Editor's note: This review combines two (2) decal sheet products from the manufacturer and this explains the double title. The sets are listed as:Stock #: AOD72007.1 (Hurricanes) and AOD72011 (Mosquitos) and priced at $11.89 and $8.89 respectively. Canadian dollars and US dollars are at approximately par value at this writing.
The UH-60 Blackhawk is the primary transport helicopter for the United States Army and Air Force. The UH-60 fills almost every need for transport, search and rescue, re-supply and even armed combat. The UH-60L is the National Guard version of this machine.
Minicraft Models has had a niche market in helicopter models. I have built the 1/48 CH 46 Bull Frog and I was very impressed. When I received the Blackhawk kit I tore into it right away. The first thing I noticed was a date embossed in each tail boom of 1985. Well that dates it for me.
There is, of course, a bit of flash around the small parts but they are not insurmountable.
Monogram’s re-released their 2002 Camaro kit as a two-in-one offering in the “Motor-City Muscle” series, with decals and extra parts for a stock SS or Z28, or optionally, the 35th Anniversary SS Edition. It’s molded in white plastic, and for the most part is a pretty easy build, though scraping mold lines from parts as well as cleaning up edges and mating surfaces will go a long way to help things fit better.
Planning the build: on my sample, dry-fitting things at the beginning of construction revealed that both the front clip and rear bumper were a little too wide for the body shell, so rather than waiting to attach them until final assembly as the instructions specified, I glued the front to the body shell first and faired it in so the parts matched. I reasoned that I could still assemble all the interior stuff later….turned out I was almost correct (read on).
When Monogram released the T’rantula in 1968, I was interested - another Tom Daniel design of a cool but hot rod. Problem was, I would have had to mow an extra lawn or two for the money (probably a whopping $3 or $4 back then) since my budget was quickly spent on Vietnam era aircraft and armor kits that I could watch on the news. I was pleased to see Revell re-release this kit in December 2010 so I could finally satisfy my curiosity.
My thanks go out to Revell for re-releasing and providing this kit for review and to IPMS USA for letting me do the review.
This is the latest book from Chris Goss published by Crecy Publishing covering the air war between England and Germany. Gross has written several books on this subject some of which include: The Luftwaffe Bombers’ Battle of Britain, The Luftwaffe Fighters’ Battle of Britain, and Brothers in Arms.
The Luftwaffe’s Blitzis a hardback book measuring 6-1/4” X 9-1/2” and contains 264 pages. It comes in a high quality, semi-gloss paper cover. The book contains many never before published black and white periodphotographs. Each photograph is accompanied by a block of text explaining the action or activity seen.
Editor's note: This review is for four related products: Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Late Style Wheels 700 x 175 Treaded Tires, Stock #- 48231. Price is in Canadian Dollars which at current writing is almost par with U.S. Dollar.
The Focke Wulf 190 has been kitted by every major kit manufacturer. Often times the kit wheels leave a bit to be desired, whether they were anemic or lack detail on either the hub, tread or brake side. Ultracast has provided an answer for both early and late model FW-190s. Molded in light cream colored resin the wheels are perfectly molded with no blemishes or imperfections. This is the typical quality that I’ve come to expect from Ultracast.
With the new Dragon Tiger tanks on the market, more people than ever are building tanks. I’m one of them. Armor, more so than aircraft, lends itself to figures. Enter Ultracast with their line of resin figures.
Molded in light cream bubble free resin, this figure features two heads, one with a headset and one without. The headset head has a nice action pose of the commander yelling. The neck is nicely rounded so you can articulate the head as you want, up, down, and left or right, excellent flexibility.
You also get two left and three right arms so you can pick and choose how you want your figure to look. The arms are keyed with square pegs so you can alter the look of the parts easily. Amazingly the thumbs are not grouped with the others and articulated and perfectly molded.
When we hear the words Battle of Britain, those of us who build aircraft models, especially those flown in WW II, immediately think of Spitfires and Hurricanes fending off what was, during that summer of 1940, the best air force in the world. They were the icons of that aerial struggle, but they were only part of the story. The Battle of Britain was also the story of young fighter pilots who flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as those who piloted lesser-known RAF aircraft and those pilots and gunners of Coastal Command who protected convoys in aircraft bearing names like Hudson, Skua, and Roc. On the ground, the Battle of Britain also was the Home Guard training for the expected invasion; the aerial spotters with tin hats and binoculars; neighbors sadly picking through their bomb scattered possessions, and children climbing over the rubble in the streets.
History
Yet another classic design from Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed F-80 was America’s first practical, jet powered fighter. I say practical because the real “first U.S. jet was the Bell P-59 which was really a transition trainer for new jet pilots, not a viable combat aircraft. The first “Shooting Star,” was produced in 141 days and flew on Jan 8, 1944. Teething issues included fuel consumption levels higher than anticipated (a common problem of early jet engines) which required hanging extra tanks under the wings. Armed with 6x 50 cal. machine guns and a stable flight profile, the F-80 proved its worth in the Korean conflict primarily as a ground support aircraft.
This book is Number 6530 in Concord’s Warrior Series. There are 3 pages of narrative on Operation Saturn and Heeresgruppe Sud (Army Group South), including the break down of which units were included. The rest of this volume is just filled with rare pictures of what the soldiers had to endure on the Russian Front, I was getting cold just looking at these pictures. The pictures are printed on glossy paper and are very clear so that you can make out everything in them. I especially liked how thorough the descriptions under each photo were. These pictures are just “diorama heaven” for the modeler showing everyday troop living and pointing out various uniforms and equipment.
