IPMS/USA

Tamiya has just released a new set of figures of German Military Police that could be used to enhance any diorama setting, or even a stand alone with a building or street scene. The kit consists of two sprues, one containing the figures and the other containing the accessories which are fairly well detailed. Also included in this kit is a very good likeness of a German Shepherd dog which will add to the realism of the figures.

First thanks go to our friends at Stevens International who provided IPMS-USA this kit, and thanks to Trumpeter for having (once again) stepped out and provided what the modeling community had only previously dreamed of; a 1/32nd scale F-18G!

Quickboost, located in the Czech Republic, has produced a number of very useful resin accessories for plastic models in a number of scales, and these units (3 are included) would be welcome additions to most 1/72 scale Bf-109 kits.  Many 1/72 scale kits tend to have very heavy detail on such petite items as pitot tubes, aileron hinges, pilot access steps, and a host of other small details, if these are included at all.

This accessory pack consists of three pitot tubes protected by a heavy molding on the sides.  The tubes are very small, as they were on the real aircraft, and would certainly look better than those provided in most kits, which have them molded in scales closer to sewer pipes.  These are worth getting if you are building a lot of Bf-109’s, and they would probably be useful on a lot of other 1/72 scale aircraft also.

Recommended.

Thanks to Quickboost and John Noack for the review sample.

These accessories are manufactured by Quickboost to provide additional detail to currently produced models.  In this case, the accessory kit consists of two parts, a resin casting of the mechanical compass located behind the gunner’s position on the JU-87D, along with a clear plastic cover which fits over the unit to protect it from the elements.

From the photos I have examined, these compasses are not prominent features of the airplanes and don’t show up on many photos. When the gunner’s canopy is slid back, the unit would be invisible underneath the canopy. Nevertheless, they generally were installed, similar to those on the JU-88, which are depicted on some of the better JU-88 kits. None, to my knowledge, appears on any JU-87D/G kit. Therefore, this unit would be useful on any of the late-model Stuka kits, whether they be Fujimi, Academy, Revell, or even the old Frog kit. A scale drawing of the exact location is provided in the instruction sheet.

Quickboost products are manufactured in the Czech Republic and are intended to improve or add detail to currently available plastic model kits.  In this case, the product is a replacement rudder for the late model JU-87D and G Stukas operated by the Luftwaffe late in World War II.

The product consists of a cast resin one-piece rudder. The idea is to trim off the kit’s existing rudder and replace it with the resin unit.  Looking at both parts together, it is difficult to see any significant differences, although one advantage would be that it would be easier to position the rudder to the left or right, rather than cutting off the kit rudder (and probably screwing it up) to get the same effect. The details on both rudders are similar, although the resin unit has the cutouts for the rudder hinges molded into the resin, whereas, these are missing on the kit unit.

Note: While this book has been out of print since approximately 1992 it can still be found at Amazon.com. A softcover was released in 1992, priced at $15.00. The original was published in Japan by Kobunsha Co., Ltd., in 1970.

While unpacking my book collection from 6-year old moving boxes, I came across a treasure trove of books long forgotten. “Eagles of Mitsubishi….” came out of the box and, after taking a look, I decided that this was worthy of a review.

“Eagles of Mitsubishi….” is written by Jiro Horikoshi, Chief Designer of the Zero-sen fighter. The Zero-sen was the premier fighter for the Japanese Navy during throughout WW II. Much like the Messerschmitt Bf-109, the Zero went through upgrade iterations, starting with the original design stemming from the Imperial Navy’s design requirement released in October of 1937. Much like the Bf-109, the airplane was forced to soldier (sailor?) on throughout the war as the prime fighter for the air services.

History

In the years prior to WWII, the US military had some very colorful aircraft that helped christen the era “The Golden Age”. These brightly colored aircraft were undoubtedly a carryover from the WWI where aircraft were often painted in bright schemes that reflected the pilots own tastes. This was also a transitional period that saw military aircraft evolve from bi-planes to monoplanes. Between the wars, both the US Army Air Force and the US Navy were painting the upper surface of the upper wing with a highly visible orange-yellow that was used for search and rescue in the event that the aircraft was forced down. The US Navy carried this even further and painted their aircrafts’ tail surfaces in different colors that indicated the carrier group it was assigned to. Navy aircraft also had the engine cowling painted different colors that indicated the section within the squadron. The top wing had a chevron the color of the section and the section leader’s aircraft had a belly band also the color of the section. All this made for some very colorful aircraft that have become the favorite subject for a lot of modelers.

When I first received this model kit for review, the title that Dragon Models gave it, “Heavy Uniform Personnel Vehicle Type 40” had me confused.  It clearly looked to me like the Auto Union/Horch 4x4 Type 1a produced by Tamiya in 1/35^th scale way back in the 1970’s.  And sure enough, this is what the kit turned out to be!  And to be fair to Dragon, the vehicle was indeed a “heavy” (as compared “medium” or “light” weight) 6 man personnel vehicle.  The kit is in fact “kits”, as Dragon gives the modeler two identical kits within the same box.

Yellow-Wings Decals have again filled another gap with this release of the U.S.A.A.C. P-39D Headquarters Aircraft 31st, Pursuit Group, Carolina Maneuvers of 1941. According to Yellow-Wings the 31st Pursuit Group were made up of the 39th, 40th and the 41st Pursuit Squadrons. Even though each squadron had their own color markings: 39th Red, 40th Yellow and 41st White, it was the general practice to incorporate all of these colors and have them painted on the spinner or cowl which is printed on the decal sheet. Other markings on this sheet include our National Insignias, fuselage stripes and wing walk stripes. The 31st pursuit Group Icon and numbers are also included.

Also contained in their package are drawings of the P-39D aircraft, which show the locations of the decals on the aircraft and another sheet with the instructions for the recommended way to lay them down.

THE AIRCRAFT

While the Global Hawk may look like a larger version of the Predator UAV, it’s a different aircraft with a different mission.  Predators provide real-time surveillance and reporting of local target and maneuver info, and Global Hawks provide long-range intelligence.  Think of the difference between an RF-4 and a U-2.

Global Hawks have set a couple of world records for UAVs, including altitude (65,000+ feet) and range (8214 miles).  The range record was also notable as the first flight by a UAV non-stop across the Pacific, Edwards AFB to Australia.

The sensor packages are upgrades of the ones used on the U-2.  One of the upgrades is lower price for better performance.  The suite includes a SAR (synthetic aperture radar) which can see things on the ground through smoke, cloud or dust, and an integrated visual camera system which uses sensors in the visual spectrum integrated with an infrared sensor to provide a better visual image in all light conditions.