Zvezda is one of the myriad of injection molding companies that emerged in Eastern Europe after the Soviet block fell apart. At first, they used old, re-cycled molds from other companies such as Frog, etc, but now they are doing their own molding and, at least in this instance, doing it very well.

A couple of years ago, Italeri introduced a line of simplified 1/72 scale kits to be used in a war game that they designed. Now, included in this box is a sample card used in the game. While in Cyrillic and, at least to me, un-readable, it appears to show the unit's movement abilities and limitations. It would be interesting to see the entire game. The models for Zvezda's game are in 1/100 scale and are of the no-glue variety. They are not really snap fit, but rather pressure fit, as there are no locking mechanisms. However, their system works quite well.

The Aircraft

The Su-30 is a two-seat version of the Su-27. The mission is long-range all-weather strike fighter. Think F-15E vsx F-15C in the US inventory. The MKK is currently operated by the Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Venezuela. There’s going to be a wonderful aftermarket decal sheet for this kit!

There’s also a newer version, the Su-30MK2, which has maritime strike capability added.

There’s also a suspiciously similar aircraft called the J-16. China claims this is all-Chinese technology, but the Russians aren’t so sure.

The Kit

When I opened the box, I was impressed with how well Trumpeter had packed the parts. The fuselage halves (top and bottom) had a rubber ring holding them together, a piece of foam protecting the rear “stinger,” and sprues around the wingtips to prevent damage during shipment. Also, several of the delicate parts were wrapped in the foam, including the clear parts.

One of my 2012 New Year’s resolutions was to build and paint a figure to go with each of my 1/35th scale armor models, thus providing a scale reference with which the casual viewer could judge the actual size of the armor model. So, when IPMS/USA offered up this set of Japanese tank crewmen for review, I jumped at the opportunity to build my first plastic figures. However, I chickened out on actually trying to paint the figures, fearing that my very first painting job would do the figures a disservice. Instead I built the figures straight from the box, primed them in a light gray primer, and then gave them a wash of dark brown oil paint to pick out the details.

Fifty years ago, the world stood at the edge of the abyss and stared nuclear annihilation in the face. During a two-week standoff, there was a very real chance that the US and the USSR could initiate a nuclear World War III over missile sites placed in Cuba. For the most part, written accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962, are told from the diplomatic or political point of view. These usually involve President Kennedy and his advisors struggling to find a diplomatic solution to persuade the Soviets to remove the missiles that were being placed on the island nation of Cuba, just ninety miles from the southern coast of the United States. Blue Moon Over Cuba offers a different perspective…one from treetop level at high speed. It is the story of Operation Blue Moon, undertaken by the Photographic Reconnaissance pilots of VFP-62, also known as the Fightin’ Photos. It is based on the memoirs of US Navy Captain William B.

Xuron Corporation makes a number of hand tools useful for modelers. One, the Professional Sprue Cutter, is the subject of this review.

Often, sprue cutters (diagonal cutting pliers) are hard on plastic parts, especially small ones, when removing them from their sprues. The compression forces they impart can damage small parts, especially when cutting the first of two or more sprue connections.

These Professional Sprue Cutters are designed to shear, rather than compress (or pinch) the plastic, reducing the compression force. Xuron calls this a Micro-Shear®. To quote Xuron, “Shear cutting reduces cutting effort (as compared to traditional compression cutting) and extends blade life because the sharp edges are not meeting edge-to-edge. Shear cutting also produces clean, flat cuts.”