Rabaul?

How many have heard of it? How about the significance it played in WWII in the South Pacific?

Now, what if I mention these actions: Guadalcanal, The Slot, Battle of Bismarck Sea, the Battle of the Coral Sea, or the shoot down of Admiral Yamamoto, just to mention a few. Do these sound familiar? I bet they do. One major connecter to them all. Rabaul.

Having an interest in military history during WWII, I was familiar with many of the actions above but I had not heard of Rabaul prior to reading this book. Now I understand the importance of this island.

This is Model Art Magazine’s special quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. As with the regular Model Art Magazine this is printed in Japanese with some English subtitles.

The feature article in the Winter 2013 Special Ship Model Edition covers the Battle of Savo Island. The issue starts off though with some new releases that will be hitting model benches soon.

The Battle of Savo Island was the first major naval battle of the Guadalcanal campaign. Model Art devotes ninety-two pages to this battle with period photos, charts, line drawings, one fold out full color drawing of the IJN Heavy cruiser Chokai in action at Savo Island and of course models. The models are the biggest part of the article. They range from full build articles to photos of completed models.

Plusmodel continues its laser etched wood releases with a straight sided gate. This set is made from laser cut wood and contains two sheets of cut wood parts with 26 parts. The set also comes with directions to construct the gates.

Construction starts by removing the parts from the backing. There are small attachment points which are sanded flat. I used clear Elmer's glue for all the building. One note here. If you are going to stain the parts or paint them later, watch where the glue goes as it will fill the wood and leave some issues with the paint or stain working. To start, the door panels are two parts- back and front. This allows for depth which is great. I added glue and aligned the pieces and added weight to keep flat while drying. Once done, the framework on both sides is added and I glued and clamped these also. Plusmodel provides a nice diagonal frame on one side which is great. Once dry, the parts were given a light sanding with a fine grit paper/stick.

This kit from Plusmodel are two sorted waste containers for recycling...modern garbage cans! This would fit great into a modern diorama. The kit comes with 10 resin pieces, a small photoetch fret with four pieces and a small decal sheet. It makes two containers.

Construction is simple. Remove the pour spout from the container and the base. and glue together. There are three parts glued to the top and then the photoetch covers. These are excellent with one part being the flaps to push in the recycling and then a ring securing it. It did take some putty on the side of the main container at the mold lines but one application and a quick sand and done.

“Any Army Any Era!”……This is the Battle Cry for Steve Munsell of ValueGear. A Daytime Dad and nighttime casting machine. After reviewing the Wooden Crates 3 set and knowing I still had two more reviews to accomplish I figured I would send Steve an email and get some personal knowledge and thoughts. He considers himself a so-so modeler and started ValueGear simply because he got tired of seeing the same pieces used over and over again by the mainstream cottage industries in their stowage set. I also learned that he is no longer in Ireland but right here in Sunny Arizona. Hopefully he will pick up so more U.S. Distributors for his fine products.