I love small air forces and I love the F-16 (and not just because they are based at Hill AFB just up the street) so a decal sheet that combines both is always high on my list.

This new sheet by Caracal delivers. 5 of the 6 schemes are small air forces with the other scheme a Minnesota Air National Guard version in a new camo. The decals are printed by Cartograf who have a solid reputation and feature the following markings:

Thanks to Dragon/Bronco and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this kit.

Background

The MPCV (Mine Protected Clearing Vehicle) Buffalo produced by Force Protection Inc. came out of the US’s experience in Kosovo. It is considered a Class III MRAP. It’s a 6X6 with a V shaped hull to protect the 6 man crew. When installed, the spall liner protects the crew from 7.62 mm munitions as does the ballistic glass. Weighing in at 22 tons, it is powered by a Mack 450 hp diesel coupled to a 5 speed automatic transmission. It is capable of 65m mph. The V shaped hull provides protection from up a 20 kg mine or 15 kg IED. The A2 has an upgraded engine and transmission.

Tamiya’s 1/72^nd scale IL-2 Stormovik kit is a great looking kit with fine details. But, as usual, there are always ways to improve. This new item from Quickboost is a direct replacement for the exhausts in the kit. The advantage is they are hollowed out so you don’t have to try and attempt that yourself.

Clean up is simple to remove them from the resin backing so no instructions are provided.

All in all a quick and simple replacement that will add that extra bit of detail to your IL-2.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review kit.

During World War 2 the Russians created a large number of flamethrower-equipped vehicles, useful for burning Germans out of strongpoints. Some of them replaced a turret or hull machine gun position with the weapon. Others, such as the OT-130, replaced the main gun itself and made this a dedicated flame thrower tank.

Like the original vehicle itself, Hobby Boss’ OT-130 tank is a modification of the tried-and-true T-26, which by this time in the war had outlived its usefulness as a main battle tank. The 45mm main gun was removed and replaced with a flamethrower unit and its appropriate internal tankage. The kit itself features over 900 parts including two sheets of photoetch and seeming hundreds of tiny pins used to assemble the workable tracks. There is no interior provided, although all of the crew hatches do open. No figures are provided with the kit, although it comes with a clear lens for the headlight.

The Revell 1/25 scale “Jungle Jim” Rail Dragster is a re-release of a series of dragsters produced in the mid-1970s. This particular kit represents a car driven by “Jungle” Jim Liberman. If forum comments are correct, this is not a representation of any specific car or race, but rather a generic representation of one of his cars. If you want to build something specific, a bit of research will likely be necessary.

The kit comes in Revell’s typical 9” x 7” model box, where you’ll find four sprues of white plastic, one chrome sprue, one black sprue with the rear tires, and a vinyl-type sprue for the front tires.

The largest sprue contains the dragster’s body, seat, and wings. There are some heavy ejection pin marks, but fortunately they are on sides that are not visible. I didn’t notice any sinking on the visible sides, so the parts shouldn’t require much cleanup.