I wanted a small pickup to haul around some of my resin parts and got a real winner with Revell’s Datsun Off-Road Pickup. Very little flash and the parts fit very well together. The instructions are a 12 page document that provides the part number with a description and a chart showing what part should be painted what color.
Tamiya has issued some of the most spectacular 1/32nd scale kits that have ever been made. One of these was the A6M5 Zero (Model 52) which raised the bar yet again. The kit is excellent but Quickboost shows it can make it better. This set includes two perfectly cast gun barrels for the 7.7mm guns above the engine cowling and two 20mm cannons for the wings. There is no assembly, prime and paint the parts and install and you are done.
Comparing the parts to the kits parts, several things are evident. First, the two wing cannons are more representative of the real thing as Quickboost has them narrower than the plastic can be made. The 7.7mm guns have beautiful jacket details and much finer muzzle details than the kit parts.
For $6.50, this is a superb upgrade to an already excellent kit. Recommended. My thanks to Aires, Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great set of detail parts.
HAD Models is based in Budapest, Hungary and has an excellent selection of laser cut wood, photoetch and resin parts. This particular piece is a 1/32nd wheel chock for Russian planes. This is four individual pieces of photoetch. The main part is bent six times to get the main shape. The back piece is bent to shape and fit into its spaces.
I used a Hold and Fold for the majority of the bends and rolled the back piece around a wooden dowel to get the approximate shape. I let the glue dry thoroughly and the started trimming the bent face piece back. When it was close, I sanded the brass parts back until I could putty them smooth. It then primed with Alclad gray primer. The pictures show a nice orange color so I used Italeri international Orange and got it nice and glossy. I added a couple left over decals top represent the numbers shown in the pictures. A quick flat coat followed by some scratches and wear marks and the chocks were done.
Quickboost released two seats for Trumpeter's 1/32 A-7 series. This seat is the Escapac 1G-2 Ejections seat used in the A-7D variants. Quickboost previously released a later version of the SJU-8A seat for late A-7E which is reviewed here: http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/7e-corsair-ii-late-ejection-seat-seat-b…
The seat for the A-7D is four perfectly cast parts. The seat is the major part with two side cylinders and the tab between the headrest being separate. Cleanup takes almost nothing and the parts glue right in place. For a reference to this seat, you can check out the pictures here: http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/don_busack/a-7dk_eject/
Thanks again to Ross at SAC for providing one more of his new metal gear for the new kits; The IPMS USA on the reviewer corps appreciates your continuing to provide us review items… and as usual, thanks to the IPMS leadership for sending it my way to review!
This is an improved version of the kit’s gear; it is essentially a “form/fit/function” replacement, with the exception of the fact the SAC gear greatly improves on the kit parts…. Let’s review!
The GBU-12 Paveway II is a laser guided bomb based on the 500 lb. general purpose bomb with an added head and fins. they have been around since 1976 and model have had versions of them probably since about that time. Eduard has issued a set of four GBu-12's in their Brassin resin line. The set comprises four tail sections, four bodies, four seeker hears with 2 different variants and four sets if front fins for a total of 32 well cast resin parts. Also is included is a small but well printed decal sheet with 13 decals per bomb.
AK Interactive makes all sorts of very nice modeling materials from books to weathering items to paints. This review covers their Luftwaffe Camouflages from their Air Series. Inside you will find eight 17 ml eyedropper bottles of paint specifically matched to WWII Luftwaffe colors. The following colors are included:
These can be used on many Luftwaffe planes, for example, Bf 109s, Fw 190s, Me 410s and He 219s. Most of these are early war colors. The paints are acrylic and are made by Vallejo. They are very fine grained and result in a medium-flat finish. AK recommends their AK712 thinner. Not having this, I tried a few other brands. The best substitute I found was Createx thinner/airbrush cleaner.
My thanks to Hauler-Brengun and the IPMS Reviewers’ Corps for allowing me to review this excellent detailing accessory set.
Valve hand wheels are everywhere, found on many different kinds of equipment. Plastic valve wheels are often mediocre, so helpfully, Hauler has produced a photo-etched brass sheet of valve hand wheels in several sizes and shapes.
First, I’d like to offer my thanks to Hauler-Brengun and the IPMS Reviewers’ Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory.
The modern full-scale shopping cart has a fairly long development history, which is well documented on Wikipedia and other internet sources. The 1/48 scale Brengun shopping cart (or trolley, in many European markets) represents one of the smaller, tactical carts, as opposed to the larger plastic behemoths that swallow impulse purchases without end. My personal experience with this type of cart has often occurred at manufacturing sites. There, I have witnessed impossible amounts of parts and tools being cheerfully wheeled about in similar carts. Certainly, this excellent cart from Brengun could add an eye-catching detail to many potential diorama scenes.
Griffon Model from China specializes in photoetch, turned brass, and resin details for armor vehicles. This set, L35039, it is actually a combo including the L35037 and L35038 sets, one for the Sd.Kfz.10/5 and the other for the Flak 38 gun. This set is recommended for the Dragon 6677 kit.
The set includes a total of 16 (16!) photoetch fret, two brass rods, one hollow brass pipe, and some extra materials, like plastic rod and brass wire.
So, what parts do you get to upgrade with close to 300 photoetch pieces? Almost everything.
A partial list for the half-track includes:
Included upgrades for the 2 cm Flak 38 include:
