Reviews | IPMS/USA Reviews

Windsock Worldwide, Vol. 26, No. 6 - November/December 2010

Review Author

Ben Guenther

Published on

March 17, 2011

Company

Albatros Productions, Ltd.

MSRP

$11.00

Fans of World War I aircraft and Wingnut Wings models will enjoy this issue.

Nine pages have been devoted to a build of the Wingnut Wings 1/32 scale Pfalz D.IIIa and have 45 color photos showing how to put this model together. Needless to say, tips and hints abound on how to proceed, including one page (“Pfalz Archiv”) that has four photos of actual aircraft and a three-view drawing. If you haven’t bought the kit before this you’ll most likely want to after reading this article.

Roden’s 1/32 scale Sopwith Triplane has an in-the-box review followed by “Rara Avis” this time about Lloyd LK.I (40.08) Austro-Hungarian Triplane bomber. One page with a brief history, specifications and two photos of the only prototype built. A two page 1/72 scale 3 view drawing from Ian Stair archives really shows off the strange features of this aircraft.

PD-62-8 Pylon and APU-60-1 Launch Rail

Review Author

Rod Lees

Published on

October 10, 2021

Company

Zactomodels

Scale

1/32

MSRP

$10.00

If you have not dealt with “Zactoman”, and you are in to 1/32 Soviet aircraft, visit his website. Your wallet will automatically open… In this case, Chris graciously provided review items.

When I built the Trumpeter SU-25 back about three months ago, I noted the outboard pylons were not included in the kit. Serious sadness, as I had never seen an SU-25 without these pylons. The holes for the pylon mounts were in the wing, but the pylons were not on the runners anywhere…. Who could figure out why? Cost cutting over 1/100 of a dime…

In steps Chris at Zactomodels. He’s about as crazy about cold war Soviet aircraft as I am… and he has provided a 1 or so-hour solution to the missing pylon. The PD-62-8 Pylon and APU-60-1 launch rail he provides, along with the detail parts to make it more realistic, are for lack of words, perfect resin castings. Suddenly my SU was about to be complete…

Wash the parts with 409 or similar degreaser, let dry, and get busy.

Imperial Japanese Navy Heavy Cruisers 1941-1945

Book Author(s)

Mark Stille, Illustrated by Paul Wright

Review Author

Bill Kluge

Published on

March 16, 2011

Company

Osprey Publishing

MSRP

$17.95

While the aircraft carriers of Imperial Japan may have captured the glory of the navy’s early victories in the Pacific, by and large it was her cruisers that did the slugging, round after round, with the U.S. and Allied navies during the initial stages of the war. This latest New Vanguard edition by Osprey Publishing chronicles the development and use of Japan’s heavy cruiser force. All 18 of the heavy cruisers (designated “Class A cruisers” in the IJN) that fought in the Pacific War were completed before the outbreak of the war. No Japanese heavy cruisers were built during the war.

Mirage 2000 Pitot Tube

Review Author

Charles Landrum

Published on

March 16, 2011

Company

Master Model

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$5.00

I like the Mirage family of jets, they just look fast. An interesting feature is the bulbous nose probe out in front of the radome. In plastic this is a hard part to clean up – I have suffered these trials with the Heller Mirage 2000 and the Italeri Mirage F.1. The Mirage 2000 was the Eduard re-release that I built for IPMS review. Well, the nose probe was a casualty of the road on my way to its first contest entry! I made the repair, but it looked a bit short and then it was subsequently lost. The Model Master probe is far more petite and prototypical, so I was eager to try this brass replacement and restore my Mirage to its visual glory!

Browning .30 Caliber Barrels

Review Author

Charles Landrum

Published on

March 16, 2011

Company

Master Model

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$7.00

I continue to be amazed at the variety and quality of the product line from Master Models. I have had the pleasure to review their replacement ship gun barrels but this is the first opportunity I have had to review their aircraft accessories. This latest offering from Master Models is a pair of replacement .30 caliber barrels, perfect for the rear gun mount on most two-seater US Navy aircraft. These barrels are little jewels. Okay, I am not a machinist and so I am always impressed by quality lathe work. I was a bit astounded by the perforated cooling jackets. I will not even ask how it was done, but there had to be a computerized milling machine with an indexing arc to even space the dimples in this fine brass. Installation is easy, cut off the plastic barrel, drill a small hole and glue in the replacement barrel. Is the barrel worth the cost and effort?

C-47 Skytrain Exhaust

Review Author

Charles Landrum

Published on

March 16, 2011

Company

Quickboost

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$4.75

In this set Quickboost offers a drop-in replacement set of exhaust pipes for the Trumpeter C-47. This set eliminates pesky mold seams and provides a deeper more realistic exhaust opening. The exhaust pipes in the kit and the QB replacements appear to have built-in mufflers. My guess is that Trumpeter depicted a later style exhaust. The Monogram kit, on the other hand, has a short pipe with a more turned out opening. This earlier style is more appropriate for the WWII aircraft. Working on the hunch that the QB pipes are a later style, I went through my reference and I have found pictures of Vietnam era Gooney Birds with such a pipe, including the AC-47 gunships. This also includes the C-47s the Army used for VIP transport in CONUS. So if you are modeling the later aircraft, including the Monogram AC-47 release, these mufflers would be more appropriate for your model. Highly recommended.

Flat Tile Roof

Review Author

Andy Renshaw

Published on

March 15, 2011

Company

MiniArt

Scale

1/35

MSRP

$27.00

Those of us that enjoy building dioramas will like this new set from MiniArt. The kit titled “Flat Tile Roof” contains all the parts for two panels of tile roofing. These panels can be used single, covering a 9-1/2 x 5-3/4” area each, or used together to formed a peaked roof that will cover roughly twice the size of a single panel depending on the pitch.

Parts:

US Howitzer Motor Carriage M8

Review Author

Scott Hollingshead

Published on

March 15, 2011

Company

Tamiya

Scale

1/35

MSRP

$31.00

First released in 1974, the Tamiya M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage still holds up reasonably well to more modern offerings by this company, as well as some of the new folks on the block. This is one of several 1/35 scale kits that Tamiya has decided to re-release this year, and I for one certainly enjoy having another opportunity to build some of the kits that I missed out on back when they were originally released, as I had not yet picked up the armor modeling bug. A few years ago, I recall seeing a photograph of an M8 built by another modeler, and I started a search that took me a little over a year to fulfill in finding one of the original kits. That one is still on a shelf (along with a Verlinden update set), but this was a great opportunity to build what is a very well designed kit, even by today’s standards.

P-38 Lightning wheels - Spoked nose wheel with rear cover (diamond tread)

Review Author

Andy Renshaw

Published on

March 15, 2011

Company

Ultracast

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$9.98

Many times one of the areas that we find lacking in kits is the wheels. Usually the tread pattern is very shallow, incorrect, or incomplete. Plus, whatever tread is present on the kit parts tends to get removed when smoothing over the seam created from having the wheels in two halves.

Ultracast has recently released a series of 1/48 wheel sets for the P-38 Lightning. This review concentrates on the “diamond tread” version. The parts are cast in flawless cream colored resin and feature beautiful detail including valve stems. Also on the main wheels, the internal brake drum is visible through the open spokes. The tread pattern is good and defined, and is more accurate than that in the Hasegawa kit. Comparing photos of wartime P-38 wheels, the Ultracast pattern looks correct while the kit tread pattern is very small. There is also a very slight flattening effect in the resin parts, which looks far more authentic than the “other” more common resin wheels available.

6 NEW PRODUCTS FROM ALCLAD II

Review Author

Ed Kinney

Published on

March 14, 2011

Company

Alclad II

MSRP

$8.25

ALC 311Klear Kote Light Sheen 4oz/120ml
ALC 312 Klear Kote Semi-Matte 4oz/120m
ALC 313 Klear Kote Matte 4oz/120ml
ALC 314 Klear Kote Flat 4oz/120ml
ALC 408 Armoured Glass Tint 1oz/30ml
ALC 600 Aqua Gloss Clear 4oz/120ml

As has been the case for as long as I have known him, Tony Hipp seems to be on an endless quest to develop and bring to market still more excellent products for the discriminating modeler. For years, we’ve searched for the ultimate natural metal finishes, and when Alclad first came on the market, every other product took a distant place far behind. Tony’s products, my estimation, have become the benchmark to which all standards are measured.

These new offerings are not aluminum paints, but will go a long way to make whatever your modeling project is more realistic.