I have been a fan of both AFV Modeller and Air Modeller for a while due to their excellent articles, top notch photos and in-depth subject matter, so when two sample copies of Max Modeller (Volumes 6 and 7) arrived, I was eager to see what the magazine was all about.

First, the basics: each magazine is 68 pages, printed completely in color, on nice stock. The photos are perfect- -clear and detailed, and close up when needed. There are scattered ads for many UK and other vendors in the magazine. There is a review section of 5 pages or so and they rate the reviewed kits. The remainder of the magazine has five articles and this is where the magazine gets its name.

The first thing you notice is that the builds are not OOB or “How to Airbrush Camouflage”. They are in-depth articles with large amounts of sculpting, scratch building or detailing involved. Here’s a list of the 10 articles between the two and a few observations:

The idea of comparing combatants and combat actions from various historical conflicts is intriguing, whether real or imagined. This new Osprey publication provides a refreshing historical account of British cruiser encounters with German commerce raiders. A single Hilfskreuzer could sortie for a long time, disguised as a merchant ship, sinking commercial shipping. When caught by a British warship, the Hilfskreuzer often effectively exploited the element of surprise, in some case sinking a warship of superior size and firepower. Countering this threat was a challenge to the British Navy, who did eventually prevail over the raiders.

The book content is nicely organized with the following chapters:

Sprues

• G – This sprue contains parts for the gun, shield, and gun cradle
• H x 2 – This has the wheel and hand wheels
• J – This has the ammo box and 3 shells
• N – This has the trails and associated bits
• P – Photo Etched parts

This kit is a representation of a Soviet “Divisional Gun” that was to fill the role of both a field gun and an anti-aircraft gun. This gun was designed in the early 1930s and started production in 1936. It stayed in production until 1939 when the Model 1939 gun went into production. May of these guns were captured and used by the German, Finnish, and Rumanian Armies.

Before starting the model, you need to decide how you want to display the gun, either in travel mode or firing mode. The instructions don’t do a very good job of showing you what the differences are during the build to make the two different versions. I will try to point these out as I go along.

The early FW-190As have been overlooked in large scale, that is until Pacific Coast Models released theirs. Now the modeler can build any one of the early short-nosed 190As. Eagle Editions is well known for Luftwaffe reference material, excellent resin and decals. This release is no different.

Designed for the Pacific Coast early Focke Wulfs, these decals are printed in perfect register by Cartograf. I’ve come to regard Cartograf as THE best decals in the world; certainly the best I’ve used. They are thin and react well with all known setting solutions.

There are two decal sheets; one that contains the individual markings for the aircraft, and one sheet of stencils and ‘common’ decals such as the crosses.

Like most Soviet aircraft of their era, the Mig-23 and Mig-27 have dorsal air scoops over the engine compartment to provide auxiliary cooling. These are large scoops and are quite noticeable on the real plane. The only 1/48 scale kit of these aircraft is the 1980's era Italeri (ex-ESCI) kit, and ESCI broke out from most of the kits of the era and molded the scoops open. While this is better than many kits, the opening is simplistic, it is molded in two halves so there is a seam to clean up, and the scoop is not quite right in shape. Quickboost again steps in with another simple aftermarket set to correct these deficiencies. Rendered in resin are two crisply cast and highly detailed replacement scoops. The shape and detail is superb; it even captures the splitter plate inside! Installation is easy, just cut from the block and attach to the airframe. I continue to be impressed by Quickboost’s quality and range of offerings; they offer details rarely seen in the market before.