When I saw the review list and “Mr Paint Station” and “Gunze” I was thinking this could be cool. In reality it’s not exactly what the name implies. What Mr Paint Station is actually is a holding device for painting. What you get in cellophane bag are four 3” x 5” “boxes” that are built so that the corrugation is facing out. These open corrugations then allow you to place toothpicks or other thin holding clamps you may have, into them to hold parts while they dry or perhaps when you paint them.

The cellophane bag shows that Gunze may produce a set of holding sticks that are meant to insert into the corrugation, none are supplied in the Mr Paint Station package. Unfortunately I can’t read Japanese, so I don’t know what their actual product name is or how much they cost.

Operation Milk Man is another fine “vignette-in-a-box” from the folks at Master Box, and distributed by Dragon Models. This clever vignette depicts four German soldiers taking a brief respite from the rigors of combat to enjoy a few spoils of war …fresh milk!

The four figure set shows two soldiers milking the cow (one doing the pulling and one to hold the cup), a third figure is supervising the milking operations while leaning up to the cow. The last figure is gulping down a cup of the fresh milk from his canteen cup undoubtedly wishing he had a big hunk of Apple Strudel to go with it!

The April publication of Model Art Modeling Magazine focuses on the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircraft in 2021, air defense power after ten years, with several articles on this topic filling the first fifty-five pages of this issue. The magazine also includes new kit reviews, modeling tips, and new kit and item releases. As is typical for Model Art, the magazine measures 182mm by 258mm (about 71/8 by 101/8 inches), and is printed on thick, glossy paper. The production quality is high with these magazines, and just over half of it is printed in color with black and white pages interspersed throughout of the issue. Just in case this is the first review of a Model Art magazine that you are reading, understand that the entire magazine is printed in Japanese with only an occasional English subtitle for those of us who are monolingual, or are just unable to read Japanese text.

Often overlooked in historical accounts of U.S fighter operations during World War II, the 57^th Fighter Group (FG) served with distinction during nearly three years of continuous combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Activated in January 1941, the then 57th Pursuit Group deployed to North Africa in July 1942, launching their Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the deck of the U.S.S Ranger, and in the process, becoming the first U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) unit to deploy in group strength from the deck of an aircraft carrier. The 57^th FG joined the British in “The Blue,” Royal Air Force Desert Air Force slang for the North African desert stretching west of Cairo, earning the distinction of being the first USAAF to fight in North Africa.

I hate using rubber tires on my model kits. So whenever anyone such as Trumpeter comes out with a kit that has them I cringe at the thought of using them. Luckily for me, Aires offers a replacement set of wheels. You get two main wheels, a tail wheel and the strut.

These perfectly cast replacement parts are simply gorgeous. These are some of the best wheels for the Friedrich I’ve seen. They are beautifully cast in light grey resin. Of course just having wheels is not Aires style, so they include a set of masks for them. The tail wheel itself is as good as a casting as you are ever going to see. The area between the forks and tail wheel is hollow and simply perfect. The pour stubs are easy to remove.

Although designed for the Trumpeter kit you could easily use this set on a Hasegawa or 21^stCentury kit. This set is simple yet detailed and will add to your kit and you won’t even have to worry about the rubber eating the plastic or drying out.