Sommaire pour March 2019 de FineScale Modeler

Don’t make us call the wah-mbulance! Chris Cortez wasn’t crying after he finished this Roden M43 ambulance because it created a handsome build. See his review on p. 62, and download this desktop wallpaper for free. Old reviews are new again Well, sort of, in that you can go online now and see model kit reviews from a year ago and older, for free. That’s right, hundreds of online reviews are just a click away! New Product Rundown Want to know about a new kit on the market? Aaron Skinner and Elizabeth Nash host a twice-monthly video review of the newest models and show what’s inside the boxes.…

During the 1941 raid on Pearl Harbor, Japan’s Zero proved itself to be a versatile and deadly adversary. Few of the early Allied fighter planes could match the combat performance of Mitsubishi’s A6M. For my build I chose Tamiya’s 1/32 scale Mitsubishi A6M2b Model 21 (No. 60317). While a nice kit, I knew I could improve it with a variety of photo-etched (PE) parts to add detail, and then a moderate amount of weathering to give it a modestly used appearance. Sources Eduard – Model Accessories eduard.cz Evergreen Scale Model evergreenscalemodels.com References A6M Zero in action No. 1059 Squadron/Signal Publications Modeling the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Brian Criner/Osprey Publishing…

I’ve been something of a ‘scale-snob’ for most of my model-making days, building only 1/48 scale aircraft and 1/35 scale armor. For me, 1/72 scale aircraft were just too small to detail and some engraved panel lines looked like World War I trenches. Small-scale armor kits meant just one thing to me: toy — at least until recently. A friend of mine introduced me to Dragon’s small-scale tanks. The petite parts, attention to detail, and scale fidelity just blew me away. These kits even include photo-etch (PE)! But being the detail-obsessed nut that I am, I just had to kick my next build up a notch. I ended up selecting Trumpeter’s 1/72 scale U.S. M113 ACAV (No. 07237) and Eduard’s PE set (No. 22122). Let’s see how detailed we can…

Good camouflage translates into safety and protection on the battlefield. German armored forces during World War II developed innovative patterns for several theaters. They included desert sand, three-color and ambush schemes, and winter whitewash for snow. One unique example of winter camo used on a German tank is illustrated in PzKpfw IV Colour (Tank Power Series Vol. LXXX) by Janusz Ledwoch. A color profile in the book shows an overall dark gray PzKpfw IV Ausf F1 on the Eastern Front in December 1941, covered with newspaper pages as white camouflage. The reason why the crew used newspapers instead of paint is unknown, but I figure paint was in short supply. Newspapers and some kind of paste, maybe as simple as a mix of flour and water would have been readily…

The latest release from Takom in its M60 line is an M60A1 with explosive reactive armor (ERA). The kit features one-piece tracks, photo-etch (PE) parts, clear plastic vision blocks, optional covers for the tank commander’s machine gun, and markings for four Desert Storm vehicles. I started by connecting the lower hull and suspension. After adding the swing arms, I checked for alignment with a straight edge. The road wheels have an unusual breakdown; the inner wheels are one piece but the outers are split into a tire and rim. This adds detail to the tire’s inner face. The drive sprockets are made of three pieces with lightening holes. I painted the lower hull with Tamiya buff before adding the wheels. The ends of the well-detailed vinyl tracks are joined with…

Build the world’s largest operational fighter from Trumpeter To counter the threat of U.S. nuclear-armed bombers crossing the Arctic, the Soviet Union needed a long-range, all-weather, supersonic interceptor. Nearly 200 of the resulting Tu-128s, referred to by NATO as the Fiddler, were built from 1958-70. The 47-ton fighter carried four R-4 air-to-air missiles. The Fiddler hasn’t been seen in plastic kit form very often, and Trumpeter’s offering is the first injection-molded Tu-128 since Amodel released one in the early 2000s. Molded in Trumpeter’s typical medium gray plastic the major parts show fine recessed panel lines and petite rivets. The long fuselage comprises several pieces including forward fuselage halves and rear fuselage halves with a separate upper rear insert. The belly is molded with lower halves of the wings and establishes…

The Skyhawk was the most fun aircraft I ever flew — simple yet extremely quick and agile.—John Cheshire, quora.com If ever there was an example of an aircraft design that perfectly fit its role, Douglas’ A-4 Skyhawk would invariably be considered for the top of the list. Designed by the master himself, Ed Heinemann, the Skyhawk was a compact light-attack aircraft that met or surpassed every criterion the Navy asked for. It was so small that it didn’t require folding wings, which saved considerable weight. Yet it could carry more than 10,000 pounds of ordnance, delivering a mighty wallop from as many as five hard points on later models. The A-4 is a favorite among modelers and it shows. It has been released in a wide range of scales by…

A couple of months ago I was rushed to the hospital after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. While there was considerable initial pain, the main result was significant visual impairment: the fact that I could not read was the biggest worry. When I looked at a printed page, all I could see was a jumble of letters; as I am an English teacher at our local community college, not being able to read could be a huge stumbling block. The doctors told me not to worry and that I should recover most of my reading abilities. Not one to wait, I took a proactive approach. My wife thought jumping back into modeling might help me build my eye coordination. I’ve enjoyed model building for more than 50 years. A few days…

Dodge’s M43 ambulance saw service from 1950-70s in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The M43 was based on the M37, but with new parts to accommodate a new and larger medical support compartment. Roden’s new kit of the M43 ambulance, like the real thing, is based on Roden’s M37, which was released in 2016. Like that kit, some care will be needed handling the sprues here as the plastic is brittle and some smaller parts are easily broken. Instructions for this build start straightforward with the engine and then the frame, which is a single part. Mine had a bit of flash, but fair warning: you’ll need to be careful cleaning the frame as a few of the attachment points look like flash. The engine and cooling system also are…

Hey, I flew that bird! In a previous life I was a student pilot in the Royal Air Force flying the Jet Provost Mk.3 and Mk.5 from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1971. As soon as I saw the Airfix JPs in the January 2019 Workbench Reviews, I had to look up the serial numbers (aft fuselage) to see if I had flown them. As is usually the case in this scenario, I would miss by just one number. Sure enough, I had flown XM412, but not the shown XM413. Then I went looking for XM461 and discovered I had flown XN461. I had missed by an even 1,000 on the very first entry in my logbook. My eye didn’t have to go far though to find…

The Gnome Arcanist spellcaster (No. 60178) from Reaper Miniatures’ Pathfinder line is a great little (and I mean little!) sculpture by Bobby Jackson. Detail abounds, even at 23mm tall. She’s been sitting on my workbench saying, “Paint me! Paint me!” for a couple of years now. I plopped her down on a square base that fits standard role-playing game maps. Basic prep included cleaning mold lines and priming. Once the base coats were down, I added subtle layer after layer using Reaper’s Master Series Paints mostly, as well as a few Secret Weapon (SW) acrylics. In the next issue Dress blues done right — Form & Figure’s Joe Hudson mixes multiple shades of blue for ICM’s 1/16 scale U.S. Marine. Pick up the April issue on sale March 5.…

Color and experimentation characterized naval aircraft identification systems in the two decades before World War II. During the war, much of the color disappeared, but the Navy still sought easy ways for pilots and crew to recognize squadron mates. That culminated in striking geometric patterns applied to tails and wings in the last year of hostilities. As we will see, the next 35 years saw the re-emergence of color and more experimentation as more attempts at standardization were made. Right before the end of WWII, fuselage codes like those used before the war, reappeared. The air-group letter code introduced to replace the geometric patterns was also removed and replaced with the airplane number. But the Navy was not satisfied and continued to search for an easier way to identify the…

The Russian-designed Romeo-class submarine has its pros and cons. On the plus side: The ability to launch acoustic homing torpedoes; accurate analog computers; complete radar and sonar technology; and low-profile sail. On the other hand, shortly after the Soviets ordered 56 of these diesel-electric boats in the late 1950s, the design was already old-hat thanks to the growing presence of nuclear-powered subs. In the end, only 20 were delivered by 1961. S till, Romeos are not without merit, and many more were exported. The Chinese navy at one time operated more than 80 Romeos, which it designated the Type 033. Improved performance and weapons produced the Type 033G and a single boat, designated Type 033G1 was modified to launch six antiship missiles from tubes mounted in a casing on either…

A unique vehicle, the Sturmmorser Tiger assault tank fired a 380mm rocket-propelled round. It was designed to provided infantry units with heavy fire support in urban and heavily fortified areas. The 18 built took part in several combat operations in the last year of World War II, notably the Warsaw Uprising and the battle for the bridge at Remagen. The main gun was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth-charge thrower capable of launching a 15-inch shell. To compensate for the launcher’s limited range, rocket-assisted ammunition was developed and the fearsome weapon was capable of leveling buildings. Ryefield’s kit includes the interior and comprises nearly 2,100 plastic parts on 19 sprues each packaged in resealable clear bags. Many of these sprues are common to Ryefield’s Tiger I kits so many of the…

The SMK heavy tank was the last Soviet multi-turret tank design developed prior to the start of World War II. A single prototype was used in action during the Russo-Finnish War of 1939. Though no further development was attempted, many of its design features were later incorporated in the KV-1 heavy tank. This kit has an impressive molding variation. The hull is a reverse bathtub design, as the top and sides are molded as one piece; a full bottom hull plate completes the assembly. The individual-link tracks are sharply molded with good detail, and they are easy to remove from the sprues and attach to one another. A minor ejector-pin mars the inside surface of each link but is difficult to see on the finished model. The road wheel pairs…