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Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Blast-A-Way
MSRP
$168.00

The Blast-Away Sandblasting cabinet is also labeled as the Blast-A-Way Sandblasting cabinet. For the purposes of this review it will be labeled as the “Blast-Away” cabinet. That is the manner in which it is identified on the instruction booklet that accompanies the product.

The Blast-Away cabinet is made from corrugated plastic and arrives in a box roughly 40x 24x3. Within the review sample was the cabinet itself, the clear “window” items which will be attached to the cabinet, and the 10 page instruction booklet. Additional parts can be purchased – those being additional clear plastic lenses, a replacement liner, and an exhaust manifold.

Review Author
Ben Guenther
Published on
Company
Plusmodel
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$22.60

Plus Model has provided the armor modeler with a finely cast and detailed model of a German power generator used in WWII.

A quick check on the internet found that the Plus Model generator is in fact the Breuer WG3000 (3kw) generator. This generator delivers 3000w/220v/13.6a and uses a two-cylinder horizontally-opposed four-stroke engine that makes 17hp at 1,500 rpm. It was about as large as they came that used a skid; any larger and they were mounted on a frame with wheels, to be towed. The Plus Model rendition contains 24 resin parts, a photo-etch sheet (made by Hauler) with 21 p.e. parts, and a short length of copper wire.

The parts came bubble-wrapped inside a small cardboard box, but mine had 5 pieces broken off the casting sprue. Checking the small two-sided instruction sheet, I was able to identify the parts. Only one was broken badly enough that I had to make a new piece out of some styrene strips, but this wasn’t a problem.

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.00

This prototype vehicle is the Ardelt-Rheinmetall 8.8cm PaK 43 Waffenträger (weapons carrier). The idea behind this weapon system was a self-propelled mount for the powerful but heavy 8.8cm (88mm) antitank gun, as towed versions of this gun were too cumbersome for crews to move readily. The idea was that the gun could be dismounted if need be. Ardelt and Rheinmetall might have combined to build the first prototype and tests were conducted on this in April, 1945. It utilized a 38(t) or a Hetzer chassis with four road wheels per side. Sources differ on if these two companies worked together and on what chassis they used. But Dragon has created a one-of-a-kind self-propelled gun of an interesting idea.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Andrew Birkbeck
Published on
Company
Ampersand Publishing
MSRP
$19.95

This is the second volume in Ampersand Publishing’s pictorial history of the Churchill heavy infantry tank. The first volume covered the gun tanks, while this second volume covers the non-gun tanks, such as flame throwers, bridge layers, flail, and armored engineering vehicles. It is thus broken down into the following chapters:

Book Author(s)
Capt. Richard Hoffman, USN (Ret.)
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
Ginter Books
MSRP
$39.95

This is the first Ginter book I have had the pleasure of reading or reviewing. It is in the standard format of a softback book with card covers and is approx. 8 ½” x 11” in size. The text and photos are all printed on glossy, high quality paper.

There is a detailed history of the development of the PB2Y, followed by an in-depth operational history. This operational history includes details of many combat missions. High quality black and white photos are present on every page. There are also drawings and pages reproduced from technical manuals.

After the technical development section, the operational history is broken down into sections on the US Navy, the Naval Transport Service, service as an “Admiral’s Barge,” and the RAF. There are even a few pages dedicated to the Coronado’s Seaplane Tenders.

Review Author
Andy Renshaw
Published on
Company
Bombshell Decals
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.00

With most aircraft of WWII and the Korean War, nose art was common, though, if you are like me, you have been disappointed at times with the kit decals and their depiction of the nose art.

So along comes IPMS member Michael Kloppenburg, a graphic designer by trade, and his brand of decals! Bombshell Decals has done a small but steady stream of some fantastic decal work with nose art that looks almost as good as the real deal.

Bombshell’s latest releases cover six A-26 Invader aircraft spread over three separate releases. I have always liked the look of the A-26 Invader with its sleek blend of bomber and attack aircraft. Needless to say, I was instantly drawn to these new decals from Bombshell. The two aircraft covered in this set are

Review Author
Roger Carrano
Published on
Company
Dutch Decal
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$20.00

Dutch Decal has been producing decals of all aircraft from the Dutch Air Forces. The company started in 1986 and the decals that were produced caught on mainly for their quality and uniqueness and, according to Dutch Decal, their “sheets are silk screen printed with English instructions often in colour and if possible with photographs alongside the illustrations”.

This particular decal sheet was designed for Wingscale’s B-25, but due to lots of political mayhem (which I won’t get into), a new company called HK Models produced the B-25J kit. The decals will still work with this kit due to the fact that the dimensions have not changed.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost continues to provide simple, yet effective, ways to improve the Italeri Hurricane Mk. I. This set is named “antennas,” but it covers the radio mast, pilot step, and pitot tube.

The parts are finely casted in cream-colored resin, easy to release from the pouring stub, and they would automatically enhance your model. The only minor drawback is that the pilot step has a bit of flash, though it is very simple to clean up.

These parts designed to be drop-in replacement to kit parts. There is no need for any cutting or sawing of kit parts and it is very simple to use the replacement ones.

Recommended to modelers of any level who have minimal experience with resin parts.

I would like to thanks Aires, Quickboost, and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/3200
MSRP
$24.99

Star Trek. Like a lot of people my age (the other side of 50), I was raised on the show and then the long running reruns. Of course, you have the movies, Deep Space Nine and more. The series is as iconic. This kit represents a Romulan D’deridex class ship which appears in STTNG series which aired between 1987 and 1994. This kit was first released by AMT a number of years ago and has become scarce in the last few years, so the rerelease is welcome. And there are improvements!