Hauler-Brengun is well known as a supplier of high-quality aftermarket detail parts for aircraft, as well as other subjects. In this review, we will examine a resin 250kg bomb with rack for a 48th scale Japanese aircraft that was in service in World War II and may have carried such a weapon.
Nowadays, when we think of cutting-edge aviation technology, things like stealth materials, satellite guidance and pilotless flying come to mind. But what was the cutting edge one hundred years ago, at the dawn of aviation? How about hinged ailerons, or steel tubing, or cantilevered wings? For better or worse, warfare spurs innovation, and by the time of the Great War, the needs of the conflicting Great Powers for the decisive weapon, coupled with the cutthroat nature of industrial competition, spurred aviation innovation at an astounding pace.
Mike Mackowski has made something of a name for himself by his relentless pursuit of All Things Real Space in Miniature. This, his ninth publication along these lines, continues the saga as he delves into a number of models both real and speculative regarding the infamous Gemini space program from the 1960’s.
Master Box Models is proving time and time again to be at the cutting edge of figure modeling – providing the modeler with figures and figure sets that would normally only be seen in the expensive garage manufacturing field. They’ve created post-apocalyptic sets, fantasy sets and science fiction sets -- all of them innovative and surprising.
This latest figure comes from their science fiction series At the Edge of the Universe, and features a future crew member earning her keep in a futuristic arena of death. Parselen, otherwise know as the “master of two blades” wears mostly traditional gladiatorial garb including a simplified take on a Mirmillon helm. The only modern touch on her that I could discern was the use of very contemporary footwear rather than sandals.
Hauler-Brengun is well known as a supplier of high-quality aftermarket detail parts for aircraft, as well as other subjects. In this review, we will look at a set of tires for 1/48th F4U Corsairs and F6F Hellcats. In fact, Brengun has released six different sets of tires for F4U Corsairs. These six sets can be found at https://www.hauler.cz/e-shop/1-48-accessories-22.
The product package will be very familiar to Brengun fans. The envelope consists of a clear material which allows for an excellent view of the two tires and two replacement rims within. The familiar red Brengun data card and a piece of thick black cardstock keeps the wheels and rims safe from harm.
And now for something completely different! UGears contacted us and offered to send a number of kits; I believe this is the first review of the group. UGears is a Ukrainian company started in 2015, and UB LLC are their US Distributor. Their extensive product line is well worth taking a look at if you’re a fan.
Zoukei-Mura’s latest Release in 1/32nd scale is a Henschel Hs-129 B-2/RIII. The Hs-129 was a WWII version of the modern A-10 and was designed to and good at killing tanks. Inside the box, you will find 18 sprues in light brown with excellent engraving, no flash and also one small sprue of clear parts. There is also a set of masks and decals for one set of markings from 4(Pz)/Sch.G2 in Libya February 1943.
For those that have never built a Zoukei-Mura kit, their philosophy is to show the entire kit so that this kit includes all the interior stringers plus all the fuselage internals, highly detailed engines and parts. This does raise the parts count to 428 and the builder has the choice of many open panels or closed.
Airfix doesn’t have much of a history creating 1/35th scale armored vehicles (in fact, none) so I was a bit surprised to see them leaping into this particular market with a series of famous tanks all in one fell blow. Turns out that Airfix is doing what so many other manufacturers are doing – reboxing other manufacturer’s models under their brand name.
In this case, it’s a reboxing of Academy’s Early Tiger 1 model with interior. I can think of a few reasons why this would be a good idea, although this one leaves me a bit nonplussed. The Academy kit is still quite available on the internet and the prices are comparable, so I can only assume that Academy kits are hard to come by in Great Britain.
HGW Models has been putting out some interesting stuff lately, and this latest set of markings will prove useful to anyone (like me) who has a soft spot for Corsairs. In this second set catering to VF-17, five birds are presented, with all the bells and whistles, including national markings and full stencils.
The decals are clean and crisp with excellent registration, and copious documentation is provided, including all five aircraft in four-view drawings, which seems a bit redundant given then all five aircraft are very similar in appearance. Still, you can’t ding a company for being thorough. Separate drawings are provided for all interior and exterior stenciling, so if you screw this one up you’ve really got no one to blame but yourself.
Price: RB-T028: €7 (approximately $9.23) plus S&H; RB-T043: €9 (approximately $11.87) plus S&H
First off, my apologies to the good folks at RB Productions for a late review. RB were present at this year’s Nationals in Chattanooga and were kind enough to provide us with a number of samples including these two delicate p/e stencils. Each is a carefully etched piece of brass material, the smaller measuring 2” by 3” and the larger, about 4” by 3”. They are easily bent in either axis which comes in handy for use on contoured surfaces, and I suppose one could cut them into smaller sections for use on cockpits. (Beware of some very sharp and fragile edges, however).
