Introduction

The USS Boxer, LHD-4, is the fourth of the Wasp class amphibious assault ship line. She entered service in 1995 and spent several years deployed to the Western Pacific. After 9/11, the Boxer has deployed to the Persian Gulf several times and recently served as the flagship of Combined Task Force 151, fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. She participated in the activities surrounding the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips of the container ship Maersk Alabama. After Capt. Phillips was rescued he was taken to the Boxer for medical treatment and rest.

In February 2013, HobbyBoss released a very precise rendition of the USS Boxer in a 1/700^th scale kit. I would like to thank MMD/Squadron for providing this kit to IPMS USA for review.

Round 2 Models and Polar Lights have re-released The Jetsons Capsule Car with figures. This boxing only includes George Jetson and Astro. The figures are pre-painted and they look very nice. The clear capsule is very transparent and free of scratches due to careful packing. It does have a small “pimple” on the top, probably part of the molding process.

This kit is a snap-together model, and the overall fit and ease of assembly is excellent. If you go OOB, and don’t want to paint it, you could have it ready for display (or playing) in less than 15 minutes.

During assembly I found a few minor gaps in the capsule car ‘fins.’ It was a matter of 10 minutes with putty and sanding sticks to take care of them. I decided to paint the interior and exterior of the capsule car, as well as the moon base. The overall breakdown of the kit made painting very easy with minimal masking.

This product is a prepainted photoetched flight deck section from a US carrier between 1942 and 1944. It is made of a fairly heavy gauge brass. It partly includes one of the hangar deck lifts in the full up position. It has good texture showing the planking on the deck, the tiedown strips and the metal areas surrounding the lift, as well as some of the deck markings for the carrier. The painting gives a realistic replication of the wood grain on the deck planks and is of the early war natural wood coloring. The surface has a slight sheen, and to be more realistic, it should have a light coat of flat clear sprayed on. The deck section is big enough for a small naval aircraft, and would probably be okay with a Hellcat or a Corsair. It measures 4 3/8 x 5 1/4 inches or approximately 111 x 133 millimeters. It will make a very effective display that can be completed quickly by simply gluing it to an appropriately sized base. Highly recommended.

The Build (Continued)

The assembled engine dropped in place with little drama…but, because of the rather complex way the engine, engine bay framing and multi-part cowling align with the fuselage, I first carefully dry-fitted everything (and temporarily taped parts in place) to make sure there were no gaps between panel lines. Doing this also ensured that the front of the engine was centered in the opening in the cowl front. I cemented the engine in place and removed the engine panels to make the necessary adjustments as called out in the instructions.

The Following Text is a Historical Perspective from the Publisher.

As the Battle of Britain came to a close, the Luftwaffe began arming its single-engine fighters with bombs, using them in preference to twin-engine bombers against many daylight targets. Two units were designated for these Jagdbomber (literally fighter-bomber) attacks – 10/JG 26. Their targets included shipping and coastal installations, railways, gas holders and selected military and civilian objectives. The detrimental effect on British morale caused by these ‘Tip and Run’ attacks was devastating.

How could the British military combat the raids effectively? How could the local populations cope? Questions were asked in Parliament but no effective answer was supplied. The locals lived in fear of where and when the next attack would occur.