I had the day off from work and had some time to spend with the Grex Tritium TG3 airbrush I recently purchased. The basic kit included the TG3 gravity-feed airbrush, three interchangeable paint cups - 2ml, 7ml, and 15ml, one needle and one crown cap. The caps are magnetized for easy on/off switch outs. The magnetic, spare needle crown cap sticks to the back of the rear handle cap - NICE feature. A tool/wrench is also included for switching out the caps and general disassembly. The total weight of the unit is 6.4oz.

The airbrush comes preset from Grex. To assist with consistent line widths, the Tritium has a Pre-set knob at the back of the airbrush. Turning it clock-wise limits the trigger and how much amount of paint sprayed. Completely turning it clock-wise will stop the trigger entirely and lock it shut. Turning it counter-clockwise, allows for more/unlimited paint and trigger extension. Turning in completely counter-clockwise allows unlimited trigger control.

Although not as glamorous or well-known as some of its contemporaries during World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra was an innovative and effective weapon system -- when employed to take advantage of its strengths while minimizing vulnerability to its shortcomings. Originally commissioned in the mid-1930’s as a high-altitude interceptor, the Airacobra’s lack of a supercharger limited its effective operational altitude to 17,000 feet. By 1941, adversary aircraft – fighters and bombers – had effective operational ceilings considerably higher than the P-39. As a result, the Airacobra found it’s niche in ground strafing and close air support roles, namely in service with the Soviet Air Force, but did also see some success with U.S. and other Allied air forces in the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters of operation.

This is a re-release of a real “Golden Oldie” show car. The original kit was released in 1970. As the box top art states, this is a Tom Daniels design. Tom Daniels designed 87 model cars for Monogram between 1967 and 1976. As I stated in the review of “Rommel’s Rod” most of his kits could be built in an evening or two.

Editors note: The reviewer has included Cyber-Hobby Models Photo-etched Railing Upgrade Set for “Scharnhorst” Kit Number CHC-3880 ($19.95) with this review.

The Dragon 1/350 scale model of the German Battleship Scharnhorst is one impressive kit, not only in the size of the model itself but the enormous number of parts. The large box was stuffed full with 28 individually bag sprues, 5 photo-etched frets, an upper hull, a lower hull, a plastic base, a decal sheet, and an instruction sheet. If that was not enough, there wis also a supplemental photo-etched set of railings and other miscellaneous items provided by Dragon that was used as part of this build.

Introduction

In 1941, the IJN battleship Nagato(already 21 years old and 5 years after her last major re-fit) was the flagship of the Combined Japanese Fleet, flying the flag of Admiral Yamamoto. On 2 December 1941, Nagato transmitted "Niitakayama nobore 1208" to the fleet, which translated into "Climb Mount Niitaka on 12/08" (12/07 Hawaii time).

In mid-2010, Fujimi released a 1/500 scale rendition of Nagato, as she appeared in 1941, at the 'Outbreak of War'.

First, many thanks to Fujimi for providing this kit for review. This kit is well thought-out, engineered and designed and features excellent detail and fit for a 1/500 scale kit.

In the Box

Inside the box are 21 sprues of gray, black and clear individually bagged parts, a 9 1/4" x 14 3/8" instruction booklet, decals, a metallic nameplate label, a length of anchor chain and a 1:1 size, 5-view color chart for reference.