Scale Modelling news, reviews, features and more...
KAMIKAZE TUTOR EXTRAS
Modellers wanting to improve their Brengun 1/48 two-seat MXY-7 Ohka K1 Kai (see Aircraft, p. 77) will find the firm’s dedicated photo-etched metal set most useful.
UNSHEATHED BLADES
Eduard has followed its highly regarded new-tool 1/48 P-51D Mustang with a Brassin propeller set, which allows modellers to depict airframes fitted with Hamilton Standard propellers devoid of rubber sections, which were known colloquially as ‘cuffs’.
IMPERIAL SIGNS
Here’s the perfect accompaniment to Bandai’s small-scale Imperial Star Destroyer, in the form of a splendid photo-etched brass nameplate.
PLUMBER'S NIGHTMARE
Czech firm Eduard has expanded its range of aftermarket accessories to include 1/35 firearms, such as this package of eight STEN (also called the Sten gun) Mk.II submachine guns – nicknamed ‘Plumber’s Nightmares’ for their propensity to jam during World War Two combat situations.
'BANANA-BOMBER' UPGRADES
Eduard’s two-fret photo-etched package for Airfix’s newly tooled Buccaneer provides a wealth of detail for the interior and exterior.
SHIPBORNE TUG
Royal Navy carrier deck scenes from late World War Two or the Korean War just became a little easier, thanks to this gem from Brengun.
APACHE AND VIPER BITE
Eduard’s resin and photo-etched brass set provides sufficient parts for two quad-rail M299 launchers and eight AGM-114 missiles, complete with full stencilling for the latter.
ALL ABOUT CONTROL
Although Eduard includes the option for dropped elevators and ailerons in its Tempest kits, on occasion these parts have been found to have sink marks, so Barracuda’s drop-in replacements are a great value-for-money way of correcting this issue.
PODDED SCANNER
Here’s a great addition to any late-war Hellcat, Avenger, Corsair, Helldiver, Firefly, Barracuda or Mosquito kits, in the form of a two-part resin AN/APS-4 radar pod ensemble from CMK.
QUILTED PEW
While combining styrene parts with photo-etched extras can be useful, sometimes it’s easier to just have a single-piece resin item incorporating all that detail.
SOVIET RESTRAINTS
Yahu has branched out from instrument panels with this very useful photo-etched brass set, which includes enough parts for two seat harnesses as used on Yak fighters during World War Two.
GANGLY LEGS
While Eduard’s 1/48 Fw 190A-8s are excellent straight from the box, modellers wanting more refinement will find the firm’s cast bronze undercarriage legs a boon as they feature far sharper detail.
LATE-PRODUCTION TWINS
Kagero has dedicated two of its TopDrawings publications to Messerschmitt’s Bf 110 and while the first covers early machines, the second is devoted to the later production Bf 110E to -G versions.
CLASSIC DIVE-BOMBER
Modellers with Stuka projects in any scale will find Valiant Wings’ latest Airframe & Miniature invaluable.
FREE TO FLY
The 26th addition to MMP’s Polish Wings series explores how crews enlisted from liberated areas of Poland trained to fly the Soviet-designed Petlyakov Pe-2 divebomber, transitioning to them from the Tupolev USB trainer via the dual-control UPe-2 sub-variant.
ARMOURED GROUCH
While many books have dealt with German’s Sturmpanzer (also known as Brummbär – grouch), this is one of the first to examine a specific unit.
UNSUCCESSFUL SALIENT
Casemate’s treatise on Operation Market Garden is a superbly detailed study of the combined aerial and land-based ‘push’ into the Netherlands during September 1944, which ultimately fell short of its targets.
ARMOURED CATS IN THE WEST
Dennis Oliver’s third volume on Tiger I and II tanks covers German Army and Waffen-SS units on the Western Front during the final months of World War Two.
AIRBORNE LEVIATHANS
The third volume in Crécy’s American Secret Projects series is the final element of a two-part collection on airlifter designs and covers aircraft from 1962 to the present day.
KURT TANK’S MASTERPIECE
While there’s no shortage of reference guides dedicated to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, this Monographs Special Edition book from Kagero is an exhaustive source of information for the radial-engined Fw 190A, S, F and G variants.
TANKFEST MOVES ONLINE
FOLLOWING THE postponement of its annual Tankfest event, The Tank Museum has partnered with online gaming platform World of Tanks to host the show digitally, via live-streaming on its YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Airfix Model World July 2020
Welcome to the July 2020 issue of Airfix Model World. Subscribers can login in to the view the full issue as PDFs in this brand-new online service. Highlights include the Airfix 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant, a 1/72 Short Sunderland Mk.V, top tips for applying decals, the latest reviews, inspirational projects and more. Don't miss it!
AIR COMBAT REFERENCES
JUNE HERALDS the arrival of a new range of aviation history books from Key Publishing, including titles specifically linked to the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
DEVILISH FELINE
VALIANT WINGS has delighted modellers with the news that its next Airframe and Miniature publication – the 15th in the series – will be dedicated to Grumman’s F6F Hellcat.
ROTARY ROAR
WITH ITS innovative ‘plug and play’ approach to motorised engines and associated sound effects, Belgian firm Magic Scale Modeling has brought electronic enhancement within the reach of any modeller.
GRAND-SCALE MODELLING
IF POLISH FIRM IBG impressed modellers with its 1/72 PZL.11 fighters, its upscaled 1/32 version (32001) will blow them away.
MONTE CARLO FABIA
ITALIAN CAR kit manufacturer Racing43 is well known for its 1/43 kits, but its latest offering is for a 1/24 Skoda Fabia R5 rally car.
RESIN DELIGHTS
JAPANESE MANUFACTURER Ushi Models is a new company to AMW, but its latest resin releases, featuring a mix of 3D-printing and conventional casting, are absolute gems.
INTRICATE HOLDERS
MILITARY MODELLERS will find much to savour from FC Model Trend’s range of 1/35 and 1/16 3D-printed accessories, which offer alternatives to fiddly photo-etched (PE) brass fittings.
THREE-IN-ONE ‘WHAT-IF’
HAVING DELIGHTED modellers with its experimental-themed armour and anti-aircraft artillery kits, Das Werk has released its first aircraft subject: the pulse-jet/rocket-powered Junkers EF-126 Elli/EF-127 Walli.