Background

This is a kit of the fighter plane “Space Wolf” flown by the space pirate, Captain Harlock from the adventure filled world of Leiji Matsumoto. Originally created in 1977 for a manga TV series, Captain Harlock has appeared in various film and TV shows, most recently a 2013 feature film, “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”. For his interspace travel, Captain uses a mother ship named Arcadia. A number of these Space Wolf fighter planes are carried by the Arcadia for protection and offense.

The Space Wolf is a space fighter plane capable of operating in either atmosphere or space conditions. It is armed by two 75 mm pulse laser cannons mounted in the front cowling and two Vulcan cannons in each wing. It appears that jet or rocket thrust can be directed to the tips of the wings and canards to provide control in high altitude or space conditions. The ventral fin is extended during flight but folds forward for storage during landing.

This is the third and final installment, “Full Build,” of Trumpeter’s Douglas ERA-3B 1/48^th scale variant to be released by Trumpeter in 2016. The plane depicts the US Navy, VAQ-33 ‘Firebirds’, ERA-3B, 104/GD BuNo. 146447. The ERA-3B variant was converted from the RA-3B variant as an electronic aggressor aircraft serving with the VAQ-33 and VAQ-34.

This was a full model build straight out of the box with no aftermarket accessories added. The model was based upon the US Navy, VAQ-33 ‘Firebirds’ plane as seen on page 49 in the A-3 Skywarrior in Action Book, Jim Sullivan, Aircraft Number 148, Squadron/Signal Publications. Sullivan’s depiction of the picture states that this plane is sitting on the flight line at NAS Oceana Virginia on 12 May 1977.

Following right on the heels of their Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) IR-Searchlight halftrack, Bronco Models has now offered the same wide-tracked vehicle sporting a four-barreled 2cm Flakvierling anti-aircraft gun.

Like the one before, this ‘new’ kit is actually a reissue of the high-quality Great Wall (Lion Roar) kit from a few years back. Aside from the box art and the color of the plastic, the main difference between the two kits is that Bronco includes a complete engine assembly. At some point GW introduced these parts as an aftermarket set you had to purchase separately for their sWS kits. Bronco brings everything together into another solid offering, with more to come.

This magazine is a listing of 1/35 scale plastic model kits for German armored fighting vehicles (AFV). Most kits are shown on one page with the manufacturer and name of the kit, plus the name of the modeler that built the sample model.

The text is mostly in Japanese, but the manufacturer, model name, and model are all listed in English also. This makes it easy to thumb through the photographs and identify the kit manufacturer. The models are all beautifully done and the color photographs illustrate the models very nicely. Some of the kits are not shown as built examples but rather photographs of the box art and sprues. There are also a few reference photos of the original vehicles.

An introductory section shows detail photos of assembly and painting of an AFV Club Schwerer Panzerspahwagen Sd. Kfz. 232, and a Dragon Tiger I.

The book includes the following sections

Eduard continues its “full meal deal kits” this time with Accurate Miniatures 1/48^th scale SBD-5. For those who haven’t seen them, Eduard takes a very good kit, adds resin, photoetch and masks and bundles it into one solid kit. Let’s look at the contents. First, the highly detailed Accurate Miniatures SBD-5 kit. The full kit is here with all the parts including optional position canopies, nice engine detail and wonderful engraved detail. There was the barest flash present on a couple parts only. The resin parts for this include the tires which have two optional outer hubs, a tail wheel and parts for the gun. The decals are from Cartograf and have five excellent options. Markings are provided for the following: