Tabla de contenidos para February 2017 en FineScale Modeler

W hen people think of World War II Allied fighters, often the first that come to mind are the Mustang and the Spitfire. But, for me, the gull-winged Vought F4U Corsair is iconic. Perhaps it was watching all those reruns of Black Sheep Squadron, but it’s always held a special place in my heart. So, I decided to try to re-create that South Pacific Solomon Islands imagery with a Tamiya 1/48 scale F4U-1A Corsair (No. 61070) and some detail help with Eduard products www.eduard.com photo-etch, or PE (No. 48381), and precut canopy masks for both the 1A and 1D (No. EX033). Breaking with the cockpit-first custom, I started on the Pratt & Whitney R2800 radial engine. All paints are Testors Model Master enamels except where otherwise noted. 11:1 Aerial victory…

SCOTT WITHERS CANTON, MICHIGAN “U-82 Resurfacing” is the name of the spectacular display Scott built around Revell’s 1/72 scale Type VIIC U-boat. Diving deep, he incorporated Eduard photo-etch, Nautilus wood decking, EZ Line rigging, and .5mm wire lashing down the deck gun. The fine finish comprises Tamiya acrylic colors, AIM pigment, and AK Interactive streaking grime, dark wash for wood, light rust wash, and chipping fluid. “This was a real challenge and went way outside my comfort zone. I modeled my approach to the seascape on the methods of Chris Flodberg,” Scott says, referring to the April 2016 FineScale Modeler cover story. ANTHONY BARRERAS, MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA “This is my first time building a Navy bird and I had a blast!” says Anthony. “Accurate Miniatures did a fantastic job and…

THOMAS MORTON SONOMA, CALIFORNIA After adding seat belts and new gun barrels to Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale SBD, Thomas painted it with Tamiya acrylics to model an Atlantic Fleet Dauntless. Oil washes and pastels weather the antisubmarine aircraft that sits on a carrier-deck base made from basswood. More photos Check out additional images from EagleQuest with information from the builders at www.FineScale.com/OnlineExtras. BRAD BELSHEIN FRISCO, TEXAS Brad describes Tiger Models’ 1/35 scale AMX-10RCR as "a very cool French subject." He replaced the kit wheels with resin from Blast; the same company made the stowage. Over black primer, he painted the camouflage with Tamiya acrylics. Post-shading and oil washes weathered the finish. DEREK COLLINS ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA Suspended on clear acrylic rods, rockets streak toward an unseen target. Derek crewed HobbyBoss’ 1/72 scale…

Best known for its part in sinking the Bismarck in May 1941, HMS Ark Royal saw almost continuous action from the beginning of hostilities in September 1939 until its sinking in November 1941. The first purpose-built aircraft carrier — those before had been converted from other classes — Ark Royal boasted large hangars, a hurricane bow, a rounded-down stern to reduce turbulence for landing aircraft, and double the antiaircraft armament carried by contemprary Allied carriers. Merit’s kit is finely molded in gray plastic with just a few areas of flash and nice detail throughout, including eyebrow gutters above the portholes. The air wing comprises five Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, four Fairey Fulmar fighters, and four Blackburn Skua dive-bombers. All are molded in gray plastic with good detail; the biplane Swordfish…

Kit: 2054 Scale: 1/35 Mfg: Takom, www.takom-world.com Price: $54.95 Comments: Injectionmolded,696 parts (63 PE, 3 vinyl), wire,decals Pros: Clear headlights and periscopes;fuel lines for external tanks; wire tow cable, separate fenders Cons: Heavy detail on the tires; tricky PE light guards With the loss of Soviet support after the Sino-Soviet split, China developed its own arms industry. The Type 69 was that industry’s first main battle tank. Based on the T-54, it incorporated parts copied from a T-62 captured during a border conflict in 1969. Some Western technology was introduced in the 1980s, and more than 2,000 Type 69 were exported. Takom’s kit represents a Type 69-II in Iraqi service. Fine detail marks the gray plastic. Features include individual track links separated from the sprues, clear headlight lenses and periscopes,…

The Brazilian-built Embraer 195 regional jet can carry more than 100 passengers. More than 150 are in service around the world. Molded in white plastic, Revell’s beautifully molded ERJ has fine recesssed panel lines. The thin trailing edges on the wings and stabilizers impressed me, especially the delicate shark-fin winglets incorporated with the upper wings. Typical of Revell Germany airliners, the fuselage windows are open but no clearinserts are provided. It’s up to you to apply decal windows or use Microscale Kristal Klear or another window maker. The GE CF34 engines comprise eight parts. I appreciate that the front of each engine is a single part; no pesky seams. Position of the landing gear is the only option, but no stand is provided to pose the plane in the air.…

Which glue will do it for you? Q I was wondering what glue is best when adding photo-etched parts? I’m currently working on a Revell F-15 Strike Eagle like the one in your November 2015 issue. But it didn’t say what type of glue was used. – Michael Heffner Indianapolis, Ind. A Styrene cement will not work for attaching metal parts. Most people use super glue. You can get it in various viscosities: thin super glue will flowaround a part, while gel-type super glue will be tackier. That can come in handy when you are trying to position a part or combination of parts. With either type of super glue, once the part is in position a touch of accelerator will fix it in place. Another glue you can use…

Carrier-based aircraft take a pounding from the elements, and Royal Navy Sea Harriers were no exception. Besieged by sea air and salt as well as the dirt and heat from the jet nozzles, the medium sea gray camouflage didn’t remain uniform for long. Richard Van Zandt reproduced those effects on Kinetic’s 1/48 scale FA2 with layers of pre- and post-shading followed by washes. He studied photos to nail down typical weathering patterns, paying attention to the places dirt and grime accumulated. He also noted how the airframe was maintained and in particular how touch-ups were applied. With photos, notes, and observations in hand, he had definite ideas of how the Harrier should look. He painted the FA2 with GSI Creos Mr. Color paints cut with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner for…

Although plenty has been written about the Spitfire, that did not mean creating a Spit with floats would be easy. With the various marks the Spitfire went through, and the fact that no floatplanes are still in existence, it is difficult to establish exactly what one looked like. However, we do have reference materials and photographs. So while I was expecting to add detail to Trumpeter’s 1/24 scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb Floatplane (No. 02404), I was not expecting the major surgery the model required. In the end, however, the detailed scratchbuilding showed through. Detailing the firewall The kit’s firewall looked pretty barren. To add my own detail, I cut everything off, filled in the holes, and started anew. The bottom of the firewall connects to the wing support structure inside…

More at www.FineScale.com Visit us to see Part 1 of this story as well as interior details and wartime shots of the M8 HMC in action. In Part 1 of this story (January 2017 FSM), Cookie Sewell told you the incredible story of how an M8 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage bagged a German Panther tank. To quickly recap: On Sept. 4, 1944, near Mons, Belgium, the U.S. Army 32nd Armor Regiment was guarding key road junctions west of town when it observed a Panther tank approaching, followed by a column of German foot soldiers. Fearful of being detected and destroyed by the tank, an M8 commander decided to take the first shot. He only managed to knock offthe Panther’s right track, but when a crewman emerged from the tank’sturret to…

L ife may have been easy for the Beatles aboard the Yellow Submarine, but building a model of it was a challenge. MPC originally issued the kit in 1968 with kids in mind. AMT’s 1/25 scale reissue appears unchanged after almost 50 years. In addition to a two-piece hull, the kit features a three-wheel “roll & go” design, a hidden buoy, and an elastic propeller drive. Definitely fun, but not the look I was going for. Primarily a car modeler, I wanted to improve my skills by working with a new genre. Who would have thought that a windup toy based on an animated movie could teach you so much! I ended up discarding most of the gimmicky parts — including the hand crank used to propel the sub when…

Kit: No. 12535 Scale: 1/72 Mfg: Academy, www.modelrectifer.com Price: $35 Comments: Injection-molded, 94 parts, decals and stickers Pros: Excellent surface detail; good cockpit; fine fit even without glue; easy to build Cons: Stiffdecals; flat intake lips;no choice for open canopy The latest in Academy’s new line of press-fit kits, the two-seat Super Hornet combines superior detail and ease of assembly. The kit is labeled MCP for Multi Color Parts; the main assemblies are gray; tires, seats, afterburners, and extra vertical stabilizers are black; and landing-gear struts, maingear bay, and intake interiors are white. A once-piece clear canopy is included. The easy-build, no-paint theme continues to a sheet of self-adhesive markings. For experienced builders, a comprehensive waterslide decal sheet with markings for two VFA-103 Jolly Rogers jets is included. Surface detail…

Kit: No. 70121 Scale: 1/72 Mfg: Eduard,www.eduard.com Price: $24.95 Comments: Injection-molded, 210 parts (29 PE), decals, masks Pros: Excellent fit;beautiful recessed detail; terrific decals Cons: None Beginning life as the Royal Air Force’s stopgap fighter to engage the Fw 190, the Spitfire “Nine” with its Merlin 61 engine became Britain’s most-used fighter in Europe. Now it’s the subject of another super release from Eduard. Comprising beautifully-engraved plastic parts, a fret of pre-colored photo-etch (PE) details, and a 17-piece mask set, this is one gorgeous kit. Options include: open or closed canopy, posable ailerons, narrow- and broad-chord rudders, large and small belly tanks, a choice of stores, and six marking options. The instructions include four-view color painting and marking illustrations plus a separate page for stencil placement. With PE parts, the…

Experiencing déjà vu? If you read my review of the Isracast T-6A (October 2016 FSM), you might have that feeling. But no, despite being the same subject, scale, and medium, Grand Models T-6 is not Isracast’s kit. The parts breakdown is similar: onepiece fuselage and one-piece wing.Differences are: metal weight cast into the nose that keeps the nose wheel grounded, and separate ailerons, rudder, and elevator. The well-detailed resin parts have minor flash on most mold-parting lines. The pour stubs on some of the small parts are equally small, so it’s difficult to determine what to remove. The cockpit interior features excellent ejection seats, and instrument panels molded with their coamings. Photo-etch and decals detail the panels. The coamings are different, but the instructions are vague about which one goes…

How much weathering is too much? Whether it’s piling mud on an armor piece or accenting panel lines on planes, the artistic vs. accurate debate among modelers spurs a perpetual cyberwar of opinion. Model finishing has taken huge strides in recent years. Schools of artistic techniques have spawned new product lines to support them and given rise to a new vernacular: filters, oil-dot weathering, panel shading, pigment fixing, color modulation, etc. The most skillful practitioners are hailed as the new masters. Backlash is inevitable — criticism, derision, and the everunapologetic “real (insert subject) don’t look like that in real life.” Online, communitybusting flame wars and forum exoduses ensue. As a firm advocate of the artistic side, I embrace and advocate the new “tricks.” However, on Finescale Modeler’s forum, I asked…

Spotlight Italeri extends big-scale Mirage III BUILDING ON ITS SUCCESSFUL 1/32 scale Mirage IIIC (FSM July 2016), Italeri has released a Mirage IIIE/R (No. 2510). Many of the parts — engine, wings, landing gear, weapons, and cockpit — are shared with the previous kit. The E is 12" longer than its predecessor, so this kitincludes new fuselage parts and ventral fin. Optional nose halves and clear parts are provided for the reconnaissance version; cameras and racks detail the interior and the hatch can be posed open. Also new: 1,700-gallon drop tanks, Barracuda ECM pods and a Phimat chaffdispenser, andphotoetched muzzle vents. Fine recessed lines and rivets mark the parts and there's plenty to see in the wheel wells, cockpit, intakes, and exhaust. Cartograf decals provide markings for six Mirages: two…

In summer 2015, the modeling world was saddened by the passing of renowned modeler, historian, artist, and author Sheperd “Shep” Paine, whose works inspired millions of modelers with innovative techniques and artistic methods. When Shep followed his seminal How to Build Dioramas (Kalmbach, 1980) with Modeling Tanks and Military Vehicles (Kalmbach, 1982), it was just in time for a 17-year-old aspiring modeler (me) to purchase it along with two or three 1/76 scale Matchbox minidioramas. I remember scouring the pages for hints, devouring the text, and being amazed by the photos of Paine’s work. There was nothing like it then, and that dog-eared, stained volumestill occupies a place of honor in my research library. Back then, I would complete a kit every week or two. These days, a model takes…

I had no photos of this specific M8 HMC. But after 30 years on the 3rd Armored Division (I was assigned to the G-2 section of 3AD in 1986), I had good references to replicate this forgotten warrior. The 3rd used a standardized scheme of assignment during World War II. Each regiment had nine companies from A to I, with three in each battalion (though the makeup varied, based on perceived mission). The rest of the regimental and divisional elements used the following letters: J, K, and L were for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions, respectively; M was for the ordnance/mainte-nance company; and R was for the reconnaissance company. (P was for division headquarters.) Many vehicles had names starting with their assigned letter (e.g. Staff Sgt. Lafayette Pool’s famous M4A1…

Creating an aotake finish is easy  Japanese aircraft from the World War II era had wheel bays finished in an anti-corrosion paint known as aotake, a bright metallic blue that creates quite a dramatic effect. Here is a simple way to reproduce the notable Japanese finish. First make sure you have masked the wheel bay area completely, 1. Second, airbrush a coat of a very shiny color in the wheel bays. I like to use chrome silver, 2. Third, airbrush a light coat of Tamiya clear blue, 3. It’s that easy. You have now reproduced the aotake finish in your aircraft’s wheel bay, 4. – Pablo Bauleo Fort Collins, Colo. HAVE A TIP OR TECHNIQUE TO SHARE? Send a brief description along with a photo to tips@finescale.com or and click…

Kit: No. 3667 Scale: 1/35 Mfg: Zvezda, www.zvezdausa.com Price: $49.99 Comments: Injection-molded, 493 parts,string, decals Pros: Perfect fits; a ton of details; fine moldings Cons: No interior beyond the main turret; brittle antenna Zvezda’s new T-35 kit captures the imposing bulk of the only widely produced five-turreted tank perfectly. The large box is filled with huge sprues; if your workspace is on the smaller side you’ll need to find a larger place to build. The dark green plastic parts feature crisp details, no flash, and slidemolded gun barrels. The only part I had any problem with was the wraparound antenna; it was brittle and the part was broken in my sample. Thoughtful part breakdown and good fits made this behemoth a joy to build. On many kits, assemblies such as…

Say what you will, but I think modern French fighters are sexy — and Dassault’s Mirage F.1 is no exception. It is a sleek machine with clean lines that ooze high performance. Special Hobby captures that look in 1/72 scale nicely. I built the F.1CE/CH; the suffixes designate export versions for Spain and Morocco, respectively. Exquisite surface detail marks the parts, quality that extends to wheel wells, doors and the cockpit. These are the best mold-ings I’ve seen in any Special Hobby kit. The excellent engineering makes for a straightforward build. I stuck with the instruction’s assembly sequence, but left offpitot tubes, canopy, and exhaust for painting. The exception was the nose pitot molded integrally with the radome; it’s begging to be knocked offor bent during construction. I suggest removing…

From a box crammed with parts, Meng’s Abrams allows you to build one of two versions of the up-armored M1A2 — TUSK I, with extra protection for the hull and hatches, or TUSK II, with more protection for the hull, some for the turret, and added equipment topside. Features include working tracks and suspension, posable hatches, optional stowage, clear vision blocks, lights, and optics,and markings for four American tanks in Iraq. The suspension’s working torsion bars installed easily, but the plastic lacks strength and some of the arms were weak. The working suspensions is a nice idea, but it’s not really necessary for a static model. I painted the hull and running gear before moving on. The fit of the upper hull (B1) is imperfect, with an overhang at the…