History

This kit is a rerelease from an older one by Italeri. What has changed is the decal sheet. The kit is an easy build in one of four different versions, and I have chosen to model the Marine Corps Pelielu Island from August 1944.

In the Box

The contents of the kit are on five olive green styrene sprues. Also included in the box are a set of rubber tracks, a piece of plastic mesh for the deep wading tank screens, and decals for 4 schemes. There are evident sink marks throughout, mostly in places that would not be normally seen.

The kit instructions are a large booklet with 9 steps to complete the model. The ninth step shows assembly and application of the deep wading vents for one of the versions.

The four versions of the model are:

It never rains but it pours. The first company to release styrene figures from the Civil War was Dragon, which released a terrific set of Union soldiers in 1/32nd scale some decades back. Unfortunately, they never followed up with the promised Confederate infantry, as they apparently didn’t feel the sales merited it (hard to understand, as I literally bought a case of them for myself).

However, recently two different companies have suddenly released figures from that era – Masterbox and now ICM. ICM, in my opinion, has taken the lead in this arena by releasing BOTH Union and Confederate troops.

Introduction

This How To Paint Bare Metal is a magazine from the AMMO company in the solution book series that details the products and techniques using the AMMO products to produce a jet model with a metal finish.

Contents

The first section of the magazine talks about all the Mig products and their applications to finish the model highlighted. Then the magazine is divided into steps all covering specific phases of applying a metal finish to your models. Emphasis is placed on model prep from craftmanship of the model to cleaning with alcohol and applying primer. Once the model is painted, then the discussion turns to decaling and weathering the metal finish.

There are 59 glossy pages adorned with high definition pictures of the steps to complete the model highlighted in the magazine. In this case it is finishing the Academy 1/48 scale Mig 21.

Wow. Just when you’ve given up on seeing something, it suddenly becomes a big hit in the modeling industry. Long, long ago, Dragon released a set of Union Civil War figures in 1/32^nd scale, which I was totally thrilled to see. I bought an entire case of them, and then waited for baited breath for the follow-up Confederate Infantry to come out. And waited . . . and waited . . .

Obviously, it was never released. However, recently two Ukrainian companies have suddenly released figures from that era – Masterbox and now ICM. I couldn’t be happier.

History

In 1939, after the defeat of the Polish Air force by the Germans and the Russians, a substantial number of trained and experienced Polish pilots and ground crews managed to escape to France and England. Eventually, they were formed into fighter squadrons attached to, but not specifically a part of, the British Royal Air Force. Most of the pilots were originally assigned to units flying the Hawker Hurricane, but in 1941, these units were re-equipped with Spitfire Mk. V fighters, the current version of this famous fighter. From 1942 until early 1945, these units used Mk. V Spitfires against the Luftwaffe, until they were eventually replaced by the Spitfire Mk. IX and American Mustangs. In total, about 800 Spitfire Mk. V’s were used by various Polish units, and they inflicted considerable losses against the Luftwaffe.