MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999, and since then they have built up a list of books on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.
What's New
The F-35 Lightning II is an American single-seat multi-role aircraft developed through the Joint Strike Fighter program. The F-35C is the third airframe from this program to enter operational service. It was specifically designed to fill the role of a carrier-operated long range stealth strike fighter. It differs from the other previous variants by having larger wings for slower landing speeds and increased payloads, folding outer wings, a catapult capable twin-wheel nose gear, and a stronger tail hook for arrested landings. The F-35C entered service in August of 2021, with the first squadron of F-35Cs from VFA-147 on the carrier USS Carl Vinson.
This kit was originally released by Monogram as Tom McEwen's Hot Wheels Plymouth Duster around 1970. Attesting to its popularity, the kit’s been re-released over a dozen times in various versions including Tom Daniel’s “Cop Out” kit, as well as, this fresh new 2023 offering as the “Flashpoint” funny car. I have to hand it to Revell for giving this kit a new lease on life with some excellent and attractive decals.
Molded in 100 pieces of white and clear styrene with chrome plated parts and vinyl tires. The rear slicks are massive wrinkled and weighted tires that really set the model off. Also included is a beautiful new waterslide decal sheet featuring the Flashpoint side script and requisite flames.
Another big help is the expanded 12-page instruction sheet making the assembly a bit easier.
Notek lights were blackout drive lights used by German military vehicles in WWII. They were named after the Munich-based company that produced them, Nova-Technik GmbH.
The unit consisted of a 35-watt bulb under the hooded housing that shined backward against a mirror. The reflected light illuminated the ground ahead of the vehicle from under the helmet-like hood. The Notek light illuminated the road to about 100 to 130 feet ahead of the vehicle in a roughly 80-foot swath and had three settings: dim (invisible from the air above 2,000ft), medium, and full (invisible from the air above 6,400ft).
Contents Description
The Lichtenstein radar was one of the earliest used by the German Luftwaffe and was also the first used for air interception. There were four variations of this radar - the FUG-220 being the third and operated at a low frequency of 90 MHz. This Brengun PE set is suitable for the following aircraft: Ju-88C/R/G, Me-110G, He-219 and Ta-154V15.
The instructional guide is one page and illustrates how to replace the plastic parts with the PE parts. This Brengun set will certainly create a realistic look for your model!
Introduction
This is a new tooling of the Bf-109 G14 from Zoukei-Mura introduced in 2022. The following comes directly from their website:
The special limited-edition Bf 109 kit featuring the aircraft piloted by Erich Hartmann, the WWII Luftwaffe ace who shot down the largest number of aircraft in the history of air combat, will be available via pre-order only. In addition to the Cartograf printed exclusive decals featuring the famous black tulip, a resin figure of Hartmann himself by Master Box will also be included with each limited-edition kit! From the outbreak of WWII in 1939 to the end of the war in 1945, the Bf 109 gave way to many ace pilots until it finally disappeared into the yonder. Now it will be revived as an SWS kit!
Vargas Models, a prolific maker of extraordinary resin, 3-D printed, limited-run armor models is back with another unusual subject; the Christie Model T3E2/E3 tank. The Christie had a "convertible" drive, meaning the tank had removable tracks for road travel, allowing for higher speeds and better range, and reducing wear on the fragile caterpillar track systems of the 1930s. At the time, it was the fastest tank in the world. There are no return rollers for the upper track run; the tracks are supported by the road wheels. As with many track designs with center guide teeth, dual wheels were used, allowing the guide teeth to run between them.
Even with such a revolutionary design, the Christie was ultimately rejected by the US Army, and instead sold to the Soviets, where it served as the prototype to the venerable T-34, the most produced tank in WWII.
UP FRONT thanks to Brengun for sending us this Gem… This kit is a re-release of Brengun’s earlier Dauntless. The A-24 was used by the Army Air Force in several theaters of operation, and pretty well seems to have been as successful in operation there as in Blue water conflict. (Midway anyone?).
Total time in work: 3 hours over a week including paint and decals. NO filler.
The kit has only the box and decals as a difference from previous release. The end-opening box arrived in the usual condition of such items (flattened) but this did not impact the plastic or the remaining contents.
I was a bit more careful on this build than the last iteration. Not using the Micro photoetch aftermarket helped. (Yes, it provides that little extra “detail” but is a bit too much for my hand-eye coordination). I also used “itty bitty” kabuki tape dots from Gundam stuff to mask the wheel on the tires… such cool stuff we have available to help these days.
Green Stuff World is a Spanish company that supplies paints, weathering products, and scenery effects. They are among the newest hobby companies to provide IPMS/USA review samples. As such, I was eager to use and review this new product. According to the Green Stuff World website, the liquid pigment sets (Earth, Rust and Dust) were “especially designed to create weathering effects similar to those achieved through powdered pigments, but have the benefit of not needing a pigment fixer to bind them.” Instructions to use the liquid pigments are on their webpage and YouTube.
These pigments can be used both by brush and airbrush, are fast drying in a matt finish, are advertised as non-toxic water-based paints, are non-flammable and contain no latex.
Green Stuff World is a Spanish company that supplies paints, weathering products, and scenery effects. They are among the newest hobby companies to provide IPMS/USA review samples. As I recently visited their webpage and looked at a few items, including their rotational paint shaker that I placed in my shopping cart, when the opportunity came along to review it, I jumped on it and the wonderful Bill O’Malley had it in the mail quickly.
According to Green Stuff World’s website,
“A rotational paint shaker is an indispensable tool on any workbench because it is highly effective at mixing a variety of different types of paints quickly and consistently, including latex, oil-based, lacquer, and enamel.