THE KIT

I’ve built a couple of 1/72 scale Zvezda kits, and they’ve always been quite complex, with lots of parts. The Stuka is a complete departure from that norm. It’s very simple, with only a few parts, and there’s not much detail on the kit. The explanation comes from the Dragon website. Zvezda not only makes scale models, they also make table-top games. This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There’s a reference card for the Stuka’s part in the game included in the kit. There are other aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Il-2 Sturmovik, plus 1/72 ground units.

Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll ruin it while playing. So simplicity and low price are virtues for this kit.

The kit is a single dark green sprue with the single-piece canopy in the plastic bag with the decals.

The YW-531C has a history dating back to the early sixties. The Chinese firm Norinco produced the first indigenous vehicle and rolled it off the assembly lines as the Type 63 in 1963. It was fraught with mechanical and technical issues that were quickly overcome. As with all base vehicles, many variants and ideas were applied to and tested on the design. In 1982 the Type 63C started rolling off the assembly lines and the export version was designated YW-531C. The vehicle has a German air cooled diesel power pack, weighs in at 12.8 tons, carries a 12.7mm machinegun for self defense and anti-aircraft and holds a 15 man crew (13 soldiers and 2 crew members). The Iraqi Army received at least 150 of these vehicles. They saw extensive use in the Gulf War. Photographic evidence is very limited and there are several in museums but I have not uncovered any interior shots as of yet.

I have heard wonderful things about the Wingnut Wings models but I didn’t realize that they were this good. When John Noack posted that he had one of their models for review, I practically begged him to give it to me. I wasn’t disappointed.

Upon opening the very substantial box, I was greeted with many sprues consisting of 265 plastic parts and 11 photoetched parts. I opened the instructions and I really cannot call them mere instructions as it was a 30 page book in color. They were the most complete instructions I have ever seen and they even had photographs of the real aircraft in several places to help locating where various parts were to be placed.

The Trumpeter F-100 series is a welcome addition to plastic modeling and the F-100 F two-seater fills a big hole for the serious model builder. Eduard is a well-known company with a reputation for providing very nice detail sets for many of today’s new model kits. Eduard has now produced several photoetch details sets for the F-100 F such as seatbelts, cockpit interior, undercarriage and exterior.

The seatbelt set, #49540, contains all of the seatbelts, buckles and pads for both the front and rear seats as well as the foot rests for the ejection seats. The belts are pre-painted in the appropriate colors, all you have to do is apply a drop of super glue and put the part in place. It is a slow and tedious process but the finished kit parts look fantastic.

ModelArt Spring 2011 No. 39 is entirely devoted to US Light and Escort Carriers in WW2. Armor, aircraft and car buffs will only have a few small ads to peruse, with one exception. Aircraft modelers will love the section on aircraft markings for individual carriers. No. 39 turns out to be an excellent reference work on US Navy WW2 smaller carriers, but as usual the text is entirely in Japanese. However, the historical data section is still useful, and the usual scrutiny of recently available kit builds are very helpful for modelers. This format is larger than regular monthly ModelArt magazines, and the printing quality is of high standards. The book measures 210 X 296 mm (that’s 8-1/4 by 11-3/4 inches). The majority of the article photos are in color. My chief complaint with their layout is that many larger photographs of ship models cross pages, resulting in a dead zone where the spine is – it really breaks up otherwise spectacular photos.