Tabla de contenidos para February 2019 en FineScale Modeler

Sometimes we hear from a few of you about the lack of subject diversity in a particular issue, usually a themed issue such as Vietnam, sci-fi, or Battle of Kursk to name a few from this past year. I took a call recently where I was told we waste too many pages on armor, “too many tanks,” and way too many figures, sci-fi, and fantasy (comics) models. I’ve said this before, but we are well aware that many modelers love aircraft the most. We get it. But those of you who are aircraft only modelers might be surprised at the responses we get on our focused themed issues. Sales don’t lie. Still, aircraft modeling is the hobby’s leader and so with this issue we dish up, well, a little of…

At the outset of World War II, the Navy abandoned the brightly colored identification system of the previous decade for a more subdued approach. Gone were the yellow wings and colorful aircraft carrier and section markings. In their place came drab gray schemes. The first paint scheme used was an overall light gray with white side numbers. The only color left was the national insignia. The blue circle with white star and red center was removed from the upper starboard and lower port wings. In contrast to pre-war practice, small national insignia were added to the fuselage, first near the nose, and later aft between the wing and horizontal stabilizer. A blue-gray camouflage was soon applied to aircraft upper surfaces, and 13 red and white stripes were added to the…

During World War II, the German navy commandeered hundreds of fishing trawlers. Fitted with weapons and known as Kriegsfischkutters (KFK), they were used for harbor protection, hunting submarines, escort, and coastal mine clearance. Originally an armor modeler interested in unique German vehicles not found in other builder’s display cases, Doug Bauer, of Albany, Oregon, began fishing around for challenges starting with conversions and progressing to fully scratchbuilt models. That ultimately led to Kriegsmarine coastal vessels and the KFK is his second such project. Nearly everything on the model is scratchbuilt, including the guns, superstructure, deck furnishings, winch, minesweeping paravanes, and more. He constructed the model using styrene sheet, rod, strip, and tubing. The project started with research, the most time-consuming and frustrating aspect of any big build, according to Doug.…

The Graf Zeppelin airship was first issued in the late 1960s by Hawk Model Co. and featured thin vacuum-formed main hull halves. In the mid-1970s Testors reissued the same kit in a different box and later Lindberg reissued it again, but this time replaced the vacuum-formed hull with hearty injection molded plastic, as well as a lighted gondola powered by batteries. I’d always wanted to add this airship to my collection, and once available in styrene I no longer had any excuses. Here’s how I made one of my dream kits a reality. Let’s cast off the mooring lines and get started. In the beginning First, I sanded away all of the small surface flaws on both hull halves, 1. This was critical since the model’s metallic finish would highlight…

There’s something ironic about assembling a kit of an aircraft that appears to disassemble itself when taking off or landing. The F-35B Lightning II is the short/vertical take-off and landing (S/VTOL) version of Lockheed Martin’s ultimate stealth attack jet. With its wacky, rotating-aspect jet nozzle and barn-door lift-fan hatch in operation, it looks like midair disintegration in action. Hasegawa’s new kit is the first F-35B in 1/72 scale since Fujimi’s 2010 effort. Highlights of this kit include good cockpit (although the seat has no harness) and wheel-well detail, great fit overall, and decals for the zigzag pattern of the tape they use around panel lines. Good thing; masking and painting the tape would be tedious and time consuming. The kit also comes with a generic stand molded in 17 parts,…

Built for the 1932 racing season by Granville Brothers Aircraft, the Gee Bee R series consisted of two sister ships, the R1 and R2. Featuring a radical new design, the R1 would go on to win the Thompson Trophy race, and its pilot, Jimmy Doolittle, woul also set a land speed record of 296 mph. The only difference between the R1 and R2 were the engines. A Pratt & Whitney R-1340 powered the R1, while the R2 (which was built for cross-country racing) used the smaller, lighter P&W R-985. After releasing a 1/48 scale kit of the Gee Bee R2, Dora Wings has now added the R1. The two kits use many of the same parts, including the decal sheet. The R1 kit has a new sprue to accommodate the…

My project, my journey, began more than a year ago after I was inspired by a Robert Taylor print of the famous 1943 Dambuster Raid, otherwise known as Operation Chastise. This raid on May 16-17 was led by the remarkable Guy Gibson and No. 617 Squadron. It would go down as the RAF’s most famous bombing mission, breaching two dams and causing massive flooding of the Ruhr River valley in Germany to cripple its manufacturing abilities. Easily my most complicated build, the modeling work was intense. But after six and a half months, I was finished. My build consisted of a Hasegawa 1/72 scale Lancaster B.Mk.III, modified to accept four Doyusha electric motors, bomb release altitude lights, cockpit communications, Merlin engine sound via an MP3 player, Airfix diorama of the…

Hasegawa’s new F-35B is now a free desktop wallpaper image Paul Boyer reviewed this handsome F-35B (see p. 56), but you can have the image for free! Desktop wallpapers Peruse dozens of computer backgrounds of favorite scale military (like the F-35B above) and sci-fi subjects that you can download for free. 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.…

Hoping for a straightforward project, I put a 120mm resin bust of a Wehrmacht Hauptmann on my workbench. This FeR Miniatures sculpture depicts a German captain during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. The kit is two pieces, the head connected to the torso, and the cap. As usual, I primed with Tamiya sky gray (XF-19). Colors used Vallejo Model Color – Burnt Umber (70.941) – Light Flesh (70.928) – Black (70.850) – German Field Gray (70.830) – Sunny Skin Tone (70.845) Game Color – Goblin Green (72.030) Scale 75 Scalecolor – Field Gray (SC46) AK-Interactive WWI German Uniform – Base (AK 3091) – Shadow (AK 3093) – Light (AK 3092) In the next issue Noel Meyer uses dark shades on Reaper Miniatures’ gnome arcanist from Pathfinders.…

“When we needed the SB2C Helldiver neither we nor it was ready.”—Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air Artemus L. Gates via warfarehistorynetwork.com It’s big, it’s blue, and it can pack a wallop. No, it’s not the Beast from Marvel Comics’ X-Men; it’s the SB2C Helldiver. Designed by the Curtiss Aircraft Company, the Helldiver was intended to replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless. While it could carry twice as much ordnance faster than the Dauntless, the Helldiver was met with less-than-stellar enthusiasm. Unflatteringly nicknamed Beast, Big-tailed Beast, or Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd-Class by crews, it was bigger, heavier, harder to control, and worst of all, had a shorter range than its predecessor. After testing the first variant, the Navy made a list of over 800 fixes and modifications before it would accept the…

I’ve had Italeri’s 1/72 scale C-130J Hercules (No. 1255) in my “to-build stash” for a while. My interest was rekindled when, while walking around a model show, I came across Flightpath resin fuselage extensions (No. FP-72-103C) to turn it into a stretched C-130J-30. With these, I could build a Royal Australian Air Force Super Hercules. To mark it for No. 37 Squadron, I found what I needed from Flying High Decals (No. MM-72032). My wallet was a bit lighter, but the die was cast. I borrowed some parts from Italeri’s C-130E/H kit: sixblade propellers, some blade antennas, and a modified instrument panel representing the glass cockpit of the J series.…

Launched in October 1928, the Graf Zeppelin was the largest airship in the world at the time. It was originally built for demonstrations and to show that airships could be a viable means of regular travel. However, during its operational life it carried passengers and mail to cover operating costs. In August 1929, the Graf Zeppelin circumnavigated the globe. The entire voyage took 21 days, 5 hours and 31 minutes. In May 1930, the first regularly scheduled trans-Atlantic passenger service was launched. Despite the beginning of the Great Depression and growing competition from fixed-wing aircraft, the Graf Zeppelin transported an increasing number of passengers and mail across the ocean every year until 1936. The Graf Zeppelin was retired from service and turned into a museum in 1937, one month after…

In 1993, Zvezda produced a 1/35 scale kit of the SU-100; the same kit was also sold by Italeri, Revell, and Bilek. Now Zvezda has revisited the SU-100 with an all-new kit. Molded in dark green plastic, the parts show nice surface detail free of sink or ejector-pin marks. The tracks are link-and-length and a jig is included to fit individual links around the drive sprockets and idlers. Clear parts are provided for the headlight lens, periscopes, and driver’s vision block. The suspension arms are fixed in position so the road wheels won’t be misaligned. I left off the running gear and tracks until after painting. Building the multipiece upper hull was a little trickier; I wish Zvezda provided a few more alignment devices for the major parts. I recommend…

A few months ago, I was approached by a colleague who asked about building Revell’s 63-year-old USS Randall for her grandfather. A World War II Navy veteran, he served aboard the USS Lubbock (APA-197), like the Randall, a Haskell class attack transport, which carried soldiers and Marines and the landing craft necessary to land them on the beaches. During its short service life, the Lubbock wore at least three different camouflage patterns, including probably Measure 21 — overall Navy blue (5-N) — at Iwo Jima and Measure 23 — overall light gray (5-L) — while repatriating servicemen after the war. But the model’s recipient wanted his model in a dazzle pattern with sections of light gray (5-L), haze gray (5-H), and black. Painting this kind of pattern on the hull…

Powered by a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine, the Mk.IV could reach speeds of 52 kilometers per hour. Usually I superdetail my models, often spending months working out all of the minor improvements and adding all kinds of aftermarket items. But now and then, I just want to work with a nice, easy kit and focus on the finish and overall presentation. Tamiya’s 1/35 scale Cromwell Mk.IV was just the ticket. Even though it’s more than a decade old, it still has an excellent balance between detail and ease of assembly. Coupled with Tamiya’s outstanding molding and this kit can be built in a weekend. Seeing a photo of a Cromwell driving over a railroad line inspired me. With the addition of white-metal tracks from Friulmodel, the Cromwell proved an excellent subject…

McDonnell’s first production aircraft was also the U.S. Navy’s first jet to operate from a carrier, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, on July 19, 1946. Just 60 Phantoms were made and served for only a few years, but the jet was the starting point for the larger F2H Banshee and a line of Navy fighters that culminated in the famous F-4 Phantom II. Special Hobby’s FH-1 is an all-new kit, not to be mistaken for its MPM ancestor from the 1990s. Fine exterior detail, accurate shapes, and excellent small parts have become the norm with this Czech manufacturer’s recent offerings. The color instructions are clearly illustrated with assembly directions and color recommendations. A bonus this time is an excellent Cartograf decal sheet with markings for four Phantoms. The finely detailed…

Dora Wings’ multimedia Vega Gull kit features crisp recessed panel lines, a well-done representation of the fabric-covered flying surfaces, and includes a fret of 37 photo-etched (PE) parts plus masks. Optional parts are given for different versions of the aircraft, but the instructions are vague and chaotic. Some part numbers and illustrations are incorrect, and although the instructions have an “A/B” notation for different versions, there’s no clear definition of which is which. There are no paint color callouts or interior color references. Another problem is the inclusion of parts for Dora Wings’ Proctor kit, as the instructions bounce back and forth between its parts and the Gull’s. In spite of that, the fit of parts is generally good, requiring only slight mold-line removal and deepening sockets for the locating…

Packed inside the box for Takom’s Bergepanther Ausf A are 27 sprues of crisply detailed gray parts with terrific detail. A nice rolled metal print is subtle on the hull as is the wood grain on the floor and the walls of the workers tub. This kit features a full interior with the Maybach engine, the massive winch, and the drivers’ compartment. The 34-page instruction book includes a brief history of the Bergepanther, a parts-tree map, and color images of the interior with paint callouts. The instructions reference Ammo by Mig Jimenez colors which I matched to Tamiya acrylics on my build. I found the instructions difficult to follow in places as the locations of many subassemblies are unclear. Also, the kit features several build options, but those are not…