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Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$4.00

This set is a beautiful pair of brass wing mounted pitot tubes for the Eduard L-39 Albatros kit. As shown in the photos, the kit pitots are very basic straight pieces of sprue with no taper or refinement. The Master Model replacements accurately capture the different diameters of the Albatros’pitot tubes, which range from fairly wide at the wing leading edge, then stepping down two sizes to a nice point at the tip.

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

This masking set is designed for Eduard’s L-39 Albatros kits and includes masks for all three sections of the canopy and for the main gear tires. As with all of Eduard’s mask sets, the fit of the masks is excellent as long as you take a little time to line them up.

For the main canopy sections, the set provides masks for the outlines of the canopy frames. and the instructions tell you to fill in the rest with liquid mask. As there is a lot of extra material on the mask set outside of the pieces to be used, I instead cut small pieces from the extra tape and used it to fill in the rest of the canopies. On interesting inclusion are masks for the clear divider section that goes between the cockpits. I did not use it as I left this piece out until final construction of the kit. I’m not sure how I would have gotten the mask off if I had used it and installed the part prior to painting.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$64.00

Dragon continues to expand its “Modern Sea Power” Series, this time with the introduction of the 1/350 Zerstorer Class 1936A, with a twin 150 mm turrets.

Upon opening the box you find 18 sprues, plus two small photoetch frets and decals. There is a total of over 550 parts on this kit.

The parts are finely molded, with virtually no flash anywhere. I’ve only was able to spot a bit of flash in one sprue, around the propellers. Slide mold technology was used extensively in the kit minimizing seams and allowing multiple pieces (bridge, hull) to be molded in a single piece. It should be noted it the hull is packed with a small protector to protect the sharp bow from being damaged.

Review Author
Jeff Leiby
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$72.99

The Kit

The 57-ton M6 was designed as a tank able to respond to Germany’s all-dominating Panzers that had previously swept through Europe in the Blitzkrieg, and approval to produce four prototypes was given in February 1941. The type proved unsatisfactory in testing, however, and in the end only eight M6, twelve M6A1 and 20 M6A2 tanks were built by Baldwin from 1942-44. The M6 had a crew of six and was armed with an M7 76mm gun, M6 37mm gun and no less than five machine guns. The M6 was distinguished by its cast hull. (From Dragon USA website).

The parts for the M6/M6A1 kits are completely new molds and carry-over no parts from Dragon’s previous M4-family of Sherman kits. You will find the following inside the box:

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$16.50

This is another of those Brengun kits that is SO useful when doing a diorama. In this case, the diorama is a USN aircraft carrier deck, and the kit is the MD-3 tow tractor. Actually, the kit is TWO MD-3 tow tractors. Better value for the money.

While I was looking up the catalog reference for this kit, I found another useful item in the Brengun accessories catalog. How about a tow bar for this tractor? It’s item number BRL144115, $6.05.

The Kit

You get two of all the parts. There are two sets of resin parts to make two tractors. Also, the PE fret has all the (tiny) parts you need to make two tractors. The decal sheet has enough decals to make two tractors, as long as you don’t want the black warning stripes for the bumpers on the second kit.

All of the resin parts are nicely molded, without bubbles or excessive flash. The PE parts were nicely set up, with almost no trimming required on any of the parts.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$4.50

Brengun has been producing some interesting PE accessories to dress up the area around your model. I’ve seen examples of this type of container, lots of them. All painted Caterpillar yellow, in East Peoria, Illinois.

The steel container is a standard item around any industrial plant. They’re used to hold parts, subassemblies, junk, recyclable materials, and anything else that needs storage around the plant. They’re usually stackable, about 2 or 3 high, and can be moved with a forklift or overhead crane. The boxes are tough, almost indestructible. Almost.

The Kit

You get enough parts to make 4 steel containers. Each one consists of the box body and 4 corner legs/supports. The instructions don’t match up with the boxes. There’s only one fold required for each side.

Construction

The PE parts are nicely set up and laid out to allow each container to be separated from the fret, and then each of the 4 corner pieces to be removed.

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$59.99

The M270 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) was first delivered to troops in 1983 and has since been delivered to many NATO countries with over 1,300 being built. The last M270 was manufactured in 2003, when a last batch was delivered to the Egyptian Army.

DML first produced a MLRS kit in 1992. The kit was no. 3522 followed soon after by no. 3523. The major difference was the inclusion of 2 separate M26 rocket pods. Jump to 2015 and Dragon has released a “new” version of this incredible artillery piece.

In 1992, the kit suffered from several issues such as the link length track, poorly rendered road wheels, and attached support arms and shocks. This new release has not rectified any of the issues. The only difference between this kit and no. 3523 is the inclusion of three small part sprues. Do not expect “Big Foot” track as depicted on the box top. This re-issue still has the earlier style track.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
UMM-USA
MSRP
$12.95

Thank you to Unique Master Models (UMM) for generously providing an excellent tool for “field testing.” Thank you as well to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me be an evaluator.

The gluing is a two-part aluminum block with 90-degree intersections. The two parts are screwed together with two flat-head machine screws on the smaller end. The whole unit is about 2 ¼ by 1 3/16 inches.

There are many uses for the jig. I used a simple frame assembly example to show how a complex joint could be quickly glued. Three parts were placed on the jig and one application of CA glue secured the assembly in one step. The first attempt was a failure, since glue was applied a little too heavily, with the assembly being firmly attached to the jig! But a light application of thicker CA worked well. I suggest waxing the interior jig surface a bit to reduce glue adhesion.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
UMM-USA
MSRP
$16.05

Thank you to Unique Master Models (UMM) for generously providing an excellent tool for “field testing.” Thank you as well to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me be an evaluator.

The tool is small, has a nice weight or heft in the hand, and does not flex easily. The scriber is strongly attracted to a magnet, but is not magnetic itself. The surface is highly polished. The longer deburring edge and the shorter scriber edge are sharp enough to start scribing right out of the cellophane package. The cutting edges should be easily honed as needed. The smooth sides moved easily along my steel straight edge. I pushed the limits a bit and found there was no flex in the tool that affected the “groove.” The primary tool design is for scribing lines in plastic, but I expect to discover other uses when the tool is in hand. Further, the tool has that somewhat undefinable sense of “feeling right.”