IPMS/USA Reviews

The latest journal of Cross & Cockade International - Autumn 2018, features a front cover photograph of Jean Chaput in front of his Nieuport 11, N940. This color 1916 photograph was based on the Autochrome technology developed by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere. The inside rear cover features color illustrations by Juanita Franzl of Lt. Dawson's and Lt N. E. Williams' Ship's Camels. The outside rear cover features color illustrations by David Mechin of Jean Chaput's aircraft. If you check out the web site link above, you can get additional sample pics of the current issue.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

History

The PZL P-23 Karas was one of the most important combat aircraft in the inventory of the Polish Military Aviation prior to the outbreak of World War II. Designed as a three place light bomber and reconnaissance type in the early thirties, and powered by the Polish-built Bristol Pegasus radial engine, the p-23 was placed in production in time to be available during the German invasion in 1939. Numerous units were equipped with the P-23A and P-23B versions, and these operated in the light bomber and reconnaissance role during the time that Poland was defending itself against the Germans. Later, when the Russians issued their "stab in the back" invasion, most of the surviving P-23's were flown to Romania, where some of them soldiered on until the end of the war. A few were also exported to Bulgaria before the war, and these were redesignated P-43A due to a change in engines.

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) produces white metal replacement parts for kits in a variety of scales. Some of their landing gear sets are for a variety of kits and some sets are designed for a specific model. The white metal sets are designed to support the weight of a specific model without warping that can be seen with kit styrene landing gear.

The parts are for the Airfix Me-262 are well cast and had no flash or other area that needed to be sanded. I bent one of the struts when removing from the sprue but could straighten it out easily. I had to put heavier weight in the front of the jet than anticipated so it would not be a tail sitter and the SAC landing gear stood up to the weight very well.

When gluing the landing gear to the aircraft I used CA and the parts fit perfectly without any modifications to the join areas.

The landing gear would be a great addition to the model kit and is a recommendation for purchase.

I want to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions and IPMS for the ability to review this product.

This part 2 of a three-part review of Mission Models paints.The Clear Coats

Shortly after releasing their second round of paint colors Mission Models released three clear coat products to protect the paint once it has been applied to a model. The Clear coatings are Flat Clear, Semi-Gloss Clear and Gloss Clear.

All clear coats are mixed with the Mission Models thinner and depending what you use the clears coats for, the thinner proportions mix is varied, I found 30% thinner to the clear worked best for me. The Polyurethane may be used with the clear coat as it is with the paint products. Let the clear coats dry for minimum 3 hours and they are ready for applications of any masking material.

Spraying the clears are done by setting your airbrush air pressure to 10 to 15 psi and applying the clear coats in light multiple coats.

The clear coats are compatible with all the decal settings solutions that you would normally use on your projects.

AFV Club is a Taiwan-based venture, founded by a hobby shop owner in the late 1980's. With a growing catalogue of kits in various scales and genres (armor, aircraft, ships, figures and accessories), AFV have made a name for themselves as a niche supplier of subjects. This little gem is no exception.

The Sea King, entering service in 1961, was Sikorsky's first truly amphibious helo and one of the first to use twin turboshaft engines. Originally intended as an ASW bird, the type has had a long and illustrious history doing SAR, transport, medevac and AEW duty. The USMC has operated Sea Kings under HMX-1 as presidential transports that serve as "Marine One" when the President is onboard. As recently as 2009, some 600 Sea Kings remained in service with multiple military and private operators.

AFV's offering (which consists of two complete kits in this case) is meticulously engineered, with petite engraved detail and multiple configurations and display options (for example, rotor and tail folded and stowed for carrier duty). The two kits and the colorful decal sheet permit you to build any two of these four options: