Scale Modelling news, reviews, features and more...
FRONTLINE TRUCKERS
Designed to accompany ICM’s Liberty trucks, these driver figures will be equally suitable for most other US Army vehicles from the 1917-18 period.
MAN-PORTABLE ARTILLERY
Zvezda’s 120mm mortar and crew is part of the firm’s Art of Tactic range, designed for wargamers but offering sufficient detail to make it attractive to modellers.
RELAXING SMOKE
This stunning two-figure set from Stalingrad is part of a larger six-piece ensemble of a Panzergrenadier team enjoying a break alongside a half-track crew.
OBSERVING THE BATTLE
A recent release by Italy-based WIP3D, this single-piece 3D-printed resin figure depicts a captain from the 1st Battalion, 7th Division, Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Piave River on the Italian Front in 1918.
COLD WARRIOR
There’s a decidedly chilly feel to ICM’s latest ‘Others’ figure, which joins the firm’s Night King (16201), striding towards an unseen objective.
REBEL YELL
Here’s a neat addition for Bandai’s Star Wars kits, in the shape of three Rebel Alliance pilots – one is climbing the ladder to his spacecraft, while the other two are walking (one in the process of putting his helmet on as he does so).
ELECTRIC RACER
Airfix’s Quickbuild range continues to expand, with a definite automotive focus as evidenced by its Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY.
FIRST CAR AND DRIVER
It’s a recurring theme with ICM to add figures with vehicle releases, both to add context and to create an instant vignette.
SNOW CLEARANCE
Hasegawa released its baseline ZW100-6 front-end loader in 2018, and has followed it with a multiplough-equipped version.
A BRITISH CLASSIC
When Revell released its Series III Land Rover it was a breath of fresh air for modellers used to dealing with older Italeri and Monogram offerings.
BARENTS SEA BATTLER
Polish company MisterCraft has re-boxed Heller’s 1/400 Type 1936A zerstörer (destroyer), known by the Germans as the Z23-class (after the lead vessel) and Allies as Narvik-class.
OP CORPORATE FLAGSHIP
Released under the British Legends banner, it’s a return for Dragon’s 1/700 HMS Invincible in Revell packaging, representing the ship as it appeared during the 1982 Falklands War.
MARINE ASSAULT
Revell’s USS Tarawa was the first kit of this vessel, being released originally in 1977 and, unfortunately it hasn’t aged well.
DEEP SEA EXPLORER
It’s a return to the deep for Hasegawa, with the re-release of its splendid Shinkai 6500 submersible, this time with a two-piece cardboard base for an ‘seabed diorama set’.
MILITARY AIRLINERS
Perfect for Airfix’s returning Vintage Classics 1/72 Jetstream, plus offerings from AModel/Sova-M, these Model Art Decal System markings depict the turboprop airliner as operated as training aircraft by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
CHANGING OF THE DOORS
Croatian firm Ze-Ro Decals has produced this neat set of 1/48 decals to represent a Hughes MD 500D helicopter as operated by its homeland’s air force during the Croatian War of Independence.
MOUNTAINOUS MILITARIES
Star Decals has produced markings for a range of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) used between 1991-93 on both sides of the Abkhaz–Georgian conflict, which began in the late 1980s and remains unresolved.
YAKOVLEV COLLECTION
Foxbot’s collection of 1/72 Yak-9 markings contains 18 options for this Soviet World War Two fighter, including -D and -M long-range airframes, plus -T and -K variants armed with 37mm and 45mm nose-mounted cannon, respectively.
AFRICAN INSIGNIA
Bright Spark’s limited-edition collection of Egyptian Air Force roundels are suitable for smaller aircraft operated by the force from its inception (initially as an army division) during the 1930s until the 1950s, when the current red-white-black insignia were standardised.
INDEPENDENT STATE MACHINES
Following World War One, efforts to gain independence for Ukraine resulted in separate states being established, such as the Zakhidno-Ukrainska Narodnia Respublika (ZUNR – Western Ukrainian People’s Republic).
BOMBER SIGNAGE
Czech firm H-Models Decals has produced a set of 1/48 stencils for quarter-scale Kawasaki Ki-48 Sokei kits, such as AZ Models’ injection-moulded offering or Sanger’s vac-form representation of this twin-engined light bomber, known by its Allied callsign ‘Lily’.
FEATHERED WINGS
Comprising three superbly printed sheets, this Euro Decals package contains 1/48 markings for a specially themed US Air Force F-15C celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Oregon Air National Guard (ANG) in 2016.
INSPIRATION FINDER
Perhaps the best source of inspiration or reference for a modelling project is to examine an example of the real item and the 27th edition of Crécy’s Wrecks & Relics is the ideal source for finding examples of aviation subjects across the UK.
CARRIER-BORNE DOMINANCE
Valiant Wings’ hotly anticipated Airframe & Miniature guide to the Grumman F6F Hellcat has arrived, and it’s a thoroughly comprehensive reference no modeller with an interest in the type should be without.
ONE-STOP CHOPPER GUIDE
French publisher Cocardes has launched its new ‘Overview’ series with a superb modeller’s reference to the Eurocopter/Airbus Helicopters EC 665 Tiger, which was developed jointly for French and German requirements.
GERMAN LEVIATHANS
This the first in a two-volume series on German battleships during World War Two and covers the transition from the pre-war Reichsmarine to the Kriegsmarine, focusing on the vessels Deutschland/Lützow, Admiral Scheer, Graf Spee and Scharnhorst.
WRECKED TROPHIES
Propaganda was a crucial element on World War Two’s harsh and bloody Eastern Front, as Pen & Sword’s Images of War volume shows through its collection of shots depicting soldiers with knocked-out examples of enemy tanks.
AERONAUTICAL INNOVATOR
While the annals of aviation pioneers feature such names as Orville and Wilbur Wright, Otto Lilienthal and Henry Farman, the authors seek to add Englishman Horatio Barber to the list via this meticulously researched biography.
MARITIME PRINCE
Modellers with Prinz Eugen kits in any scale will appreciate this TopDrawings guide to the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, as it contains highly detailed line drawings and scale plans portraying various elements of the vessel.
DOUBLE-ENGINED ‘ARROW’
If the adage concerning aircraft states ‘if it looks good, it flies good’, then Dornier’s Do 335 ought not to have performed well at all.