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Book Author(s)
Aaron Skinner
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Kalmbach Publishing Company
MSRP
$19.95

FineScale Modeler and Kalmbach are well known for their excellent collection of publications covering a wide variety of hobby-related subjects. This publication continues that tradition of excellence.

Modeling airliners requires a set of modeling skills that, while not unique to airliners, are critical to the completion of the project at a high level of quality. Thus, Scale Modeler’s How-to-Guide spotlights those skills and provides the modeler with suggestions on mastery of those skills.

Organized into 7 chapters, this publication covers:

Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$45.00

Among the most un-Japanese looking fighters of WWII were the rather chubby J2M Raidens that were designed and built as bomber interceptors for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were reasonably successful in defending the homeland against U.S. high-level bombers in the final year of the war. And, over the years, many kits have been offered by Hasegawa, Tamiya, and Oataki (later marketed under a number of other brand names) to build various versions of these interesting interceptors. They are appealing subjects and many of us probably have a few of these kits salted away for a rainy day.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$45.00

Sturmgeschutz, abbreviated StuG, was the weapon of the Strumartillerie, the branch of the German Artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry. StuGs were very successful in their intended support role and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes, and other defenses. The StuG is not generally considered to be a true tank because it lacks a turret. The gun was mounted directly in a casemate-style fashion, with as low a profile as was possible to reduce vehicle height, and had a limited lateral traverse. Omitting the turret made production simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. By late 1943, improved Allied tanks and tank destroyers with improved guns, rotating turrets, and superior mobility forced the StuG into being primarily an ambush weapon. From December of 1943 to March of 1945, 1139 were produced by Krupp at Magdeburg. StuG IV (Sd.Kfz.167) was armed with a 75mm StuK 40L/48 gun mounted in a cast version of “saukopf” mantlet.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Archer Fine Transfers
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$6.95

Archer Fine Transfers has released some of the best decals and dry transfers an armor modeler could ever ask for. Now they have gone it again and released a gem for Italian Company Dioramas.

This set includes 22 posters printed in waterproof ink packaged in a baggie with the standard Archer Logo. These miniature posters measure ¾ x1” and are sharp and very colorful. Printed instructions are on the back side and read, “Cut out poster and attach to Diorama subject with adhesive. These may be moistened, crumbled or burned to simulate weathering.” I have used some old Verlinden posters in the past with great success and these Archer ones are even better.

My thanks to Archer Fine Transfers and IPMS for the chance to review this great product.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$12.50

Thank you to Iwona and Piotr Czerkasow of Master Model and all those at IPMS Reviewer-OPS for providing me an opportunity to examine and apply some delightful parts for improving a ship model kit. Model Master’s recent addition to their Sea Master Series is very welcome. The aftermarket world is indeed enhanced with the products Master Model offers.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Archer Fine Transfers
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$6.95

This 1/35 scale set of 22 posters in waterproof ink is a must for diorama builders invading/defending The Fatherland. These posters measure ¾ x 1” and are a great addition to dioramas. The colors are bright and the lines are sharp and crisp. The only thing that I see to be a problem is the instructions. They simply read, “cut out poster and attach to diorama subject with adhesive. May be moistened, crumpled or burned to simulate weathering.” The word” burned” scares me. Just be careful not to overburn them, you may not have a poster to mount.

My thanks to Archer Fine Transfers and IPMS for the opportunity to review this item.

Review Author
Michael Scott
Published on
Company
Wingnut Wings, Ltd
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$89.00

The “beast” is finished. I used two sizes of EZ Line for the structural and the control rigging. I did use monofilament, 0.007”, for the rigging on the tail booms. The booms support a lot of weight when the FE is up on its landing gear, so it needs actual rigging support. Monofilament is called for here. However, the EZ Line wasn’t so…EZ...

Review Author
Mike Van Schoonhoven
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$14.65

This is another quality issue from Model Art Modeling Magazine. The text is in Japanese, with very little English. The pictures are top notch, so it does make it easy to follow along.

In the October issue, they do a series of questions and answers to what appears to be some common modeling questions. They use a series of new model releases to accomplish this. These include the 1/72nd Tamiya A6M5 Zero, 1/48th Hasegawa Ki-44 Tojo prototype, the 1/32nd Zoukei-Mura P-51D, Sankei 1/144th Alert Hanger (this appears to be in a pre-cut heavy cardstock), 1/48th Trumpeter Supermarine Spiteful, and the 1/48th Tamiya Sturmovik.

There is an article about each of the above models, and each one has a Q&A section. Topics range from different aftermarket seatbelts, how to reproduce rivets with straight pins, marking lights, panel line washes, and aerial antennas using EZ line.

Review Author
Keith Gervasi
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$75.99

The Fw-190A-5 was different from earlier versions in that the nose was extended forward 6 inches to help change the center of gravity. This would help with a planned addition to the armament.

The Kit

This kit is made up of 108 parts. It has 5 injection molded grey sprues and 1 clear plastic sprue. The moldings are very crisp and the clear parts are also flawless. The decal sheet is not so flawless. My copy had nicely printed decals that were semi-gloss but had spots of very high gloss over them (like something spilled on it). This worried me just a bit. Looking at the parts, I noticed that Hasegawa supplies the wrong wheels and tires for this type. Resin aftermarket parts are easily available, though.

Review Author
Phil Pignataro
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.00

This is another of Master’s growing list of pitot tubes for specific 1/72 scale aircraft. This set continues in the tradition of excellent, quality products from this company. Master’s MiG-23MLD set includes a turned-metal pitot tube and photo etched brass vortex generators. These vortex generators direct air flow when the aircraft is at high angles of attack. If they are placed correctly, this might hold true for your model also. As you can see from the photos, these pieces are much more convincing than the pitot tube supplied in the kit. My only caution would be about gluing the photo etched parts to the sides of the brass pitot tube. I think a little patience will be required since there isn’t much surface area to work with.