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ASM Reviews of Kits, Products, Books, Etc. | |
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ASM Reviews of Kits, Products, Books, Etc. | |
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Review of Accurate Miniatures P-400 Airacobra
Cactus Air Force at Guadalcanal Issue 1/48 Scale, Kit No. 0407 by Ken Liotta![[kit boxart image]](javascript:Foto('accmin_48_p400-guad.jpg'))
This
issue includes the same 3 styrene trees, molded in grey this time, of the 127 pieces with
finely engraved panel lines and details and one clear tree with 5 pieces. The clear parts include separately molded “car
doors” that can be glued open or closed. The
kit also includes decal markings for three aircraft:
1. P-400 (BW-156) “Fancy Nancy” of the 347th
FG, 67th FS out of
2. Airacobra I (AH-636) flown by Capt Ivan Gaidaenko
in
3. P-39M of the 345th FS, 350th
FG in
The kit does not
include the lead weight/ballast for mounting in the nose (to keep the finished model on
all three wheels without a pogo like prop under the tail) that was included in the Eduard,
both ProfiPACK and regular, releases.
This kit includes a multi-color paint scheme diagram sheet for the three aircraft markings
outlined in four views (top, bottom, and both side profiles) of each. Unfortunately, it is not clear which of the 5, FS
color references should be used for which of the printed colors on the three different
paint schemes. They list 36270 Medium Gray and
34079 Olive Drab which fit the Russian paint scheme. Then
the only other two camo colors listed (besides a red for the spinner) are 33531 Sand and
30266 Middle Stone. None of these four colors
listed works for the Earth Brown on the P-400 or the Algerian P-39M. I’m not sure what the intended use of the Sand
color was supposed to be either. It may be
possible that the Sand and Olive Drab were supposed to be used on the Algerian aircraft. The color sheet erroneously depicts the 347th
FG aircraft as having been painted 36270 Medium Gray color on the lower surfaces and makes
no reference to any use of a Light Blue, Sky Blue, or Sky (depending on your belief of
what color was actually applied) that would have been the color the lower surfaces
received for the original British RAF Airacobras before the US commandeered them.
Instruction Sheet:
The 16 page instructions include a brief
aircraft development history, text that covers the differences between the various
versions and their associated model parts, a numbered color coding chart for painting
components, followed by 10 steps with clear assembly diagrams and written assembly
instructions. There are a few
“holes” in the instructions and I found myself repeatedly referring back to the
Eduard instructions just to make sure I wasn’t going goofy and was missing something. For example, no where in the A-M sheet is there any
mention of a need to add weight to the nose, like the nifty half round/wedge lead weight
that you get in the Eduard sheet. In fact,
step 2 has you glue the cockpit assembly into the right fuselage half, but then never
tellers the builder to glue the two halves together and then jumps over to
fuselage-to-wing assembly. Also, a few of the
decal numbers on the A-M sheet do not correspond with what is printed on the actual decal
sheet. A little detective work was required to
get them all placed correctly.
Also, the
instructions are lack clarity on which nose/gun top to use for which version and no
mention is made of the pre-drilling and subsequent installation of the internal wing guns. They do include assembly notes for the under-wing
gun pods.
Part Options:
As in the original Eduard release, you still
get all of the options to build nearly ever variant of the P-39 and P-400. You get the three different top nose caps (with and
without gun ports, cuffed or non-cuffed), nose gun port/vents as separate pieces, the
different gun tips for the spinner, three different types of prop blades (one set I
believe are meant to be longer blades for the Air Racer issue), two different spinner
assemblies (3 bladed and 4 bladed), accommodations for gunned and non-gunned wing leading
edges, three different sets of (solid) exhaust stacks, two different nose wheels
(different hubs), both weighted and non-weighted looking tires, an external fuel tank, a
1000 pound bomb, and auxiliary gun packs. The
cockpit compares quite nicely to interior photos and can stand up on its own without much
more detailing or after market replacement. All
three wheel wells are fully boxed in with moderate-to-excellent detail quality. Even though the kit includes a nice boxed in baffle
to go inside the air intake scoop, it does not include the horizontal splitter that can be
easily seen in the middle. When I built mine,
the only thing I added outside of what is included in the box was the noted intake
splitter and a set of Eduard photo-etched, pre-painted seat belts.
While the majority of the kit parts fit was
straight forward and required nearly zero adjustment and/or excessive putty application, I
did have one problem area that really didn’t rear its ugliness until it was too late. That was the upper wings to fuselage assembly. I mistakenly went the route of gluing each upper
wing to their respective fuselage root BEFORE gluing them to the lower wing (all the while
keeping an eye on alignment with the fuselage and the vertical tail). I have done this with other kits in the past, with
relatively great success. I chose to do this
on this kit because fellow modelers that had previously built the Eduard kit gave me
heads-up that they had been left with a significant gap between the wings and the fillets
when they assembled the wings the traditional way (gluing the top and bottom wing halves
together first, then attaching them to the fuselage sub-assembly).
So,
as I bonded them, I got the alignment and uniformity of the wing placement from one side
to the other correct and excellent wing-to-fillet joints, but what I lost was the correct
upper wing dihedral when I pulled the tops down to bond to the lower half. Yikes. I
pushed and pulled to no avail. On the flip
side, while looking closely at the wings during this adventure, I noticed a significant
dihedral look to the bottom of the wing. I
figure that if I were to have pulled the upper wings up further, I would also have
increased the lower wing dihedral and ultimately chose to leave it alone. Check the photos, you be the judge. (OBTW, Nats judges, just ignore all that you just
read, in case I decide to enter this at
This
kit’s clear parts were just as clear and crisply molded as the Eduard release. The main canopy seemed a little narrow on the rear
half when it was bonded to the fuselage, but gluing down one side before applying a little
persuasion to the rear half while gluing the other side down seemed to correct that. All minor, but noteworthy.
Of the three cool paint schemes provided, I
liked the well known “shark-mouthed” 347th
The
kit decals were applied over the noted Future floor wax coating using the standard
Superscale Set and Sol system. I had a fair
amount of time for positioning and corrections before the decals began to adhere and they
were then gently blotted and pressed down onto the model.
They laid down very well. While
some other decals require several attempts at poking and coating with Sol to get them to
completely lay down, these required only one pass.
Check out Ken's review on this kit at the IPMS/USA website at:
http://www.ipmsusa2.org/reviews2/aircraft/kits/accmin_48_p400-guad/accmin_48_p400-guad.htm
Cutting Edge F4H-1 Phantom II Conversion
Kit Review by Victor Maestas
This is a buildup
report on the Cutting Edge F4H-1 Phantom II conversion in 1/48 scale. I built this kit for
the “Phabulous Phantom Phiftyth Anniversary” special contest in May of 2008. I built the plane in the first flight
configuration.
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The instructions
give a basic history of the subject aircraft as well as suggested starter kits. The conversion instructions have detailed written
instructions on where to modify the existing kit and where all the conversion parts go. There are color pictures of the conversion in
progress in to illustrate the steps needed.
After doing some
research, there were a few items that were not included in the kit that would need some
attention. These included the ejection seat, the back cockpit and engine nozzles. The first few airframes used an in-house ejection
seat before going with Martin-Baker units. The kit ejection seat was modified to make it
look like a McDonnell seat. The headbox and
backpan were reshaped to match pictures found on the internet and the upper ejection pulls
were made from wire to represent the ones on the McDonnell seat. On the first flight of
the Phantom II, the back seat was omitted from the aft cockpit and the space used for
instrumentation. As I could not find pictures
of the inside of the cockpit, I made some orange “instrumentation looking” boxes
with handles out of styrene and wire to put on the floor of the aft cockpit. The kit
engine nozzles were for the standard J79-GE-10 engines and the first flight aircraft had
the earlier J79-GE-2 engines with shorter nozzles. I
used a set of shorter nozzles from Cobra Company to replace the kit ones.
The kit was built
using both the kit instructions and the conversion instructions to get all of the new
parts installed on the kit. Modifications to
the donor kit were described and shown in the instructions and construction was
straightforward. The conversion parts
generally fit well, but needed some amount of dry fitting and trimming to get everything
to mate up cleanly.
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For the finish, the
canopies were masked and the underside and upper flaps were painted in white. This was then masked using blue painting tape as
well as Plasti-Tac rolled into sausages to get the wavy demarcation between the upper and
lower fuselage. The upper fuselage was then
painted in Flat Gull Grey. After this had
dried, the grey was masked using tape to paint the black anti-glare on the upper nose. The supplied masks were then used to paint all of
the Day-Glo Orange markings. The last painting
step was to paint the natural metal parts on the leading edges of the intakes and wings,
the aft fuselage around the engines, inboard stabilator panels and the engine nozzles. Model Master metalizer stainless steel, titanium
and magnesium color paints were used on these areas.
After the paint had
dried, I applied a couple coats of Future floor polish to get a smooth surface for the
decals. The markings supplied in the
conversion went on smoothly and settled down around all the contours and in the engraved
panel lines. The kit national insignia were
used as they are not included in the conversion set.
A coat of Dull-Cote
gave the plane a satin finish over the gloss. I didn’t weather the finish, as it was
to show the aircraft on the day of its first flight.
Overall, the
conversion requires more work and time than a standard kit, but it’s worth the extra
effort to get a unique configuration of a very familiar and significant airplane.
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by Ken Liotta
Accurate Miniatures 1/48 Scale F3F-1
The kit
consists of 61 pieces molded on 4 light grey sprues with an additional 4 pieces molded on
1 clear sprue. Two frets of 17 Photo Etched
pieces are included along with a comprehensive decal sheet that allows you to build nearly
every F3F-1 that flew. The kit is packaged in
what has become typical AM boxing: Top and bottom with an added false bottom that usually
holds the decals, photo etch (PE), and clear sprue. The
box top is covered with a beautiful painting of the F3F-1 and the sides include all the
data and multi-lingual description of the model. The
box bottom includes a photo of the completed model in the kit primary markings.
The
instruction booklet is well illustrated throughout 16 steps and includes several exploded
views. They begin with a brief history of the
F3F-1 and lead into significant directions on how to build the model accurately. Color callouts are included in these directions and
also accompany each assembly step. While you
are working on the model itself, you have the option to paint it in a variety of aircraft
based on the
The
parts include some exquisite scribed details and crisp molding that are virtually flash
free. Clean up of seams took very little time
and the majority of the parts fit together exceptionally well.
The
assembly sequence laid out in the instructions is quite typical; Cockpit/interior
sub-assemblies, fuselage, engine, tail planes, wings, and details. The 7 color decal sheet that covers most all of the
F3F-1’s is approx 5 ˝ x 6 ˝ inches and includes two variations of decals for the
instrument panel that is molded in clear styrene.
Once I
started trimming the main component parts it became apparent that there was a significant
problem with the upper and lower wings. The
upper wing had a series of scalping dips along the leading edge while the perpendicular
details along the top were wavy and not straight. The
bottom wings had a similar wavy condition, but not as pronounced. The best solution that I came up with was to layer
super glue into the low spots on the leading edge and once I was satisfied that it had
cured sufficiently, I used a sanding block and wet/dry paper along the edge to even it
out. While doing this, I also restored the
aerodynamic shape of the edge and back over to the top.
I made
an effort to correct the wavy perpendicular detail lines by strategically applying super
glue and once cured sanded and re-scribed the detail.
Besides the dipped leading edge and wavy detail lines, the wings had a
swirled injection pattern in the plastic that didn’t appear deep enough to be a
concern once they were painted.
All
three of these anomalies appear to be the result of either a cold injection or removal
from the molds too soon or both. I have looked
at two other kits and have seen traces of the same anomalies but they were not as
pronounced as this kit’s. After repairing
the wings, they were assembled following the assembly steps paying particular attention to
their alignment. While gluing the lower wings
on I took advantage of the join lines and worked them into natural looking panel detail.
Before
gluing on the horizontal tail planes, I drilled out the fuselage details that would be
behind them and then positioned the planes to give the appearance of having been trimmed
or adjusted as seen in numerous photographs. The
remainder of the assembly was straight forward with no further problems encountered. In fact, the fit of the majority of the pieces
could rival many of the big name manufactures.
Painting began with the doped finish aluminum color were I used Alclad basic aluminum over
an enamel primer gray (Model Master (MM) FS 36440).
The red is Testors flat red, the green is MM FS 34187, and the wing top
Orange-Yellow is Polly Scale acrylic. Except
for the Polly Scale and Alclad, all paints are enamel.
I used a Paasche Type H single action airbrush driven by a Badger Silent 1 set at
about 25 psi. Most all of the assembly was
done with Plastic Zap super glue but several areas were glued using Tenax 7R solvent glue.
Before
the PE rigging wires were glued in, I coated the model with Future floor wax through the
Paasche. Once that had dried, I applied the
decals without any difficulties. Another light
coating of the Future was applied and once dry, I applied a gentle oil paint wash that was
thinned with Turpenoid. Since these aircraft
were kept in relatively pristine condition, I didn’t apply too much. I also didn’t hit the model with any paint
chipping effects.
Once I
was satisfied with the decals and wash, I applied another coating of Future on the wings
to replicate the doped, gloss finish. Conversely,
after careful masking of the wings, I applied a coating of Testors Dullcote to the
remainder of the aircraft to replicate its less than glossy appearance. The remaining details (prop, wheels, bombs, canopy,
etc.) had been getting painted while the main construction had been going on and they were
now added to the model along with antennas and the PE rigging. Since the rigging wires are provided in stainless
steel, these were left as they were to more closely replicate the real wires. Nav lights were first painted MM chrome silver and
when dry were over coated with several layers of Tamiya acrylic clear red and green.
In
conclusion, looking past the anomalies on the molded wings, the rest of the kit fell
together quite easily and was an absolute blast to build.
For the latter reasons, I can comfortable recommend this kit to modelers
with average experience to build.
Kit Review:
21st Century's Macchi C.202 Folgore
by Tim Wood
Click here to access Tim Wood's review article: Macchi C.202 Review (PDF file).
October 3rd
"P-40" Contest
Hosted by Patrick Dick
-- Held-over from September 5th --
Best build of Hasegawa's 1/32 scale P-40E kit in the"Texas Longhorn" markings from the kit.
Webmaster's Addition:
Here's some "History" to go with your modeling of "Texas Longhorn"
by Mike Blohm
"Texas Longhorn" was a Curtiss P-40E Warhawk flown by John D. Landers while he served with the 49th Pursuit Group, 9th Fighter Squadron in the Pacific Theater, achieving 6 credited victories against the Japanese. He evaded capture in December 1942 after being shot down and bailing out of his fighter plane near Dobodura, New Guinea after achieving his 5th and 6th kills. The link below takes you to a description of Landers early career over Darwin and New Guinea and the air battle when he was shot down - great reading!
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q3b3d7-T4hMC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=John+D.+Landers&source=web&ots=dPLVYkkMSy&sig=Ruh4Ebaam8y_RtC5gURS4_GmzZk&hl=enFurther info on Landers' career and pics of both "Texas Longhorn" and "Big Beautiful Doll" are posted below:
Colonel John D. Landers is the 36th ranking
The Color Scheme of "Texas Longhorn"
So - what was the color scheme for John Lander's "Texas Longhorn"? Is it really what is depicted in the kit's instructions?
Hasegawa's kit instruction state that the colors to use are Dark Green (DG) and Dark Earth (DE) on the upper surfaces over Azure Blue (AB) or a slightly-blued Light Gray FS36495 (LG) on the under surface. Links to portions of the instruction sheet are included below.
However, John Tate and I exchanged a few E-mails on whether "Texas Longhorn" was really painted as per the kit's instruction or was actually in an Olive Drab (OD) over Neutral Gray (NG) scheme. To help resolve this question, I went on a research hunt and discovered a few interesting facts that you'll need to ponder over before you paint up your model.
The excellent Schiffer book on the 49FG, "Protect & Avenge" has some wording on page 24 describing the paint scheme's of the 49th's P-40s:
"Each 49er squadron was allocated 25 Curtiss P-40E fighters from the first, second, and third production blocks and P-40E1CU types from the fourth block. Several of the third and fourth block planes were in earth brown and dark green with pale grey undersides camouflage, indicating RAF-contract machines for Europe or China duty. They had been commandeered from RAF distribution after America joined the war effort."
So that more or less says that "Azure Blue" is out for an undersurface color. More on this shortly.
To answer the OD and NG versus DG-DE and LG scheme question for "Texas Longhorn", I had to do some comparisons of photos. I checked the excellent pictures of Lander's P-40 found on page 8 of Squadron-Signal's "49th Fighter Group" book against photos of P-40's in the DG-DE scheme in the "Protect & Avenge" book. Some good examples are on pages 56, 57, 60, 64, and 65.
One of the "49th Fighter Group" book photos of the right side fuselage showing the Longhorn's face shows what looks to be a DG-DE division line to the right of the horns, not too far from the front of the nose (third picture from left above). Comparing this same view of the aircraft to multiple photos in the "Protect & Avenge" book reveals the same DG-DE division line on those aircraft as well.
This answers the upper paint scheme question. Yes, "Texas Longhorn" was painted in a DG-DE scheme.
So what color was the lower side of the aircraft?
There are several possibilities. Per the "Protect & Avenge" quote above, the undersides camouflage was pale grey. Another possibility is Sky Type S, or a U.S. light blue version of that color, as was painted on U.S. aircraft ordered by Great Britain. Per the quote above, some of the 49th's P-40s were RAF-contract machines.
This conundrum is much like the debate over the underside color of the American Volunteer Group's (Flying Tigers) Hawk 81 aircraft. Advocates argue for either a Light Grey or Sky Type S.
So what to do? Your best bet looks to be to build two models and have one Light Grey and one Sky Type S. Actually, you can build whichever looks best to you, as it is highly likely that no one will be able to challenge your choice.
If you have any additional insight or inputs on this issue, please send me an E-mail and I'll include it in this article.
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Of Note:
One of Landers' squadronmates in the 9th Fighter Squadron flying P-40E's didn't do too
badly either when he also transferred to the ETO.
George E. Preddy, who flew P-40E "Tarheel" (an OD and NG acheme) alongside
Landers, went on to fly the P-47 and P-51 with the 352 Fighter Group, where he became the
top Mustang Ace with a total of 26.833 victories. He flew a series of P-47's and
P-51's named "Cripes A' Mighty". See P-40 and P-51 pictures below:
by Jeff Frickstad
Italeri 1/35-scale Bofors AA Gun 40mm (Kit #6450)
Finally, a 40mm AA
gun! Way back in the 1980s there as one. I don’t recall the company that put it out.
So now that Italeri has one, I thought that I would build it.
First thing you see
is the parts trees, the instruction and no decals. Building starts with the tires
and axles for front and back. Next is the towing or firing position — I went
with the firing position.
Step 3 in the firing
position is a bit odd for model parts 55B; the pads are short for three sides (back and
two side wings); the front is fine, it sits like it should. The other three are
short about 1/16”, so I added some rod stock (3/64) and it fit perfectly. Parts
53B are tiny little handles, be careful with them!
Step 7: parts 82B
fit into parts 81B. One problem: the holes are too small. A hobby knife and a
small file will open the holes for a good fit.
Step 8: The frame is
fragile—be careful. The pedals are set at an angle.
The rest of the kit
went together very well.
The figures with the
kit are a bit big for the seats. The two seated figures need a Dremel diet…
The two standing
figures with ammo are so-so, but you can use them.
There is a detail
set out and a wheel mask, and maybe a metal gun barrel(?) and hopefully seated crew.
So if you need
protection from those pesky aircraft, I think you will like it.
I give it 4-3/4
tanks.
by James Guld
Bronco Models' Hotchkiss H39
I thought I would give
you my impression of the H39, which I had at last month’s meeting. This was
Bronco’s first model from 2005 and I built it basically OOB except for adding a few
missing bolt details here and there, filling in the seams around the turret vision slots,
and adding some casting numbers to the front nose under the Hotchkiss logo.
Starting from the bottom
up, the running gear comes with metal springs for the bogey units. The fit of the pieces
is slightly off when assembling the two halves together, so you have to watch that or they
will sit askew. The tracks come as individual links which you glue together, but they
didn’t have any knockout pin marks at all. The rear idler can be positioned on its
mount, but make sure you mount it as low as possible—otherwise, you’ll have
problems with the tracks hitting on the bottom of the fenders.
The lower hull tub is a
one-piece unit and the upper hull is broken down into two parts. The front section stops
about at the middle of the driver’s hatch where there is a natural seam line just
like on the real tank. The rear section then has the engine deck grills as a separate
piece.
The kit actually comes
with a bit of an interior, but they left out any inside hatch details for the
driver’s hatch so I left it buttoned up. The side fenders are separate and I had to
cut off the location tabs to get them to sit right on the tank.
I tried something
different on this build. I built the road wheels and put the tracks on and then assembled
the upper hull to the lower hull. Basically, I built the entire tank and then painted it.
The only thing I left off was the chain.
The turret comes with
the side and front vision slots as separate pieces, and it also comes with a brass barrel.
There are also interior details of the gun itself. The turret has some very fine details
that you have to add to the top dome, and for mounting the gun itself they give you a thin
plastic rod that goes through the side of the mantle.
They did forget to give
you the exhaust shroud for the muffler, which I made out of spare photoetch brass, and I
added the support arm, which goes down to the fender. All of the kit tools are a little
weak on the detail side but I didn’t have any references other than the Char Francais
web site (http://www.chars-francais.net)
I used part of the kit
decals (the red hearts) and used Archer Transfers for the registration numbers on the
front and back.
The overall fit was okay but not great. It’s not up to Tamiya or Dragon standards but not terrible either. The only other fit problems I saw were around the visor slots. I saw pictures at the Chars Francais site, which show gaps around the visor slots, and in other pictures I saw tanks that didn’t have the gaps. The tank I wanted to model didn’t seem to have the gaps, so I filled mine in. So to rate it, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. Not bad for their first kit.
by James Guld
1/35 Academy M3 Lee Tank
Well, this month I’m
working on the 1/35 Academy M3 Lee tank.
Right now it’s a
W.I.P. but I’ll give you my take on it, along with what I’ve taken off of the
PMMS site.
So far, I’ve
assembled the bogie units, the inside of the lower hull and the upper hull. Starting with
the bogie units, they are slightly too tall, by about 2mm. I had picked up some resin
replacement parts but I wasn’t 100% satisfied with them. In addition I am building a
mid-late M3 which had horizontal reinforcing ribs added to the front face of the bogies,
so I just reworked the kit parts. Other fixes to the bogies include adding two bolts to
the top of the unit near the center return roller, and to file out a relief fillet at the
rear of the top stiffeners on each side of the unit.
The lower hull is
basically good except for the right side sponson. It is too narrow by about .032" from the front 75mm gun sponson to the back.
A little Evergreen fixed that.
The Academy kit is a bit
off due to the fact that what is depicted is an early M3 and the kit decals are for
mid/late Lees. All of the pictures I’ve seen of Lees in
The only other weird
thing about the lower hull is a large oval cutout that is supposed to be used as a
location hole for the inner floor panel. Why? It isn’t necessary, as there are two
small tabs at the back of the inner floor panel and this locates the panel just fine. It
was filled in with .020" styrene and the
missing rivet detail put back in.
The upper hull is a
little tricky as it is made up of seven panels, so getting this good and flat will help
with mating it up to the lower hull later.
There are a number of
places where the rivets are either missing or are in the wrong location. The biggest
“fitment” problem is with the rear top panel that goes vertically from the
engine hull deck to the top hull deck. There is a .010" gap the entire length. I used some Evergreen
to fix this and had to replace some rivets lost to the sanding gods.
The kit comes with a
pretty nice interior and so I decided to leave the hatches open. Well, all those nice
rivets on the outside have to be replicated on the inside. Let’s just say that the
punch and die set got a good workout!
That’s where the kit
stands right now. I still have the turret to build and fix. On the rear wall, Academy got
the shape wrong—they included a flat spot vertically behind the upper hatch and it
really should just be a slight protrusion at the top with a slightly rounded lip to it.
Luckily the turret wall is thick enough that I can sand it down and reshape it.
I still have some
photoetch pieces for some of the outside details to add along with new rear stowage boxes,
since the kit ones are of the style used on Commonwealth Lees. They are slightly smaller
then the
I plan to use Archer
Transfers for the yellow stars and blue drab registration numbers. I also need to come up
with the yellow turret bands and unit markings. I did a test and Archer makes a clear
decal film for use with their transfers, which I sprayed a lemon yellow to match the stars
and it goes on nice and thin and looks great.
Well there you have it. I
would give the kit a 6 – 7 on a scale of 1 – 10.
by James Guld
1/35 Dragon 251/16 C Halftrack
This month, I thought I
would give my build impression of the 1/35 Dragon 251/16 C halftrack.
The level of detail and
accuracy is pretty good overall. The front firewall/dashboard aren’t 100%, but after
it’s buttoned up, you can’t see all that much anyhow. One nice feature is that
the front and side visors can be left in the open position, and these parts are clear for
the vision blocks. When I started this kit, I decided I would add a few tweaks here and
there but wouldn’t go crazy and buy aftermarket photoetch. I didn’t even use
photoetch for the tool clasps; I just made the handles out of thin styrene.
The interior of this
halftrack has the motor and fuel tanks for the flamethrower unit and they look good from
the few photos I have of 251/16s. I only added some minor wiring to the rear of the unit
and used .010 lead solder inside the braided hose they give you for the flamethrower guns.
This helps shape the hose to the right look. The rear door detail is nice and the only
thing missing was the MG magazine holder on the rear wall, which you would have a hard
time seeing due to the motor unit. I did have some minor fit issues between the upper and
lower hull. This resulted in a slight gap at the right rear corner of about 1/64". What seemed to be happening was that the
top hull was pivoting off of the dashboard but even after I sanded it slightly it still
had a gap at the back. I also think that when I glued the rear panel to the side panels
that it was just ever so slightly low and helped the gap form. A little filler fixed it
and I was on my way. There are a number of other minor issues with the Dragon hull. The
kit is too narrow at the top as compared to scale drawings, and where the top hull meets
the lower hull it should have a slight overhang but Dragon omitted this.
The running gear is pretty good except for the front
drive sprocket itself. On the real sprocket they have a series of teeth that catch on
openings between the track links, and these teeth should have a roller between the two
halves of the sprocket. Dragon left them out. Funny, since they could have easily molded
this in. I added thin round bits of styrene using my punch-and-die set to correct this
problem. The tracks themselves are pretty nice. I made myself an assembly jig out of
masonite where I could lay up all the tracks and then just put a small amount of liquid
glue on the hole that holds the track pad. This way, the tracks stayed basically workable
and I was able to paint and weather them off the vehicle. That’s a real timesaver. So
now that it was basically built the real fun was to start.
I had previously
painted and weathered the interior so it was now time to paint and camo the outside. I was
going to try out the hairspray technique that I gave the clinic on last month, but I
forgot to bring it to my shop where I paint. I did have with me the Marmite, and I applied
it with a Scotchbrite pad and then gave the vehicle a couple of thin coats of acrylic flat
that I had in the shop. It worked out similarly to how the hairspray works. This was done
over the previously painted and “Futured” halftrack along with the decals being
in place. I also used the Marmite to mask the decals and it worked great. I then proceeded
to apply the whitewash with a few thin coats of acrylic white. I let this dry for about 20
minutes and then carefully used a wetted paint brush to remove the Marmite first and then
used a stiffer brush dipped in alcohol and blotted off and then worked the surface to
remove the whitewash. I was going after a heavily worn finish as the vehicle is to be set
in a diorama later around March of ’44. After that I wanted to try and just use
acrylics for the weathering on this one. I tried to use gouache for the pin washes around
the bolts and details, but it didn’t work the same as oils. The one nice thing about
gouache is that if you don’t like it you can remove it. I also used some cheapo craft
paints from Hobby Lobby and they thin very well and dry dead flat. I wanted to add in some
slight filters to break up the white ever so slightly. I then did a light dry-brushing on
the running gear and on the weapons followed by graphite for worn metal on the drive
sprockets and the vehicle edges in spots here and there.
I would give the kit a 7 – 8 on a scale of 10.
by James Guld
Italeri RSO/03
Well,
since I’m writing this before Nationals, I can’t tell you how good it was, so
you’ll have to wait until next month for my comments on that. What I will blather on
about is my last build.
I started
in on the Italeri RSO/03. There isn’t all that much out there on the RSOs as to
reference material, and some of what is out there is wrong. I found this out the hard way.
Oh well, at least I found it out prior to painting.
I have the
MK/35 editions book on the RSOs but it is in French with a poorly translated supplement. I
was going by what someone else built and I should have known better.
I made a
number of upgrades to the kit both using photoetch and some scratchbuilding with styrene.
All was well, I thought. I posted pictures up at the Missing-Lynx constructive comments
forum, and, lo and behold, found out that the kit has many flaws.
Italeri
missed the boat on this one. The cab layout is wrong, the back cargo bed is wrong, and a
few details on the chassis are wrong. I did glue the cargo bed down, but I didn’t
glue the cab down.
One other
detail I found out, from a gentleman from
AMS
(advanced modelers syndrome) got the better of me and I’ll now have to de-construct
the RSO. Sometimes it’s one step forward and three steps back. I guess I’ll get
to practice more scratchbuilding skills. I have to change the shape of the cab interior
engine covers and narrow the rear cargo bed to match the cab width, along with making all
new sides for the cargo bed and making new bows and braces for the cover tarp. On the
chassis I have to change the front tow hooks or delete them, change the rear drive
sprocket cover, and change the rear tow pintle and layout of the stowage. Basically I have
to re-do the entire kit.
Oh well, better get back to the bench…
by James Guld
1/35 Skybow kit of the WC-51/52
This
month, for your modeling pleasure, I bring you my progress report on the 1/35 Skybow kit
of the WC-51/52. It is a 3/4-ton Dodge weapons carrier. The 51 series is without the
winch, while the 52 had the winch. The Skybow kit is now available from AFV Club. They
bought the molds a few years ago.
I have to
say this is the best fitting kit I have ever built. Yes, even better then some of the
Tamiya kits I’ve built. The level of detail O.O.B. is pretty amazing since this kit
is now seven years old.
I decided
I was going to go “hog wild” on this one and picked up the Eduard photoetch set.
It is okay, but has some flaws in it—for example, they provide the wrong style for
the rear tool holder. They give the earlier 42-43 style, and the kit depicts a WC 51/52
from a 44-45-body style. There are subtle changes like the tool holder, the seats, and the
rear cargo area seats. I also picked up the Wings & Wheels Production book on the Beep
(that was the nickname given to WC 51/52).
I decided
to add all the major wiring in the engine compartment and to the chassis. When I picked up
the Eduard set I was hoping it would contain new parts for the hood, but it didn’t. I
had to scribe lines on the inside of the panels for where the louvers were located, and
then took my micro chisel and used it to push the plastic to give it the look of the
louvers from the backside. It came out okay but not as slick as it would with new
photoetch pieces.
Right now, I’m at the point where I have to get some paint on the chassis and paint the engine bay parts. I can then add the front hood and cab pieces and the rear cargo bed. I will be painting it with an OD/earth red camo pattern seen in the Italian campaign.
So if you’re looking for an Allied softskin that goes together without much fuss, then this kit might fit your ticket.
Here are a couple good websites on the Beep:
http://www.wheelsofvictory.com/index2.
http://lend-lease.airforce.ru/english/photogallery/dodge_wc-51/index.htm
Kit Review (March 2006)
By John Tate
British Universal Carrier Mk. II
Tamiya 1/48th Armor Kit (MM No. 16)
The Universal Carrier Mk. II was one version in a family of light, tracked personnel carriers common on British and Commonwealth armies during the Second World War. Tamiya’s recent 1/48th-scale kit is the newest tooling of this important WWII armored vehicle and a delight to build.
Tamiya’s model represents a Universal Carrier Mk. II, used by Allied forces during the latter half of WWII in the European and Mediterranean theaters. The Universal Carrier was designed to transport motorized infantry support units, known as Motor Battalions, for the British Army and thus saw much action with armored brigades in Northern Europe.
Assembly of the kit is straightforward with few problems. The normal seam-and-gap issues arise, but are minor and easily handled with small amounts of putty or CA glue. Fit is generally good. I found the kit’s biggest drawback to be the mold line running around the interior and circumference of the pre-molded track-and-bogey assemblies. It is difficult to remove and the modeler must be careful not to cause damage to adjacent parts during cleanup. However, I commend Tamiya for molding the track-and-bogey units in single pieces, rather than having the tracks molded as separate links or vinyl bands.
Marking schemes and decals are provided for four British vehicles, three from Northern Europe in 1944/45 and one from Tunisia in 1943. All are overall dark green, although paint shades varied considerably. I chose the Tunisia scheme because of the striking red-and-white ID flashes.
Overall, I enjoyed building this little model, which in 1/48th scale fits comfortably on a dollar bill. Given the choice of subject matter, I would expect Tamiya to soon release a Churchill, Cromwell, or Firefly tank in 1/48th scale to provide some fire support for those Motor Battalions. I recommend this kit to all modelers interested in WWII British subjects and especially those wishing to try Tamiya’s new line of 1/48th-scale armor kits.
by James Guld
Last
month I went over a couple of builds I had started and I figured I would continue this
month.
Well,
the Bronco CV-33 kit is stalled for the time being. Right after I did the last article, I
put the tracks on. They look like crap! Between operator error and the poor design
of how the bogie units mount, they look terrible. One side is passable but the other side
has all kinds of twists. I almost “binned” this kit, as Tony Humphries
would say. I haven’t decided as yet what to do but for now it’s consigned
to the back of the model display case.
The
Staghound kit, on the other hand, came out rather well. I’m just putting the
finishing touches on the weathering right now and I still have a couple of figures to do
for it along with a small base.
Since
last month I also wanted to start another project before jumping back to my M16B diorama.
I decided to do tackle the Tamiya 1/35 Pershing kit.
Like
most Tamiya kits it goes together flawlessly and only needs a little filler here and there
to hide seams that wouldn’t be there on the real tank. These include the front
and rear corners where the sides meet the front and back hull plates, and the other area
that needs the most attention is the turret. The fit is fine but on the rear tank,
where the side pistol port is, Tamiya has you add this part and you need to blend it in to
the rest of the casting. The other area on the turret that needs fixing is the seam
for the turret halves. You need to put a slight flat here since in real life there is a
casting seam here. I also added a bit of Mr. Surfacer to some parts of the turret to
give it a slightly more cast look.
I
was given some pictures by a friend of my online and saw a modified M26 from the 3rd AD.
It was apart of the first 20 “Zebra Mission” tanks and thus had some
minor differences from the Tamiya kit. On the rear final drive covers, Tamiya has a
reinforcing strip. On these early tanks they didn’t have this. I had to remove
it and add on a drain plug to the casting.
I
also added in casting numbers to the parts using Archer Transfers’ resin impregnated
decals. These are super cool. I also added casting numbers and symbols to the
front lower hull, front hull hatches and on the mantlet face. This is another area where
Tamiya missed the boat on detail. The Pershings had a small canvas cover that went
in between the mantlet and the turret and was held on by a heavy strip with bolts.
Luckily the Tank Workshop makes a replacement mantlet with this cover. The fit
isn’t perfect and I’m not sure if it was designed for this kit or for the M-26
kits from Dragon. A little bit of Apoxie Sculpt fixed it along with some Mr.
Surfacer.
The
tank in the photo I’m modeling mine after has been modified in that it is missing the
side skits and has the front and rear fenders bobbed. They then added an L-angle
brace across the front glacis to keep the fenders from sagging and storage racks on the
back fender corners and the rear of the turret. It has a bit of the “Beverly
Hillbillies” look that late war
I
added the long right side camo net out of Apoxie Sculpt and textured it with a piece of
embroidery fabric which had the right kind of square pattern that the real camo net had. I
made the straps out of lead foil with Aber photoetch buckles and also added some of the
missing footman loops to the side stowage boxes and fenders.
The
other major item I changed out were the handles for the fender stowage boxes. I
replaced these with resin handles from Tiger Model Designs and had to remake the stops out
of Evergreen styrene.
Other
minor tweaks I did are as follows: thinned out the front light guards and added the tube
holders with Aber photoetch chain; added styrene strips for where the front fenders would
have attached; weld bead detail around the tow hook mounts and rear pintle mount; drilled
out the side fenders where the skirts would be bolted; added retention straps to track
mounts on the side of the turret; added the small catch to the bottom side of the gun
crutch; added the tow cable hasp to the rear plate; made covers for the .50-cal mount and
for the foul weather hoods that were stored on the right side of the turret along with the
footman loops that were on top of the holder; added hatch catches to the front hull
hatches and loader’s and commander’s hatch; and replaced the kit
commander’s hatch for one from Caliber 35. I also added the interior detail to
both the loader’s and commander’s hatches. The covered muzzle brake is from
Tiger Model Designs. I went with T-81 tracks from WW2 Productions. These are
snap-together resin items.
One other item of note: with this kit, the suspension is movable up and down. So I haven’t decided if the tank will be going over an uneven surface or just displayed on a flat surface. So that’s where it stands now. Just about ready for the spray booth.
by James Guld
Well,
the economy might be in turmoil but you would never know it by the new releases still
coming out. I’ll give you this month’s highlights
plus an interesting marketing plan by Dragon. They are coming out with an
“Orange Box” program where they take older kits and add in some newer parts from
more recent releases along with some figures and come up with a new kit. So far I’ve
seen three items listed but hopefully more will follow. They plan to keep the price
down, around the $30.00 range. This looks to be a good idea if you know what the updated
parts for the kits.
So lets jump
into what’s new since last month.
We now have a
choice of dead cows for those “Falaise Pocket” dioramas. MK/35 added one to
their line to go along with the one from Doug’s Originals.
Hauler has a
small photoetch set for Soviet onboard tools in 1/35 and a few release
for 1/48 that
include Hummer and Marder III updates.
Zvezda has the
WWII Mercedes-Benz L4500a cargo truck out and some
Fruil Model
has a set of Sherman T56 tracks listed but they look like T62 style to me from the
picture.
Mig
Productions has some new releases of their filter oils now sold individually along with
some remastered kits that now come with photoetch. I noticed some new figures too.
Tasca
announced a M4A4 Sherman V kit with a March release date.
Hobby Boss has
a few new modern armor items listed: A Delta Force FAV, LVTP-7, AAVR-7A1 Assault Amphibian
Vehicle Recovery, AAVP-7A1 Assault Amphibious Vehicle (w/mounting bosses), AAVP-7A1
RAM/RS, AAVP-7A1 RAM/RS w/EAAK, V-150S Commando APC 90mm Cockerill Gun, and a Spanish
Leopard 2E.
Aber have a
new photoetch set out for the Tamiya Opel Blitz and some new barrels out also for the 75mm
barrel for KwK40L/43 with single baffle muzzle brake for Pz.Kpfw.VI, Ausf.F2, 75mm Pak39
L/48 barrel for Hetzer or E10, 88 mm KwK 36 L/56 Barrel with late muzzle brake for Tiger I
middle & late, and the 75mm Pak 40L/70 gun barrel for Jagdpanzer IV or E25.
A new company
out of
Tiger Model
Designs is getting closer to releasing their conversion set for a German BergPanther.
They also re-tooled their Bilstein Crane conversion set for the Famo and have some
more resin bits for
Trumpeter also
continues to announce some modern releases. Australian ASLAV-25 (Reconnaissance), and the
M198 155mm Medium Towed Howitzer (Early Version) set for a January release.
AFV Club
continues on with another Churchill. This time it’s the Churchill Mk.III AVRE set
for a February release.
Dragon/Cyber
Hobby also has a German BeutePanzer Sherman M4A2, Jagdpanther Late Production, U.S.
Marines Guadalcanal 1942, and M4 Sherman 75mm
Archer
Transfers has some markings for the Churchill MKIII and some new double row rivets in
their surface detail line.
MiniArt has
the dingo Mk.1b British Armored Car w/Crew
listed as a February release and announced a dingo
Mk.III British Scout Car w/crew.
Italeri
announced the following: 508C 1100 “Coloniale,” Carro Armato P 40,
Semovente L 40 da 47/32, Staghound MK IV, LCVP with 1/4-ton Utility truck,
SWS with FLAK 43, Leopard I A2A2, Autoblinda AB 40, M4A2 76mm “Wet” Sherman, and
a Crusader III AA with Bofors 40mm gun.
Academy has
the following listed: Merkava Mk.IV, Swedish Army CV9040, and a M50 ONTOS.
Well ,that
about does it this month. As always keep checking the PMMS web site for your armor
updates.
by James Guld
This month I thought
I would discuss a couple of builds that I have going; both are from Bronco Models.
First up is the
CV-33 tankette. This is a real small vehicle, only about 3.5" long and
1.625" wide. Now, crammed into that you get a full interior for the fighting
compartment and the engine. The level of detail is great and down the road I see
that they plan to release a 1/16-scale version. The hull tub comes as panels that
you assemble. The fit was okay but I did have a few minor seams to fill on the rear
panel. Now if you’re into fiddly little builds, then this is right up your
alley. At just about every step you have to make up a subassembly, usually out of
four or more parts, and then add it to the model. The bogie units were the toughest
to assemble, and keeping the wheels straight was a minor miracle. The problem is
that the wheels themselves have just tiny recesses on both sides that the front and rear
side backing plates attach to. I think it would have been a better design to have
holes in the wheels and have the front backing plate include a shaft to go through the
wheel and into the rear backing plate. It would have made the units stronger and
kept the wheels aligned. After a kit like this you can really appreciate how a
Tamiya kit is engineered. Right now I have the interior all built up along with the
engine and radiators awaiting paint. I should also mention that the radiators on the
real vehicle were made up of four units basically forming a circle. For the kit each
of these units is made up of eight parts and then there is the top and bottom connector
for the radiators. The top is another six parts and the bottom four parts. I
think you’re getting the idea. I’m all for detail as long as it can be
seen. A great deal of the interior won’t be seen even with all the hatches
open. Oh well…
The other kit I
started on this past week is the Staghound Mk1 armored car. This kit is also
available from Italeri, but the reviews I’ve seen give the Bronco kit higher marks
for details but give Italeri the upper hand for ease of build. This kit has a really
poor instruction sheet. The entire lower hull unit is again a series of panels that
you assemble and in the instructions they tell you to add all the details to the panels
and then to glue them all together. Well, that just isn’t happening. I
glued the lower hull together except for the front bow panels, which have some interior
pieces that I have to paint first and then will assemble. The fit was really good
except for the top hull plate, which the turret sits on, had a slight bow to it. I
was able to just bend it slightly back to shape and after gluing it in it looks fine.
Again the level of small detail parts is tremendous and along the way a few parts
took tweezers shots, never to be found. A bit of Evergreen styrene came to the
rescue and all is well again. The kit comes with a small fret of photoetch for items
like the front light guards, which have a plastic bending jig to help form them.
Other little goodies include the straps that secure the sidesaddle tanks, and this
involves bending the ends over and using a small piece of wire to act as a hinge pin.
Off the ends of these straps are a “T” hook at the bottom and a small
round loop with a post at the top. You insert the hinge pin through the strap and it
holds these pieces in place. I thought it was going to be tough to get everything to
align, but it all went together without any cursing or yelling. That’s always
nice! Right now I have most of the lower hull together along with all the fittings
for the suspension. I still have to do a little research and see how the brake lines
were fitted. I haven’t started in on the turret yet, but it has some gun details
along with the Number 19 radio set, which has a nice photoetch guard for the set.
Bronco has released
a number of Staghound kits, so if you’re looking for something to build for our
armored car contest, this might not be a bad idea.
I
have decided to change my column slightly. Instead of just regurgitating what you can find
for yourself on PMMS, I will try and focus on an armor-related subject of some sort.
I hope you enjoy it.
by James Guld
I
have decided to change my column slightly. Instead of just regurgitating what you can find
for yourself on PMMS, I will try and focus on an armor-related subject of some sort.
I hope you enjoy it.
This
month I thought I would discuss researching, as I’m in the middle of a new diorama
involving an M16B “Wasp” halftrack set near a canal lock near the town of
Sarreinsming, France, in December 1944. Personally, I get into doing the research
for a diorama almost as much as building and finishing it. I have found that the
Missing-Lynx site (http://www.missing-lynx.com)
is a great place to start for getting info on a particular subject.
The
people that contribute to the site are some of the top armor modelers in the world.
For my current diorama, I had asked a question about the setting and received some answers
from some members, and also started Emailing with one member who was able to help me find
a site on canal locks. This guy is a lock nerd. The web is great for this sort of
stuff. People are into the weirdest stuff…
Through
this site I was able to find a modern-day picture of the lock I’m working on and of
old abandoned locks that were built at about the same time as the lock I’m working
on. I also started corresponding with this person and he acted as my second set of
eyes. Working from an old black and white photo is tough and it helps to have a second
opinion as to what something is in a photo or how it might be constructed. With his
help, we’ve been able to figure out many of the items in the photo with some degree
of certainty. Some items are still a mystery as to what their function is, and you
just have to go with your best WAG. will bring in this diorama as a
Work-in-Progress and it will also be apart of an article I’m writing for
“Boresight,” the AMPS magazine.
by James Guld
Time for your
X-Ma$$ armor update, people. Not a lot to report since last month, but a few gems.
I got a sneak
peak of the new Tamiya JagdTiger last weekend and it looks pretty nice and comes with both
rubber band and link and length tracks. The texture of the armor plate is excellent and
captures the look of the beast.
Atak has a new
resin zimmerit set for the Dragon Brumbar.
Echelon Fine
Details has some new decal sheets out.
MiniArt has
some pictures and sprue shots of new figure sets of Commonwealth and Soviet Jeep riders.
AFV Club has a
new Centurion with a dozer blade and a 1/48 251/1 C.
Accurate Armor
has a few new modern resin releases of English 6x6s.
SKP has an
engine for the AFV Club 251 half-tracks.
Italeri has its
L6 Italian light tank listed as an early 2009 release and announced models of a Crusader
40mm Bofors AA tank and a German 305 Tanker truck on an Opel Blitz frame.
Voyager has a
bunch of new photoetch releases.
Cromwell Models
has a bunch of new Churchill conversions for use with the new AFV Club kit.
Lion Roar has
pictures of their new Zundapp KS750 motorcycles and a new resin stowage set for the
upcoming Bronco Models Staghound AA armored car.
Legends
Productions has some new resin stowage sets.
Azimut has a
resin launch ramp for the Bronco Models V-1 kits.
Archer
Transfers has some new ammo crate stencils for 105mm and for 37mm crates.
MK/35 has a
resin Atlantic Wall bunker with a Panzer 2 turret.
Trumpeter has
some new armor announcements including the new 1/16 King Tiger for
2009.
Dragon/Cyber
Hobby has some new announcements of figures and a German Sig33.
Tank Workshop
has a bunch of new rail car releases and updates to earlier releases.
Griffon Models
has some new photoetch releases for German armor.
Fruil Model has
tracks coming out for the new L6 Italian light tank, the Russian SU-76 series of tanks and
the BTR-50, PT-76 series of light armored vehicles.
As always keep
up to date by checking out the PMMS web site.
by James Guld
It’s
officially Fall, and that means the baseball playoffs are winding down, football is
underway, and for modeling the Tokyo Modeling Show is happening.
You can search the web and probably find a bunch of links to the show, but here is one: http://www.sembado.com/photo/48th_ths/index.html .
I had told you
last month about the new Tasca M4A1 DV Sherman but I didn’t know they are also adding
a new early .50 cal to the kit. I have one on pre-order from Dragon
It looks like
FineMolds also has some new figures and a new 57mm version of the Type 97 command tank.
Trumpeter looks
to be very busy with both new and old armor and some more trains to boot.
Dragon had a
test shot model of the T-34 with the Hex turret along with the biggest surprise from them,
the M3 75mm GMC halftrack. Now with this and the M16 halftrack, the regular M3/M3A1
shouldn’t be too far off. They also had a number of other kits displayed—a late
Hummel, Panzerjager 1, an early Panther G with zimmerit, a Tiger 1 Late with zimmerit, and
some nice early war figures of French tankers surrendering.
Tamiya had
models of their new JagdTiger kit along with their re-dos of some earlier kits with new
added details. They redid their Italian M-13/40, Semovente and the German 232 armored car.
They also have some new modern Russian figures. In 1/48-scale, they have the Marder III,
Opel Blitz truck, and an AB41 armored car, which is an Italeri re-box. I also saw pictures
of an L6 Italian light tank listed, but I think this is actually an Italeri kit. Either
way it looks nice. It would look good K.O.’ed in the
Lion Roar
showed off their BMW R75 with sidecar and it looks like a light trailer is also included.
AFV Club has
models out of their new Churchill III and some test shots of the upcoming T-34 model 1941
with full interior. Looks like it will have a clear hull. They also had a 1/48-scale
251/1C shown.
Academy had a
model of the K1A1, which I believe is the Korean Army version of the Abrams tank.
There was a
number of interesting looking ship models also shown on the site along with some new
finishing products. The only downside is the site is in Japanese, so it makes it a little
hard to figure out what the product details are.
Well, that about wraps it up for
this month. Now off to the closet to figure out what to build next.by James Guld
What’s
hot in the world of armor, you ask? It seems that with fall, a bunch of new releases are
coming out—that’s if you still have a house to build models in.
Some of
the releases have been talked about before, but a couple are out of the blue.
From
Tristar we have a Panzer 38t ausf. B with full interior and British paratroopers with
Welbikes.
Formations
has some new resin goodies for us: a set of wheels for the M-6 Dodge and a British vision
cupola with adaptor for use on a
AFV Club
has the Stryker M1128 MGS coming out in September and the Churchill MkIII is still slated
for October.
In the
reference world we have new releases from The Factory Publishing and from Capricorn
Publications. The Factory Publishing has “Panzers of Kasserine” and
Capricorn Publications has a detail book out on the Studebaker US-6.
Now, after
you’ve built that model you’ll need markings, right? Well, Archer Transfers has
some new releases for you. They have markings for Marine M4A3 flame tanks and M4A2s on Iwo
Jima, along with some new crate markings for US 105mm ammo. They also have new UN Flags,
more surface details, and British Paratrooper uniform badges.
For you
photoetch fans, Aber has some new items. They include items for the Dragon E-100,
Geshutzwagen Tiger, Soviet Infantry belts, etc., a barrel for the Dragon Panzer IV G, a
105mm barrel for the Tamiya howitzer kit, and some German tapered antennas.
Resicast
has a T-16 Universal Carrier coming out in September.
Trumpeter
has a new Stryker M1127 recon version and for those of you liking 1/16 scale, they have a
KT with full interior and an M16 halftrack. The KT is listed as a limited run and due out
in October.
Tamiya has
some re-pops out of Italian armor with some updates to them such as new plastic track and
figures. They are the old Italeri kits. They do have listed as new an early version
JagdTiger. These are 1/35 kits. They also have some new stuff in 1/48, including a new
Marder III with the Russian 76mm gun, and re-pops of a Sdkfz. 222 armored car and AB41
armored car.
But by far
the biggest surprise is from Tasca: an M4A1 DV Sherman in British service. The sprue shots
look great. This is set for a mid October release. They will also be releasing the
suspension set as a separate kit.
Bronco
models also has their A13 Cruiser tank out and a 1/35 scale V1 Buzz bomb. I hadn’t
heard of that one.
Dragon has
some new announcements: a Panzerjager I, a 1942 version T-34 with Hex turret, a Premium
Edition kit of the 250/8 German halftrack, a Panzer III J and Borgward combo kit, and a
Stug III with the Flussigass tanks on the rear deck.
Well,
there are the highlights. As always go to the PMMS web site for your armor modeling
updates.
by James Guld
The dog days of summer are drawing to an end, and hopefully autumn will bring more releases. I know I have my fingers crossed! Unfortunately, a few armor subjects that were supposed to be released this spring got pushed back to the fall.
Here is what is new or on the horizon:
Mig Productions has some figures and diorama
bits for modern settings like
Tank Workshop has a German railway boxcar.
Blast has some cool items for the Stryker,
including a mine-clearing plow and lane markers for the rear.
A new book on
Trumpeter says they are to release the
1/16-scale M16 halftrack in September.
Dragon has some new figures coming out of
Commonwealth troops for the Italian campaign, and are supposed to have the 1/35-scale M16
halftrack out in September.
Hobby Boss has their version of the
Land-Wasser-Schlepper coming out in late August.
Tiger Model Designs has some updates for the
new M5A1 from AFV Club and some exhausts for T-34s.
AFV Club is supposed to have the Churchill
MKIII out in October, along with crew figures from Hobby Fan.
That’s about it for the major armor items. As always, keep up to date by checking the PMMS web site.
by James Guld
This month I thought
I would talk more about a recent book I purchased than just give an armor kit update.
The book is called
“Getting Started Painting Diorama Figures in Acrylics” by Brett Avants. The
title is a little misleading, as you don’t have to do dioramas to learn to paint
figures in acrylics. I’ve been painting my figures entirely in acrylics for about a
year and have checked out some of the sites online for different people’s methods and
had heard good reviews of this book, so I decided to pick it up. It is fairly cheap and
may be out of production. I got mine through Amazon.com and it was listed as used but was
brand new-looking to me. It looked like it was never opened up.
It starts out with a
material listing of what Brett uses to paint figures, like what kind of brushes, paints,
Optivisor, reference materials, etc. It then goes into explaining how painting in acrylics
differs from painting in oils and explains how to do shadows and highlights. The one major
difference I noticed was that Brett does his shadows first and then the highlights. Most
of the other articles I’ve seen from the Spanish painters have them doing it just in
the reverse. The book takes you through painting a few figures and has very good pictures
along the way to show you step by step what he is talking about. He also has a
step-by-step process for painting faces.
I learned a good
deal from this book and between it and what I already knew, I feel I will become a better
figure painter. At least, that is my goal. I think the two biggest things in figure
painting are not to rush it and practice. You’ve just got to keep at it. I’m
trying to force myself to do at least one figure a month along with whatever else is on
the bench.
So there you have
it. By the way here is another site I like (http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com)
that has a great step-by-step article for painting figures using acrylics.
by James Guld
So what’s
new in the world of armor related goodies, you ask? Well, read on, you treadheads.
There haven’t
been any earth-shattering new releases, just a number of minor releases like wheel sets
and figures.
There have been some
more announcements of upcoming kits, like the Dragon M4A1 DV Sherman in English service,
and they have also released the M4A2 75mm gun turret late kit as a Marine tank (but it
could also be used as a lend-lease tank).
Speaking of Marine
tanks, this past weekend I picked up a cool new book from Squadron. It’s called
“Tank Warfare on
Continuing along
with the Pacific theme, Master Box has announced a couple of figure sets - one with
Marines on Tarawa, and one with them in hand-to-hand with Japanese soldiers. Master
Box did this same theme before with Germans and Russians on the Eastern Front. Nice
in-action stuff for either full-blown dioramas or vignettes.
Other new
interesting figure releases come from Dragon. They have some
Moving onto tanks
they have announced another Tiger II but this one is from 505 Heavy Tank Battalion with
the charging knight symbol and with the zimmerit removed around the symbol. They
also have a Panzer II C as a smart kit. So it looks like the early war stuff is still
popular. Nice to see this kit.
Just remember, you can visit the PMMS site for all your armor related info.
by James Guld
May’s here
and that means one thing, the Shizuoka Model Show in
There has been a
flurry of new kit releases along with some updates on earlier kits. My favorite site for keeping up is PMMS. Just go to
the New Kit News page and you can pull down a list of most of manufacturers and see
what’s new. Here are some of the
highlights.
MasterBox has some
new figures sets, a BMW motorcycle, a couple versions of the French Panhard armored car,
and a couple versions of the German 170 VK staff car.
Trumpeter has some
photos of a B4 203mm gun and limber.
SKP has a picture of
the A30 Challenger Mk VIII model but no release date.
MiniArt has
announced some new figure releases along with a new diorama building. Also the US Jeep crew with MP’s is now out.
AFV Club has their
Churchill MKIII listed as a May release along with the Stryker M1128 MGS.
Dragon has announced
a DV M4A1 Sherman in British markings for
Tamiya has their new
Panzer II A-C along with some older kits updated with new figures.
Tristar has an early
Brumbar listed as a May release. They also have an early flak 38 kit with Waffen SS crew
and a Marder III M kit listed.
Bronco Models has a
few new kits listed. Two different Staghound
armored car variants and a
So it looks like a good year for new armor.
by James Guld
May’s here
and that means one thing, the Shizuoka Model Show in
There has been a
flurry of new kit releases along with some updates on earlier kits. My favorite site for keeping up is PMMS. Just go to
the New Kit News page and you can pull down a list of most of manufacturers and see
what’s new. Here are some of the
highlights.
MasterBox has some
new figures sets, a BMW motorcycle, a couple versions of the French Panhard armored car,
and a couple versions of the German 170 VK staff car.
Trumpeter has some
photos of a B4 203mm gun and limber.
SKP has a picture of
the A30 Challenger Mk VIII model but no release date.
MiniArt has
announced some new figure releases along with a new diorama building. Also the US Jeep crew with MP’s is now out.
AFV Club has their
Churchill MKIII listed as a May release along with the Stryker M1128 MGS.
Dragon has announced
a DV M4A1 Sherman in British markings for
Tamiya has their new
Panzer II A-C along with some older kits updated with new figures.
Tristar has an early
Brumbar listed as a May release. They also have an early flak 38 kit with Waffen SS crew
and a Marder III M kit listed.
Bronco Models has a
few new kits listed. Two different Staghound
armored car variants and a
So it looks like a
good year for new armor.
by James Guld
So what’s new this
month for you treadheads? Well, let’s start out with Trumpeter’s announcement
and, by the looks of it, soon to be released Sdkfz 7 8-ton halftrack. People have been
asking for a replacement for the old Tamiya kit and it looks like we’ll soon have
one. There are images at Armorama and at PMMS of the test shot model built up. And, not to
be outdone, Dragon has also announced that they will do one.
Next up, I was able to
see sprues for the new IDF 1973 Sho’t Centurion while at the AMPS convention.
I’m not a modern armor guy so I don’t know the differences between it and the
recent release of the 1967 version.
Also in the vendors room
at AMPS were the new releases from Formations of the M-50 Israeli Sherman pillbox and
“Oddball’s”
Another cool new source
I came across was a company called PFA Productions, doing all sorts of laser-cut boxes.
Great for dioramas or onboard stowage for tanks. There is an article about them at
Armorama.
Plus Model has three new
releases: a Rural Farm set, a German ammo cart, and the twin light flak mg 36 mount.
MK/35 continues their
range of civilian figures, with a seated Frenchman playing the accordion.
AJ Press from
Mike Starmer has updated
his British Army Colors and Disruptive Camouflage book with new color chips and more
info. There is a review at PMMS.
Tasca has their new M4A1
late version out along with the VC Firefly with cast in cheek turret armor. PMMS has
reviews.
Tamiya announced a
Panzer II A-C, a set of German infantry for the French front, and a Russian recon team
vehicle and crew. Word has it that this is a re-release of the old Ford GPA with some ICM
figures thrown in.
by James Guld
Not a whole lot to report this month, armor-wise. The two biggest items are the new Stug III G from Cyber-Hobby, which comes with waffle pattern zimmerit. From the pictures it looks good. The other major item is from Armorscale. These guys usually just make aftermarket barrels but have now gotten into resin stuff as well. Go to the PMMS site and check it out.
by James Guld
So what’s new for you treadheads? Well a ton of new stuff.
Dragon has a new JagdPanther G and a Flakpanzer 38t. I haven’t seen either in person yet but there are reviews of the JagdPanther at the PMMS and of the Flakpanzer at Missing-Lynx in the Time on Target area in the discussion groups. Academy announced a Grant to go along with the earlier Lee. Hopefully the boogies will be the correct height not like the Lee. They did fix them for the M7 Preist kit. Italeri has a slew of new listing for 2008. - Sd.Kfz.140 Flakpanzer 38 Gepard,Staghound AA, Horse drawn Breda 20, Crusader III AA MK.I, DUKW British Royal Army, Kfz.305 tank wagen, 1/4 Ton 4X4 Utility truck, Carro Armato L6 PRM Edition, LVT-(A) 2 “Saipan”, Sd.Kfz.VI Tiger Ausf.E (w/photo etched parts), Sd.Kfz.179 BergePanther (w/photo etched parts), Sd.Kfz.V Panther Ausf.D (w/photo etched parts) and a Bedford QL with 6 Pdr.AT gun.
SKP has announced a British A30 Challenger tank. There are some particle sprue shots up at PMMS. Alpine released a couple of new figures of 12SS HJ. Formations jut came out with a replacement DV hull for the M4A2 Sherman along with a late High Bustle turret. Aber just came out with U.S.30 cal barrels that you don’t have to roll the perforated sleeve. Voyager seems to have also entered the fray with their rendition of a U.S. .50 cal barrel. Italeri have their version of the Staghound armored car.
Up next is Hussar resin
replacement wheels for the new Humber Scout car kit. They
have a couple of different style tread patterns available.
They also plan to do some for the Staghound and for the Studabaker 2-1/2 ton
truck. I also spotted stowage for both the
Oh my aching credit card.
by James Guld
’Tis the season for getting more
stuff. What’s new on the armor front, you ask? Well, my fine plastic building
friends, it looks like Hobby Boss is about to release their second kit of the M4 High
Speed tractor. This one is for the 155mm gun and 8 inch Howitzer.
by James Guld
With fall comes Balloon
Fiesta, chile roasting, and, of course, the Tokyo Model Show. That means a lot of new
releases and hopefully some sprue shots or kit builds of the new kits. I regularly check
in at Perth Military Modeling Site (PMMS) to bone up on what’s new or to get reviews,
so I wasn’t too surprised by what I saw from the show. (http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com).
The surprises for me were from AFV Club: their
Early T-34 with full interior and Bofors AA Gun. From Tristar, a Flakpanzer Gepard and
20mm accessory set to go along with it. They also have a Fieseler Storch for you plane
guys in 1/35.
From Bronco Models, there is a new Humber Scout
car with twin Vickers MG and a couple of new Staghound armored cars. One has the 60lb
rockets off of Typhoon’s mounted on the side of the turret, and the other is a Stag
with the Crusader turret on it with a 75mm gun, I believe.
From Tamiya, we have some early war French
Infantrymen for Mike Blohm, and a JS2, which looks pretty nice. It looks like it comes
with link and length tracks like what they are doing in 1/48.
Also up from Tasca is a mid M4A1 Sherman. I
know that I’ll be adding a few of these to my stash.
The only area of disappointment for me was
not seeing any of the other M3 halftrack series from either Trumpeter or Dragon. But then
again, it’s not like I don’t have enough to keep me busy for the next five
years. Model on!
by James Guld
Well,
with Nationals coming up I figured I would talk about some of the new kits I hope to spot
in the vendors’ room and see in the back of Rick’s Bronco on the ride home.
Armor-wise,
there should be some new releases at the time of Nationals. Dragon is talking about an M2
halftrack with the 37mm gun mounted in the back for infantry support. It is supposed to be
a Cyber-Hobby release. They also have the M3/M3A1 and M16 announced, but I haven’t
heard any release dates for these kits.
I
hope to see some of Tasca’s aftermarket sets in the vendors’ room. They have two
really nice .50-cal sets and a new set of
Bronco
Models has just released their Humber Scout Car and hopefully their Staghound armored car
will be ready too. From the test shots I’ve seen online, these kits look really nice
with full interiors and engine bays. Wow!
Trumpeter
has also been talking about their own line of US-based halftracks, but I haven’t seen
any release dates, so I doubt we’ll see any at the show other than maybe some test
shots at the Stevens booth. They should have some new Axis stuff like the Bridge layer on
the Panzer IV hull and the armored train flatbed car with the Panzer IV turret. I saw a
review of this kit at the PMMS site, and it didn’t get a great review. Trumpeter
seems to be hit or miss with its armor kits. Their KV series of tanks are really well
done, but some of their newer armor kits aren’t at the same level.
So
you guessed it I’m getting pretty excited about next month. The contest itself should
have some stiff competition. I think if you win anything this year you really deserve it.
Well that’s it for me. Back to the bench and working on that M3 Lee and I still have
to finish up those bases for the Blue Angels.
by James Guld
This month I thought I would
talk about acrylic paint for painting figures and some of the web sites that I have come
across in my journey to learn to improve my figure painting skills.
I think painting figures is
one of the most frustrating aspects of our hobby. You have a number of different
media to choose from and so the learning curve can be quite steep. I have bounced
around with using acrylics and oils for painting figures. I have decided to try and
stick with acrylics, at least for the time being.
I have found some interesting
articles on the web along with a good book put out by Andrea Press called “FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions about Painting Figure Techniques” I got it from Amazon (http:/www.amazon.com)/.
The first two sites below list
face painting techniques by two very talented painters, Andres Heinz and Jaume Ortiz.
They are good step-by-step articles with pictures.
This site, http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com, has an article which walks
you through how to use acrylics for painting figures. You have to go to the site and
then click on the English translation link. then up at the top of the page is a pull-down
bar. Click on the link to Model Color and when that page comes up, scroll down the
page to near the bottom and you’ll see a link to Painting Figures with Model Color.
It is a very good article that explains a number of different techniques used when
painting with acrylics. I learned a lot from it and plan on trying out these new
steps on my figures. Hopefully this will make the learning curve a little less steep
and not so frustrating.
So get out there and don’t be afraid to try something new. Just remember that while making mistakes, you are learning what not to do the next time.
by James Guld
This month I thought I would talk about something different: safety in modeling.
by James Guld
I thought I would touch on some of the cool items I've seen or picked up over
the holidays. These first two items came from Model Military International, January
2007.
The first is from a company I'd never heard of; Shinsen?gumi makes 1/35
German camo patterns in waterslide de?cals for seven different patterns (currently, all
are SS patterns). They are available online (http://www.lsamodels.co.uk).
The second company is also new to me; Fiba Model makes diorama products in 1/35 and 1/72
scale. They have a set of laser-cut boxes in thin plywood in 1/35 and a few sets of leaves
in both 1/35 and 1/72 scales. They are em?bossed and have the stems attached and are
colored. From the picture it looks like oak and maple leaves to me. Very cool
indeed.
I picked up a "Chopper II" from Northwest ShortLine. I have an old
Dremel table saw, but sometimes I wish I had something that I could do angle cuts without
having to make up custom jigs. So for Christmas I asked for one, but due to the snowstorm
it hasn't reached me yet. What I like about it is that you can change out the cutting mat
once it gets worn from cutting, and it also comes with some angle guides to make various
angle cuts. Looks like it will come in handy in working with scratchbuilding
projects.
One other item I picked off of the Missing-Lynx site is to use Future for
gluing down photoetch parts. I haven't tried it yet, but plan to. Now get back to the
worktable and finish off that Sherman.
Jim’s Sprues & Reviews
by James Guld
Oh, no—not another post-Nationals report! Sorry, kids, but I promise to make it "tool related."
With my shopping list in hand I headed into the vendors’ area and started to scope out where the best deals were to be had for what I was looking for. On my tool list was the Micro Chisel from Mission Models. They have also come out with a scribing set and a replacement chisel set for this tool. It is a simple metal shaft with a rubber grip about 5-1/2" long with the ends held in by a tiny Allen head set screw. They even come with protective rubber tips, but I’ve already worn through them. That’s how sharp the ends are. The scribing tip set comes with four bits: a plain pointed bit, .005, .0075, and .010. The 1mm replacement chisel set comes with two flat tips and one round tip. One of the side benefits of this set is the round tip. I was experimenting with it and found it great at making half-moon shape weld beads in styrene. I have a technique that I picked up from AFV Modeller that uses putty and a small shaped brass tube to make the same look, but this new tool needs no putty. I was pretty jazzed about that. I know what you’re thinking: "Jim, you gotta open up a window when working with glue!" That was the only cool tool I came across.
I was hoping to find a good deal on a new Iwata airbrush but none were to be had, so I had to spend money on kits and books. I know it’s tough, but we all have to do our part to spur on the economy. I did get a sneak peak into one of the new Dragon "smart kits" of the Panther G late. Looks like a nice kit and should be out soon. They did have some for sale on Saturday, but at $50 a pop.
I did pick up the Academy M3 Lee, Dragon premium edition so-called Porsche turret King Tiger, Italeri 232 6-rad early war recon vehicle, and a bunch of sweet resin goodies from Formations. Rob from Formations is one of the nicest vendors you’ll ever meet and he makes beautiful kits and conversions for U.S. related armor.
On the book front I picked up the WWP book on the WC-51 Beep, the Allied/Axis book on the Chafe, and the JJ Fedorowicz book Funklenkpanzer which covers all the German remote- and radio-controlled units in WWII.
On the ride home, the conversation centered on what to build next. Boy, it’s getting tough with a lot of different kits pulling at me. But I decided on some of my next projects. I have an itch to do some Zimmerit so I’m starting in on a Stug 3 late with the waffle pattern, and then after that I’m going to start in on a series build of the vehicles of the 653 Panzerjager battalion. First up will be the Bergtiger P, which also has Zimmerit, and I’ll try out my hot knife method on it.
Well enough from me. Now get back to that workbench and build something!
Jim’s Sprues & Reviews
By James Guld
Balsa Foam: what is it and where do I get it? Well, I will let you know, along with how well it works. It is Phenolic resin foam. It comes in three different densities: 7lb, 12lb and 20lb. I’m currently working with the 12lb density and find it carves easily while still being pretty durable. It glues with white glue, yellow carpenter’s glue, or even thick super glue. I’ve been using yellow carpenter’s glue and it has worked fine for me.
The parent company maintains a web site (http://www.balsafoam.com/aboutbalsafoam.asp) but you will have to buy it from one of the online retailers; for example, Dick Blick Art Materials (http://www.dickblick.com/zz331/11a).
That is where I got mine. There are also others out there.
The downside to working with it is that it doesn’t come in large sheets in thin thicknesses. I bought the 1/2" thickness sheets, which comes as two 6x9 pieces. Yes, it can be glued up to make bigger sheets, but it would be nice if it came in larger pieces. Another downside is the 1/2" thickness. For a 1/35-scale building, that translates into an 18" thick wall. Now yes, there are some older stone-type building that would be that thick, but I would also like to see it in 3/8" thickness. For one of the barn buildings I’m working on, I re-sawed the pieces on the band saw and then made a thickness gauge out of wood (screwed to my worktable) and I then took a palm sander and sanded the pieces to 3/8". Make sure you are wearing a respirator while doing this—the dust is super fine.
One other thing you have to do after working with balsa foam is to clean off your tools well. I wiped mine down with some WD-40 afterwards.
The Balsa Foam has some sort of citric acid in the binder glue that holds it together and it will rust metal quite easily. I forgot and left a piece on the table saw overnight and the next day found a ghost image of rust when I picked it up. Not to worry, a little WD-40 and a Scotchbrite pad and it cleans up the metal fine.
So what do I think of it? I like it, but it is a little pricey; still, it sure does work nicely. I don’t think I’d use it for all my buildings, but I heard about it and thought I would give it a try.
Jim’s Sprues & Reviews (March 2006)
By James Guld
While sitting down to write last month’s column, I had two ideas of what to write about. You all saw one and the other was supposed to be for this month. Well guess what—I forgot to write it down and it went out of my head. So I decided—well, actually, my wife Stacy suggested—that I write about how I got into model making and how it makes me feel. So here goes.
Like many of you, I built kits as a kid and into my teen years. I even managed to continue into my early 20s when on winter/summer break from college. I then stopped for about seven years, and at the time I lived in New York City and had my own model making shop for architectural models and advertising props, etc. Through a mutual friend, I made a large window display diorama for a trendy southwest-style restaurant. Fate, maybe? I traded my services for food, since I like to eat. It was a good deal because they made killer margaritas and mean shrimp ceviche. After that, I didn’t really do much model-wise for fun. I guess it was like a "busman’s holiday" for me. Too much of it at work had taken away the urge to build tanks. Well, fast-forward to 2002, a year after moving to Santa Fe, and while talking to my brother-in-law (also a fine model maker in his own right) he was telling me about how the hobby has grown in recent years. He told me about a number of model-making websites and I had to check them out, so, lo and behold, the bug bit me big-time. That fall I picked up a few kits and did a diorama for the Bataan Museum here in Santa Fe. It was through the museum that I found out about ASM.
The thing that I love the most is that it makes me feel exactly like I did when I was younger and just building for the first time. I don’t know of anything else in my life that makes me feel this way. No matter how bad a day is at work, I can usually come home and relax by putting on my optivisor and picking up some minute piece of photo-etch for a model. Now that may sound crazy to most, but hey—whatever floats your boat!
Now please go build something for Chile Con.
So what did Santa leave under the tree for you this year? My better
half got me a couple of books: The Jentz book on the King Tiger, and a book on sculpting
and modifying figures. Both will come in handy in the future.
Other goodies that I picked up are a bunch of figure sets and accessories for my Falaise
Gap dio. S eems like I have enough bits and bobs to work with now, so now it's just a
matter of building it all and hopefully pulling off the battle presentation. I hope
to have it done by March, but we'll see.
On the armor model front, Dragon just doesn't quit with releasing new stuff and Trumpeter
isn't too shabby itself. If you follow the Perth Military Modeling Site you'll see
in the new kit section all the new releases.
Trumpeter is putting out a plastic version of the German BR52 locomotive. It's
pretty big at 30" long, so make room on those shelves if you plan on having it
pulling the Leopold rail gun.
Dragon is about to release the 251/17, M4A3E8, 234/4, Marder II and a bunch more.
They also have the limited releases available only online through Dragon USA.
"Wow" is all I can say. So I'll keep it short this month and follow my own
advice and go out and build something.
Happy New Year to all.
Kit Review
By John Tate
Citroen Traction 11CV "Staff" Car
1/48-Scale Kit by Tamiya
(Military Miniature Series No. 17)
Tamiya’s all-new kit of the Citroen Traction 11CV sedan is a great new addition to their 1/48 armor series. At first glance, the little Citroen might seem an odd choice for a military model, but it saw widespread military and civilian use during the Second World War and can be adapted to a wide variety of modeling projects, from "stand-alone" model to diorama accent. Car modelers can also enjoy the kit, as the Citroen Traction was a popular and technically-advanced auto design and can be modeled as a civilian vehicle.
The best part of building this model was the state-of-the-art engineering that Tamiya put into the kit. It is no exaggeration to say this is one of the best model kits I’ve ever built—accurate, well-designed and easy to assemble. If you are looking for a fun and easy modeling project that will turn out a contest-winning model, I highly recommend this kit. The model went together beautifully, with no seam problems or construction flaws, and the kit can be built easily in an afternoon.
Tamiya supplied decals for four different vehicles: Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht staff cars in overall field gray from early WWII, a dark green French military staff car from 1940 and a French civilian vehicle from the WWII era. I chose the Wehrmacht vehicle, as it served on the Eastern Front and offered the best opportunity for weathering.
This kit is a beauty—an offbeat, interesting subject engineered to perfection by the model masters at Tamiya. If you build only one model this year, make it a Citroen Traction!
Science - Fiction / Real Space
by Joe Walters
Yes, there’s lots of news on the
Sci-Fi front, and a bunch of space to fill, so here we go again!
Webmaster's Note: See Joe's Field Trip article on Starfest 2007 at: Starfest 2007 Report
by Joe Walters
Any sci-fi modeling enthusiast must be familiar
with the CultTVMan web site (http://www.culttvman2.com/dnn), an unmatched source of knowledge and how-tos
for the serious sci-fi builder.
Currently of interest, there is a report with
many photos from the recent Hobby Expo show. The web site’s operator, Steve Iverson,
looked at some interesting upcoming sci-fi kits.
Among other things, look for two new Lost in Space kits from Moebius: The Space Pod and
The Chariot. The Chariot will come with a figure of the Robot!
Above is artwork for the upcoming Moon Suit
kit. Were you just thinking about Major Matt Mason?
In other news, Revell now has a license to issue the Revell Germany Star Wars kits in the
Sci-Fi Kit Explosion
By Joe Walters
Enthusiasts of science fiction modeling have certainly noticed that there have been many new kits made available over the last few years—notably several Star Trek kits from Polar Lights and Bandai, as well as recent reissues of old AMT kits and some new Star Wars subjects—but those who only monitor the major manufacturers are missing out on the overwhelming number of new subjects and conversions out there!
Many smaller manufacturers and "garage"-type sources are offering a staggering number of sci-fi spacecraft subjects, and not just from Trek!
A small outfit called Howling Wolf, for example, offers craft from the new Battlestar Galactica series (Cylon Raider and Cylon Base Ship) as well as the "Alkesh" craft from the popular Stargate: SG1.
Another outfit called simply "Alliance" offers the new Galactica itself, along with many other subjects, mostly Trek-related, including several shuttlecraft types, the Delta Flyer, and even Khan’s DY-100 Botany Bay (in scale with the new Polar Lights Enterprise model).
Howling Wolf and Alliance sell their products through combined sales websites like Federation Models and Starship Modeler; all websites mentioned in this article are listed at the end.
Comet Miniatures offers an 18" Discovery from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and an in-scale Leonov from 2010, as well as subjects from Firefox, Mad Max, Space: 1999, and others.
Skyhook Models offers subjects from several sci-fi films and series, including the Planet Express from Futurama, the Martian War Machine from George Pal’s War of the Worlds, and many more.
Starcraft Models (also sells through the sites mentioned above) offers a number of Trek kits in scale with AMT’s Enterprise-D, so you can build an entire Starfleet in scale, including several ship classes not offered by the majors. They also offer a kit of the Protector from Galaxy Quest!
Warp Models, a UK outfit that also sells through commercial websites, offers numerous Babylon 5 subjects (including the White Star, Shadow destroyer, and two different Earth Alliance warships), several Space: 1999 kits, Stargate subjects (including the stargate itself and Death Gliders), and several Trek subjects including a detailed Borg Cube, conversion kits to alter standard AMT kits to variant classes, and more.
Also selling through the conglomerate websites, Gizmotron offers another B5 White Star model, as well as several Star Trek variant ship classes. Planet V also sells a Babylon 5 kit, the ubiquitous Earth Alliance Shuttle.
Of course, anyone building any sci-fi subject should always start by looking at the CultTVMan website. This site collects vast quantities of reference data for virtually any imaginable sci-fi subject, and even includes an online hobbyshop offering many of the subjects mentioned above.
More than just spaceship kits are out there—aftermarket products exist for sci-fi kits just as they do for other subjects. For instance, the recent Polar Lights Star Trek Refit Enterprise kit can already be enhanced with lighting kits, structural bracing armatures, stencils for making the hull patterns, and more. Interiors, fighter cockpits, conversion parts, figures (many of them recognizably based on known actors—one of them actually sells an Adam West replacement head for the old Aurora Batman figure!) and many other add-ons are available for many kits and subjects. Look around!
Notice that we haven’t even touched on things like decals, "accurizing" replacement parts, figures, props, electronic sound and light kits, and other sci-fi items, but they are out there in vast numbers and can be found the same way as these kits.
Quality of these kits varies, of course, as does size, scale and accuracy. Buyer beware! Do some research if in doubt—someone out there has built this kit, and can offer some critique and details from experience!
And Your Favorite Local Hobby Shop can certainly order most if not all of these kits for your convenience.
Contacts
Websites mentioned in this article, and a few others, in no particular order:
Federation Models http://www.federationmodels.com
Starship Modeler http://www.starshipmodeler.com
Comet Miniatures http://www.comet-miniatures.com
Skyhook Models http://www.skyhookmodels.com
CultTVMan http://www.culttvman.com
Don’s Light & Magic http://www.dlmparts.com
JBot Decals http://www.jbot.ca
Lunar Models http://www.lunarmodelsonline.com
Realspace Models http://www.realspacemodels.com
Voodoo FX (lighting) http://www.voodoofx.com
Immediately after the attack the US Navy submarine force was given orders for unrestricted warfare, which meant anything that flew an ensign of the Japanese empire was a target, a doctrine that broke the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which outlined the rules of engagement for submariners. Initial patrols proved to have mixed results with many targets escaping even though the crews were positive that the torpedoes were aimed and fired properly. The navy later determined through interviews with the submarine captains and tests conducted by naval ordinance that the torpedoes were running deeper than what they were set at and had faulty detonators. It wasn’t until1943 that the torpedo problems were mostly resolved. After these technical difficulties were overcome, claims of destroyed enemy shipping soared. American submarines also performed rescue duties of pilots and sailors as well as reconnaissance and screening duties for naval task forces. The navy’s submarine force accounted for approximately 2 percent of the manpower of the navy during the war but submariners claimed more than 50 percent of the final tally of Japanese military and merchant shipping sunk. Many historians agree that the ability to deprive the Japanese of food, oil and other raw materials helped to shorten the war. During the war the navy lost 52 submarines with more than 3500 casualties.
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The submarines available
to the US Navy at the outset of WWII were of early design and structure but each
successive class built upon the strengths of prior classes and almost all boats regardless
of age were pressed into service. The Gato class submarines built upon the strengths
of the Tambor/Gar class boats. These boats were the first practical fleet boats able
to range over the entirety of the
Webmaster's Note: Click here for an excellent web page on the USS Gato: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08212.htm
The 1/72 Revell model of
the Gato class submarine was released in 2006 and was a follow up to their very successful
1/72 scale U-Boat. Before building, the modeler may want to locate a suitable place
for the beast to be displayed, (I jokingly told my wife that it was going on the mantle in
the living room when completed or maybe just a permanent fixture in the tub, she was
unamused). You might also clean off your work bench and even have an alternate place
to put it while working on it, if I had a dollar for everything I knocked down with
it…. Upon receiving the box I was amazed at the size of the kit only to
realize that the hull is divided into three parts! Test fitting the hull pieces
together revealed an overall length of 52 inches. Panel lines are of the raised type
and you will lose some to construction so be prepared to stretch some sprue to replace
these. During my research of US submarines I came to understand that almost no two
boats were the same. Some had a single row of limber holes like the kit but most
had many rows and sizes of limber holes as well as deck guns and fittings. To make
matters worse for the modeler most boats were changed in gun and sail configuration as the
war progressed and it was up to individual captains to request the changes as he saw
fit! The ship I modeled was the USS Cobia which is currently on display at the
Construction begins with
the basic hull, bow and aft planes as well as the rudder and propellers. It was in
step 4 where I made the decision to make a pressure hull from a disposable plastic cup to
cover the bow plane pivots as these will be highly visible through the large forward vent
holes. Once the hull is complete the next steps involve building the deck and sail
(conning tower). Many deck parts must be pre-painted as the sail is going together
or it will be difficult to paint and weather these pieces later. Further into the
instructions are the tower and guns with radar assemblies which are very well detailed as
are the 4 inch, 40MM and 20MM guns. Revell includes pre-bent metal ladder rungs
which are a nice touch and add scale realism to the model, although I wish they had
included a photo etch radar screen as the plastic one is somewhat crude. The last
steps include adding all the stanchions and deck fittings to the sub. For the hand
rails I used a metallic thread that I found at a sewing shop which I felt gave a good
representation of the cable that is run through the stanchions. I painted the sub in
a two tone gray and black scheme which was apparently known as the “light gray
job”. I used Testors acrylics for the paint and artist oils for the weathering
and rust on the sub. There were no decals applied as I wanted to model the sub as if
it were on patrol, the navy kept markings off of the submarine fleet to maintain their
camouflage and stealth while in combat.
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Revell’s Gato submarine was a pleasure to build, even though it is unwieldy to handle, it can be built by modelers basic to advanced. If you have an interest in US Naval subjects I would highly recommend this kit! Just make sure you have a place to display it… “Honey, about that mantle idea….”
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Book / Movie / Program Reviews
by Don Smith
The Jolly Rogers: The Story of Tom Blackburn and Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17
by Tom Blackburn with Eric Hammel
Zenith Press, 1998 (1st edition) •
270 pages
I’m
reviewing a book that keeps in theme with next month’s sponsored F4U Corsair contest.
Get those gull-wing birds ready; remember, anything goes as long as it’s an F4U.
I didn’t think I would like this book so I
sent it to my Dad, he’s an old sailor. He
liked it enough he sent back for me to review. It is
a good book worth a look if you’re interested in the Pacific Theatre and dogfighting. Tom Blackburn’s cocky pilots were castoffs from other units. Together they worked out to
become the top Navy fighting squadron during VF-17’s
short time in the
This book is a quick
read. I tired a little of
I would recommend this book for any Corsair or Naval Aviation fan or student of the Pacific Theatre.
There are some interesting photos and a few maps, but
the appendix does not show the final number of planes shot down by VF-17’s
pilots (by the way, the Tamiya kit with the markings for four kills is for a pilot who had shot down four Japanese
planes at Guadalcanal while flying F4F’s; the actual F4U-1 with the four kill
markings did not see any combat and the pilot left VF-17 as soon as he finished the first
tour).
I can’t find many faults with the
book. I liked it. I picked up my copy at Borders for $17.95 before I applied my
coupon discount. I’ll have to give it four out of five stars. ****
Webmaster's Addition:
If you would like to build a VF-17 "Jolly Rogers"
Corsair - note pirate flag emblem on the nose - here are some decal sheets for you to
check out:
EagleCals EC#20 "VF-17 Jolly Rogers" (in both 1/72: 72020 and 1/48: 48020) has
five different schemes, including Tommy Blackburn (model depicted below),
Roger Hedrick, James Streig, Butch Davenport, and Doris "Chico" Freeman.
Eagle Strike Productions' # 72013 "Pacific Corsairs" has two VF-17 schemes: Ira
Kepford (top VF-17 ace) and an early F4U-1 (BirdCage) aboard USS Bunker Hill.
Eagle Strike Productions' # 48093 "Corsair Collection Part 3" has two VF-17
schemes: Doris "Chico" Freeman and Merl Davenport.
SuperScale # 72-701 has one VF-17 scheme for Tommy Blackburn.
SuperScale # 72-856 has two VF-17 schemes: Doris "Chico" Freeman and Merl
Davenport.
SuperScale # 72-857 has one VF-17 scheme for Thomas Killefer.
Techmod # 72018 has two different VF-17 schemes
for Ira Kepford (Corsair profile depicted below).
Recommend "Corsair Aces of World War II" by Mark Styling (Osprey Aircraft of the
Aces) for additional information.
Here's Tommy Blackburn's F4U-1A Corsair # 1 "Big Hog" - Model by Mike Blohm (Hasgawa 1/72 scale kit):
Ira"Ike" Kepford's F4U-1A # 29
by Don Smith
Wildcat: The F4F in WWII
I’ve been on vacation as the unofficial ASM Book
Reviewer. A long summer with 2- and 4-year-old girls will keep you pretty busy.
All
right, this isn’t a new book, as it has been around for 17 years. It is a very
good book, worth a look, and still is selling on the Borders bookshelf. I’ve always
been fascinated by the F4F and how it held the Japanese Zeros at bay during the first year
of World War II. I’m amazed by the stories
of pilots Joe Foss, “Butch” O’Hare, “Indian Joe” Harold J. Bauer,
and Marion Carl.
This
book is well
thought out in layout and is enjoyable to read. You are not going to read endless
verse on how the Wildcat evolved from the Grumman biplanes and the attributes of each
model biplane, etc. etc. The book gives a quick rundown on the different models of
Wildcats and some of the strengths and weaknesses. For instance, you’ll
learn why the -3 was considered to be better than the -4 in combat.
What
I liked about this book was how it went through each major battle in chronological order
and discussed the Wildcat’s role in each battle. Don’t expect a whole
chapter to tell you the difference between the models -3 and -3a—this book reads
fast.
I
would recommend this book for any Wildcat fan or student
of the Pacific Theatre. There
are many interesting photos, stories and helpful appendices. It is a
well-written quick read, and I can’t find any faults with the book. I
have read a couple of other books on the Wildcat and I would say by far this is the best.
As I said, I picked up my copy at Borders for $19.95 (before I applied my coupon
discount). Now if I can only lay my hands on a copy of Tillman’s Corsair
book… I’ll have to give this five out of five stars. * * * * *
by Don Smith
The Bedford Boys
I don’t know
what’s wrong but I seem stuck in the western European theatre of war. I read on the
back of this month’s book that this book is based on the true story that inspired the
movie Saving
Private Ryan. —D.
Smith
This is a
pretty sad story of bunch of guys who get cut down in the first wave on
The men of
the 29th are sent to
The book has interesting stories but not much to recommend for the modeler unless you are inspired to do a D-Day model. Don’t count on photos of much military hardware. I picked up my copy on sale a year ago at a Border’s “3 for 2” sale. Normally the retail price is $14.95 for the softbound edition. I’ll give it a rating of three out of five stars. ***
by Don Smith
Brothers in Arms
Keeping with the European theatre
of war “theme,” this month’s book starts with the
This is a pretty
interesting book about the men who fought in tanks and their stories. What makes
this different is that the 761st Tank Battalion is an all-black unit formed when the army
was racially segregated. This book is co-authored by basketball legend Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, who has a personal connection to the unit.
The men of the 761st
faced many obstacles at home and on the front. There are lots of individual stories
about the fierce fighting this unit faced. The 761st was never intended to fight in
the war and was more of a publicity stunt in the racially segregated U.S. Army. With
the high casualty rate facing the
The book has
interesting stories, both on and off the battlefield, including one about Jackie Robinson.
I recommend this book based on the great stories and to get an idea of what
individual combat was like in this theatre. The book does not get any points for
historical accuracy (what is a Mk. IV Panther?). There also aren’t many photos
for modelers although there are some shots of
I’ll give it a rating of three out of five stars ***
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A Review of the Dogfights by Mike Blohm |
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This is an unusual
review in that it is about a TV show. Dogfights is an hour-long series on The History
Channel, airing on Friday nights. There are
usually reruns during the week on Wednesday nights.
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by Don Smith
Lorraine 1944 Patton vs Manteuffel
Last month’s book was Operation
Cobra, so the
Once again, an Osprey Campaign
series book is our subject. And again, lots of maps, artwork and interesting photos
about the campaign are packed into 96 pages.
Last month we looked at Operation
Cobra, which got the U.S. Army out of the
Basically, every time the
Germans attacked they were ripped apart by the Americans and the French 2nd Armored
Division. Hitler had put too much faith in his newly-formed panzer brigades.
Manteuffel fights his battles
like he is on the Eastern Front with disastrous results for the Germans. The battle
ends in a stalemate with Patton holding onto some valuable real estate, and he makes a big
splash later in the
I liked the book for its
inspiration for armor models or dioramas; I found the book otherwise a little sterile.
I’m also reading another book about an armored unit involved in the fighting
and you don’t get the idea of how desperate and violent the battles were from reading
the Osprey book. Don’t expect detailed personal accounts of the campaign.
This book’s coverage is very broad and therefore a must for anyone interested
in the
This book is softbound and I picked up a copy at Borders for about $19.00. I’ll give it a rating of three out of five stars. ***
by Don Smith
Operation Cobra 1944
Breakout from
By Steven J. Zaloga • Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2001
I’ll give it a rating of four out of five stars. ****
by Don Smith
Cutthroats
The Adventures
of a
By Robert C. Dick; Presidio Press, 2006
I’m going to the Pacific Theatre for this month’s book review. I had to read this after hearing there will be a sponsored Best Sherman contest this year. Thanks -Don Smith
I’ll give it a rating of four out of five stars. ****
by Don Smith
Master ModelerBook Review
by Don Smith
This month’s book review has nothing to do with military history and some would argue that it has little to do with the type of a modeling we do. I think we’re modelers because we like making miniature "things" and I know some of you "do" trains. Thanks -DS
Playing with Trains
A Passion Beyond Scale
by Sam Posey
Random House Trade Paperback Edition, 2005
Boy meets toy trains, boy falls in love with toy trains, boy grows up, later in life boy rediscovers toy trains are actually model trains and falls back in love.
This book is about Sam Posey’s journey into model railroading. When his son is born he believes he will once again get to play with toy trains. In his effort to build a dream layout he learns about trains, history, model railroaders and himself. Sam Posey is a former race car driver and TV sports announcer, and he has the money to get into the hobby in a major way. His book looks at his journey and examines what makes train guys tick. He doesn’t have a conclusive answer but discovers different "camps" of railroaders (sound like anyone we know?). I enjoyed the gritty stories about modelers, their layouts and the business. I didn’t care about the "mushy philosophy" but told myself, "This guy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, cut him some slack." The book ends in a slow death—Posey takes a train ride to Florida and also visits the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania where he actually gets to drive the train. Not actually exciting stuff compared to what we do. Ah, give me an M-3 halftrack at Regionals any day.
The biggest groan, but also a wise choice by Posey, is hiring a professional railroad model builder to help him. Give him credit—he also does much of the work himself.
This book is in softcover. I picked up a copy from Borders. The retail price is $13.95 but I got a 3 for 2 deal last month. I would recommend this book if you really want to read about model railroading, but it probably wouldn’t do much to make you a better modeler. The saving grace is it covers the hobby’s current state rather than reminiscing on the good ol’ days, back when you made your own plaster out of flour and glue. I’ll give it a rating of two out of five stars.
Book Review
By Don Smith
Death Traps
The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II
By Belton Y. Cooper
Due to the number of books out there covering military history, I would like to encourage everyone to write a short book review of noteworthy books (or to root out the stinkers). I will submit a review as I finish books I am reading. I’m not a history expert so my reviews are based on what I like, not what I think is accurate. Please be patient, I’m a slow reader. Thanks - Don Smith
I’m sure you’ve seen copies of this book floating around the club; I sure have. This is a book about the U.S. Third Armored Division in World War II. The author of the book, Belton Cooper, is a young engineer who is initially ambivalent about his role in the war because he wanted to be a naval architect. Instead he is an ordinance officer in the army.
Cooper tells about the 3rd AD’s role in the war from Normandy to crossing the Rhine. His story is pretty interesting because he is a liaison for the Division’s Maintenance Battalion and gets to see more aspects of the war than most junior officers. Among the shocking facts I learned was that the Division suffered over 500% casualties. Cooper also describes the inadequacies of the Sherman tanks and replacement crew training. Other interesting stories include the dangers of tank recovery in combat, Patton’s role in ensuring the Sherman received priority over the Pershing, the 3rd AD’s Pershings in combat action, and the reason the 75mm gun was chosen for the Sherman and the 75mm vs. the 76mm gun for the Sherman (neither was adequate).
There are lots of interesting stories that could inspire a modeler to build dioramas depicting American armor in Europe. There are an interesting series of photos of a Pershing tank in action, although you won’t see much detail due to the small format. This book is in paperback and I picked up a copy at a used bookstore for three or four dollars. I’ve noticed it on the shelves of many new bookstores. I would give this book my highest rating of five out of five stars. * * * * *
Book Review
by Mike Blohm, ASM M-15, IPMS 10602
Flyboys by James Bradley
(Little, Brown and Company, 2003)
What initially caught my interest in this book was the wording on the inside cover flap, which talked about nine American flyers that had been downed near the island of Chichi Jima in the latter months of WW II, that one had been rescued by submarine; and that the other eight had disappeared. It further stated that the fate of the eight flyers had then been covered up after the war by both the US and Japanese governments. I recalled the well-known tale of the rescue of George Bush, and thought that he might have been the rescued flyer, and it stirred my interest to want to know what had happened to the rest of these "flyboys."
James Bradley takes a very winding but interesting and informative path to get to the answer to that question. You get a history lesson in both US and Japanese politics and colonial and military practices, and how they affected the island of Chichi Jima as it existed in WW II. (Chichi Jima is near Iwo Jima.) The US decision to rely on air power versus ground power (Billy Mitchell’s prophesy come true) in both the European and Pacific theaters is also given extensive coverage, and plays a central role in the book. Coverage is then given to the incidents that led up to Japanese aggression in China and the attack on Pearl Harbor. The early lives, military training and careers of the nine "flyboys" are covered in different segments throughout the book. Note that Bradley uses the term "Flyboys" for all the aircrews that answered the call to arms in the air services of both the US Army and US Navy/Marines, and does so with great respect for what they faced and accomplished.
One of the more interesting and thought-provoking sections covers the inhumanity of war. Each side’s viewpoint is covered, and why each side thought they were justified in what they did. The book centers on the harsh and often fatal Japanese treatment of prisoners of war. Bradley delves into why that mindset existed, resulting from an inflexible cultural hierarchy of obeying the emperor’s orders (relayed by the officer corps), a brutal military training system, miss-directed or perverted Samurai traditions; and the experience of having the Japanese homeland attacked by B-29 fire bombings with massive amounts of casualties. The American perspective is also well covered – that the fire bombings minimized US casualties and would cause Japan to eventually surrender, again saving Allied lives, regardless of how many civilian casualties occurred as unintended but necessary collateral damage.
All of this foreshadowing eventually leads up to what happened to the American prisoners on Chichi Jima, and how revelation of their fate got entwined in post-war politics. Bradley did extensive research, including interviews with surviving Japanese participants, in order to provide detailed coverage of what had happened to each of the captured Americans.
Flyboys is a very interesting if somewhat disturbing read. If you’d like to learn more about the Japanese military mindset during WW II, and would like to get contrasting perspectives from both warring sides on the US bombing strategy and the treatment of prisoners of war, then I would recommend this book to you.
Check 6 - Mike
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