Background

This is a kit of the mother ship, Arcadia flown by the space pirate, Captain Harlock from the adventure filled world of Leiji Matsumoto. Originally created in 1977 for a manga TV series, Captain Harlock has appeared in various film and TV shows, most recently a 2013 feature film, “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”. This space battleship is used for his interspace travel. The Arcadia carries a number of Space Wolf fighter planes for protection and offense.

The Arcadia is equipped with heavy firepower. The main armament consists of triple-mount pulsar cannon turrets, two on the upper deck and one on the underside. When Captain Harlock’s friend, Tochiro, designed the Arcadia, he must have been influenced by pirate ships of old, because the rear of the Arcadia resembles the stern of a Spanish Galleon. I am not sure of the significance of this but it looks neat.

History Brief

The 1948 Ford was the final year for a new design that began in 1941 with a completely updated, wider and more modern looking car. Shortly after the new car was introduced in 1941 however, Ford had to convert its factories to war production. It wasn't until 1946 that car production resumed. The Coupe came in 3 trim levels, this '48 model being the Super De Luxe version powered by a 239ci Flathead V-8 engine.

Terms for police cars include (police) cruiser, squad car, area car and patrol car. In some places, a police car may also be informally known as a cop car, a black and white, a cherry top, a gumball machine. Depending on the configuration of the emergency lights and livery, a police car may be considered a marked or unmarked unit. Whatever you call them, since the first incarnation the police car has been one of the most valuable pieces of equipment our law enforcement agencies have at their disposal.

The International MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle was developed in direct response to the unacceptable losses U.S. troops were experiencing in Iraq and Afghanistan from improvised explosive devices, and rocket propelled grenades. The MaxxPro (shorthand for Maximum Protection) was built with a V-shaped hull, and the option to add supplemental side armor for increased crew protection and vehicle survivability.

This book provides an excellent visual history of the MRAP from development to deployment in the field. In the first few pages, the authors provide a nice, concise history and informational introduction to the vehicle, including why the vehicles were needed, how the final design was selected, and a nice chart showing the various model designs for the MRAP.

This is another of those little parts from Master Model of Poland which can save your model. In this case, it’s the refueling probe on the 1/144 Vulcan. The kit part is plastic. It sticks out there most of an inch in front of the rest of the aircraft, just inviting someone to bump it and break it off. With this metal replacement, you won’t have to worry about that. In fact it could cause injury, as it’s finer than a straight pin, and if you hit it, it could hurt.

The Part

What you get in the package is a small piece of finely turned metal. I’m not sure if this is brass, as it’s silver colored.

The instructions say to remove the kit probe from the base part and drill the hole in the base part. Since I had already finished this Vulcan, I didn’t think I could do that. But when I cut the kit probe off, the base was loose. So much for my gluing skills.

If you’ve never read a copy of Military Miniatures in Review (MMiR), you need to. It’s an 80-page, full color magazine covering armor modeling so maybe if you build just planes, you don’t necessarily need to read it, but you’ll still be missing out. MMiR is printed on heavy glossy paper, with excellent photography, and well-written articles, with just the right amount of humor mixed in to keep it light, while still covering each subject very well.

This issue has ten build articles, which cover each model build, not necessarily step-by-step, but in a way that the reader can follow the build as it’s going together. The authors are careful to point out any issues with the build, and they provide instruction and details of the builds from start to finish, all the way through weathering and how each base was built for the models displayed in a diorama, or vignette.