IPMS/USA Reviews

Following directly on the heels of the release of their truly lovely Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter in 1/32^nd scale, ICM has released a figure set to create an instant diorama with the aircraft. Consisting of two pilots, clearly fresh from a flight, and a ground officer taking notes, the figures create a lovely tableau straight from the box. I suspect they're discussing about exactly who shot down that last Italian fighter that day.

Assembly of these figures is quite straight-forward, as they have little equipment or clutter associated with them. Both pilots have nicely molded separate life vests as well as oxygen masks along with the hoses. About the only modification you may need to make is to bend the hoses a bit to make them sit more naturally. It was unnecessary to use any filler on any of these figures.

From the Airfix product page: As the only all-British built Mach 2 plus capable fighter aircraft, the English Electric Lightning occupies a unique place in aviation history and remains one of the finest achievements of the British aviation industry. Possessing incredible performance, this Cold War warrior entered service in 1960 and became Britain's primary interceptor for the following two decades.

The 1/72 Airfix Lightning F.6 is a reissued kit with new decals and parts. The compact red box that has become synonymous with the "new" Airfix is packed full. A single bag containing all grey plastic sprues, a clear sprue within its own bag, Instruction manual and decal sheet.

The grey plastic parts were all in good shape, but there was some flash on a few parts and a couple of items had separated from their sprue.

The instructions were the newer format showing previously added parts in red, and each step was uncluttered. There was a full page for each marking option showing colors and squadron specific markings followed by a page of dedicated stencils. The last page showed decal placement for the over wing tanks and missiles.

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly", a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999, and since then they have built up a list of books on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. MMP Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly", a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999, and since then they have built up a list of books on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. MMP Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

Recently I had the pleasure of tackling ICM's new Gloster Gladiator aircraft kit in 1/32^nd scale. As is, the kit comes with a couple of British Air Service options for early World War 2 campaigns, but if you want something a bit more exotic, ICM has answered the call with a new decal sheet offering markings for four different nations which also used the Mk. 1 - China, Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands.

All of the decal combinations offered are essentially fairly basic, with national markings and a few letters and numbers as well. Of these, only the Norwegian markings require some preparation, as the red of the marking bands needs to be painted on before decaling. The simplicity of this decal set permits you to easily add aircraft- specific details either from your spare decal stock or paintbrush if you have another particular vehicle in mind. In addition, the national markings are useful for a number of aircraft in this scale - I'll be using the Greek and Belgian markings on a couple of Hurricanes I've been meaning to make, for instance.