Background

‘The new German tanks were the headache of ordinary Sherman tanks. The mass production of the M26 Pershing was still some time away. The M4A3E2, a special Sherman variant nicknamed “Jumbo” was thus born. It received much thicker chassis and turret armor on the basis of M4A3. It could withstand the shot of large caliber German tank guns and anti-tank guns. Later, it was refitted the 76mm main gun and had better anti-armor capability. In the end of December 1944, a “Jumbo” tank of the 4th Armored Division under the command of Patton led a unit of U.S. soldiers to break the German Siege of Bastogne and joined forces with the 101st Airborne Division. This operation reversed the situation of the Battle of the Bulge.

ICM is a Ukrainian manufacturer and this kit is a 1/24 scale model of the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first patented production motorized automobile. The kit is all new for January of 2020.

Kit

The kit comes packaged in a sturdy box that once the liftoff lid is removed, reveals another foldup lid on the box bottom. There is 1 bag consisting of 4 sprues of grey plastic parts, 77 in total. There is also a cardboard envelope containing a sheet of 12 brass photoetch parts for the wheel spokes and chains with sprockets. There are no decals or clear parts needed for this vehicle. Also included in the box is a printed copy of part of the patent application from 1886. It is printed on heavy cardstock and is weathered to look old.

This book is one of MMP’s Spotlight series and deals with the Me 163 Komet.

The book begins with a brief two-page history of the development and deployment of the Me 163.

The bulk of the book consists of 40 color plates illustrating many of the color schemes used on the Me 163 with a couple of plates for the DFS 194 development aircraft and the Me 263. The Me 163A test aircraft and many of the Me 163B prototypes were painted in overall RLM 76. Several of the plates show different prototype configurations and some of the aircraft have dark red anti-corrosive paint patches on them evidencing either repairs or places where the paint has worn through to the underlying primer. The plates also include Me 163B V41 in overall RLM 23 Red flown by Maj. Wolfgang Spate.

This is Brengun has released 1/72 US 300gal Fuel Tank mainly used on US Navy aircraft. These were commonly used on A-6 Intruders, AV-8B Harriers, A-7 Corsairs, A-1 Akyraider and S-3 Vikings to name a few.

In the box is:

• 4 x light grey resin main body of the fuel tank
• 3 x light grey resin tail unit
• 1 photoetch sheet of the tail fins
• 1 light grey resin mounting part
• 1 instruction sheet

In the review copy the resin mounting parts were missing and I have two Photo etch sheets rather than one. The kits still build nicely without the mounting parts.

The resin is well molded with very little flash and are well detailed. The resin parts are to allow you to make the four versions of the fuel tank used on the aircraft.

Construction

First is the removal of the parts from Resin. You should be careful removing the main fuel tank as these are easy to damage.

My take on the Italian aircraft industry during WW II was they were usually playing catch-up with the Allies. The main Italian fighter at the start of the war was the FIAT CR.42, a biplane even though by 1940, other air forces had moved away from them. As their aircraft designs modernized, the Italian industry had difficulties producing suitable engines. The answer was to import German engines, mainly from Daimler-Benz. Their DB601 engine with 1075 HP, powered the Reggiane Re.2001 and the Macchi C.202 Folgare. These designs were soon outclassed by Allied fighters, so new designs with more powerful engines were needed. Aeronautica Macchi answered the call by mating the newly available DB605 engine (1475 HP) to the C.202. The resulting aircraft was the Macchi C.205 Veltro (Greyhound).The new fighter had a different nose profile and externally mounted, cylindrical oil coolers, but retained the modest armament of the C.202.