Background

During the 17th through 19th centuries, Grenadiers were considered the shock troops of an army. In addition to their muskets, they were equipped with rudimentary hand grenades. Typically, they were chosen from the tallest recruits for the sake of intimidation, and this was visually increased by the use of tall mitre hats or bearskins. The kit represents an enlisted man from the Dutch Imperial Grenadiers circa 1810. Some quick research in one of my older references, as well as online, shows that this kit indeed represents a Third Dutch Grenadier. This unit was part of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard at Waterloo. The colors recommended in the kit seem to be accurate for an enlisted man. According to Wikipedia, “This regiment was created as the Royal Guard in Holland, when Louis Napoleon, brother to Napoleon, was made King of Holland.

The wonderful folks at Stevens International Hobby Distributors deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new products to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published.

The Albatross was a common utility amphibian aircraft in the post-WW2 era, carrying a number of designations and operating with the USAF, USN, USCG and many foreign services. The distinctive high-wing, twin-engine plane worked mostly in the search and rescue role, with some examples serving in the unusual triphibian mode with snow-landing capability! Trumpeter provides markings options for two different aircraft, a USAF HU-16A and a Taiwan HU-16A.

The Kit

The Zrinyi I was an attempt to convert the successful Zrinyi II, 105mm howitzer-equipped assault gun into an anti-tank weapon. The Hungarians replaced the howitzer with the German made Pak 40, 75mm anti-tank gun. Since the Germans were willing to provide STU-III/IV SP anti-tank guns it was decided not to go beyond the single prototype.

You will find the following inside the box:

After World War II US Army intelligence gathered data and components from the German Wasserfall program. Based on this information General Electric constructed the Hermes A1 rocket which was almost identical to the Wasserfall with the exception of the mid-body fins. Five Hermes A1 rockets were successfully launched at White Sands proving grounds between May 1950 and April 1951.

The Brengun Hermes A1 is molded in medium grey soft plastic with a small photo-etch fret. Flash is minimal the kit offers recessed panel lines however some of these panel lines are partially filled in and will require re-scribing. There is a slight pebbly texture to the plastic typical of many short run plastic kits; a session of sanding with fine sand paper fixes this issue. A couple of the trolley wheels have noticeable sink marks. There is a small decal sheet with markings for three of the test rockets. The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

In all honesty, I grabbed this little gems to review before even cracking open the box on my new tool Revell Germany Ju 88A-4. Quickboost, yet again have produced replacement parts up to their normal high standards. Packaged in their standard orange plastic bag, you are provided with two pair of exhaust stacks in finely molded grey resin. No instructions are needed as the new parts will drop right into place. Pay close attention to the kit instructions as the exhaust stubs are asymmetric. Both the original kit parts as well as the Quickboost replacements can be installed in the wrong location.