MiniArt continues to dazzle and amaze us with another in their series of building and ruin kits. This time, in 1:72 scale, we have “Building w/Garage”, kit #72031. This a typical mid-century European automotive service garage building with the residence located up on the top floor. The kit represents a complete, undamaged building and not a ruin. It is also all injection molded styrene with none of the vacuum-formed parts found in some of their 1:35 scale releases in the same genre.

The Box

The 13.5’” by 10.5” by 2.25” box is the preferred top and bottom (lid) type. There is a nice artist’s rendition of the building on the box top which can serve as a helpful painting guide, although colors can ultimately be left to the imagination of the individual modeler. However, considering the weight and quantity of the box contents, I felt that the box was a bit flimsy (mine is coming apart already!).

The Terminator series of movies is iconic especially considering that 2014 is the 30th anniversary of the first movie. There haven't been many mainstream kits of the movies. Pegasus has started their releases with the Aerial Hunter killer tank from the 2nd Terminator movie. At the beginning of the movie, the rebels are being chased by Terminators, tanks and Aerial Hunter killers. Previously, this was only released in vinyl as far as I know.

Let me say up front that the challenge to this kit will be the painting. Looking at shots of the movie on the Internet, the Aerial Hunter Killer is colored somewhere between chrome and polished aluminum. For those with the funds, one of the original props is up for auctions (starting at a mere $47,000) but it gives a great view of the actual prop and can be found here and shows the colors well.

One of Osprey’s latest in the “Aircraft of the Aces” series is number 113, covering Allied pilots that shot down 5 or more V1 Flying Bombs.

This book opens with the words of the first pilot to shoot down a V1 (Flt Lt John Musgrove, in a night-fighter Mosquito) on June 16, 1944. Within minutes, 3 more V1s would be shot down that evening by other members of the same Mosquito squadron. After this exciting opening page, the reader is then guided chronologically through the story of the V1 campaign, starting with the development of the “Buzz Bomb” itself and culminating with the last V1 shot down on 28 March 1945.

Next step in our long review of Eduard PE parts for the HK B-17 kit. Ongoing thanks to Eduard for providing us these sets… !

Having opened one other B-17 many years ago in 1/48th, using the Paragon resin flap and bomb bay sets, I vowed not to do that ever again, not due to the fault of the parts, but because it made it extremely difficult to move the model around. Here I am again, with an even LARGER model… But it’s worth it in the end!

This upgrade seriously improves the appearance of the kit parts by having you replace the sidewalls with PE sheet, and styrene truss bracing. Added afterwards are Gussets with excellent rivet detail. What that does is brings the detail level over the top… it just looks a lot better in this scale. The catwalk has improved rails and sides as well. Additional placards and bulkhead details are added, and in the end (it does take a while) everything comes together.

Hasegawa has produced the first production model of the Osprey VTOL transport in 1/72 scale, the MV-22B. In 1988, Italeri came out with a kit (# 175) of the preproduction version, which was designated at that time the V-22A (later to be changed to MV-22A). It would be very difficult to modify the MV-22A into the "B" model. Thankfully, modelers do not have that problem now due to Hasegawa's latest release. This article will not go into the long history of VTOL aircraft or into the difficult development of the Osprey that can be found in other sources. (such as The Dream Machine: the untold history of the notorious V-22 Osprey by Richard Whittle, 2010).