Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
September 16, 2018
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.99

This is a new version of the King Tiger following up on the release of the Henschel version last year. My first impression was wow what a very well detailed kit. I did review this kit with the addition of the Interior set SPS-062 and Zimmerit Set SPS-060 so the picture will include parts not included in this kit. You can see my reviews of these on this site also. The set is very impressive with the amount of parts and detail included. The parts that would be cast metal on the real tank are well detailed and defined.

The kit contains

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
September 16, 2018
Company
Meng Model
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$14.99

This is a Zimmerit Decal set for the Meng Model Sd.Kfz. 182 King Turret (Porsche Turret) kit TS-037.

The set contains one sheet of textured decals and one instruction sheet.

Zimmerit was widely used on the early King Tigers. These decals will make adding the Zimmerit a lot easier.

The decals are printed onto one sheet with the patterns in relief. Individual decals are supplied for all the various areas of front, Sides and rear armor. The turret has the most decals to ensure all the areas are covered properly.

The textured pattern is very nicely raised on the decals and looks very good once applied.

It is highly recommended to primer coat under the contoured areas especially.

Book Author(s)
Norm Mort
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
September 16, 2018
Company
Veloce Publishing
MSRP
$29.95

Veloce Publishing continues expanding its line “Those were the days…” this time with a book devoted to the American Woodies. While the book title says “1928-1953”, it does provide some history prior to those years, going all the way back to 1886.

The first chapter describes the origin of the woodies or “station wagon”, a sort of railway station shuttle to your vacation hotel. The second chapter describes how Ford led the way on making the Woodies popular and the last two chapters covers the immediate pre-WWII years and the immediate post-WWII years.

The book is not meant to be a detailed recount of every “Woodie” out there, nor a source of detailed information for a restorer. It is more of a gallery of pictures, some details and stories leading to how the Woodies became an icon of the ’40 and’50s. You will find Fords, Hudson, Chryslers, Studebaker, Crosley and more.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
February 10, 2020
Company
David Doyle Books
MSRP
$19.99

David Doyle has written over 100 books, mostly on military subjects, including a Squadron At Sea book about the North Carolina from 2011. This book is one of the Legends of Warfare – Naval series for Schiffer Publishing, a well-researched history and photo album of America’s first “modern” battleship – USS North Carolina, BB-55. Since the North Carolina is a museum ship anchored off Wilmington, North Carolina, most of the book is a color photo tour of the ship inside and out. This book is an excellent resource for modelers of the North Carolina and of WWII US Navy common fittings.

Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
September 14, 2018
Company
OKB Grigorov
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$59.00

OKB Grigorov is a small model company based in Bulgaria that you may not be too familiar with. The company focuses primarily on AFVs, tanks, and naval ships in 1/72, 1/350 and 1/700 scales, and they have an extensive list of products available. They produce full resin kits with photo-etch enhancements, as well as resin, photo-etch, and white metal conversion pieces for other models. More recently, they began producing some plastic AFV kits.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
September 13, 2018
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.65

Brengun continues to expand its line of accessories this time with the FuG-220 Lichtenstein SN2 antenna set for Luftwaffe Night Fighters.

The fret includes 4 sets of dual antenna dipoles, including the dipole braces/frame and a set of re-enforcements to connect the brace with the nose (applicable for the Ju-88).

This particular antenna set is appropriate for any 1/48 Ju-88C/R/G, Me-110G, He-219 or Ta-154V15. It should be noted that for the Me-110 and He-219 you will need to slightly modify the parts, only using the antenna dipoles.

The fret design is very smart, locating all the attachment points at the end of the dipoles, making removal from the fret simple and preventing the dipoles or the dipole braces from having any minor blur that would need to be removed.

Book Author(s)
Kelly Devries & Niccolo Capponi
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
September 13, 2018
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$24.00

This publication is available in three formats, all of which are available on the Osprey Publishing website. The paperback version, 9781472831286, is listed at $24.00. The eBook (ePub), # 9781472831279 is listed at $19.20, as is the eBook (PDF), # 9781472831262. An offer of a substantial savings exists for the reader who wishes to buy both the print version and either of the electronic versions. The discount is 25% off!

This publication identifies the causes of the battle at Campaldino, the economic, social, political and religious issues that defined the conditions in northern Italy in the late 1280’s. In addition, the book addresses the impact that the battle had on a well-known poet of the time, that being Dante. The authors indicate that Dante’s "Devine Comedy" can be viewed as framing Dante’s description of pain and suffering in "Devine Comedy".

Review Author
Jim Stepanek
Published on
September 13, 2018
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$31.95

Engine

There was little flash on the engine parts with excellent details. You get just a basic Hemi engine.

Interior

Deep engraving can be seen on the door panels making it easy to detail paint. Seats and side panels are separate pieces from the floor. I used a Testors flat tan and flat black as called for on the detailed instruction sheet.

Body

The body went together very well with no adjustments necessary. My choice was to go with the Tru-Color artic white paint to maintain the factory stock look.

Chassis

The frame rails are separate from the chassis pan. Front, rear suspension, and exhaust are all separate pieces. All together, they make for a very pleasing assembly.

Instructions

The instructions are several pages long with suggested paint color for specific parts and a numbered list to tell you what part is what .

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
September 11, 2018
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$15.99

I’m not sure I need to discuss the utility of having a really good rendition of the German Mk 103 cannon available in this scale. It was used on a number of aircraft - slung under the wings of tank-destroying Fw190s and Hs129s, mounted in the Do335 and the Horton Flying Wing, and even used in a fair number of ground mounts. This 30mm weapon was not to be trifled with.

It is, however, a fairly difficult shape to successfully mold using the standard styrene molding processes. Master from Poland has come to the rescue with a lovely little kit from their Air Master series. The kit supplies two complete barrel assemblies, including the barrels and adapters in brass and two variants of the complex gun muzzles in resin.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
September 11, 2018
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$6.97

I love a quick fix. Lord knows there are plenty of labor-intensive so-called “fixes” out there in the modeling market (some photoetch sets spring immediately to mind). Quickboost, at least in this lovely little detail set, does all the heavy lifting for the modeler.

If you have the old Hasegawa 1/32nd scale Zero, the limitations of the molding process definitely shortchange the weapon systems of this classic craft – no fault of the manufacturer. Quickboost offers this simple, beautifully crafted set to bring this older model into the 21st Century. It also offers a similar set (QB 32 153) for the newer Tamiya offering.

Comprising five gun barrels – three machine gun caliber Type 3 and two 20mm Type 99-II cannon – this set is a direct replacement for the kit parts. Molding is exceedingly fine and without any blemishes or mold lines. Each gun features an open muzzle and the cooling holes in the machine gun barrels are beautifully reproduced.