The Flakpanzer IV “Ostwind” (German for East Wind) was a self-propelled 3.7cm anti-aircraft gun based on the Pz IV. It was developed in 1944 as a replacement for the Wirbelwind. The number of units produced was about 43.

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 700+ styrene parts, magic tracks, two photo etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues and new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has done so and you will have some sprues with the same letter. You can actually build the production version of the Ostwind.

Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels. There are no problems here, other than the removal of the mold line which is noticeable on the road wheels.

History

The Red Army entered WWII with most of its heavy artillery drawn by horses, making its movement slow and vulnerable to attack. The KV-2 assault gun was built to address the need for mobile artillery, but it was unsatisfactory as a fighting vehicle, mainly because of its large and overweight turret. It was therefore decided to replace the KV-2 with a new vehicle based on the KV-1S chassis. But instead of a turret, the 152mm ML-20S gun-howitzer would be mounted in a low-profile casemate. Several designs were put forward, but the KV-14 showed most promise and was further developed into the SU-152 by February, 1943. This self-propelled gun weighed 45.5 tons and had armor up to 75mm thick; powered by a 600bhp V-2k diesel engine, it had a top speed of 43km/h. It was built at the Chelyabinskiy Kirovsky factory until replaced in production by the ISU-152 in December, 1943.

The Kit

Revell has released a nice kit of a 1/25 scale 1967 Chevelle Pro Street that can be built either stock or modified, using parts supplied in the kit. The instructions are well-illustrated, are both easy to read and follow, and contain photos and diagrams that display all the construction steps you will take.

The Build

The first step is to wash the parts in hot, soapy water. There is a lot of mold residue on them from the manufacturing process, and if it is not removed, your paint will have a rough time sticking to the various parts.

Construction begins with the very detailed engine. It can be built two ways – stock or modified. Either way, it consists of multiple parts, some of which are chromed. Moving along, the chassis is similarly detailed, right down to the gas tank. And the interior is also highly detailed – everything is in there, and a careful paint job brings it all out.

The Kit

This kit review is for Hasegawa’s Toyota Celica GT Four RC. The kit comes pre-molded in a deep black color and is modeled after European automobiles – and, in fact, Japanese ones, too – in that it is designed for right-handed drive, with the steering wheel and all controls placed on the right side.

The Build

The model went together well, almost like a snap-together. The interior consists of a total of three pieces – two seats, the steering wheel, and a small segment of cloth that is intended to be used as the carpet on the flooring. There is no motor to build, because there is no place to put the motor beneath the hood. The chassis is equally simple, consisting of a total of 4 pieces with minimal detail. The interior was painted gray.

I recently received the Hasegawa 1/48 scale F6F-5 Hellcat “Pacific Aces” version. This is a very nice kit, and I was actually impressed by the details, especially in the cockpit. From my research, this is a re-release of their previous F6F-5 with a new set of decals covering a few late war aces. The two planes you have the option to build are ‘White 115’ of VF-83 from the USS Essex which was actually flown by three different Ensigns (Donald McPherson, Bill Kingston Jr. and Lyttleton Ward), and ‘White 12’ of VF-31 from the USS Cabot flown by Lt. J.G. Ray Hawkins.