Anybody who knows me and my modeling preferences know that I am NOT a fan of photo-etch for photo-etch’s sake. Too many model companies have begun including photoetch sheets in their products not because they actually enhance the accuracy and scale of the model, but because it gives them an excuse to jack the price up. This does not make me their friend.

That being said, there are times when nothing but photoetch will do the job. In this case, Brengun has offered a set to model separate landing flaps for the 1/32nd Special Hobby Brewster Buffalo, and what a lovely little accessory kit this is!

The parts come on two separate sheets – one for each wing – and feature not only the flap itself but the interior of the upper wing. They also include a somewhat cryptic instruction sheet to help with assembly. As a technical writer by profession, I can think of a few things that they might have shown differently, but it’s still clear enough to be quite functional.

“They saved the best for last.” The USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687), named for the Georgia senator who served his state from 1933 to 1971, was the 37th and final boat of the Sturgeon class, and was the ninth long-hull version of the class. Built in the Newport News Shipyard, her keel was laid 19 October 1971; she was launched 12 January 1974, and was commissioned 16 August 1975. She was decommissioned 24 June 1994, and was scrapped through the Ship and Submarine Recycling Program between 1 October 2001 and 3 January 2003. Powered by an S5W reactor, the boat could travel at speeds of 15 knots surfaced, and 25 knots while submerged. The crew complement was 126, and she was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes.

IPMS/USA recognizes one of our own, Floyd Werner, for providing this sheet set for review and I personally applaud our reviewer corps leadership, John Noack and Phil Peterson, for sending them to me for review. Floyd is well known for his expertise in the WWII Luftwaffe genre, as well as his personal exploits flying Snakes in the U.S. Army. This sheet was sponsored by Kitty Hawk, the much-maligned (but in my opinion) EXCELLENT company which provides us with products which would NEVER have seen the light unless they took the plunge. So you have to work to make them to personal standard? Huff… part of the price of admission. ( I swear if you give these guys a new, free Lexus they’d complain about the new car smell)

The Vehicle

In order to break into the fortified zones on the European continent, the Allies anticipated needing a new class of vehicles, assault tanks, which placed maximum armor protection at a higher priority than mobility. Nuffield responded with 18 separate designs (AT1 through AT18), each design larger and heavier than the last. The AT 2, the subject of this kit, was never built, but served as a stepping stone to the eventual development of the AT 16, or Tortoise, two of which were built, but the war ended before they were needed.

Don’t be fooled by what looks like a turret on this vehicle. It’s actually a fixed superstructure such as on a Sturmgeschutze. In the AT 2 version, it mounted a 95mm howitzer.

This is a review of the Revell ’85 Oldsmobile 442/FE3-X show car. I built it as a factory stock 442.

Engine

Zero to very little flash was on the engine components. Two items I disliked were the valve covers and oil pan molded to the block. Should have been separate pieces.

Interior

Extremely distinct engraving on the interior pan. Door panels are separate pieces as are the front seats. The rear seat is molded to the interior pan. Dashboard allows two different decals for the gauge cluster and there’s two steering wheels.

Body

The body offers several variations. If you want to build the FE3-X version, additional body panels are available as well as three different front clips. Fortunately the front & rear bumper assemblies also attach to the frame when installing – makes for easier glue points.

I painted the car with Tru-Color metallic cameo white covered with a 2 part urethane clear.