a thin cardboard backing, the decals are printed on a 2 ½ x 4 ¾ decal sheet. Also included is a sheet of instructions are included on a half of an A4 sheet. The finesse of the writing is legible in this scale. The colors are perfectly in register. The decals are very thin. So you will have to use plenty of water to move them around on the model once you add them, but they work flawlessly. Even if you don’t use setting solutions these decals will snuggle down beautifully.
Ok so what do you do when you screw the pooch on the initial release of a model kit and you’ve already invested lots of money on decals? Well if you are Eduard then you simply offer them as a separate item to use on your new kit.
I built three of the initial Bf-109Gs from the 2014 release. The decals were the best thing about the release, despite size issues with kit, the decal were perfect. They were designed properly and even scaled perfectly for 1/48th scale.
What do you do when your kit is too large but your decals aren’t? Well if you are Eduard you offer the decals for sale to go with you newly released Bf-109G. These decals were designed for the Royal Class release of the Eduard 2014 Bf-109G release.
Packaged in a resealable package with card stock support, this 8.5 x 13 inch sheet is printed by Cartograf. There is also a small stencil sheet printed by Eduard. That means that they are as perfect as decals can be. The colors are perfectly in register. The decals are very thin and quite colorful.
The sheet covers SIXTEEN aircraft covering every version from the G-2 to the G-14. It also covers German, Italian, Finnish, Hungarian, Rumanian, and Swiss and aces like Hartmann, Barkhorn, Baer, Trautloft, Schroer and Gabler. The colors range from Natural Metal finish to the standard 74/75/76 to Desert colors of 78/79 as well as the beautiful greens of JG-54.
It is no secret that I love the Eduard Bf-109Gs. While they are state of the art kits there is always something that can be ‘upgraded’. The latest Brassin Upgrade for the Eduard kit is an external drop tank and ETC rack.
Packaged in vacuformed packaging typical of many of the Brassin line, inside of this are two drop tanks and two ETC racks. Molded in light grey resin the two drop tanks represent different configuration tanks. One with crimped end and the other the simplified tank. The ETC racks are beautifully rendered and some of the most accurate racks available on the market. Inside this set is also a set of decals with the stencils in black and red.
From the publisher: Once Nazi Germany had conquered Norway in 1940, just a handful of Luftwaffe Gruppen flying Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters were able to dominate the air in the Arctic Circle. Yet as the dual threats of the Royal Air Force and Soviet air force grew, the Luftwaffe was forced to increase its fighter presence to full Geschwader strength with the formation of Jg 5 Eismeer (ice-sea) in early 1942. The struggle produced some of Germany’s leading aces, with pilots such as Theodor Weissenberger, Heinrich Ehrler, Walter Schuck, Franz Dörr, and Jakob Norz all achieving more than 100 victories.
The newest in Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces series is authored by István Toperczer, A Hungarian Air Force flight surgeon. Toperczer, has focused on the Vietnam War, specifically the North Vietnamese side, and has interviewed many of the North Vietnamese leading air aces over the last twenty years in his numerous visits to North Vietnam. He authored Squadron Signal’s “Air War Over North Vietnam: The People’s Air Force” in 1998, followed by Osprey’s Combat Aircraft 25 “MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War” and Osprey’s Combat Aircraft 29 “MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War” in 2001. Schiffer’s hard bound “MiG Aces of the Vietnam War” was published in 2015. Illustrator Jim Laurier, a native of New England, provides the color profiles. Jim has been drawing since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has worked in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of subjects.
PJ Production has jumped in to help 1/48 Mirage III series model builders. This new release provides two AIM-9B Sidewinders along with the Aero 3 missile rails and the CES-3 pylons featured on the Dassault fighter. This set is probably focused on the new Kinetic 1/48 Mirage III kits, but it should also work well on the Academy, Eduard, Fonderie Minatures, Heller, and Hobby Boss kits; along with the older ESCI kit that has also been re-boxed by Revell and Italeri.
Notable is the re-sealable packaging that PJ Production uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. You will want to be careful handling the resin fins as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster. Painting instructions are included with the small instruction sheet. I found several air-bubbles in the resin parts, on the nose and the tail fins. Gap filling super glue with baking soda quickly solved the issue.
Finally, a proportionally accurate ’70 Dodge Charger is available for MOPAR enthusiast in 1:25th scale. This model does the immensely popular Fast & Furious muscle car justice and it’s sure to be a standout on your display shelf.
If you are building a 1/32 diorama of a modern USAF aircraft, this Crew Chief and a roll around tool box would be a great addition. This kit also includes two drills, two slim notebooks, and a PC notebook. If you place this kit next to a 1/32 aircraft, it will make a diorama or a display “come alive”.
Inside the package, you get a Crew Chief figure, toolbox, two drills, two manuals, and a PC Notebook. There are a total of 15 parts that make up this kit, all of which are well molded and have a great amount of detail.
The fit of the parts is excellent, with only a small amount of mold seams, all of which are easily filed and sanded smooth. One big note about assembling this kit – build the toolbox first, and doing that will make it easier to pose the figure in a good position. I guessed the height of the toolbox and assembled the figure first, and when I built the toolbox, I discovered that the figure’s arms were not posed the way I wanted them to be.
