Sommaire pour October 2018 de FineScale Modeler

Amchitka is remote even by Alaskan standards. At 1,350 miles east of Anchorage, this island in the Aleutians was home to a U.S. air base where Capt. George Hicks III of the 343rd Fighter Group flew an early P-40K in 1944. Hicks’ tour of duty came six months after U.S. forces drove Japanese troops from the Aleutians. Their 14-month occupation of neighboring islands Attu and Kiska marked the first and last time Japanese troops landed on American soil during World War II. By the time Hicks was guarding the regained islands, there was only wildlife left to attack. This, however, does not mean it was easy. In constant cold and stormy weather, noncombat losses included not only accidents and frostbite but also a mental health condition known as the “Aleutian…

When it comes to Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks, it seems there is no end of kits from which to choose — which is as it should be, considering Canada produced more than a half million of these vehicles in endless variations. Having built Mirror Models’ 1/35 scale C60L GS, I was interested in seeing how IBG Models treated a similar subject, a Chevrolet C60S petrol tanker (kit No. 35036). The Mirror kit had the Type 13 cab, so I built the IBG kit using the Type 12 cab (the kit provides both types). The shape of a Cab 12 is difficult to capture. I found it’s vital to keep everything square — because I dropped the ball at some point and ended up with the windshield and rear edge…

The first production of this aircraft in the People’s Republic of China was called the J-7. By its third generation in Chinese production, this license-built MiG-21 was known as the F-7. Offering low weight, high thrust, and excellent visibility, the F-7 carries an arsenal that includes bombs, air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and other ordnance. The Iranian air force has optimized the F-7 for training and tactical purposes. Iranian pilots say it’s a good aircraft that can climb very quickly and change angles and directions in the shortest time. To model it, I chose Trumpeter’s 1/48 scale J-7B (No. 02860). MiG-21/Chengdu J-7/F-7 Meet Alireza Beigi Alireza, from Bushehr, Iran, began modeling about 12 years ago by trying to build a 1/72 scale MiG-29. He recalls, “My finished work, like that of…

Kitty Hawk is the first company to market a 1/48 scale Sukhoi Su-35 “Flanker-E.” Before, the only way to build an Su-35 was to modify the Academy Su-27 — no small feat if you wanted an accurate replica! The news that Kitty Hawk was producing a Su-35 engendered lively debates within the modeling community, even before the kit’s release. The box art has caused some controversy, too, as it shows an Su-35 shooting down a U.S. F-15E. The box contains 628 parts in light gray plastic and 14 in clear. Adding detail are 31 photo-etched (PE) brass pieces for the seat/cockpit, intakes, wheels, and pylons. Three decal sheets round out the contents. Note that 416 parts are on the weapons sprues. Obviously, one jet cannot carry it all, so your…

Since 2003, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has been dominating the off-road trails — and the 2013 10th Anniversary Edition is no different. With locking front and rear differentials, electronic sway-bar disconnect, a beefed-up suspension, and underbody armor, it can take you places no stock vehicle can — plus you get special badging, a red interior with special Rubicon stitching on the seats, a winch-ready bumper, red tow hooks, and an all-new hood. Tightly packed inside Meng’s box are six red-and-black sprues holding nearly 200 parts. Metal springs are included for the suspension, and reflective lenses for the Jeep branding on the grille and for the mirrors. Vinyl tires are also included. The molds are finely detailed, but many of the parts are riddled with ejector-pin marks to remove. Clear parts…

Kits of civilian aircraft are relatively rare in 1/72 scale, and even more so if they’re from the Golden Age of the 1930s and ’40s. Dekno Models of Spain is one company that offers interesting options from this era in resin, although many come with military markings — sheep in wolves’ clothing. Dekno’s newest release is a Howard DGA-15P — dubbed DGA (for Damned Good Airplane) by its designer, Benjamin Howard. The robust, stylish personal transport was pressed into military service in World War II, serving the U.S. Navy as an NH-1 “blind flying” instrument trainer as well as overseas as an ambulance with Free French forces. Both options are included in the Dekno kit. Cast in an eye-catching powder blue resin, the parts are detailed and well defined. The…

Canadian Military Pattern vehicles Go online to see a gallery of Steve Guthrie’s CMPs and flip top. 25 to read about how more than half a million of these vehicles were built during World War II. Desktop wallpapers Peruse dozens of computer backgrounds of favorite scale military and sci-fi subjects that you can download for free. Go ahead, treat your monitor to a makeover. 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.…

Before World War II, Canada had produced few military vehicles of any sort. The domestic auto industry, based in Ontario in Windsor and Oshawa, produced a few transports for the tiny peacetime Canadian army — “off-the-shelf” cars, vans, and trucks, nearly civilian except for a coat of green paint. But by the end of the war, Canadian factories had turned out more than 850,000 military vehicles, including 500,000 Canadian Military Pattern trucks. Before the war, the Canadian army followed the British army in terms of organization, training, doctrine, and equipment. When the Canadian government began rearming, it turned to the British for help in designing its first military trucks. The new trucks were to have four-wheel drive and large, single tires all around for cross-country mobility, a short wheelbase for…

Dayton, Ohio, best known as the birthplace of aviation, hosted the largest military modeling contest and show in the U.S. when the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society International Convention rolled into town in May 2018. More than 700 model tanks, armored cars, and other vehicles crowded the tables in the contest room and set a record for the largest number of entries at the organization’s annual show. FSM editors Mark Savage and Aaron Skinner photographed scores of models; here are some that caught their attention. Look for more in Great War Scale Modeling, available in November. You can pre-order it at www.FineScale.com. Next year’s show is scheduled for May 9-11, 2019, at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Buffalo, New York. More info: www.amps-armor.org.…

For as long as I can remember, I have been an armor modeler. If it had tracks, a turret, and a big gun, I gleefully built it, cutting my teeth on old Aurora and Monogram kits. Science fiction was an outgrowth of this fascination with machines. Aren’t space cruisers, blasters, and walkers futuristic versions of today’s tanks, helicopters, and ships? It is no surprise, given the historical aspect of our hobby, that armor kits greatly outnumber sci-fi kits. Because of this dearth (not Darth), I look to other means for creating fantastic and fascinating craft. And where did I turn? The household garbage can. Over the years I have developed a knack for creating spacecraft and vehicles by combining cast-off household goods and kit parts. Turns out that garbage modeling…

The German Panther tank was an important vehicle in World War II, and no fewer than four manufacturers are issuing new Panther kits this year. First to fire is Rye Field Model with its Panther G (early/late). It features a full interior, and in the initial release the hull top and turret pieces are molded in clear plastic to show off the interior. They and the rest of the tan plastic parts are well molded with excellent detail and almost invisible parting lines. The clear parts are very transparent, and while there are some unavoidable ejector-pin marks they are well placed to be less visible. The kit includes two sheets of photoetch (PE): a thicker one with the floor rails and crossbeams, and a thinner one loaded with details and…

The Breguet 1050 Alizé was a carrier-based antisubmarine warfare aircraft that entered service with the French navy in November 1957, replacing its aging Grumman Avengers. Initially used in the submarine hunter-killer role, it was later relegated to coastal and sea surveillance until retirement in 2000. New from Azur FrRom is a short-run injection-molded kit molded in a soft gray styrene featuring fine recessed panel lines, injection-molded canopy, and decals for three different versions. A small photo-etch fret contains just the oleo scissors. The 12-page, 29-step instruction booklet is printed in color with clear CAD-style drawings for each step. Painting instructions are somewhat limited, though, so check your favorite references. Construction starts with the three-man crew compartment. The cockpit is well detailed, with all the electronic boxes and gear molded as…

Grumman’s Duck was a biplane amphibian that could also operate from aircraft carriers. The J2F was developed from the similar JF and had an enlarged hull that could carry passengers beneath the cockpit. Valom has released a pair of Duck kits, a J2F-6 and this J2F-1. The parts in both kits are the same, but for this earlier version you need to cut off the forward fuselage and replace it with alternate parts. The kit comes with photo-etched (PE) detail parts for seat harnesses, rudder pedals, and instrument panels. Photofilm instruments are also provided, along with a pair of vacuum-formed canopies. Decals for a camouflaged and a “yellowwing” Duck look good. The surface detail on the main parts is well done. The fuselage is molded to the contours of the…

Collectors are a substantial subset of the scale modeling hobby. Whether investing for financial gain or just trying to rationalize huge unbuilt stashes, people do like to accumulate kits. True collectors like nothing better than a perfect, shrink-wrapped box. But lifelong modelers like Bob Hickl might be tempted to break into the box and build that thing. Actually, when he found the exceedingly rare Aurora 1/93 scale Sealab III at a garage sale, there was no such dilemma. “It was a glue bomb,” he says. He bought it for 50 cents — not bad for a kit that can fetch $200-$500. For those who may not remember it: At a time when America was enthralled by Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the derring-do of astronauts reaching for the moon, the U.S.…

Two years after the release of its highly regarded 1/48 scale Tomcat, Tamiya follows up with the F-14D (No. 61118, $124). The ultimate version of the Tomcat, the D model combined a new glass cockpit and better avionics for a potent strike aircraft. Parts added to update Tamiya's terrific initial F-14A include: modern instrument panels, side consoles, ejection seats, HUD, and pilots with later suits and helmets; new internal and external engine components as well as the beaver tail between the nozzles; nose gear doors; a bigger nose sensor pod; and, of course, weapons. In addition to the Phoenix, Sparrow, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles from the F-14A kit there are GBU-12, GBU-16, and GBU-31 JDAM bombs along with a LANTIRN targeting pod. A TARPS recon pod featuring internal camera detail…

Since 2011, footage of the Syrian Civil War has been featured on broadcast and cable networks and watched by millions of viewers online. Many of those images include Syrian army tanks rolling down city streets and rural roads. Henry Milton replicated one of those with Takom’s 1/35 scale T-55AMV (No. 2042). Building a kit he describes as “seriously sweet” out of the box, he focused on painting the multicolored camouflage. “When I finished construction, I had six subassemblies: turret, hull, two fenders, and two sets of tracks and wheels,” he says. After cleaning the sections with warm water, he laid down two light coats of Vallejo black surface primer (No. 74.602) mixed 7 parts paint to 1 part Vallejo thinner. He used a Grex Tritium TG3 double-action pistol-trigger airbrush powered…

80% Shots the A-10’s 30mm cannon can place within a 40-foot circle from 4,000 feet at 3,900 rounds per minute When a friend who builds armor models won an old MPC 1/72 scale A-10 in a raffle at a local model contest, he gave it to me on the condition that it would be completed for next year’s contest. While lacking some details, especially in the cockpit, it was actually a decent kit in spite of its age (née Airfix 1983). The biggest hurdle was deciding on the paint scheme. I found my answer in one of my favorite books, The Great Book of Modern Airplanes (Mike Spick, editor, Salamander, ISBN 978-1840651560). It was a picture of the rollout of the YA-10A, resplendent in a beautiful aircraft gray paint scheme,…

Once almost solely the province of aftermarket details and small manufacturers, resin seems to be as prevalent today as photo-etch and plastic. Mainstream manufacturers often include resin details or figures in their kits and the number and quality of all- or mostly resin models increases every year. This means that you need to know how to work with resin. Ultimately, “parts is parts,” and the models go together the same, albeit with super glue or epoxy rather than plastic-solvent cement that has no effect on resin. But cast-resin parts usually need a bit more prep work before assembly. Here’s what you need to know. Pour plugs Mold seams Fixing warped resin Cleaning Pinholes Safety…

Following Rye Field in the rush of new Panthers were Takom’s three Panther A kits — early, mid-production, and late. Molded in gray plastic, these kits also feature a full interior. While the main body panels feature a nice rolled-steel texture, sadly, there is no Zimmerit, the nonmagnetic paste applied to thwart mines and sticky bombs. Since the A models were built during the time Zimmerit was factory-applied, all but a few early ones wore it. While the aftermarket will respond with solutions, Takom has already announced a late-model A with molded Zimmerit. A command tank as well as a normal late Ausf A can be built from this kit. Additional radios and antennas are included for the command version. Instructions feature large assembly diagrams, but sometimes the location arrows…

The German PzKpfw IV Ausf H was one of the most widely used of the numerous German tanks, serving on all fronts until the end of the war. Academy’s kit is labeled “German Panzer IV Ausf H ‘ver. MID.’” Many of the 471 parts in the kit are meant for different versions, so be careful and study the options in the instructions. There are 45 Zimmerit decals; they should be attached to the specific parts before assembly because of the locating holes that need to be opened by drilling or punching. I found that the Zimmerit decals needed a small amount of white glue to keep the edges down. With the help of the 22-page instruction manual, the build went along with no problems. All the parts fit well with…