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Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.00

The F-16 is one of the sexiest aircraft ever made. The early aircraft were even more impressive before all of the bumps and bulges were added to later variants.

Like Salma Hayek in ‘From Dusk to Dawn’ the only way to make it even sexier is to wrap it in a snake. The Italians did this in April 2010 at Cervia AB, Italy. Sure it is a special paint scheme but what a great marking option. The aircraft itself is only painted in two colors FS36231 and FS36118 which makes for a pretty dark aircraft but add to that the bright yellow, purple and black Viper to it just makes it awesome.

Inside a 6x9 inch, zip lock bag is a double-sided high-quality paper printed in full-color instructions. The instructions show all four sides of the actual aircraft, along with the drop tank markings.

Book Author(s)
Amaru Tincopa and Santiago Rivas
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Specialty Press
MSRP
$56.96

During the 1920 and 1930’s most Latin American countries started developing air routes and air services; at the same time that their own armed forces started developing their air arms.That fledgling market brought intense competition from industrial countries, including Germany and Italy, which landed significant contracts for both military and civilian aircraft.

This book is organized into 16 chapters, basically one chapter per country, plus a handful of special chapters like “Visitors” (i.e aircraft not operated by Latin American countries but that made special visits to Latin America), Axis Airline Services, Survivors, etc. In this section is where the only Japanese aircraft in Latin America is found.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Roden
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$59.99

Roden’s 0-1 was developed “Under the radar” for many of us; we learned in early announcements of its forthcoming release, and due to world events were concerned that we might never see the kit released. However, the kit has finally appeared, and we now have a large-scale bird dog in hand.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$9.95

The Triple Ejector Rack (TER) allows aircraft to carry three weapons on a single pylon, thus increasing the weapons load that an aircraft can carry instead of a single weapon per pylon as was common in World War II and Korea. The TER attaches directly to the weapons pylon and allows the carriage of up to three of the same weapon, primarily bombs, on that weapons station.

The United States has used TERS since the Vietnam War and they still a common sight on US aircraft along with many NATO air forces. The bombs are attached to the TER by mounting lugs and are stabilized by adjustable sway braces on the TER.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$21.00

MiniArt’s Railway Semaphore is a nicely detailed kit with great fit of the parts, and will be a great addition to railroad dioramas. This kit is a model of a railway semaphore of the type used by Germany in WWII, and is part of MiniArt’s Building and Accessories Series.

The German Imperial Railway, (Deutsche Reichsbahn), used a signaling system, the H/V system semaphores, which signaled trains whether to proceed or not. The semaphores arms were painted white and red with a circle on their track side. One arm projected horizontally meant stop, and projected upwards at 45 degrees meant proceed. The semaphore in this kit is a two-aspect type with two moveable signal arms. The lights were gas operated.

Book Author(s)
Nic Fields; Illustrator: Donato Spedaliere
Review Author
Rebecca Hettmansperger
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$24.00

Following Hannibal's crushing victory at the battle of the Trebbia, the reeling Roman Republic sent a new army under the over-confident consul Caius Flaminius to destroy the Carthaginian invaders. Hannibal, however, was ready and waiting for Flaminius, having set a masterful ambush in the early morning mist. The tumultuous clash at Lake Trasimene firmly established Hannibal as one of the Ancient World's greatest commanders thanks to his use of innovative tactics, including the first recorded use of a turning movement. The Romans would not send another major army to confront him until the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. This new study, based on recent archaeological work on the battlefield itself, tells the full story of one of Hannibal's greatest victories with the help of maps, illustrations, and stunning colour artwork.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
MCW Finishes
MSRP
$7.50

Model Car World is a model company that specializes in resin car bodies and paint finishes matched to automotive colors. MCW was purchased by Wings Wheels and Waves in 2015, and they have since expanded their paint line to include military colors.

This review includes the following paints:

  • MIL-1101 Schwarzgrun RLM 70
  • MIL-1103 Dunkelgrun RLM 71
  • MIL-1106 Hellblau RLM65

MCW Paint Finishes are gloss lacquer paints. The paints come in 1 oz. bottles that have a BB inside to facilitate mixing. The paints are pre-thinned for airbrush and MCW strongly recommends applying the paints over a primer.

Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$16.95

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Scale Aircraft Conversions adaption of the Roland C.II landing gear in white metal for the 1/32 Wingnut Wings kit. The set contains left and right landing gear legs, a center axle and airfoil section, plus a replacement tail skid. These are direct replacements for the ones found supplied with the kit with just a little more detail. Overall this is highly recommended for stronger landing gear with added detail and is a great addition to the Wingnut Wings kit.

I would like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions for another great offering in metal landing gear and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this item.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$16.95

Product provided by: Ross, CEO of SAC

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us another of your expansive line of metal landing gear (with extra bits for the engine mounts, nice!). Thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

Once again, a SAC upgrade to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 5 parts: Two main struts, one tailwheel leaf-spring strut with tail wheel fork, and two engine mounts.

Roden kits suffer from one problem; the soft plastic used is just not up to the task of holding up a model. In this kit’s case, it is worse because the gear is already spread at an angle like the majority of Cessna products, which means the real thing is a shock absorber (try landing on one with too high a sink rate and be bounced back in the air, experience here).

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$17.98

MiniArt has been moving full steam ahead on providing diorama modelers with the kind of details that simply weren’t available some years ago without resorting to expensive resin short runs. This set of household crockery and glass is an excellent example.

What you get in the box is a tiny clump of REALLY small sprues, which sort of niggled me at first until I actually started working on it. These tiny sprues offer a LOT of final product.

Prepping these items was much easier than their small size would lead you to believe. First off, there’s very little painting required. Even the opaque items are cast in a while plastic that looks remarkably like ceramic.