The Netflix show “Stranger Things” has taken the country by storm. In the early seasons, one of the major characters, Billy Hargrove, drove a Camaro that figured prominently as part of his image and of his downfall. Revell has recently released a kit to recreate this car. Let’s take a look.
What's New
Syhart Decals has released a decal sheet for a commemorative scheme flown by an RF-4E of the Hellenic Air Force when the aircraft was retired from service and the squadron was disbanded. The aircraft was repainted in a combination of black and dark blue and wore a complex scheme including the silhouettes of previous aircraft flown by the 348th Squadron, the Greek flag, and “Spook”, the green-caped mascot associated with the “Phantom II”.
For the Greek flag, there is the option of using masks for the medium blue background and then another decal for the white stripes, or just two sets of decals (blue decals and then the decal with the white stripes on top of the blue decal). There is also a correction sheet with Spook, but honestly, I cannot find the difference between the original Spook and the corrected Spook.
Syhart Decals has released a decal sheet for a commemorative scheme flown by an F-4D in 1989 celebrating the North Dakota Centennial. The aircraft was repainted in a vibrant blue. The decal sheet includes recommendations for color matches from Humbrol, Revell, Tamiya, Gunze, Model Master, and the RAL standard. The aircraft wore a very elaborate painting in the lower wing area reproducing the state seal.
The complex decoration of the lower wing is reproduced as an elaborate multipart decal, which will fit within the different missile bays, landing gear bays, etc., of Phantom II. I would recommend starting with the central decal and building the rest of the state seal from the center towards the periphery.
This is an on-the-sheet review, so I have not tested the decals themselves, but the decal sheet itself is printed in vivid colors and perfect registry. They seem thin, and they are quite glossy, which likely means they will conform to the surface detail well.
From the Kovozávody Prostějov instructions,
Morane-Saulnier MS.A.1 (also Type A1) was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier during World War I. A number of escadrilles were created to operate the AI, but by mid-May 1918, most of the aircraft were replaced by the SPAD XIII. After structural problems had been resolved, the aircraft were then relegated to use as advanced trainers, with new purpose built examples being designated MoS 30. Many were used post-war after having been surplussed off, as aerobatic aircraft, including one which was flown by Charles Nungesser.
I have long respected WWI era plane modelers. I respect 1/72 WWI era plane modelers even more. And now, I question my sanity after tackling this one. This is not a kit for a novice or even an uninterested intermediate modeler. With the right skill set and some other kits under your belt, and you want an Ansaldo S.V.A. 10, then this is your kit.
The Italian Ansaldo S.V.A. (Savoia-Verduzio-Ansaldo) was an interesting late WWI aircraft. Originally designed as a fighter, the S.V.A. 5 was determined to be inadequate for the role. However, its impressive speed, range and operational ceiling made it an excellent reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber. The S.V.A. 9 and 10 were essentially the same aircraft, with the former primarily an unarmed training aircraft, with its cockpit configured accordingly. The S.V.A. 10 was developed as a reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft that found success during the later stages of WWI and a successful export model in the post-war world.
Agora Models is a UK company based in London, England that specializes in high-quality large scale models. Agora has administrative offices in Tokyo Japan, North Carolina, US, and in the United Kingdom. The models are shipped from five warehouses around the globe. The first IPMS review sample SAS Jeep Pack 1 was sent from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., USA.
Agora ships its models in 12 monthly parts, called ‘Packs’, that can spread the cost and workload over a longer period. The cost of a model does not change as the Packs are delivered. Agora continues production of the kit as Packs are released and does not release the first Pack without assurances that they can produce all parts of the kit. After production is complete, all Packs of a particular kit can be purchased at one time.
Casemate Publishing is distributing the 51 installment of the “Europe At War” series. This book is devoted to the P-40 aircraft in the Soviet Far North (Murmansk to Kirkenes area) while in service with the Soviet Navy Aviation.
Finding details of western aircraft while in service with the Soviets is hard to come by. This book - together with the rest of the series devoted to the Kittyhawks in Soviet service- fills in a gap in historical documentation.
The author utilizes both Soviet sources and German sources and combine them to provide a comprehensive and well-balanced narrative of the events during 1944 in northern Scandinavia. By that year, the Kittyhawks in Soviet Service were being used in a fighter-bomber role rather than air-to-air, as covered in Volume 1.
In the Box
The kit is a typical top opening box with 11 gray sprues, 1 clear parts sprue, 1 photo-etched (PE) sheet, and 1 die-cut masking sheet for the clear parts. Academy takes advantage of slide-molding to add more detail in raised rivet and recessed panel lines and the results are impressive. Also of note, sprue B & D comes from the AH-1Z Viper kit (Kit No: 12127) since in real life both helicopters use the same parts. For a list of unused parts, see page 14 in the bottom right of the instructions.
The box art is beautiful. For modelers who are wavering on owning this kit, it will help push them over the edge to build this Venom or add it to the collection.
The ATR was a joint venture by French (Aerospatiale) and Italian (Aeritalia) to design a short-to-medium haul feeder airliner. The “42” designated that it had 42 seats. It has been a successful and reliable airliner in many countries around the world.
X-Scale Models, from Ukraine, has now released its latest model kit in 1/144 scale with an American Eagle ATR-42-300 that served out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. X-Scale also included a date of 1996. The subject aircraft in this box, currently flies for Fed Ex.
The model arrived in a small top opening box with the colorful painting of the aircraft flying over what looked like the Grand Canyon. All the dark grey plastic parts, clear parts sprue, instruction manual, canopy and wheel masks, and decals were neatly contained within a single plastic bag. There was just a little scuffing on a couple of parts from two sprues rubbing together. The clear pars were also within their own bag.
The following is taken directly from the publication:
The REFERENCES series books are a compilation of photographs, illustrations and drawings already published in other KAGERO PUBLISHING series as well as content that have not been released there yet due to lack of space. The REFERENCES will also feature previously unedited material.
What You Get
An 8.5 x 11.5 soft-bound book.
A small set of decals for Bf 110 C-1, L1 + IH in 1/72 and 1/48 scale.
The book has a glossy heavy card-stock cover enclosing 26 pages of heavyweight paper. All photos are black and white. Text/captions are in the original Polish with English translations underneath.
The first 12 pages contain 13 photos of Bf 110 C variants C-1, C-2, C-4, and C-7.
