FineScale Modeler July 2021

barbarossa 80 years on

On June 22, 1941, millions of German soldiers, supported by thousands of tanks, artillery pieces, and aircraft as well as troops from other Axis nations, crossed the Soviet frontier in one of the largest land campaigns in history. The invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany opened the massive Eastern Front that would involve millions of people and prove a turning point in the war. The speed and size of the attack along a 1,800-mile front quickly overwhelmed the Soviet defenders, pushing them back hundreds of miles. Despite the fall mud, the invaders laid siege to Leningrad in the north, took Kyiv in the south, and fought into the suburbs of Moscow in the center. But the attack did not break the Soviet government, and the arrival of winter all but…

scale talk

So many kits… Just read the April 2021 editorial about kit collections. I, too, have a huge stash. I have a three-car garage (there are three cars in it, two running) to store my models. A long time ago, I promised my wife that if she found models in the house or one of the sheds, I would sell them all and give it up. So far all 500 unbuilt and 110 built kits fit in the garage. I’m trying to build one of every real car I have ever had. My downfall is swap meets. As long as I am there and can get an interesting kit at a good price, I will bring it home. My last five builds have been a Europe 1/32 scale 1891 Panhard horseless carriage,…

new products

AIRCRAFT 1/48 SCALE Fw 190A-5 from Eduard, No. 82149, $49.95. P-39Q Airacobra from Eduard, No. 8470, $29.95. Weekend Edition. 1/72 SCALE Du doch nicht! (Albatros D.V, Fokker Dr.I, and Fokker D.VII) from Eduard, No. 2135, $66.95. SIAI Marchetti SF-260M/AM/W from Special Hobby, No. 72418, $14.60. Martin (B-10) Model 139WC/WSM/WT Chinese, Siamese and Turkish Service from Special Hobby, No. SH72440, $38.90. 1/144 SCALE Boeing B-52H 20th BS “Buccaneers” USAF from Academy, No.12622, $55. WBR ARMOR 1/35 SCALE Jackal 1 High Mobility Weapon Platform from HobbyBoss, No. 84520, $106.99. WBR Mercedes L1500S German truck with cargo trailer from MiniArt, No. 38023, $TBA. Lanz D8506 German tractor with cargo trailer from MiniArt, No. 35317, $TBA. T-54 late transmission set from MiniArt, No. 37066, $TBA. Austin Armoured Car 3rd Series (German, Austro-Hungarian, Finnish Service) Interior kit from MiniArt, No. 39010, $TBA. Syrian T-34/85 from MiniArt, No. 37075, $TBA. T-34/85 Plant 112, Spring…

go big with small details

Sometimes, military planners are guilty of preparing for the last war - especially when they get information that seemingly validates their thoughts. Successful deployment of Polikarpov’s quintessential biplane fighter, the I-15, during the Spanish Civil War led the Russians to believe that the day of the maneuverable biplane fighter was not over. They were wrong, and the follow-on I-153 Chaika was essentially obsolete before it even entered production. But hundreds were built and the nimble fighters were part of the backbone of the Soviet air force when Germany invaded in 1941. Despite the bravery of its pilots, the I-153 was outmatched by the Luftwaffe from the outset. Recast as a fighter-bomber, the Chaika survived to fight for the Motherland well into the war. The Polikarpov I-153 was small and ICM’s 1/72 scale…

build a better barbarossa stug

As the German army modernized and motorized, the leadership recognized the need to give the infantry close-in artillery support. To address this, the Sturmgeschütz, or StuG, built on a modified PzKpfw III chassis and armed with an L/24 7.5cm gun in a casemate structure was built. Six of the 30 initial Ausf A units produced were assigned to the LAH Division at the start of Operation Barbarossa. PROJECT AT A GLANCE • Dragon Imperial Series 1/35 scale StuG III Ausf A (No. 9031) • Eduard PE Details (No. 35828) • Aber PE intake screens (No. 35G05) • Jordi Rubio turned-aluminum barrel (No. TG-29) • Modelkasten 36cm tracks (No. SK-26)…

perfecting luftwaffe camouflage

From mid-1940, German day fighters were finished in a standard camouflage of RLM74 graugrün and RLM75 grauviolet over RLM76 lichtblau with mottling of RLM02 grau, RLM70 schwarzgrün, and/or RLM75 on vertical surfaces. But there are numerous examples of variations in the field as squadrons and pilots added personal touches to the aircraft. The Messerschmitt Bf 110 you see here is an example of this. One of several aircraft flown by Luftwaffe ace Lt. Felix-Maria Brandis over the Eastern Front in the opening months of Operation Barbarossa, this particular fighter had heavy dark mottling and streaking added to the fuselage sides. I liked the challenge of replicating this unique finish on a Zerstörer. For the project, I built Eduard’s 1/48 scale Bf 110E, pretty much straight from the box. Fortunately, the kit includes…