John Geigle of Masterpiece Models gave us a number of review items in Chattanooga this year and because I love to build the quirky and unusual stuff, I volunteered to do the dirty work (I’m going to try my best to avoid puns during the rest of this review, as difficult as that is for me.) and put this one together.
The author of this tome, Mario Eens, is well known to those on the international modeling scene as an award winner at European model shows, together with being a regular contributor to the excellent French modeling magazine, Steelmasters. The book itself consists of a master class in building, painting and finishing scale models, divided into five chapters, and spanning 128 pages measuring 8” x 10”.
IPMS/USA again thanks Ross and his Team at SAC for supporting the IPMS USA reviewer corps with one more of many monthly releases, with useful and well-thought out landing gear additions for those who build. And thanks to IPMS leadership for sending it to me to be reviewed.
This set has eight parts: two nose gear halves, two shock struts for the main gear, a main rotorhead three-point blade swashplate, a cyclic main rotor mount plate with four points, a main rotor brace, and a tail rotor pitch link assembly. Rotor heads are the main focal point and the failure point of most rotary wing aircraft… and metal is the perfect solution for the fragile bits.
UMM USA (Unique Master Models) produces unique, out-of-the-mainstream tools and supplies, as well as unusual and exciting kits. Each time I go to the IPMS Nationals, the UMM booth is a must-stop venture – there is always something new and interesting, and the busy owner always takes the time to walk you through what he has for sale, and how it works.
This time around we have a photoetch bending set that comes with a graduating roller as well as two bending trays. If you haven’t added this handy and versatile tool to your modeling bench, you might want to give it a try. Some roller sets will have you keep track of a bunch of differently-sized wood or metal rods that you use to press and bend PE in a tray. The beauty of using a tool like this to do the same thing is the simplicity of using a single roller for all widths, all in one tool. The hardened aluminum tool can be used for rolling and bending brass, copper and aluminum sheets.
This is another kit in ICM’s series of Model T vehicles and figures, and includes two figures that can be posed loading gasoline cans into the rear of ICM’s Model T Light Delivery Car, or other 1/24 truck. The Figures and Delivery Car are combined in another ICM Kit, #28019. Gas and oil can accessories are included with the kit.
The kit comes on three sprues molded in soft light gray plastic, one sprue with the two figures, and two duplicate sprues of the gasoline and oil tanks. The instructions come on a single page, double-sided, 8 1/4“ x 11 1/2“ sheet. One side shows a diagram of the sprues and identifies paint colors in Revell and Tamiya colors. The opposite side of the instructions are color illustrations of the figures showing part numbers and detail painting.
UMM USA (Unique Master Models) produces unique, out-of-the-mainstream tools and supplies, as well as unusual and exciting kits. Each time I go to the IPMS Nationals, the UMM booth is a must-stop venture – there is always something new and interesting, and the busy owner always takes the time to walk you through what he has for sale, and how it works.
This time around we have a set of two silk-covered, copper-core wire that can be used for a variety of purposes. Somewhere between solder and thin copper, the wire is covered by wound silk material that takes paint and CA or White glue, and can easily be bent and molded into form.
Master Model out of Poland, well-known for producing high-quality, precision after-market products, has recently released a set of .303 CAL Browning machine gun barrels for the recently released 1/32nd scale Avro Lancaster by HK Models. Each barrel comes in three pieces of turned brass; a shaft with hollowed out flash suppressor, a perforated sleeve that slips over the shaft, and a base ring that slips over the other end and into a (slightly drilled out) female receptacle in the plastic gun from the kit.
Assembly of the brass barrel is a snap. The cone slips tightly over the shaft and the base ring only requires a dot of super-glue to keep everything together, and cemented into the receptacle of the HKM gun mount, which is just slightly smaller than the new barrel. This design allows the modeler the freedom to open up the mounting holes just slightly to insure a nice, tight fit.
Based in Latvia, Croco is a small resin operation specializing in highly esoteric WW2 and post-war armor and aircraft subjects, though they are branching out into other subjects such as hovercraft
The Iomax Archangel is designed to be a low-cost combat aircraft based on a highly modified Thrush 510P cropduster. Upgraded with additional fuel, the aircraft has a demonstrated loiter time of up to 10 hours, The Archangel has been marketed as a platform for counterinsurgency, counterrorism, counterdrug, counterpiracy, and even border patrol. Interestingly enough, the predecessor to the Archangel, the Iomax Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA), was originally based on a modified AirTractor AT-802i cropduster, was exported to the United Arab Emirates, where it saw action in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Using lessons learned from the BPA experience, Iomax debuted the newer Archangel, where a further 24 airframes were sold to the UAE.
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver served with the US Navy in Vietnam and has spent thirty years in Hollywood as a screen writer for television and the movie industry. Horror fans will know him as the author for the 1989 cult classic by producer Roger Corman of “The Terror Within” starring George Kennedy, Andrew Stevens, Starr Andreeff, and Terri Treas. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has also been a published writer for forty years and is known for Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15, The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Group, Aces of the 78th Fighter Group (Aircraft of the Aces 115), F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 (Aircraft of the Aces 125), and an ebook, Air Combat Annals.
Plusmodel is located in the Czech Republic and when you visit the company website you are given the option of an English language version. The links above go to that option.
To get some idea as to what products are offered by plusmodel, select the Catalogue option on the home page. The Catalogue lists hundreds of items that can be used as stand-alone models or items, such as the Ladder being reviewed, to enhance a model. My modeling experience with plusmodel products includes only a dozen or so of the aftermarket-type items, and I have been pleased with each of those items.
