When I was a kid, I was always fascinated by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his underwater exploration, so when this kit came up for review, I was interested in learning more about it and building this kit.

The submersible is named "Shinkai” and can dive to a depth of 6500 meters (ed note: 21,320’); as of 2011, it is the deepest-diving vessel of its type, having been completed in 1989 and starting operation in 1990. It is currently operated by JAMSTEC (Japanese Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology) which was founded on April 1, 2004, as a semi-government research organization. Shinkai has a crew of two, plus one scientist, for a 3-person total complement. That sounds good until you find out they fit into a 2-meter diameter, 73.5mm-thick sphere made of titanium alloy.

History Brief

German military car, type 170V, first appeared in military service in 1937. The car had advanced elements of construction for that time, such as the front and rear suspension system and X shaped oval tube frame. It was because of the excellent suspension system that the 170V was most widely used civilian car in the Wehrmacht. By 1942, a total of 86,615 model 170Vs were pressed into service and remained in production well after the war had ended. Featuring a 4-cylinder, 38 h.p. engine, the car had a top speed of 108 km/h and could seat 4.

Let me begin this review by saying that I have all the OzMods 1/144 kits and love them all. Their subject matter is great. I only wish they would speed up their releases.

This latest release of the F-86D was a welcome addition to their small range and I was surprised to see that it came in a box instead of their usual bag and also that it was molded in a softer plastic then their usual brittle kind.

This kit had an almost complete cockpit that I was pleased to see. The seat is a two piece beauty complete with molded-in seat belts. I was disappointed with the instrument panel, so I reduced a 1/72 decal for an F-86 instrument panel to 1/144 scale and glued it to a piece of plastic card and put it in place of the kit one. The difference was remarkable. The cockpit tub was very nice with good side instrument detail.

The B-29 has always had a special place in my memory. Shortly after WWII, I was a kid growing up at the end of the Dobbins AFB runway in Marietta, Georgia. Adjacent to Dobbins was the “Bomber Plant”. Later I discovered that the “Bomber Plant” was really a government aircraft factory run by Bell Aircraft Company and specifically designed to build Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress. I can still see those giant aircraft taking off and landing over our house.

Soon, Bell stopped building the B-29s and the Air Force closed the plant. The only reminder left behind was a B-29 on static display at Larry Bell Park. That aircraft got plenty of use by the kids playing under and around its huge bulk.

Years later I met a gentleman who flew as a navigator on the B-29 and who became my father-in-law. I remember the stories he would tell of how “that thing” would struggle to get airborne as they watched for telltale signs of fire in the engines.

The Aircraft

The X-15 was the first aircraft to “officially” make a space flight. The US considers any flight that reaches an altitude of 50 miles to be a space flight, and 8 pilots met this criterion. The FAI requires 100 km (62 miles) altitude for a space flight, and two flights, both with Joe Walker as pilot, achieved this height. The X-15 also holds the record for fastest manned aircraft, at 4092 mph.

With all the publicity surrounding the X-15 program, I was surprised that there were only three built, and you can build two of them, 56-6670 and 56-6671. The third, 56-6672 could be built from the parts supplied, but you’d need serial number decals.

The Kit

This is one of Dragon’s 1+1 kits, and it comes with enough parts and decals to build two complete X-15s. You also get the wheeled dolly that was put under the landing skids to allow the X-15 to be moved after landing.