The Subject

The Batmobile is the car of the fictional comic book superhero Batman, an iconic American character. The character of Batman first appeared in DC Comics’ Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). By 1940, Batman proved popular enough to spin off into his own dedicated comic, Batman. In the years since, there have been other comics, books, radio shows, television shows, and films featuring Batman and his related characters and equipment. The car used by Batman, called the Batmobile, appeared in the very first stories in 1939 and has evolved over the years. Perhaps the best known version is the vehicle that appeared in the 1960’s hit TV series Batman, which is the subject of this kit. Designed specifically for the TV show by famous customizer George Barris, the car was a heavily modified former Ford Corporation concept car called the Lincoln Futura.

Prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese air force pilots (both Army and Navy) were some of the world’s foremost proponents of dogfighting, and the fighters they flew reflected their demand for aircraft that would give them the edge in that realm of aerial combat. Flying lightweight and agile Type 97 Ki-27 s (“Nates” to the Allies), the Japanese Army Air Force’s pilots easily outmaneuvered their opposition in the skies over China and Manchuria in the late 30s, and during the opening days of World War II, JAAF Ki-43 Hayabusas (“Oscars”) more often than not flew rings around Allied fighters over the Southeast Asian battlefields.

Concord Publishing has continued its series of illustrated campaign histories. This volume focuses on the siege of Sevastopol from 1941-42. Dimitry Zgonnik has four full color illustrations that highlight the uniforms of German soldiers during this campaign.

Beginning in the fall of 1941, the 11th Army, under the command of Erich von Manstein, was given the objective of capturing the Crimean Peninsula, which, by default, meant neutralizing the Soviet fortress of Sevastopol. After several attempts in the fall of 1941, the Germans failed to capture Sevastopol. In the spring of 1942, Manstein was able to eject the Soviets from the Crimea and besiege Sevastopol. Many buffs remember the Crimean campaign because of the Germans use of the Super gun Gustav which was used to reduce the Soviet fortifications. After a bloody siege, the city fell. The book does not include a map of the campaign, so you will have to look elsewhere to follow along.

The kit comes in a sturdy top opening box – great for holding the parts as you work on the model. There are thirty-eight light grey plastic parts and two clear sprues, one being from the Minicraft C-47/DC-3 kit that uses only the Astrodome part. The small decal sheet (1¼” by 4½”) manages to include three schemes, one Navy (the only named aircraft) and two Marine.

As I found the PBJ with the radar nose interesting, I decided to make that one. With a little research I found a right rear-quarter picture of the aircraft in the Osprey Combat Aircraft #40 “PBJ Mitchell Units of the Pacific War” book on page 82. This picture and others in this book show that many of the PBJ’s had no fifty cal. package guns on the fuselage sides, so one of the first jobs was the removal of these guns.

I appreciated that the glass nose on this radar-equipped aircraft was painted blue, saving a lot of tiny window frame painting.

Quickboost has added another resin aircraft accessory to their aircraft line. This time it is the tail cone and tail wheel to convert the Hasegawa Brewster Buffalo F-2A-2 into a Brewster Buffalo 339. It is up to their usual standards; molded in grey resin, smooth, seamless, and bubble-free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation.

The Brewster Buffalo 339 was an export version of the United States Navy Buffalo F-2A. The 339 was modified from the naval version to have a lower rpm engine and a larger tail wheel and cone. It was sold to Finland, France and Britain to help bolster their aircraft at the start of World War 2.