Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the venerable Bf-110 from Revell/Monogram.

This set is one of the more elaborated sets from SAC I’ve seen. It includes three main parts – two landing gear struts and a two-part tail wheel, plus 3 “frames” with the rest of the delicate parts.

My example arrived partially crushed (I guess due to shipping). Having the small parts attached to a “frame” actually prevented them from being distorted. But still, a bit of work might be needed to straight them out; however, it is very easy to work with white metal (check the SAC website for details).

The Aircraft

The Tu-22M3 Backfire C has had a somewhat confusing development history. The original Tu-22 was NATO code-named Blinder. It had two pod-mounted engines above the rear fuselage, one on either side of the vertical stabilizer, and fixed sweptback wings. Then Tupolev came out with what I think is almost a new design, with the engines mounted in the rear fuselage and intakes along the fuselage side, and variable-position wings...I think the first on a large Russian bomber. This was the Backfire. The designation for this aircraft was Tu-22M1. The M probably stands for “Modified.” There were only nine Tu-22M1s built, and it was fairly quickly replaced by the Tu-22M2. The M2 had more powerful engines, a bigger wing, and an area rule fuselage.

Model Art Modeling Magazine is a Japanese publication that is released monthly. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One benefit of these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

This month’s issue is geared toward the Formula 1 fans, but the issue starts off with a report from the 2013 Shizuoka Hobby Show. This is covered in four pages packed with color photographs. Some models of note – Tamiya’s 1/32nd F4U-1 and Minicraft’s 1/72nd PBM-5/5A are just a few of the examples.

The Formula 1 article is covered in over fifty one pages. The largest focus of the article is on the John Player Special cars. They use models of these cars along with tips on building them, captured in black and white and color photos. Along with models, there are photos of the actual cars in color and black and white photographs.

MiniArt’s German Tank Crew Normandy 1944 contains five figures wearing their German uniforms under bad weather leathers. The commander figure is posed as if he’s standing in a vehicle hatch, scanning the terrain. The other four are depicted during moments of relaxation and revelry. An accordion player appears to tap his toe in time with the music. An NCO stands with his jacket open and an amused look on his face. Perhaps he’s listening to the music or a joke. His jacket has a nice undercut behind him. A crewman wearing a scarf is posed sitting somewhere on the tank (turret, hull) or a stack of boxes, perhaps listening to the music or posing for a photograph. A smiling crewman is posed to lean on the main gun, the hull, or stacked supplies/equipment.

History

The Kawasaki Ki-45 was the first attempt by Japanese manufacturers to provide the JAAF with a modern twin-engine fighter. The original specification was issued to Nakajima, Mitsubishi, and Kawasaki in 1937, but the first two soon withdrew from the project, Kawasaki continued into 1939 with the completion of the Ki-45 prototype. This proved to be inadequate in many respects, so in 1940 the aircraft was completely redesigned, with some existing Ki-45 prototypes being converted to Ki-45 Kai (Modified), with different wings, tail surfaces, and engines. Thus modified, the new aircraft was accepted for production by the IJAAF, entering service in 1942. The aircraft served throughout the Pacific War in China, New Guinea, Indo-China, Manchuria, the Philippines, and finally in mainland Japan against the B-29 heavy bombing offensive, where it was one of the few relatively effective interceptors.