IPMS/USA Reviews

The R35 was a small, light infantry tank that was originally designed by Renault for the French Army.  After the fall of Paris, many of these tanks were captured and pressed into service by the German forces.  These were used as either second line tanks or they were modified for other rolls.  The particular vehicle covered by this new kit from Hobby Boss covers a vehicle that has been modified to carry the 3.7cm Pak 35/36. 

History

Atlantis Models has released a PBY-5A Catalina in 1/104 scale.  This was originally a classic Monogram kit, which debuted in 1955. On the older model there was some issues reported with parts alignment, I found none of that with this kit.

In the Box

• Instructions:

There is a one-page instruction sheet. Illustrations for the parts and their construction sequence were very clear. 

M1 IP Abrams MBT

The M1 IP (Improved Performance) Abrams was produced briefly in 1984 and was a transitional tank to the M1A1. Some of the upgrades included a new "long" turret with thicker frontal armor--upgraded from 650mm to line-of-sight thickness of 880mm. 894 M1 IP tanks were manufactured for the US.

First Impression

This PANDA kit was released in 2018 and is a re-issue with new parts from the original kit which came out in 2017.  The box contains one clear sprue, PE, one waterslide decal sheet, brass wire, upper & lower hull pieces, and seven sprues (four of them dedicated to the tracks). The parts are molded in dark yellow plastic. The detail is fair. This kit has a large amount of injector pins and injector pin remnants attached to parts. Some parts had a moderate amount of flash which required cleanup.

It's a model, it's a game it's two, two, two things in one! Atlantis Models has done all the heavy lifting getting the molds and license for this kit. Once built, you can play ice hockey. Inside the box, you will get multicolored sprues (yellow, black and white and one spring) all ready to assemble and play. This kit is well molded and has no flash. It is snap tite in that it all pushes together. There are stickers included for the hockey sticks, Snoopy's spot and the markings on the "ice'.

Assembly, start to finish, will take about 30 minutes. A good sprue cutter or razor saw will help remove the parts as the sprue gates are substantial. The pieces are heavy too, in order to tolerate the beating the game will take being played with constantly. I did deviate from the instructions in that I glued Snoopy and Woodstock together and clamped them well. A quick sanding and I repainted both. I hand painted the eyes, mouth and noses and gave them several good coats of clear.

A true blast from the past, Atlantis Models has reissued the Aurora Godzilla kit with glow in the dark parts. As a kid, I remember the "Frightening Lightening "versions. This issue comes in a square box with alternate glow parts for the head, hands, feet, spine, top of the tail and nameplate. The kit also includes the destroyed city base. Total parts are 32 in Godzilla green with 14 separate glow alternate parts.