IPMS/USA Reviews

PJ Production is well known for its figures and this time has provided another fine example of military pilots for a specific era. Most often, pilot figures covered are US Army or international pilots. This set is specific to the US Navy which is a nice touch to their ever-expanding product line.

The product contains two figures of two different styles with a small amount of flash is on the figures which is simply brushed away while detail is nice and crisp. Both complete figures (less arms), wearing helmets with the goggles up and seat belt harness on. The two have slightly different head positions and the arms only allow for right hand on stick and left hand on a throttle(s).

Test fit is in the 1/72 Azur Vindicator and the figure parts appear slightly under sized for this kit but a little material will be added to raise the pilot up to a correct height. The arms do align very well with the stick and throttles in this test fit.

Thanks to PJ Production for this very nice sample.

PJ Production is well known for its figures and this time has provided another fine example of military pilots for a specific era. Most often, jet pilot figures from the 60's through the eighties are very common but 1950s era jet pilot figures are not very easy to find especially in 72 scale. This collection leads in filling this short span of helmet and clothing styles on pilot figures.

The product contains two figures of two different styles with a small amount of flash is on the figures which is simply brushed away while detail is nice and crisp. There was a small hole of the face that will need to be filled which appears to be a casting flaw. Both complete figures (less arms) are wearing helmets with the visor up and oxygen mask on. The two have slightly different head positions and the arms only allow for right hand on stick and left hand on a throttle(s).

Test fit is in the 1/72 Siga Fj-1 Fury and the figure parts appear slightly under sized for this kit but Siga is a short run kit so that may be the issue. The arms do align very well with the stick and throttles in this test fit.

Thanks to PJ Production for this very nice sample.

If you are looking for some unique paints that are solvent based for your latest U.S. Air Force F-22 or F-35, Tru Color Paints has released some Modern Radar Dispersers to help you. The paints have a metallic flake added that only appears once brushed or airbrushed onto the model. The paint is advertised as being able to be airbrushed out of the bottle at 28 to 35 psig, but I added about 30% of their thinner (product TCP-015) in order to airbrush at 18 psig, which is where I usually work, even at this pressure, the metal flakes seem to go everywhere.

My paints arrived in a set titled "Modern Radar Dispersers" which consists of TCP 1205 (F-35 Radar Dispersion Gray, #1), TCP 1214 (F-22 Radar Dispersion Light Compass Ghost Gray), TCP 1215 (F-22 Radar Dispersion Dark Compass Ghost Gray), TCP 1220 (F-35 Radar Dispersion Gray, #2), TCP 1226 (Titanium), and TCP 005 (White). I pulled the Academy 1/72 scale F-22 Raptor (kit 12423) from my stash for this review, and painted the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Included in the set was a piece of the masking tape made by Tru Color that I would try out for masking the edges of the stabilizers.

Introduction

These Matte acrylic solvent-based sprayable paints are designed to be sprayed right from the bottle without the need for thinning. When researching the chemistry of Tru-Color Paints, I found on their website the following description:

Tru-Color Paint is a solvent based paint with an acrylic polymer used as the binding agent which adheres very well to plastic or metal models, when those models are properly prepared. The pigments and/or dyes used to produce the correct colors are very finely ground so that they do not clog air-brushes.

Tru-Color Paint was formed in 2008 by Rick Galazzo and Scott Cohen, both of whom come from extensive backgrounds in formulating paint on the commercial scale. They set out on their own to develop this paint line of solvent based paint by reformulating the old Accupaint formulation to flow better and give a more glossy appearance after drying. They currently offer over 600 colors offered with more to follow. Sets and single bottles are available and include lines for railroad, automotive, and military aircraft and armament lines.

The specific set I tested was specifically for weathering and include a sample of their masking frisket papers as well as the following colors in 1 oz. bottles: