For the finish, the canopies were masked and the underside and upper flaps were painted in white.  This was then masked using blue painting tape as well as Plasti-Tac rolled into sausages to get the wavy demarcation between the upper and lower fuselage.  The upper fuselage was then painted in Flat Gull Grey.  After this had dried, the grey was masked using tape to paint the black anti-glare on the upper nose.  The supplied masks were then used to paint all of the Day-Glo Orange markings.  The last painting step was to paint the natural metal parts on the leading edges of the intakes and wings, the aft fuselage around the engines, inboard stabilator panels and the engine nozzles.  Model Master metalizer stainless steel, titanium and magnesium color paints were used on these areas. 

After the paint had dried, I applied a couple coats of Future floor polish to get a smooth surface for the decals.  The markings supplied in the conversion went on smoothly and settled down around all the contours and in the engraved panel lines.  The kit national insignia were used as they are not included in the conversion set. 

A coat of Dull-Cote gave the plane a satin finish over the gloss. I didn't weather the finish, as it was to show the aircraft on the day of its first flight.   

Overall, the conversion requires more work and time than a standard kit, but it's worth the extra effort to get a unique configuration of a very familiar and significant airplane.   

Kit Review

by Ken Liotta

Accurate Miniatures  1/48 Scale F3F-1

   The kit consists of 61 pieces molded on 4 light grey sprues with an additional 4 pieces molded on 1 clear sprue.  Two frets of 17 Photo Etched pieces are included along with a comprehensive decal sheet that allows you to build nearly every F3F-1 that flew.  The kit is packaged in what has become typical AM boxing: Top and bottom with an added false bottom that usually holds the decals, photo etch (PE), and clear sprue.  The box top is covered with a beautiful painting of the F3F-1 and the sides include all the data and multi-lingual description of the model.  The box bottom includes a photo of the completed model in the kit primary markings.

   The instruction booklet is well illustrated throughout 16 steps and includes several exploded views.  They begin with a brief history of the F3F-1 and lead into significant directions on how to build the model accurately.  Color callouts are included in these directions and also accompany each assembly step.  While you are working on the model itself, you have the option to paint it in a variety of aircraft based on the Lexington to the Saratoga and more.

   The parts include some exquisite scribed details and crisp molding that are virtually flash free.  Clean up of seams took very little time and the majority of the parts fit together exceptionally well.

   The assembly sequence laid out in the instructions is quite typical; Cockpit/interior sub-assemblies, fuselage, engine, tail planes, wings, and details.  The 7 color decal sheet that covers most all of the F3F-1’s is approx 5 x 6 inches and includes two variations of decals for the instrument panel that is molded in clear styrene.

   Once I started trimming the main component parts it became apparent that there was a significant problem with the upper and lower wings.  The upper wing had a series of scalping dips along the leading edge while the perpendicular details along the top were wavy and not straight.  The bottom wings had a similar wavy condition, but not as pronounced.  The best solution that I came up with was to layer super glue into the low spots on the leading edge and once I was satisfied that it had cured sufficiently, I used a sanding block and wet/dry paper along the edge to even it out.  While doing this, I also restored the aerodynamic shape of the edge and back over to the top.

   I made an effort to correct the wavy perpendicular detail lines by strategically applying super glue and once cured sanded and re-scribed the detail.   Besides the dipped leading edge and wavy detail lines, the wings had a swirled injection pattern in the plastic that didn’t appear deep enough to be a concern once they were painted.

   All three of these anomalies appear to be the result of either a cold injection or removal from the molds too soon or both.  I have looked at two other kits and have seen traces of the same anomalies but they were not as pronounced as this kit’s.  After repairing the wings, they were assembled following the assembly steps paying particular attention to their alignment.  While gluing the lower wings on I took advantage of the join lines and worked them into natural looking panel detail.

   Before gluing on the horizontal tail planes, I drilled out the fuselage details that would be behind them and then positioned the planes to give the appearance of having been trimmed or adjusted as seen in numerous photographs.  The remainder of the assembly was straight forward with no further problems encountered.  In fact, the fit of the majority of the pieces could rival many of the big name manufactures.

   Painting began with the doped finish aluminum color were I used Alclad basic aluminum over an enamel primer gray (Model Master (MM)  FS 36440).  The red is Testors flat red, the green is MM FS 34187, and the wing top Orange-Yellow is Polly Scale acrylic.  Except for the Polly Scale and Alclad, all paints are enamel.  I used a Paasche Type H single action airbrush driven by a Badger Silent 1 set at about 25 psi.  Most all of the assembly was done with Plastic Zap super glue but several areas were glued using Tenax 7R solvent glue.

   Before the PE rigging wires were glued in, I coated the model with Future floor wax through the Paasche.  Once that had dried, I applied the decals without any difficulties.  Another light coating of the Future was applied and once dry, I applied a gentle oil paint wash that was thinned with Turpenoid.  Since these aircraft were kept in relatively pristine condition, I didn’t apply too much.  I also didn’t hit the model with any paint chipping effects.

   Once I was satisfied with the decals and wash, I applied another coating of Future on the wings to replicate the doped, gloss finish.  Conversely, after careful masking of the wings, I applied a coating of Testors Dullcote to the remainder of the aircraft to replicate its less than glossy appearance.  The remaining details (prop, wheels, bombs, canopy, etc.) had been getting painted while the main construction had been going on and they were now added to the model along with antennas and the PE rigging.  Since the rigging wires are provided in stainless steel, these were left as they were to more closely replicate the real wires.  Nav lights were first painted MM chrome silver and when dry were over coated with several layers of Tamiya acrylic clear red and green.

   In conclusion, looking past the anomalies on the molded wings, the rest of the kit fell together quite easily and was an absolute blast to build.   For the latter reasons, I can comfortable recommend this kit to modelers with average experience to build.

Kit Review:

21st Century's Macchi C.202 Folgore

by Tim Wood

Click here to access Tim Wood's review article:  Macchi C.202 Review (PDF file).

Next Sponsored Contest

October 3rd

"P-40" Contest

Hosted by Patrick Dick

--  Held-over from September 5th  --

Best build of Hasegawa's 1/32 scale P-40E kit in the"Texas Longhorn" markings from the kit.

Webmaster's Addition:

Here's some "History" to go with your modeling of "Texas Longhorn"

by Mike Blohm 

"Texas Longhorn" was a Curtiss P-40E Warhawk flown by John D. Landers while he served with the 49th Pursuit Group, 9th Fighter Squadron in the Pacific Theater, achieving 6 credited victories against the Japanese. He evaded capture in December 1942 after being shot down and bailing out of his fighter plane near Dobodura, New Guinea after achieving his 5th and 6th kills.  The link below takes you to a description of Landers early career over Darwin and New Guinea and the air battle when he was shot down - great reading!

http://books.google.com/books?id=Q3b3d7-T4hMC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=John+D.+Landers&source=web&ots=dPLVYkkMSy&sig=Ruh4Ebaam8y_RtC5gURS4_GmzZk&hl=en

Further info on Landers' career and pics of both "Texas Longhorn" and "Big Beautiful Doll" are posted below:

So - what was the color scheme for John Lander's "Texas Longhorn"?   Is it really what is depicted in the kit's instructions?

Hasegawa's kit instruction state that the colors to use are Dark Green (DG) and Dark Earth (DE) on the upper surfaces over Azure Blue (AB) or a slightly-blued Light Gray FS36495 (LG) on the under surface.  Links to portions of the instruction sheet are included below.

Paint Scheme        Color Chart

However, John Tate and I exchanged a few E-mails on whether "Texas Longhorn" was really painted as per the kit's instruction or was actually in an Olive Drab (OD) over Neutral Gray (NG) scheme.  To help resolve this question, I went on a research hunt and discovered a few interesting facts that you'll need to ponder over before you paint up your model.

The excellent Schiffer book on the 49FG,  "Protect & Avenge" has some wording on page 24 describing the paint scheme's of the 49th's P-40s:

"Each 49er squadron was allocated 25 Curtiss P-40E fighters from the first, second, and third production blocks and P-40E1CU types from the fourth block.   Several of the third and fourth block planes were in earth brown and dark green with pale grey undersides camouflage, indicating RAF-contract machines for Europe or China duty.  They had been commandeered from RAF distribution after America joined the war effort."

So that more or less says that "Azure Blue" is out for an undersurface color.  More on this shortly.

To answer the OD and NG versus DG-DE and LG scheme question for "Texas Longhorn", I had to do some comparisons of photos.  I checked the excellent pictures of Lander's P-40 found on  page 8 of Squadron-Signal's "49th Fighter Group" book against photos of P-40's in the DG-DE scheme in the "Protect & Avenge" book.  Some good examples are on pages 56, 57, 60, 64, and 65.

One of the "49th Fighter Group" book photos of the right side fuselage showing the Longhorn's face shows what looks to be a DG-DE division line to the right of the horns, not too far from the front of the nose (third picture from left above).  Comparing this same view of the aircraft to multiple photos in the "Protect & Avenge" book reveals the same DG-DE division line on those aircraft as well.

This answers the upper paint scheme question.  Yes, "Texas Longhorn" was painted in a DG-DE scheme.

So what color was the lower side of the aircraft?

There are several possibilities.  Per the  "Protect & Avenge" quote above, the undersides camouflage was pale grey.  Another possibility is Sky Type S, or a U.S. light blue version of that color, as was painted on U.S. aircraft ordered by Great Britain.  Per the quote above, some of the 49th's P-40s were RAF-contract machines. 

This conundrum is much like the debate over the underside color of the American Volunteer Group's (Flying Tigers) Hawk 81 aircraft.  Advocates argue for either a Light Grey or Sky Type S.

So what to do?  Your best bet looks to be to build two models and have one Light Grey and one Sky Type S.  Actually, you can build whichever looks best to you, as it is highly likely that no one will be able to challenge your choice.   

If you have any additional insight or inputs on this issue, please send me an E-mail and I'll include it in this article.

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Of Note:  One of Landers' squadronmates in the 9th Fighter Squadron flying P-40E's didn't do too badly either when he also transferred to the ETO.
George E. Preddy, who flew P-40E "Tarheel" (an OD and NG acheme) alongside Landers, went on to fly the P-47 and P-51 with the 352 Fighter Group, where he became the top Mustang Ace with a total of 26.833 victories.  He flew a series of P-47's and P-51's named "Cripes A' Mighty".  See P-40 and P-51 pictures below:

Armor

Kit Review

Takom 1/16 Renault FT "3-in-1"

by John Tate

Several of us in the club built these big-scale Renault FT tank models for ASM's Group/Chapter entry at the 2018 Nationals and did well enough with them to win a respectable second place. But after Nationals I still had one half-built on the model shelf so decided to finish it up and do a review.

First, it's true what you've heard--the Renault FT was the first modern tank and easily the best tank of WWI. But when the Great War ended, the FT's service was far from over, as these tanks saw plenty of action between the wars, from Brazil to China, and were still useful enough as a combat weapon to see action in the early stages of WWII. What that means to us as modelers is that there is plenty of variation in markings and camouflage to make this kit a fun build.

           

The Takom FT is a recent kit, with the "3-in-1" version released in 2017, so generally it's well-engineered and goes together nicely. There are three basic construction stages--the hull, the running gear/tracks, and the turret. I built the kit with an interior and spent much time painting and detailing the engine and driver's compartment, but then buttoned it up anyway, so if you're looking for a quicker build you can skip most of this work. The engine is very nice but needs spark plug wires and priming valves, and the throttle controls in the driver’s compartment need control wires that run to the front of the hull. Here you have to decide if you want to build the turret with the Puteaux cannon or Hotchkiss machine gun; the cannon version used the kit shell racks and the machine gun version had ammo boxes attached to the inside of the gunner's area, but unfortunately no ammo boxes are supplied with the kit. No cannon shells, either--a noticeable oversight if you want to open up the interior.  

Something else I noticed about the interior--there's a firewall separating the engine compartment from the crew compartment. Some accounts say the WWI tanks lacked this firewall, so check your references.

Two turret choices--the hexagonal omnibus turret or the round Girod turret. Both could house either the cannon or the machine gun, and both were used throughout the service life of the tank. I chose the Girod turret with cannon, as the shell racks for it came with the kit. The Girod turret took some work to get right, as I had to add the raised seam line around the top of the turret, plus some bolt heads that were either missing or poorly-formed, but no significant problems.

The running gear and tracks are almost models in themselves and although tedious to get together, are generally trouble-free. The tracks are fully workable when properly assembled. Paint as you build to make finishing easier, and use extreme care when separating the individual track plates from the sprues or you'll end up with divots in the plates which will have to be repaired. You'll also need to decide at this stage if you want the WWI-style wooden front idler wheel, commonly used on most FTs, or the updated steel one, as seen on many French tanks in 1940.

           

Well, after several weeks to months of steady work, you're finally finished, so how do you paint it? First, do your research and match your build to a real vehicle in a real photo. There are a myriad of FT images online, so finding something interesting shouldn't be difficult, especially as no two of these beasts seemed to painted the same way. There weren't a lot of variations with the FT itself, but there were a few that were noticeable, so pay attention to details in the interest of accuracy. I selected a Vichy French FT used in colonial Morocco to oppose the Allied landings during Operation Torch in 1942, as it had the French post-WWI steel idler wheels and double trail hooks for the tow chains, but still had the early WWI-style vision plate for the driver. Many French FTs that faced the Blitzkrieg in 1940 had a later armored visor for the driver, which unfortunately isn't included with the kit. Decal markings for the model were from the spares box, as there is a distinct lack of accurate decal markings for the FT in this scale, although those that come with the kit are usable.

       

Overall, this is a nice kit of a great historical subject, and well worth building if you want to try something different in an uncommon scale for armor. By the way, a reminder--the FT would make a good addition to ASM’s "1939" display at the State Fair this year, as it was in service with both Poland and France at the start of WWII.

 

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World War I Armor Modeling

by John Tate

In the centenary of WWI, Great War armor modeling has undergone a renaissance the same way WWI aircraft modeling has--new tank and figure kits and a wealth of reference material are available now on what was once an overlooked area of scale modeling. Recently I picked up two useful reference books on WWI armor modeling that every tank builder should have on his shelf--Modelling WWI Tanks, a Histoire & Collections  by Frederick Astier, and Armour in Theatre: Camouflage & Markings, Tanks in the Great War 1914 – 1918, Scale Armour Modelling Colours Vol. 4, by Mark Healy.

   

Modelling WWI Tanks, published in 2016, is a thick softcover book that covers master-level builds of a Mark IV Female, a Mark IV Male, Saint Chamond, A7V, Schneider CA, and Renault FT, with most models placed in dioramas for context plus historical text and photos. The model photography is first-rate and brings out all the richness and detail of the subjects. This is a book you read for inspiration to plan your next build--you won't be able to finish it without starting construction on a WWI tank model.

Armour in Theatre Vol. 4 is a true reference book, packed with historical text and photos, battle diagrams and color profiles that provide excellent coverage on the development and employment of the tank by Britain, France, and Germany in WWI. To the delight of the modeler, much attention is paid to camouflage of WWI tanks and the color profiles are among the most accurate available, with text helping place each tank in battle context. Most interesting is a concluding chapter on what tanks would have been employed by the Allies if the war had continued into 1919. This is a must-have book for anyone embarking on a WWI armor project.

Both of these books helped motivate me to finish a couple of WWI modeling projects that had been on my shelf--a Mark IV tank diorama and revising the camouflage of an A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. I’ve included a few images of these projects. Note the barbed wire on the Mark IV diorama--Zebrano 1/35 barbed wire from Belarus. Unlike two-dimensional photoetch barbed wire, Zebrano wire is three-dimensional, complete with tiny barbs, and looks and handles just like the real thing. Scale barbed wire is a necessity for most WWI dioramas and Zebrano provides a product that is the most accurate available.

           

           

New model kits, references and accessories catering to the WWI modeler are helping re-create the equipment and battlefields of modern history’s most momentous year--1918. In 2018, put a WWI kit on your build list and add a new dimension to your scale modeling repertoire.

 

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Kit Review

DML 1/35 M4A3E8 "Easy 8" Sherman

by Tony Humphries

The DML Imperial Series Sherman M4A3E8 (Easy 8) is an old kit - twenty years by my reckoning and it could even be older than that. Like many of the DML Imperial Series kits, it fits together fairly well for the most part and is generally accurate but also like many others from this series, it has some issues as well. The kit supplied tracks are a pain in the proverbials, for a start... Who on earth thought that separate guide horns were a good idea?!? There are about 72 of these to stick on the tracks on each side, as well as assembling the individual links. This is sillier than a pair of one-legged pants. Needless to say, I threw them away and used a set of T66 tracks from the spares box (either T66 or T80 tracks would be appropriate for a WW2 M4A3E8, as I'm sure you all knew). The attachment points for the bogies on the lower hull are very weak too, with very little surface area to make a decent join. They're basically as slender as a ballerina's ankles and twice as fragile. So, something of a challenge, shall we say? One that Tamiya also made a dog's breakfast of in their recent Israeli M51 kit as well actually.

The version I had was the Korean-war kit but I backdated it with aftermarket decals and a certain amount of artistic license (AKA "making it up as you go along") to a late WWII version. Actually, apart from the tracks and markings, there is very little difference between the two anyway. The rest of the build is pretty standard. You start with the wheels as usual, and build upwards from there. Wheels are always annoying to build and paint, but at least this was an Allied vehicle and so it didn't have the insane number that you find on late war German armor. Some of those look as though the designer started drawing them on the plans in a frenzy and couldn't bring himself to stop. Either that or he put the decimal point in the wrong place. Maybe he had shares in the tire manufacturing company or something? Or a seizure? Who knows...

Anyway, returning to the M4A3E8 kit, it builds into a fairly decent replica in the end, despite the kit being old now. It could probably use some photoetch parts for the headlight guards and engine grill, but even without those it's significantly better than the Jurassic Tamiya equivalent anyway, which looks about as realistic as John Traviata hair. Hopefully you will be able to view the results of my build at the "1945" competition night and you can judge for yourself. In the meantime, though, I'd recommend grabbing one of these kits if tracked things are your particular cup of tea (and if not, why not?) if you come across it. They can be picked up pretty cheaply these days and are a fairly simple and enjoyable build, apart from the tracks, which are as much fun as a wet weekend in Clovis. Verdict: 3.5 out of 5.

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Kit Review

The Tamiya 1/35 M51 Sherman

by John Tate

Three iconic weapons in the Israeli arsenal gained international recognition in the 1967 Six-Day War: the Uzi submachine gun, the Mirage IIIC fighter jet, and the M51 "Isherman" tank. In the case of the latter, the M51 spearheaded the Israeli armor effort on all fronts and was instrumental in pushing out the quantitatively-superior Egyptian forces from the Sinai Peninsula, quite an accomplishment for an up-gunned WWII tank past its prime, especially since it faced much more modern Soviet armor. The M51 has been done before in plastic, by both Dragon and Academy, but this is the first mainstream kit of the M51 version used in the Six-Day War. Tamiya has produced a good kit, with a few quirks, but well-worth building. Here's what I found when I built mine.

This is an all-new-tooled kit, with very nice moldings; there is no flash and little cleanup required on most parts. The kit assembly is traditional, from the hull and running-gear up, and Tamiya finally filled in those empty sponsons found on their earlier Sherman kits. The kit was designed with the builder in mind so construction goes smoothly. However, even though it's not over-engineered like many other contemporary armor kits, it still takes some patience and modeling skill to get right, and there are plenty of small fiddly pieces, especially on the hull. The track is Tamiya's gluable, one-piece type, but it's easy to handle and fit perfectly. The one bugaboo about the tracks is the prominent mold seam along the track sides, which I thought would be a deal killer but turned out to be easy to remove, with a little sanding and super-glue. One nice feature about the kit is the depiction of the canvas mantlet cover-it fit nicely and looks great when finished; I wish all armor kit manufacturers would follow Tamiya's lead and add similar covers so modelers wouldn’t have to purchase expensive resin aftermarket sets.

              

On the downside is something I've noticed about most Tamiya kits-they get you 90% of the way there in style, but leave you on your own to get the rest of the way to an accurate model. In this case, Tamiya didn't provide wire mesh for the rear engine deck ventilation ports, or any detail for the tow-cable attachment eyes on the front hull transmission cover. The barbed-wire clamp on the transmission cover is also missing and has to be scratchbuilt, and the jerrycans stand upright on the fenders but lack the retaining bolts that would have held them to the hull. You get the idea-a lot of little details have to be added to produce an accurate replica. Tamiya makes a photoetch set for this kit, which can be hard to find, but I would recommend purchasing it in the interest of an accurate model.

Like many Tamiya armor kits, this one comes with a piece of string to replicate the tow cable-save yourself some trouble and get an aftermarket replacement instead. The .50-caliber machine gun looks like it comes from an earlier Tamiya Sherman kit so if you have an extra Dragon one in your parts box like I did, I'd recommend using it.

The finishing stage went smoothly and I painted my model in overall '67 sand. It's an open question what this color might have looked like after some time in the desert sun so I simply painted to suit. The decals went on flawlessly, with almost no silvering. As a final touch, I added a tethered antenna and some tarp rolls and musette bags, and my M51 Sherman was complete.

Bottom line, this is a nice kit of a historically-significant tank, and a nice change from the usual armor diet of wwii subjects and 21st-century mbts. Recommended.

            

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Walk-Arounds: M2A1 Half Track and M-18 Hellcat

by Jim Guld

Jim Guld posted two pictorial "walk-arounds" on the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society website covering the M2A1 Half Track and M-18 Hellcat. 

Click on the following link and scroll down to find Jim's two entries:  http://www.amps-armor.org/ampssite/preservation.aspx

 

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Jim's Armor Corner

by Jim Guld

       

I thought I would write about a couple of builds I have going at the moment.  One is the Dragon Sherman M4DV kit and the other is Tamiya's reboxing of the old LRDG Chevy 30CWT with the Italeri Breda 20mm AA gun kit.

The Dragon M4DV kit came out last year and is a nice addition to their Sherman family.  I'm building mine as a tank made by Pressed Steel Car and which participated in the early battles in North Africa, and this particular tank was knocked out on February 15, 1943, at the battles around Sidi Bou Zid.  I will be modeling mine prior to being KO'ed.  I had to make a few modifications to the kit to make it into a Pressed Steel Car tank.  The one thing you find out when building Shermans is that certain factories had particular builds.  In the case of this Pressed Steel Car tank it had a very early one-piece front nose without any bullet splash.  Currently no one makes this style of nose.  Dragon does make an early one-piece nose, but I had to remove the bullet splash.  The other area I had to change was the inside of the bullet splash around the top of the hull.  The Pressed Steel Car tanks had a flat area, and Dragon portrays it with a slight downward chamfer similar to how a number of other Sher­man hulls were produced.  Along with this, I had to put a slight chamfer on the short return bullet splash which goes around to the back of the hull.  Like I mentioned earlier, Shermans had a number of subtle differences.  All the early M4s and M4A1s sent to 1st Armored Division in North Africa had two short raised rails welded to the top of the engine deck to secure items.  On a number of tanks, they had a rack for a Jerry Can on the left rear, and they moved some of the Sherman tools.

Now on to the painting and markings.  The 1st Armored Division had a peculiar way it marked its vehicles with a turret: stars and bands around the turret that were interrupted with a geometric symbol to denote the different companies within the battalion.  I'm working on the paint job as I write this and decided to do a reverse mask process.  First I sprayed white over the areas where markings go and then followed that with yellow.  After that I will make masks up for all the yellow markings and then spray on my OD.  After that I will apply the name of the tank on the hull sides with yellow lettering from Archer Transfers.  I've done a test on some scrap styrene and was happy with how it came out.  More to come.

The Tamiya LRDG Chevy 30CWT is an old kit first re­leased in the late '70s.  It has surfaced from time to time and its latest appearance has it teamed up with the Italeri 20mm Breda AA gun.  The LRDG never towed these into battle, but they had one heavy gun truck with either this or a Bofors 37mm AT gun per troop.  These vehicles would usually be the last in line to keep a lookout for enemy patrols.  A few minor changes are needed to the Tamiya kit to make it into one of these gun trucks.  The top of the rear compartment sides need to be cut down to the metal frame and then a raised wooden extension added that goes in the front half of the bed. Inside the bed itself, it has a wall right in front of the wheel wells to help hold stowage.  The Breda is bolted to the rear floor area. It could traverse roughly 180 degrees.

The only aftermarket items I'm using are replacement resin wheels from Hussar.  Right now the basic build is done and I'm just waiting on the wheels to arrive and then it's on to paint.  This one should be fun!  The LRDG had some wild paint jobs and changed them basically from patrol to patrol due to the different areas that they might be working in.  Mine will be a three-color disruptive pattern based loosely on the Caunter pattern.  The colors will be Portland Stone, a light blue and a light pink.

Considering the age of the Tamiya kit, it has held up very well.  A few areas need to be thinned down like the front grill and the exhaust but overall the fit was pretty tight and I only had to use some filler in a couple of spots.  A few things that would make this kit even better would be some new figures, replacing the rubber tires with styrene ones and a new weapons set. Model On.

This month we'll look at the Academy M10 Gun Motor Carriage kit #TA990.  I'll go through the build and what I added or changed to portray the initial version seen in the first battles in Tunisia.

The kit came out in 2001, and was soon picked apart for a number of size and angle issues regarding the turret.  I decided to forego trying to fix any of those problems and instead planned to add the missing details to the turret and the hull interior.  The kit comes with a decent hull interior but like most kits it could use a little help here and there.  There are aftermarket updates for this kit both in photoetch and resin but I decided to break out the styrene and just use bits of photoetch I have in my stash.

Starting from the bottom up, the kit comes with what modelers think of as the later style M4 Sherman bogie with your choice of an initial top return symmetrical skid or the later style skid seen most often.  I opted to use a style of skid that was seen on Shermans and M-10 built in 1942 and early 1943.  These are sometimes called the intermediate style skids.  Dragon models provide them as an option in some of their newer Sherman kits and I had them in the spares box.  Since the M-10 I'm modeling is from the initial production batch from the fall of 1942, I needed to use these.  The bogie units themselves had a few injector pin marks on the front faces that needed to be filled along with adding on some of the missing bolt detail for the return roller mounts on the top and the backside of the mount.  I drilled out the four corresponding mounting holes on the opposite side of the return roller arm. T he bogie units were designed to work on either side of the tank. I went with the open style road wheels.  The kit comes with this and the stamped style and from pictures I've seen both are possible for an M-10 from this time period.

The kit comes with a fixed rear idler but I cut it off and added an adjustable one from the spares box.  I also had to change out the front drive sprocket for a Tamiya one since I ditched the kit tracks for a set of T-41-style DS styrene tracks from Dragon.  I had to shorten the Dragon tracks down by two links.  You could use the kit drive sprocket but would need to shim it out by about .015" to get the tracks to fit.

The kit comes with both styles of cast one piece final drive covers so I used the earlier style and added on the missing casting part numbers made from the Archer Transfers resin casting symbols and numbers set.  These are great.  They go on like regular decals and look great.

Other additions to the front housing included moving the siren to it from the front hull glacis plate, adding on the small U-shaped step made out of styrene and a small L-angle plate you see welded onto most early style covers.  I also added on the missing bolt detail on the bottom of the housing where it would connect with the lower hull.  The only other thing I added on the lower outside hull was weld beads for the rear shackle mounts.  The front mounts were part of the casting but the rear mounts were welded on.  Fit-wise, the sides of the lower hull to the front final drive cover needed some putty.

Moving on to the hull exterior, I decided to just thin down the kit's plastic light guards for the front and rear. I had to make arms for the rear ones after I broke the kit ones while trying to thin them down.  For the front guards, I also added on the socket mount brackets with chains that you would see in most pictures.  When the lights were removed there were small plugs that went into the light sockets to protect it and this was attached to the cylinder mount with a small chain.  I had to change out the kit's front hull lifting lugs for a more U- shaped ones.  The ones provided for the front of the hull I ended up using on the rear of the hull since they were the correct shape for an M-10 of this time period.  I also added on small pads that the lugs were cast onto.  These in turn were then welded to the hull front and rear.  Later style lugs on M-10s were just welded on directly.  This is when doing research comes in handy.

For the front hatches, I added on some missing details and on the rear hull deck  I added on the missing retention chains for the fuel/water/oil caps.  I also added on the missing handles for the fire suppression system mount.  For the onboard tools mounted on the rear I added on the missing footman loops and straps.  I made the footman loops out of styrene discs punched out with my punch and die and the arm for the loop is .010" styrene.  Some of the tools are from the kit and others came from the spares box.  The kit tools were kind of poor, imho.  I had sand and file the gun support mount on the rear deck so the gun tube would fit since I'll be showing mine in the travel mode.  I used the kit-supplied tow cable ends and added on a resin clasp mount on the rear deck from Formations, along with some nylon thread for the cable itself.

On the rear deck I filled in a small seam along the sides where the rear deck plate meets the sides of the hull.  I added on the thin sheet metal bracing for the front fenders and the thin lip you see were the upper hull overlaps the side and angles inward.  It is a subtle thing but something Academy missed.  This is why a lot of people on the Allied DG on Missing-Lynx are hoping for a new M-10 and M-36.

Moving on to the inside.  This is where I did the most work.  Here is where good reference books come in handy.  I added in the missing wiring and the main electrical junction cutoff box to the hull floor.  I tried something different on this kit and went with .010" and .015" styrene for a lot of the wiring instead of solder.  I used .032" solder for the heavier cable going to the electrical junction cutoff box due to the many twists this piece had.  I used Plastruct styrene for this.  Ever­green only goes down to .020" and seems a bit more brittle then Plastruct.

Other additions include the seat operation mechanisms and a more correct looking style of radio for an M-10.  It should be a SCR-610, which I believe only Formations makes in resin, but I did have a SCR-510 left over from a Dragon halftrack kit which is very close.  I then added the relay box on the sponson wall. Other minor additions were seat belts and straps for the ammo.

The turret needed a bit of work as well.  I made a mold of one of the kit interior stowage boxes and cast up a couple more since Academy only gives you two in the kit and you need four.  They didn't provide the larger stowage box seen on the right side interior and missed the stowage rack and Thompson on the right rear wall. I added on a spare .50-cal barrel and to the left rear wall along with another smaller missing stowage box down in the lower left corner. I  had to cast up a fire extinguisher for the interior.

Other missing items included some interior footman loops, springs on the side of the recoil guard, pads on the side of the recoil guard, and some other smaller L-angle mounts on the left interior, for which I have yet been able to figure out what their function was.  I made up the signal flag canvas cover out of Duro Kneadtite putty.

Moving on to the outside of the turret I added all of the missing welds and added on the casting numbers for the gun mantlet.  I made up the initial field expedient turret counter weights seen on some M-10s in Tunisia.  The stowage was made from the Duro putty and the packs were made from Apoxie Sculpt.  I have molds of packs and can impress the putty into them and then carefully take it out of them and form them to make different shapes on my tanks.  After it dries I add the straps to the packs.  The same goes for the stowage.  I roll out the shapes I want and impress the areas where the straps will be and then later put the straps on.

I won't be painting this one for a while, but when I do it will be done in OD with the mud-applied camo that was often seen on US vehicles in Tunisia.

Some of the references I used are pictures from friends I've met through Missing-Lynx along with the following books:

"US Tank Destroyers In Combat 1941 - 1945"
by Steven J. Zaloga

"Walk Around US Tank Destroyers" by Jim Mesko

"British Tank Destroyers Achilles 17-PDR M-10 S.P."
by Wojciech J. Gawrych

"Sherman A History of the American Medium Tank"
by R.P. Hunnicutt

Kit Review

by Jeff Frickstad

Italeri 1/35-scale Bofors AA Gun 40mm (Kit #6450)

Finally, a 40mm AA gun! Way back in the 1980s there as one. I don’t recall the company that put it out.   So now that Italeri has one, I thought that I would build it.

First thing you see is the parts trees, the instruction and no decals.  Building starts with the tires and axles for front and back.  Next is the towing or firing position — I went with the firing position.

Step 3 in the firing position is a bit odd for model parts 55B; the pads are short for three sides (back and two side wings); the front is fine, it sits like it should.  The other three are short about 1/16”, so I added some rod stock (3/64) and it fit perfectly.  Parts 53B are tiny little handles, be careful with them!

Step 7: parts 82B fit into parts 81B.  One problem: the holes are too small.  A hobby knife and a small file will open the holes for a good fit.

Step 8: The frame is fragile—be careful.  The pedals are set at an angle.

The rest of the kit went together very well.

The figures with the kit are a bit big for the seats.  The two seated figures need a Dremel diet…

The two standing figures with ammo are so-so, but you can use them.

There is a detail set out and a wheel mask, and maybe a metal gun barrel(?) and hopefully seated crew.

So if you need protection from those pesky aircraft, I think you will like it.

I give it 4-3/4 tanks.

E-Board Kit Review

by James Guld

I thought I would give you my impression of the H39, which I had at last month’s meeting. This was Bronco’s first model from 2005 and I built it basically OOB except for adding a few missing bolt details here and there, filling in the seams around the turret vision slots, and adding some casting numbers to the front nose under the Hotchkiss logo.

Starting from the bottom up, the running gear comes with metal springs for the bogey units. The fit of the pieces is slightly off when assembling the two halves together, so you have to watch that or they will sit askew. The tracks come as individual links which you glue together, but they didn’t have any knockout pin marks at all. The rear idler can be positioned on its mount, but make sure you mount it as low as possible—otherwise, you’ll have problems with the tracks hitting on the bottom of the fenders.

The lower hull tub is a one-piece unit and the upper hull is broken down into two parts. The front section stops about at the middle of the driver’s hatch where there is a natural seam line just like on the real tank. The rear section then has the engine deck grills as a separate piece.

The kit actually comes with a bit of an interior, but they left out any inside hatch details for the driver’s hatch so I left it buttoned up. The side fenders are separate and I had to cut off the location tabs to get them to sit right on the tank.

I tried something different on this build. I built the road wheels and put the tracks on and then assembled the upper hull to the lower hull. Basically, I built the entire tank and then painted it. The only thing I left off was the chain.

The turret comes with the side and front vision slots as separate pieces, and it also comes with a brass barrel. There are also interior details of the gun itself. The turret has some very fine details that you have to add to the top dome, and for mounting the gun itself they give you a thin plastic rod that goes through the side of the mantle.

They did forget to give you the exhaust shroud for the muffler, which I made out of spare photoetch brass, and I added the support arm, which goes down to the fender. All of the kit tools are a little weak on the detail side but I didn’t have any references other than the Char Francais web site (http://www.chars-francais.net)

I used part of the kit decals (the red hearts) and used Archer Transfers for the registration numbers on the front and back.

The overall fit was okay but not great. It’s not up to Tamiya or Dragon standards but not terrible either. The only other fit problems I saw were around the visor slots. I saw pictures at the Chars Francais site, which show gaps around the visor slots, and in other pictures I saw tanks that didn’t have the gaps. The tank I wanted to model didn’t seem to have the gaps, so I filled mine in. So to rate it, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. Not bad for their first kit.

Jim’s Sprues & Reviews

by James Guld

Well, this month I’m working on the 1/35 Academy M3 Lee tank.

Right now it’s a W.I.P. but I’ll give you my take on it, along with what I’ve taken off of the PMMS site.

So far, I’ve assembled the bogie units, the inside of the lower hull and the upper hull. Starting with the bogie units, they are slightly too tall, by about 2mm. I had picked up some resin replacement parts but I wasn’t 100% satisfied with them. In addition I am building a mid-late M3 which had horizontal reinforcing ribs added to the front face of the bogies, so I just reworked the kit parts. Other fixes to the bogies include adding two bolts to the top of the unit near the center return roller, and to file out a relief fillet at the rear of the top stiffeners on each side of the unit.

The lower hull is basically good except for the right side sponson. It is too narrow by about .032" from the front 75mm gun sponson to the back. A little Evergreen fixed that.

The Academy kit is a bit off due to the fact that what is depicted is an early M3 and the kit decals are for mid/late Lees. All of the pictures I’ve seen of Lees in North Africa had the later “quick fix” square air filters and fishtail exhaust below them, and not the earlier round exhaust as depicted in the kit. Formations’ resin replacement square air filters are on the way to solve the problem.

The only other weird thing about the lower hull is a large oval cutout that is supposed to be used as a location hole for the inner floor panel. Why? It isn’t necessary, as there are two small tabs at the back of the inner floor panel and this locates the panel just fine. It was filled in with .020" styrene and the missing rivet detail put back in.

The upper hull is a little tricky as it is made up of seven panels, so getting this good and flat will help with mating it up to the lower hull later.

There are a number of places where the rivets are either missing or are in the wrong location. The biggest “fitment” problem is with the rear top panel that goes vertically from the engine hull deck to the top hull deck. There is a .010" gap the entire length. I used some Evergreen to fix this and had to replace some rivets lost to the sanding gods.

The kit comes with a pretty nice interior and so I decided to leave the hatches open. Well, all those nice rivets on the outside have to be replicated on the inside. Let’s just say that the punch and die set got a good workout!

That’s where the kit stands right now. I still have the turret to build and fix. On the rear wall, Academy got the shape wrong—they included a flat spot vertically behind the upper hatch and it really should just be a slight protrusion at the top with a slightly rounded lip to it. Luckily the turret wall is thick enough that I can sand it down and reshape it.

I still have some photoetch pieces for some of the outside details to add along with new rear stowage boxes, since the kit ones are of the style used on Commonwealth Lees. They are slightly smaller then the US style. A bit of styrene will fix this.

I plan to use Archer Transfers for the yellow stars and blue drab registration numbers. I also need to come up with the yellow turret bands and unit markings. I did a test and Archer makes a clear decal film for use with their transfers, which I sprayed a lemon yellow to match the stars and it goes on nice and thin and looks great.

Well there you have it. I would give the kit a 6 – 7 on a scale of 1 – 10.

Jim’s Sprues & Reviews

by James Guld

This month, I thought I would give my build impression of the 1/35 Dragon 251/16 C halftrack.

The level of detail and accuracy is pretty good overall. The front firewall/dashboard aren’t 100%, but after it’s buttoned up, you can’t see all that much anyhow. One nice feature is that the front and side visors can be left in the open position, and these parts are clear for the vision blocks. When I started this kit, I decided I would add a few tweaks here and there but wouldn’t go crazy and buy aftermarket photoetch. I didn’t even use photoetch for the tool clasps; I just made the handles out of thin styrene.

The interior of this halftrack has the motor and fuel tanks for the flamethrower unit and they look good from the few photos I have of 251/16s. I only added some minor wiring to the rear of the unit and used .010 lead solder inside the braided hose they give you for the flamethrower guns. This helps shape the hose to the right look. The rear door detail is nice and the only thing missing was the MG magazine holder on the rear wall, which you would have a hard time seeing due to the motor unit. I did have some minor fit issues between the upper and lower hull. This resulted in a slight gap at the right rear corner of about 1/64". What seemed to be happening was that the top hull was pivoting off of the dashboard but even after I sanded it slightly it still had a gap at the back. I also think that when I glued the rear panel to the side panels that it was just ever so slightly low and helped the gap form. A little filler fixed it and I was on my way. There are a number of other minor issues with the Dragon hull. The kit is too narrow at the top as compared to scale drawings, and where the top hull meets the lower hull it should have a slight overhang but Dragon omitted this.

 The running gear is pretty good except for the front drive sprocket itself. On the real sprocket they have a series of teeth that catch on openings between the track links, and these teeth should have a roller between the two halves of the sprocket. Dragon left them out. Funny, since they could have easily molded this in. I added thin round bits of styrene using my punch-and-die set to correct this problem. The tracks themselves are pretty nice. I made myself an assembly jig out of masonite where I could lay up all the tracks and then just put a small amount of liquid glue on the hole that holds the track pad. This way, the tracks stayed basically workable and I was able to paint and weather them off the vehicle. That’s a real timesaver. So now that it was basically built the real fun was to start.

I had previously painted and weathered the interior so it was now time to paint and camo the outside. I was going to try out the hairspray technique that I gave the clinic on last month, but I forgot to bring it to my shop where I paint. I did have with me the Marmite, and I applied it with a Scotchbrite pad and then gave the vehicle a couple of thin coats of acrylic flat that I had in the shop. It worked out similarly to how the hairspray works. This was done over the previously painted and “Futured” halftrack along with the decals being in place. I also used the Marmite to mask the decals and it worked great. I then proceeded to apply the whitewash with a few thin coats of acrylic white. I let this dry for about 20 minutes and then carefully used a wetted paint brush to remove the Marmite first and then used a stiffer brush dipped in alcohol and blotted off and then worked the surface to remove the whitewash. I was going after a heavily worn finish as the vehicle is to be set in a diorama later around March of ’44. After that I wanted to try and just use acrylics for the weathering on this one. I tried to use gouache for the pin washes around the bolts and details, but it didn’t work the same as oils. The one nice thing about gouache is that if you don’t like it you can remove it. I also used some cheapo craft paints from Hobby Lobby and they thin very well and dry dead flat. I wanted to add in some slight filters to break up the white ever so slightly. I then did a light dry-brushing on the running gear and on the weapons followed by graphite for worn metal on the drive sprockets and the vehicle edges in spots here and there.

I would give the kit a 7 – 8 on a scale of 10.

Jim’s Sprues & Reviews

by James Guld

Italeri RSO/03

Well, since I’m writing this before Nationals, I can’t tell you how good it was, so you’ll have to wait until next month for my comments on that. What I will blather on about is my last build.

I started in on the Italeri RSO/03. There isn’t all that much out there on the RSOs as to reference material, and some of what is out there is wrong. I found this out the hard way. Oh well, at least I found it out prior to painting.

I have the MK/35 editions book on the RSOs but it is in French with a poorly translated supplement. I was going by what someone else built and I should have known better.

I made a number of upgrades to the kit both using photoetch and some scratchbuilding with styrene. All was well, I thought. I posted pictures up at the Missing-Lynx constructive comments forum, and, lo and behold, found out that the kit has many flaws.

Italeri missed the boat on this one. The cab layout is wrong, the back cargo bed is wrong, and a few details on the chassis are wrong. I did glue the cargo bed down, but I didn’t glue the cab down.

One other detail I found out, from a gentleman from Austria who is restoring one, is that they were issued until the fall of 1944. So much for putting it in my next dio set around Coutance, France, at the end of July.

AMS (advanced modelers syndrome) got the better of me and I’ll now have to de-construct the RSO. Sometimes it’s one step forward and three steps back. I guess I’ll get to practice more scratchbuilding skills. I have to change the shape of the cab interior engine covers and narrow the rear cargo bed to match the cab width, along with making all new sides for the cargo bed and making new bows and braces for the cover tarp. On the chassis I have to change the front tow hooks or delete them, change the rear drive sprocket cover, and change the rear tow pintle and layout of the stowage. Basically I have to re-do the entire kit.

Oh well, better get back to the bench…

Jim’s Sprues & Reviews

by James Guld

This month, for your modeling pleasure, I bring you my progress report on the 1/35 Skybow kit of the WC-51/52. It is a 3/4-ton Dodge weapons carrier. The 51 series is without the winch, while the 52 had the winch. The Skybow kit is now available from AFV Club. They bought the molds a few years ago.

I have to say this is the best fitting kit I have ever built. Yes, even better then some of the Tamiya kits I’ve built. The level of detail O.O.B. is pretty amazing since this kit is now seven years old.

I decided I was going to go “hog wild” on this one and picked up the Eduard photoetch set. It is okay, but has some flaws in it—for example, they provide the wrong style for the rear tool holder. They give the earlier 42-43 style, and the kit depicts a WC 51/52 from a 44-45-body style. There are subtle changes like the tool holder, the seats, and the rear cargo area seats. I also picked up the Wings & Wheels Production book on the Beep (that was the nickname given to WC 51/52).

I decided to add all the major wiring in the engine compartment and to the chassis. When I picked up the Eduard set I was hoping it would contain new parts for the hood, but it didn’t. I had to scribe lines on the inside of the panels for where the louvers were located, and then took my micro chisel and used it to push the plastic to give it the look of the louvers from the backside. It came out okay but not as slick as it would with new photoetch pieces.

Right now, I’m at the point where I have to get some paint on the chassis and paint the engine bay parts. I can then add the front hood and cab pieces and the rear cargo bed. I will be painting it with an OD/earth red camo pattern seen in the Italian campaign. 

So if you’re looking for an Allied softskin that goes together without much fuss, then this kit might fit your ticket.

Here are a couple good websites on the Beep: 

http://www.wheelsofvictory.com/index2.html 

http://lend-lease.airforce.ru/english/photogallery/dodge_wc-51/index.htm

Kit Review (March 2006)

By John Tate

British Universal Carrier Mk. II

Tamiya 1/48th Armor Kit (MM No. 16)

The Universal Carrier Mk. II was one version in a family of light, tracked personnel carriers common on British and Commonwealth armies during the Second World War.   Tamiya’s recent 1/48th-scale kit is the newest tooling of this important WWII armored vehicle and a delight to build.

Tamiya’s model represents a Universal Carrier Mk. II, used by Allied forces during the latter half of WWII in the European and Mediterranean theaters.  The Universal Carrier was designed to transport motorized infantry support units, known as Motor Battalions, for the British Army and thus saw much action with armored brigades in Northern Europe.

Assembly of the kit is straightforward with few problems.  The normal seam-and-gap issues arise, but are minor and easily handled with small amounts of putty or CA glue.   Fit is generally good. I found the kit’s biggest drawback to be the mold line running around the interior and circumference of the pre-molded track-and-bogey assemblies.  It is difficult to remove and the modeler must be careful not to cause damage to adjacent parts during cleanup.  However, I commend Tamiya for molding the track-and-bogey units in single pieces, rather than having the tracks molded as separate links or vinyl bands.

Marking schemes and decals are provided for four British vehicles, three from Northern Europe in 1944/45 and one from Tunisia in 1943.  All are overall dark green, although paint shades varied considerably.  I chose the Tunisia scheme because of the striking red-and-white ID flashes.

Overall, I enjoyed building this little model, which in 1/48th scale fits comfortably on a dollar bill.  Given the choice of subject matter, I would expect Tamiya to soon release a Churchill, Cromwell, or Firefly tank in 1/48th scale to provide some fire support for those Motor Battalions.  I recommend this kit to all modelers interested in WWII British subjects and especially those wishing to try Tamiya’s new line of 1/48th-scale armor kits.

Jim's Armor Corner

by James Guld

Last month I went over a couple of builds I had started and I figured I would continue this month.

Well, the Bronco CV-33 kit is stalled for the time being. Right after I did the last article, I put the tracks on.  They look like crap! Between operator error and the poor design of how the bogie units mount, they look terrible. One side is passable but the other side has all kinds of twists.  I almost “binned” this kit, as Tony Humphries would say.  I haven’t decided as yet what to do but for now it’s consigned to the back of the model display case.

The Staghound kit, on the other hand, came out rather well. I’m just putting the finishing touches on the weathering right now and I still have a couple of figures to do for it along with a small base.

Since last month I also wanted to start another project before jumping back to my M16B diorama. I decided to do tackle the Tamiya 1/35 Pershing kit.

Like most Tamiya kits it goes together flawlessly and only needs a little filler here and there to hide seams that wouldn’t be there on the real tank.  These include the front and rear corners where the sides meet the front and back hull plates, and the other area that needs the most attention is the turret.  The fit is fine but on the rear tank, where the side pistol port is, Tamiya has you add this part and you need to blend it in to the rest of the casting.  The other area on the turret that needs fixing is the seam for the turret halves. You need to put a slight flat here since in real life there is a casting seam here. I  also added a bit of Mr. Surfacer to some parts of the turret to give it a slightly more cast look.

I was given some pictures by a friend of my online and saw a modified M26 from the 3rd AD.   It was apart of the first 20 “Zebra Mission” tanks and thus had some minor differences from the Tamiya kit. On the rear final drive covers, Tamiya has a reinforcing strip. On these early tanks they didn’t have this.  I had to remove it and add on a drain plug to the casting.

I also added in casting numbers to the parts using Archer Transfers’ resin impregnated decals.  These are super cool.  I also added casting numbers and symbols to the front lower hull, front hull hatches and on the mantlet face. This is another area where Tamiya missed the boat on detail.  The Pershings had a small canvas cover that went in between the mantlet and the turret and was held on by a heavy strip with bolts.   Luckily the Tank Workshop makes a replacement mantlet with this cover.  The fit isn’t perfect and I’m not sure if it was designed for this kit or for the M-26 kits from Dragon.  A little bit of Apoxie Sculpt fixed it along with some Mr. Surfacer.

The tank in the photo I’m modeling mine after has been modified in that it is missing the side skits and has the front and rear fenders bobbed.  They then added an L-angle brace across the front glacis to keep the fenders from sagging and storage racks on the back fender corners and the rear of the turret.  It has a bit of the “Beverly Hillbillies” look that late war US armor had.  That’s actually what I like about US armor from this period.  It adds some interest to the vehicles.

I added the long right side camo net out of Apoxie Sculpt and textured it with a piece of embroidery fabric which had the right kind of square pattern that the real camo net had. I made the straps out of lead foil with Aber photoetch buckles and also added some of the missing footman loops to the side stowage boxes and fenders.

The other major item I changed out were the handles for the fender stowage boxes.  I replaced these with resin handles from Tiger Model Designs and had to remake the stops out of Evergreen styrene.

Other minor tweaks I did are as follows: thinned out the front light guards and added the tube holders with Aber photoetch chain; added styrene strips for where the front fenders would have attached; weld bead detail around the tow hook mounts and rear pintle mount; drilled out the side fenders where the skirts would be bolted; added retention straps to track mounts on the side of the turret; added the small catch to the bottom side of the gun crutch; added the tow cable hasp to the rear plate; made covers for the .50-cal mount and for the foul weather hoods that were stored on the right side of the turret along with the footman loops that were on top of the holder; added hatch catches to the front hull hatches and loader’s and commander’s hatch; and replaced the kit commander’s hatch for one from Caliber 35.  I also added the interior detail to both the loader’s and commander’s hatches. The covered muzzle brake is from Tiger Model Designs. I went with T-81 tracks from WW2 Productions.  These are snap-together resin items.

Jim’s Sprues & Reviews

by James Guld

Well, the economy might be in turmoil but you would never know it by the new releases still coming out.  I’ll give you this month’s highlights plus an interesting marketing plan by Dragon.  They are coming out with an “Orange Box” program where they take older kits and add in some newer parts from more recent releases along with some figures and come up with a new kit. So far I’ve seen three items listed but hopefully more will follow.  They plan to keep the price down, around the $30.00 range. This looks to be a good idea if you know what the updated parts for the kits.

So lets jump into what’s new since last month.

We now have a choice of dead cows for those “Falaise Pocket” dioramas. MK/35 added one to their line to go along with the one from Doug’s Originals.

Hauler has a small photoetch set for Soviet onboard tools in 1/35 and a few release for 1/48 that include Hummer and Marder III updates.

Zvezda has the WWII Mercedes-Benz L4500a cargo truck out and some Soviet WWII Mountain troops listed as an early 2009 release.

Fruil Model has a set of Sherman T56 tracks listed but they look like T62 style to me from the picture.

Mig Productions has some new releases of their filter oils now sold individually along with some remastered kits that now come with photoetch.  I noticed some new figures too.

Tasca announced a M4A4 Sherman V kit with a March release date.

Hobby Boss has a few new modern armor items listed: A Delta Force FAV, LVTP-7, AAVR-7A1 Assault Amphibian Vehicle Recovery, AAVP-7A1 Assault Amphibious Vehicle (w/mounting bosses), AAVP-7A1 RAM/RS, AAVP-7A1 RAM/RS w/EAAK, V-150S Commando APC 90mm Cockerill Gun, and a Spanish Leopard 2E.

Aber have a new photoetch set out for the Tamiya Opel Blitz and some new barrels out also for the 75mm barrel for KwK40L/43 with single baffle muzzle brake for Pz.Kpfw.VI, Ausf.F2, 75mm Pak39 L/48 barrel for Hetzer or E10, 88 mm KwK 36 L/56 Barrel with late muzzle brake for Tiger I middle & late, and the 75mm Pak 40L/70 gun barrel for Jagdpanzer IV or E25.

A new company out of China called Orange Hobby has a photoetch set available for the new AFV Club Churchill along with German stick grenades, star antennae, and tapered antennas.

Tiger Model Designs is getting closer to releasing their conversion set for a German BergPanther.   They also re-tooled their Bilstein Crane conversion set for the Famo and have some more resin bits for Shermans.

Trumpeter also continues to announce some modern releases. Australian ASLAV-25 (Reconnaissance), and the M198 155mm Medium Towed Howitzer (Early Version) set for a January release.

AFV Club continues on with another Churchill. This time it’s the Churchill Mk.III AVRE set for a February release.

Dragon/Cyber Hobby also has a German BeutePanzer Sherman M4A2, Jagdpanther Late Production, U.S. Marines Guadalcanal 1942, and M4 Sherman 75mm Normandy.

Archer Transfers has some markings for the Churchill MKIII and some new double row rivets in their surface detail line.

MiniArt has the dingo Mk.1b British Armored Car w/Crew listed as a February release and announced a dingo Mk.III British Scout Car w/crew.

Italeri announced the following: 508C 1100 “Coloniale,” Carro Armato P 40, Semovente L 40 da 47/32, Staghound MK IV, LCVP with 1/4-ton Utility truck, SWS with FLAK 43, Leopard I A2A2, Autoblinda AB 40, M4A2 76mm “Wet” Sherman, and a Crusader III AA with Bofors 40mm gun.

Academy has the following listed: Merkava Mk.IV, Swedish Army CV9040, and a M50 ONTOS.

Well ,that about does it this month.  As always keep checking the PMMS web site for your armor updates. 

This month I thought I would discuss a couple of builds that I have going; both are from Bronco Models.

First up is the CV-33 tankette.  This is a real small vehicle, only about 3.5" long and 1.625" wide.  Now, crammed into that you get a full interior for the fighting compartment and the engine.  The level of detail is great and down the road I see that they plan to release a 1/16-scale version.  The hull tub comes as panels that you assemble.  The fit was okay but I did have a few minor seams to fill on the rear panel.  Now if you’re into fiddly little builds, then this is right up your alley.  At just about every step you have to make up a subassembly, usually out of four or more parts, and then add it to the model.  The bogie units were the toughest to assemble, and keeping the wheels straight was a minor miracle.  The problem is that the wheels themselves have just tiny recesses on both sides that the front and rear side backing plates attach to.  I think it would have been a better design to have holes in the wheels and have the front backing plate include a shaft to go through the wheel and into the rear backing plate.  It would have made the units stronger and kept the wheels aligned.  After a kit like this you can really appreciate how a Tamiya kit is engineered.  Right now I have the interior all built up along with the engine and radiators awaiting paint.  I should also mention that the radiators on the real vehicle were made up of four units basically forming a circle.  For the kit each of these units is made up of eight parts and then there is the top and bottom connector for the radiators.  The top is another six parts and the bottom four parts.  I think you’re getting the idea.  I’m all for detail as long as it can be seen.  A great deal of the interior won’t be seen even with all the hatches open.  Oh well…

The other kit I started on this past week is the Staghound Mk1 armored car.  This kit is also available from Italeri, but the reviews I’ve seen give the Bronco kit higher marks for details but give Italeri the upper hand for ease of build.  This kit has a really poor instruction sheet.  The entire lower hull unit is again a series of panels that you assemble and in the instructions they tell you to add all the details to the panels and then to glue them all together.  Well, that just isn’t happening.  I glued the lower hull together except for the front bow panels, which have some interior pieces that I have to paint first and then will assemble.  The fit was really good except for the top hull plate, which the turret sits on, had a slight bow to it.  I was able to just bend it slightly back to shape and after gluing it in it looks fine.   Again the level of small detail parts is tremendous and along the way a few parts took tweezers shots, never to be found.  A bit of Evergreen styrene came to the rescue and all is well again.  The kit comes with a small fret of photoetch for items like the front light guards, which have a plastic bending jig to help form them.   Other little goodies include the straps that secure the sidesaddle tanks, and this involves bending the ends over and using a small piece of wire to act as a hinge pin.   Off the ends of these straps are a “T” hook at the bottom and a small round loop with a post at the top.  You insert the hinge pin through the strap and it holds these pieces in place.  I thought it was going to be tough to get everything to align, but it all went together without any cursing or yelling.  That’s always nice!  Right now I have most of the lower hull together along with all the fittings for the suspension.  I still have to do a little research and see how the brake lines were fitted. I haven’t started in on the turret yet, but it has some gun details along with the Number 19 radio set, which has a nice photoetch guard for the set.

Bronco has released a number of Staghound kits, so if you’re looking for something to build for our armored car contest, this might not be a bad idea.

I have decided to change my column slightly. Instead of just regurgitating what you can find for yourself on PMMS, I will try and focus on an armor-related subject of some sort.   I hope you enjoy it.

I have decided to change my column slightly. Instead of just regurgitating what you can find for yourself on PMMS, I will try and focus on an armor-related subject of some sort.   I hope you enjoy it.

This month I thought I would discuss researching, as I’m in the middle of a new diorama involving an M16B “Wasp” halftrack set near a canal lock near the town of Sarreinsming, France, in December 1944.  Personally, I get into doing the research for a diorama almost as much as building and finishing it.  I have found that the Missing-Lynx site (http://www.missing-lynx.com) is a great place to start for getting info on a particular subject.

The people that contribute to the site are some of the top armor modelers in the world.   For my current diorama, I had asked a question about the setting and received some answers from some members, and also started Emailing with one member who was able to help me find a site on canal locks. This guy is a lock nerd.  The web is great for this sort of stuff. People are into the weirdest stuff…

Through this site I was able to find a modern-day picture of the lock I’m working on and of old abandoned locks that were built at about the same time as the lock I’m working on.  I also started corresponding with this person and he acted as my second set of eyes. Working from an old black and white photo is tough and it helps to have a second opinion as to what something is in a photo or how it might be constructed.  With his help, we’ve been able to figure out many of the items in the photo with some degree of certainty.  Some items are still a mystery as to what their function is, and you just have to go with your best WAG.   will bring in this diorama as a Work-in-Progress and it will also be apart of an article I’m writing for “Boresight,” the AMPS magazine.

Time for your X-Ma$$ armor update, people. Not a lot to report since last month, but a few gems.

I got a sneak peak of the new Tamiya JagdTiger last weekend and it looks pretty nice and comes with both rubber band and link and length tracks. The texture of the armor plate is excellent and captures the look of the beast.

Atak has a new resin zimmerit set for the Dragon Brumbar.

Echelon Fine Details has some new decal sheets out.

MiniArt has some pictures and sprue shots of new figure sets of Commonwealth and Soviet Jeep riders.

Concord has a new book out on British Armor in NEW from D-Day to Arnhem.

AFV Club has a new Centurion with a dozer blade and a 1/48 251/1 C.

Accurate Armor has a few new modern resin releases of English 6x6s.

SKP has an engine for the AFV Club 251 half-tracks.

Italeri has its L6 Italian light tank listed as an early 2009 release and announced models of a Crusader 40mm Bofors AA tank and a German 305 Tanker truck on an Opel Blitz frame.

Voyager has a bunch of new photoetch releases.

Cromwell Models has a bunch of new Churchill conversions for use with the new AFV Club kit.

Lion Roar has pictures of their new Zundapp KS750 motorcycles and a new resin stowage set for the upcoming Bronco Models Staghound AA armored car.

Legends Productions has some new resin stowage sets.

Azimut has a resin launch ramp for the Bronco Models V-1 kits.

Archer Transfers has some new ammo crate stencils for 105mm and for 37mm crates.

MK/35 has a resin Atlantic Wall bunker with a Panzer 2 turret.

Trumpeter has some new armor announcements including the new 1/16 King Tiger for 2009.

Dragon/Cyber Hobby has some new announcements of figures and a German Sig33.

Tank Workshop has a bunch of new rail car releases and updates to earlier releases.

Griffon Models has some new photoetch releases for German armor.

Fruil Model has tracks coming out for the new L6 Italian light tank, the Russian SU-76 series of tanks and the BTR-50, PT-76 series of light armored vehicles.

As always keep up to date by checking out the PMMS web site.

It’s officially Fall, and that means the baseball playoffs are winding down, football is underway, and for modeling the Tokyo Modeling Show is happening.

You can search the web and probably find a bunch of links to the show, but here is one: http://www.sembado.com/photo/48th_ths/index.html .

I had told you last month about the new Tasca M4A1 DV Sherman but I didn’t know they are also adding a new early .50 cal to the kit. I have one on pre-order from Dragon USA but haven’t received it yet. Hopefully by our next meeting I’ll have it.

It looks like FineMolds also has some new figures and a new 57mm version of the Type 97 command tank.

Trumpeter looks to be very busy with both new and old armor and some more trains to boot.

Dragon had a test shot model of the T-34 with the Hex turret along with the biggest surprise from them, the M3 75mm GMC halftrack. Now with this and the M16 halftrack, the regular M3/M3A1 shouldn’t be too far off. They also had a number of other kits displayed—a late Hummel, Panzerjager 1, an early Panther G with zimmerit, a Tiger 1 Late with zimmerit, and some nice early war figures of French tankers surrendering.

Tamiya had models of their new JagdTiger kit along with their re-dos of some earlier kits with new added details. They redid their Italian M-13/40, Semovente and the German 232 armored car. They also have some new modern Russian figures. In 1/48-scale, they have the Marder III, Opel Blitz truck, and an AB41 armored car, which is an Italeri re-box. I also saw pictures of an L6 Italian light tank listed, but I think this is actually an Italeri kit. Either way it looks nice. It would look good K.O.’ed in the Western Desert.

Lion Roar showed off their BMW R75 with sidecar and it looks like a light trailer is also included.

AFV Club has models out of their new Churchill III and some test shots of the upcoming T-34 model 1941 with full interior. Looks like it will have a clear hull. They also had a 1/48-scale 251/1C shown.

Academy had a model of the K1A1, which I believe is the Korean Army version of the Abrams tank.

There was a number of interesting looking ship models also shown on the site along with some new finishing products. The only downside is the site is in Japanese, so it makes it a little hard to figure out what the product details are.

What’s hot in the world of armor, you ask? It seems that with fall, a bunch of new releases are coming out—that’s if you still have a house to build models in.

Some of the releases have been talked about before, but a couple are out of the blue.

From Tristar we have a Panzer 38t ausf. B with full interior and British paratroopers with Welbikes.

Formations has some new resin goodies for us: a set of wheels for the M-6 Dodge and a British vision cupola with adaptor for use on a Sherman.

AFV Club has the Stryker M1128 MGS coming out in September and the Churchill MkIII is still slated for October.

In the reference world we have new releases from The Factory Publishing and from Capricorn Publications. The Factory Publishing has “Panzers of Kasserine” and Capricorn Publications has a detail book out on the Studebaker US-6.

Now, after you’ve built that model you’ll need markings, right? Well, Archer Transfers has some new releases for you. They have markings for Marine M4A3 flame tanks and M4A2s on Iwo Jima, along with some new crate markings for US 105mm ammo. They also have new UN Flags, more surface details, and British Paratrooper uniform badges.

For you photoetch fans, Aber has some new items. They include items for the Dragon E-100, Geshutzwagen Tiger, Soviet Infantry belts, etc., a barrel for the Dragon Panzer IV G, a 105mm barrel for the Tamiya howitzer kit, and some German tapered antennas.

Resicast has a T-16 Universal Carrier coming out in September.

Trumpeter has a new Stryker M1127 recon version and for those of you liking 1/16 scale, they have a KT with full interior and an M16 halftrack. The KT is listed as a limited run and due out in October.

Tamiya has some re-pops out of Italian armor with some updates to them such as new plastic track and figures. They are the old Italeri kits. They do have listed as new an early version JagdTiger. These are 1/35 kits. They also have some new stuff in 1/48, including a new Marder III with the Russian 76mm gun, and re-pops of a Sdkfz. 222 armored car and AB41 armored car.

But by far the biggest surprise is from Tasca: an M4A1 DV Sherman in British service. The sprue shots look great. This is set for a mid October release. They will also be releasing the suspension set as a separate kit.

Bronco models also has their A13 Cruiser tank out and a 1/35 scale V1 Buzz bomb. I hadn’t heard of that one.

Dragon has some new announcements: a Panzerjager I, a 1942 version T-34 with Hex turret, a Premium Edition kit of the 250/8 German halftrack, a Panzer III J and Borgward combo kit, and a Stug III with the Flussigass tanks on the rear deck.

Well, there are the highlights. As always go to the PMMS web site for your armor modeling updates.

The dog days of summer are drawing to an end, and hopefully autumn will bring more releases. I know I have my fingers crossed! Unfortunately, a few armor subjects that were supposed to be released this spring got pushed back to the fall.

Here is what is new or on the horizon:

Mig Productions has some figures and diorama bits for modern settings like Jersey barriers.

Tank Workshop has a German railway boxcar.

Blast has some cool items for the Stryker, including a mine-clearing plow and lane markers for the rear.

A new book on Shermans from Steve Zaloga is due out in October from Stackpole.

Trumpeter says they are to release the 1/16-scale M16 halftrack in September.

Dragon has some new figures coming out of Commonwealth troops for the Italian campaign, and are supposed to have the 1/35-scale M16 halftrack out in September.

Hobby Boss has their version of the Land-Wasser-Schlepper coming out in late August.

Tiger Model Designs has some updates for the new M5A1 from AFV Club and some exhausts for T-34s.

AFV Club is supposed to have the Churchill MKIII out in October, along with crew figures from Hobby Fan.

This month I thought I would talk more about a recent book I purchased than just give an armor kit update.

The book is called “Getting Started Painting Diorama Figures in Acrylics” by Brett Avants. The title is a little misleading, as you don’t have to do dioramas to learn to paint figures in acrylics. I’ve been painting my figures entirely in acrylics for about a year and have checked out some of the sites online for different people’s methods and had heard good reviews of this book, so I decided to pick it up. It is fairly cheap and may be out of production. I got mine through Amazon.com and it was listed as used but was brand new-looking to me. It looked like it was never opened up.

It starts out with a material listing of what Brett uses to paint figures, like what kind of brushes, paints, Optivisor, reference materials, etc. It then goes into explaining how painting in acrylics differs from painting in oils and explains how to do shadows and highlights. The one major difference I noticed was that Brett does his shadows first and then the highlights. Most of the other articles I’ve seen from the Spanish painters have them doing it just in the reverse. The book takes you through painting a few figures and has very good pictures along the way to show you step by step what he is talking about. He also has a step-by-step process for painting faces.

I learned a good deal from this book and between it and what I already knew, I feel I will become a better figure painter. At least, that is my goal. I think the two biggest things in figure painting are not to rush it and practice. You’ve just got to keep at it. I’m trying to force myself to do at least one figure a month along with whatever else is on the bench.

So there you have it. By the way here is another site I like (http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com) that has a great step-by-step article for painting figures using acrylics.

So what’s new in the world of armor related goodies, you ask?  Well, read on, you treadheads.

There haven’t been any earth-shattering new releases, just a number of minor releases like wheel sets and figures.

There have been some more announcements of upcoming kits, like the Dragon M4A1 DV Sherman in English service, and they have also released the M4A2 75mm gun turret late kit as a Marine tank (but it could also be used as a lend-lease tank).

Speaking of Marine tanks, this past weekend I picked up a cool new book from Squadron.  It’s called “Tank Warfare on Iwo Jima.” Lots of cool pictures of Jarhead tanks.   Good inspiration for the Pacific contest coming up.

Continuing along with the Pacific theme, Master Box has announced a couple of figure sets - one with Marines on Tarawa, and one with them in hand-to-hand with Japanese soldiers.  Master Box did this same theme before with Germans and Russians on the Eastern Front.  Nice in-action stuff for either full-blown dioramas or vignettes.

Other new interesting figure releases come from Dragon.  They have some US tank riders, a couple of sets of Soviet infantry-related sets, and a set of Italian infantry in North Africa.

Moving onto tanks they have announced another Tiger II but this one is from 505 Heavy Tank Battalion with the charging knight symbol and with the zimmerit removed around the symbol.  They also have a Panzer II C as a smart kit. So it looks like the early war stuff is still popular.  Nice to see this kit.

Just remember, you can visit the PMMS site for all your armor related info.

May’s here and that means one thing, the Shizuoka Model Show in Japan. With that it also usually means a lot of new releases from the major players.  Here is a link to some show pictures:  http://www.geocities.jp/hobby_show_album/japan/shizuoka2008/index.htm

There has been a flurry of new kit releases along with some updates on earlier kits.  My favorite site for keeping up is PMMS. Just go to the New Kit News page and you can pull down a list of most of manufacturers and see what’s new.  Here are some of the highlights.

MasterBox has some new figures sets, a BMW motorcycle, a couple versions of the French Panhard armored car, and a couple versions of the German 170 VK staff car.

Trumpeter has some photos of a B4 203mm gun and limber.

SKP has a picture of the A30 Challenger Mk VIII model but no release date.

MiniArt has announced some new figure releases along with a new diorama building.  Also the US Jeep crew with MP’s is now out.

AFV Club has their Churchill MKIII listed as a May release along with the Stryker M1128 MGS.

Dragon has announced a DV M4A1 Sherman in British markings for El Alamein, early and mid production Brumbar’s, Marder IIIM initial production and a Sdkfz. 7 8 ton halftrack.

Tamiya has their new Panzer II A-C along with some older kits updated with new figures.

Tristar has an early Brumbar listed as a May release. They also have an early flak 38 kit with Waffen SS crew and a Marder III M kit listed.

Bronco Models has a few new kits listed.  Two different Staghound armored car variants and a Humber armored car variant.   There is also some test shots of the upcoming A13 Cruiser tank.

So it looks like a good year for new armor.

May’s here and that means one thing, the Shizuoka Model Show in Japan. With that it also usually means a lot of new releases from the major players.  Here is a link to some show pictures:  http://www.geocities.jp/hobby_show_album/japan/shizuoka2008/index.htm

There has been a flurry of new kit releases along with some updates on earlier kits.  My favorite site for keeping up is PMMS. Just go to the New Kit News page and you can pull down a list of most of manufacturers and see what’s new.  Here are some of the highlights.

MasterBox has some new figures sets, a BMW motorcycle, a couple versions of the French Panhard armored car, and a couple versions of the German 170 VK staff car.

Trumpeter has some photos of a B4 203mm gun and limber.

SKP has a picture of the A30 Challenger Mk VIII model but no release date.

MiniArt has announced some new figure releases along with a new diorama building.  Also the US Jeep crew with MP’s is now out.

AFV Club has their Churchill MKIII listed as a May release along with the Stryker M1128 MGS.

Dragon has announced a DV M4A1 Sherman in British markings for El Alamein, early and mid production Brumbar’s, Marder IIIM initial production and a Sdkfz. 7 8 ton halftrack.

Tamiya has their new Panzer II A-C along with some older kits updated with new figures.

Tristar has an early Brumbar listed as a May release. They also have an early flak 38 kit with Waffen SS crew and a Marder III M kit listed.

Bronco Models has a few new kits listed.  Two different Staghound armored car variants and a Humber armored car variant.   There is also some test shots of the upcoming A13 Cruiser tank.

So it looks like a good year for new armor.

So what’s new for you treadheads?  Well a ton of new stuff.   

Dragon has a new JagdPanther G and a Flakpanzer 38t.  I haven’t seen either in person yet but there are reviews of the JagdPanther at the PMMS and of the Flakpanzer at Missing-Lynx in the Time on Target area in the discussion groups.   Academy announced a Grant to go along with the earlier Lee.  Hopefully the boogies will be the correct height not like the Lee.  They did fix them for the M7 Preist kit.  Italeri has a slew of new listing for 2008. - Sd.Kfz.140 Flakpanzer 38 Gepard,Staghound AA, Horse drawn Breda 20, Crusader III AA MK.I, DUKW British Royal Army, Kfz.305 tank wagen, 1/4 Ton 4X4 Utility truck, Carro Armato L6 PRM Edition, LVT-(A) 2 “Saipan”,  Sd.Kfz.VI Tiger Ausf.E (w/photo etched parts),  Sd.Kfz.179 BergePanther (w/photo etched parts), Sd.Kfz.V Panther Ausf.D (w/photo etched parts) and a Bedford QL with 6 Pdr.AT gun.  

SKP has announced a British A30 Challenger tank.  There are some particle sprue shots up at PMMS. Alpine released a couple of new figures of 12SS HJ.  Formations jut came out with a replacement DV hull for the M4A2 Sherman along with a late High Bustle turret. Aber just came out with  U.S.30 cal barrels that you don’t have to roll the perforated sleeve.  Voyager seems to have also entered the fray with their rendition of a U.S. .50 cal barrel.   Italeri have their version of the Staghound armored car. 

Up next is Hussar resin replacement wheels for the new Humber Scout car kit.  They have a couple of different style tread patterns available.   They also plan to do some for the Staghound and for the Studabaker 2-1/2 ton truck. I also spotted stowage for both the Humber and Staghound by Blast and by Legend Productions.  There is also a book out on the Staghound by Service Publications.  It covers the Staghound in Canadian service.  You can find reviews at the PMMS website for all of the above at:  http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/

 I recently got for X-Mas, a CD from Easy One Productions on the DUKW 2-1/2 ton truck.  It is the tech manual put on a CD.  Now I always prefer a book to a CD but for the price it is a good compromise.  Easy One Productions has a number of different CD’s available and I also have one for the M36B1 and B2 tank destroyers.  Their site address is: http://www.easy1productions.com/

Oh my aching credit card.

With fall comes Balloon Fiesta, chile roasting, and, of course, the Tokyo Model Show. That means a lot of new releases and hopefully some sprue shots or kit builds of the new kits. I regularly check in at Perth Military Modeling Site (PMMS) to bone up on what’s new or to get reviews, so I wasn’t too surprised by what I saw from the show. (http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com).

The surprises for me were from AFV Club: their Early T-34 with full interior and Bofors AA Gun. From Tristar, a Flakpanzer Gepard and 20mm accessory set to go along with it. They also have a Fieseler Storch for you plane guys in 1/35.

From Bronco Models, there is a new Humber Scout car with twin Vickers MG and a couple of new Staghound armored cars. One has the 60lb rockets off of Typhoon’s mounted on the side of the turret, and the other is a Stag with the Crusader turret on it with a 75mm gun, I believe.

From Tamiya, we have some early war French Infantrymen for Mike Blohm, and a JS2, which looks pretty nice. It looks like it comes with link and length tracks like what they are doing in 1/48.

Also up from Tasca is a mid M4A1 Sherman. I know that I’ll be adding a few of these to my stash.

The only area of disappointment for me was not seeing any of the other M3 halftrack series from either Trumpeter or Dragon. But then again, it’s not like I don’t have enough to keep me busy for the next five years. Model on! 

Well, with Nationals coming up I figured I would talk about some of the new kits I hope to spot in the vendors’ room and see in the back of Rick’s Bronco on the ride home.

Armor-wise, there should be some new releases at the time of Nationals. Dragon is talking about an M2 halftrack with the 37mm gun mounted in the back for infantry support. It is supposed to be a Cyber-Hobby release. They also have the M3/M3A1 and M16 announced, but I haven’t heard any release dates for these kits.

I hope to see some of Tasca’s aftermarket sets in the vendors’ room. They have two really nice .50-cal sets and a new set of US water and gas cans. One other item they recently released is an assembly jig for doing Model Kasten Sherman tracks. It looks to make a horrible job a bit easier.

Bronco Models has just released their Humber Scout Car and hopefully their Staghound armored car will be ready too. From the test shots I’ve seen online, these kits look really nice with full interiors and engine bays. Wow!

Trumpeter has also been talking about their own line of US-based halftracks, but I haven’t seen any release dates, so I doubt we’ll see any at the show other than maybe some test shots at the Stevens booth. They should have some new Axis stuff like the Bridge layer on the Panzer IV hull and the armored train flatbed car with the Panzer IV turret. I saw a review of this kit at the PMMS site, and it didn’t get a great review. Trumpeter seems to be hit or miss with its armor kits. Their KV series of tanks are really well done, but some of their newer armor kits aren’t at the same level.

So you guessed it I’m getting pretty excited about next month. The contest itself should have some stiff competition. I think if you win anything this year you really deserve it. Well that’s it for me. Back to the bench and working on that M3 Lee and I still have to finish up those bases for the Blue Angels.