What's New

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/13
MSRP
$29.99

The Prehistoric Scenes kits were first issued (from what I can find) in 1971 or before so the kit is over 50 years old. Looking inside the box, the kit comes with two small bases and a tree along with the star of the show, the Sabre Tooth Tiger. The molds have been cleaned up and there is pretty much no flash at all. The plastic is a very nostalgic yellow and if you are my age, you remember the planes and kits of the time being this bright color.

Since I built this kit decades ago, I wanted to do something a little different so I reversed the layout a bit as the tiger looks mad and I wanted him jumping at you attacking. So if you look the kit up on the Internet, mine may look backwards but I like it in attack mode.

Review Author
Steven J. Corvi
Published on
Company
Clear Prop
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$95.00

This first release by ClearProp is an early F-86A-5 in the airplane's pre-Korean War configuration. Clear Prop has shown photos of the future releases which will be a pretty thorough coverage of the Early A & E models of the F-86 with the leading edge slats. The parts trees of the current release have two nose cones - one for the F-86A, and one that is scribed for the ranging radar positioned in the nose of the F-86E, which indicates a future E release! Clear Prop has declared their commitment to covering the early North American F-86 Sabre. The ‘Korean War’ F-86A-5 will be released by Christmas 2024, with an F-86E to follow in 2025, according to sources. The kit has delicate engraved surface detail, and the wing is correct for the slatted version since there is no “ledge” for the slats if retracted, like every Bf-109 kit or A-4 Skyhawk kit has.

Book Author(s)
Michael John Claringbould
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Avonmore Books
MSRP
$42.95

Raised in Port Moresby, pilot Michael Claringbould is a globally recognized expert on the New Guinea air war and Japanese aviation in particular. In 1976 he conducted numerous surveys of crash sites in Papua New Guinea while based at Lae. The following year he continued his survey of crash sites in the Solomon Islands. In 1984 he was a key member of a RAAF salvage team, which recovered an intact Douglas A-20G "Hell'N Pelican II". From 1995 to 2001 he conducted fourteen surveys of crash sites in the Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Michael is an established author in this field as well. His books include Helluva Pelican, The Forgotten Fifth, Forty of the Fifth, and Black Sunday.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$63.00

The M1097A2, Heavy HMMWV with an increased payload capacity, will replace the M1037, M1042, M1097 and M1097A1 heavy shelter variants. It is designed to carry heavy electronic systems, weapons platforms, and can be configured to act as a command post; the M1097A2 may also be configured as a troop carrier.

This is ICM’s first HMMWV, and the second kit available in 1/35 scale (Italeri No, 6484 was introduced in 2018). This versatile and rugged vehicle is in service with the US military, NATO forces and other militaries around the world. The two marking options in this kit include:

Review Author
Jason Boggans
Published on
Company
Tamiya
MSRP
$33.00

The Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen I (Sd.Kfz 101) is presented in Tamiya typical rigid top opener with nice artwork depicting a unit from the 4th Panzer Division, Poland, September 1939. Contents of the box are limited as this is of course a small kit.

This 100% newly tooled kit complements the existing 1/35 scale line up of German WWII vehicles in the Military Miniature Series and completes the lineup of main German tanks of WWII for Tamiya.

The box contains a normal Tamiya instruction manual with clear construction steps, 22 in all to complete this kit.

Also included is a glossy ‘background information’ leaflet which is a welcome addition and provides some history, design and deployment details of the Panzer I.

It also contains details of the specifications of this Light Tank including dimensions, crew capacity, engine (with speed and output) as well as range and armament.

The leaflet is presented in Japanese, English, French and German.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1:35
MSRP
$99.00

I suspect that most modelers are aware of the tendency of the German Army in World War Two to use just about any vehicle in their inventory as an ambulance. Mostly it was war-weary half-tracks or armored vehicles or trucks which had seen better days. Almost anything proved useful for transporting the wounded out of the battle area to where they could be aided more effectively.

ICM has done it again by supplying a combo kit of three ambulance trucks from the period. Happily, they’ve elected to provide three very distinctive vehicles for the set; a V3000 “Blitz” truck, a half-track Maultier based on a Ford design, and a Lastkraftwagen – a French truck design employed in some numbers by the Wehrmacht.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1:32
MSRP
$24.99

After decades in the Monogram “tomb of doom” Atlantis has saved some of the Route 32 kits from the crypt and reissued them for us to enjoy once again. This model of the 1982 Z/28 Camaro was initially issued in 1982 and is now available as brand-new stock.

Back in the day, because these kits were relatively inexpensive and perfectly sized, many of these kits were primarily adapted to serve as slot car bodies. As fashionable as that was, they were also nicely detailed models when built with moderate detailing. If you collect a lot of models, or you’re concerned with space, 1:32 scale car models are only about 6” long but are good representations of the real thing.

The kit consists of 47 pieces for the single-purpose version of the 1982 Camaro Z/28. It is molded in color and includes a detailed one-piece body, interior, and engine, along with scripted rubber tires, chrome-plated and clear parts, instructions, and waterslide decals.

Review Author
Paul Dunham
Published on
Company
NuNu
Scale
1:24
MSRP
$35.92

NuNu of Macau in cooperation with Platz of Japan offers an interesting assortment of European and Asian racing cars in their range.A recent release and the subject of this review is their new Volvo S40 as raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) of 1997. The kit includes a body and six parts trees molded in white plastic, a tree of chrome parts, a tree of clear parts, soft rubber tires, polycaps, several sheets of decals, a sheet of window masks, a black and white instruction booklet, and a full-color decal placement guide. The parts and decals are protected in plastic bags.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$78.00

ICM continues to pump out new and interesting kits despite a war affecting all in the Ukraine, but especially in their home base in Kiev. This present reiteration of the original tooled Studebaker kit from 2007 (#35511) has new parts to make it into the U5 fuel truck specifically. This adds two tandem 375-gallon tanks with racks on the side to store a good number of 5-gallon Jerry cans. Let’s get into it…

What’s Inside the Box

You get six green plastic sprues- the four original sprues present in the earlier versions (A-D) and two copies of sprue E which contain the parts for the fuel tanks and their mounts, and the jerry cans. Sprue F is a clear sprue containing the windows, windshield, and headlight lenses. Decals include options for two nondescript schemes- one with a star and circle on the hood and one sans circle. No indication of where they were stationed but I suppose whenever fuel was needed to power machines of war would be fitting.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$31.00

Special Hobby has provided the 1/72nd scale Supermarine Seafire FR Mk. 47 for review. Subtitle on this boxing is “The Last Royal Navy Propeller Fighter” and (per Wikipedia) it was the last Spitfire/Seafire variant to roll off the assembly line at Supermarine in January 1949.

Looking at Scalemates.com, the molds were produced back in 2012 and this 2024 boxing has new decal markings for No. 804 NAS, HMS Ocean (Mediterranean, 1949), No. 1833 NAS, RNAS Bramcote / HMS Gamecock (1953), and two (2) markings for No. 800 NAS, HMS Triumph (Korea 1950).

In The Box

The kit box is typical top opening with a nice illustration. All the sprues are packaged in a single clear plastic bag with the clear parts package individually bagged. A photo-etch sheet is also included to add extra detail for the cockpit, landing gear, and missile harnesses.