A recent arrival for the Review Corps were Shaders from Ammo by Mig Jimenez, which are a unique addition for modelers of just about anything. For this review in particular, I was provided with five of the colors including Light Gray (0856), Navy Gray (0857), Light Blue (0860), Marine Blue (0861), and Night Blue (0862). The full line consists of 20 different colors. The Shaders are unique to begin with as they are packaged in 10ml bottles, so they are about half the size of a typical bottle of acrylic paint. Shaders do not require shaking prior to use (they are about the consistency of ink), and they can be mixed to create different shades, and may be thinned with water if desired.

Platz Hobby produces a number of kits in 1/144 scale (currently 334 to be exact), and I was fortunate enough to receive this two-plane kit for review. In addition to the parts for two aircraft there are markings for three different planes included. Construction was quick, and the detail is very good for this scale. Modelers familiar with working with small parts should not have issues building this release, and I would highly recommend it.

There have been many releases of the F6F in its variants over the years, so I probably do not need to mention much more on the history of a plane that had over 10,000 copies released during WWII. The three goals of the Hellcat were that it had to be better than the planes it would face, that it could be built quickly in large numbers, and that it could be easily mastered by the pilots. Grumman answered the call with what was likely the definitive U.S. Navy carrier-borne fighter of the war.

Brief History from Wikipedia

The Sd.Kfz. 251 halftrack was a World War I German armored fighting vehicle designed by the Hanamag company, based on its earlier unarmored Sd. Kfz 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadier (German mechanized infantry) into battle. Sd.Kfz. 251s were the most widely produced German halftracks of the war, with at least 15,252 vehicles and variants produced by seven manufacturers. Some sources state that the Sd.Kfz. 251 was commonly referred to simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied soldiers after the manufacturer of the vehicle; this has been questioned, and may have been only a postwar label. German officers referred to them as SPW (Schützenpanzerwagen, or armored infantry vehicle) in their daily orders and memoirs.

Q-Men (part of Kitty Hawk) has released an Egg plane type kit with a Lego Style figure Pilot. This of the latest Chinese 5th Gen fighter the JF-20 Mighty Dragon. The kit can be built in one of two schemes.

In the box is

• 2 x bright red and grey sprues
• 1 clear sprue
• 1 green sprue
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 3D printed pilot head
• 1 instruction booklet

The sprues are well molded with no flash and great surface detail. The 3D printed pilot head is a great addition to the Lego style figure included.

Construction

This is a very simple and straightforward build.

OKB Grigorov has provided yet another very submarine in this case it’s the Italian Navy’s in the Enrico Toti Class Submarine. These were built in the 1960’s and were the first submarines designed and built in Italy since the second world war. They were designed as hunter killers and powered by a diesel-electric engine. They were very similar to the famous German type 205’s. They saw service from 1965 to 1993.

Inside the box are two resin parts and one Photo Etch Sheet

The detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate and need careful removal from the resin bases. There was no instruction sheet provided, this was not a problem as it was a simple build. The Assembly is quick and easy. The photoetch stand is an awesome addition to the kit.

The final part is painting. This is has joined my some navy of these great kits and I really enjoy building these and they make a wonderful display all lined up.