The Kit

I’m not a big fan of Dark Shadows, it’s too much “Soap Opera” for me. I can’t follow who’s who, and what they’re doing from one episode to the next. But I really enjoyed the Round 2/Polar Lights 3 Stooges figures, so I went for this one.

The kit is pretty standard for a large-scale plastic item, with only a few parts: head (2 pieces), body (also 2 pieces), two arms (2 pieces each), two 2-piece feet, and 2 hands. There are also an extra set of vinyl arms, which can be set up with a wire to allow changing poses. The joyful moment in this build came when I was reading the instructions and discovered that the optional extra “glow in the dark” head, hands and feet could be used to make a Midget Werewolf!! Yeah, I gotta do that.

David Doyle has given us another excellent walk around publication. This one covers the M26 Dragon Wagon tank transporter, used by the United States Army during World War II. Those of us who have the Ampersand Publishing Dragon Wagon book, by David and Pat Stansell, will find 80 pages of new pictures with cover art by Don Greer. This book is filled with captioned color pictures of expertly restored vehicles.

The tractor portion of the Dragon Wagon is an M26 or M26A1 tractor. The trailer portion is the M15 or M15A2 Tank-Recovery Semi-Trailer. Together they become the M26 Dragon Wagon.

The M26 tractor is the hard top version seen in the Tamiya kit. It had an armored cab, so that it could be “buttoned up” when under fire, but it was heavy and hard on the power train, and was rarely used under fire. The M26A1 was a soft-skin version, unarmored, with lower maintenance requirements.

After masking the black for the boot topping, the red was masked and the upper part of the hull sprayed with Italeri acrylic gray. This was a frustrating experience. The paint will just not behave properly in my Badger double-action airbrush. I tried various thinning ratios, but was not able to hit a mix that would perform for more than five or six seconds before splattering and running, or clogging up the works. I did manage to finish painting the hull, but resolved to brush paint the remainder of the gray parts. It does brush paint much better, but do not attempt to thin it with water (as the paint label calls for).

Removing the masking from the hull revealed that I am not as good at ship masking as I thought. The boot topping stripe in particular was not uniform – some of that gray paint had seeped underneath the tape and you know what that means. Touch up. I did that and got it looking respectable again.

Stock Numbers / Products

• Item # 64003, U.S. MARINES Aircraft, $13.98
• Item # 64004, U.S. MARINES Armor Accessories, $11.98
• Item # 64005, USN LCAC Hovercraft, $11.98

Introduction

Gallery Models is a “brand” concept developed by MRC. Their motto is “Only Spectacular Kits” and their first release (early 2010), the 1/350 scale USS WASP (LHD-1) (at nearly 1000 parts), sets the benchmark for this scale for accuracy and detail. The attention to accuracy and detail, from the design of each part through the making of the molds, is unparalleled. That kit and their 2nd release, the 1/350 scale USS IWO JIMA (LHD-7) (at over 1400 parts), represent the ultimate challenge to even the most experienced modellers.

The White Ensign Models PE set finally arrived from across the pond. It is extensive and finely done, as are all WEM photo etch. The two frets contain enough extra photo etch to build various versions of the Dreadnought as she appeared throughout her service life. I am building the early version, but there are details to represent all the main versions of the ship.