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Review Content

Showing topics in Aircraft Reviews, Kits, Aftermarket (updates/conversions), Decals & Masks, Reference material, Armoured Fighting Vehicle Reviews, Kits, Aftermarket, Diorama & Accessory, Reference Material, Kits, Aftermarket, Reference Material, Vehicle Reviews, Sci-fi & Real Space Reviews, Figure Reviews, Locos, Trains & Layout Reviews and Tools & Paint Reviews posted in for the last 365 days.

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  1. Yesterday
  2. Mike
    Some weird looking home-brew armour there. Wish I'd had a proper look inside before sending it to you now, but by gosh and by golly, I can't remember it arriving here at all!
  3. Mike
    Apollo 11 Astronaut on the Moon (03702) 1:8 Revell On the 20th July 1969, a man by the name of Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder of his flimsy spacecraft and onto the Moon's dusty surface, uttering the words that would become famous "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". His name and this quote, plus the likeness of the Saturn V rocket that got them there, and the Apollo 11 spacecraft that consisted of the Command Module (CM), Service Module (SM) and Lunar Module (LM or LEM if you add "excursion" into the mix) also became amongst the most recognised images of their time. Leaving many footprints in the dusty regolith of the Sea of Tranquility where they landed, they soon clambered back onboard and blasted off for home, paving the way for another six missions, only one of which didn't quite make it but became almost equally famous because of their accident and subsequent return to earth that was fraught with danger. Maybe they should have skipped the name Apollo 13? The Kit Following the 50th year since we walked on the Moon theme, we have more from Revell on the subject, which again is a new edition of a previously released kit from the same era as the Apollo 11 CM & SM that we reviewed recently here. The kit arrives in an end-opening box, with four sprues in white styrene inside, some of which have been cut to fit the new box. There is also a yellow tinted clear part for the visor, a small sheet of decals and the instruction booklet, which is printed in Revell's new colour style. As it's a special edition, there is also a pack of four thumb-pots of Revell paint, a small tube of Contacta semi-liquid glue, and a paintbrush, which as always with these sets has had its hair parted by the bag. The kit is clearly a product of its day, but has good detail throughout and a simple method of construction. The completed model stands at 258mm tall, a little over 2m in scale, out of which you must take the bulk of the suit, helmet and base to account for the difference between Neil's 1.8m height and that of the model. I'd say that scales out pretty well. The astronaut's face is moulded into the helmet area, with the yellow tinted visor added after paint, but here there is a slight deviation that stands out to the average Joe. The bottom edge of the visor is a little flattened when compared with those famous photos of Neil after touch down, so if it bothers you, you'll need a little putty to make that more to your liking. The suit is a pretty detailed rendition of the one that Neil wore, with some slight differences from the real thing such as the central panel on his chest and the lack of umbilical ports on the left of the chest plate. There are also some straps hanging around that are missing for obvious reasons, and the umbilicals that attach to the backpack should have insulating sleeves on them that give them a crinkled, faceted look. All of this can be fixed if you're minded, or you can just enjoy the model for what it is and build it to the best of your ability. Construction begins with the head and torso, which are split vertically front to back, with the astronaut's head moulded into the helmet, as mentioned. It's a generic face that's a very nice sculpt, but clearly not Neil Armstrong, and bears more of a resemblance to a face from a Captain Scarlet puppet. Whether that was for copyright reasons, I guess we'll never know. The legs and arms are next, with the former split the same way, and the latter split to give maximum detail to the gauntlets. The backpack is similarly split front and back, attaching to the torso with a central pin and two realistic-looking strap-ends, with a good amount of surface detail. On the front is another much smaller pack that resembles a claymore mine in shape, but has more to do with environment regulation. The fixed video camera glues into a slot on the front of the pack, and at this stage you are also instructed to install the visor into the helmet. If you've been brave and adjusted the shape of the lower edge, you'll need to reduce the glazed part to match. These things are gold-plated to protect the wearer from excessive sunlight exposure, as there is no atmosphere to speak of on the moon, so the light is undiminished by atmospheric backscatter. This has been mimicked by the clear yellow tint, but you could experiment with gold leaf of gold chrome paint if you feel the need. To complete the figure, the two umbilicals (umbilicii?) are routed from the backpack to the chest and chest pack, with the aforementioned caveat of them requiring insulating sleeves. The base consists of a chunk of the moon's surface with a depression for the lander's leg, and another flat-spot for the figure's left foot, then a raised flat area with that famous phrase engraved on it for posterity. You get a portion of the lander's leg, which has a section of the ladder added to the front, and the big dished foot at the bottom. This portion of the lander was covered in a golden mylar layer for insulation too, so treat yourself to some Cadbury's Bournville or other confection with a golden inner wrapper, and have a go at making it look suitably wrinkly if you feel up to the challenge. The completed figure is attached with one foot on the base, the other in the dished top of the landing pad, with two flat tabs ensuring a good join. Markings The majority of Neil's suit is white, with grey used mainly on his gloves and overshoes that protect his boots from damage, which incidentally debunks another of the deniers' arguments about the tread pattern on their boots being different. I digress. The moon is very dusty, so after even a few steps the suits got covered in an incredibly fine grey dust that was hard to shift. Check your references, and enjoy replicating some of it. There was a #2 Revell paintbrush included in the pack, but as the bristles were bent over, I decided not to photograph it. Ok, I forgot! The decal sheet is small and consists of a couple of American flags, two NASA meatball logos for the backpack and his chest, and a stencil for the water reservoir at the bottom of the backpack. There's no name tag for the suit, but that's hidden away under the chest pack, so hardly an issue. Decals are printed for Revell by Zanetti, in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a fun model that will give a lot of pleasure to a lot of folks if they approach it with the right attitude. If you treat it as a blast from the past, or a desktop model you'll have fun building it, but if you want something accurate, there are some alterations you can make and still have fun. Considering the age of the moulds there are some really nice cloth effects, with creases, seams and so forth giving a realistic landscape for you to paint over and weather. A fitting tribute to the late, great Mr Armstrong, may he rest in peace. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or
  4. Julien
    M40 Nimrod Tank Destroyer & Armoured AA Gun Armour Of The Royal Hungarian Army ISBN : 9786155583148 Peko Publishing Hungary was caught at the end of WWI on the wrong side and was treated harshly by the Allies. Under the 1920 treaty of Trianon they lost nearly half their population and more than 60% of their territory to hostile boarding nations. Which is the reason the joined the Axis forces in WWII, however it would seem they chose the wrong side again! The Hungarian Army knew they had to modernise and they needed a vehicle which could act as a tank destroyer and a mobile armoured AA gun. The solution to this actually lay in Sweden; Hungary was already producing the L-60 tank under licence as the 38M, and they were producing the 40mm Bofors gun under license as well. The L-60 chassis was modified to accept a large open topped turret for a single 40mm gun. As well as firing the standard ammunition types the Hungarians developed their own anti tank round for the gun. This could penetrate 46mm of armour at 100m and 30mm at 1000m. Internally the Nimrod carried 640 rounds. Later as it was found the 40mm gun was not effective against Soviet tanks the guns were all re-designated as anti aircraft units. They would still act in support of troop movements though, and late into the war they were fitted with a rocket grenade round that fitted over the barrel in a similar way to that of a rifle grenade. 135 Nimrods were built. A prototype LEHEL Armoured Ambulance was made from one chassis by removing the turret. The book is A4 hardcover in landscape format and 120 pages long, It is illustrated throughout with large black and white photos on every page showing all aspects o the vehicles operation. Conclusion This book will give the reader a very good look at this unusual vehicle. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  5. Last week
  6. Julien
    not in the box. Julien
  7. Mick4350
    Is there a stand for it ?
  8. StephenCJ
    Great looking aeroplane. Have bought one from Hannants and will do WIP when it arrives.
  9. Corsairfoxfouruncle
    Makes me want to get a set of these, and do a stop motion music video to "Walking on the Moon" by the Police.
  10. VMA131Marine
    Apparently, there's an automotive paint designed for priming flexible plastic/vinyl/rubber body parts (like bumper covers) that will stick to this kind of plastic. Once you've primed them with it, you can use regular acrylic or enamel hobby paints.
  11. John_W
    I remember these well. Shame they used vinyl (again) I would have thought it would be possible to use polystyrene in the moulds.
  12. bhouse
    Blimey! Airfix invented the Segway! I'm surprised they didn't sneak a Sinclair C5 in the pack as well Fantastic re-release and a huge nostalgia kick. Thanks for the review.
  13. Viking
    You're not wrong Mike, they are mega-awesome! I'll pick up a set myself. Nostalgia indeed
  14. Mike
    Astronauts (A00741V) 1:76 Airfix Vintage Classics In the 60s and 70s there was a huge interest in going to the Moon, and consequently there were a lot of space-themed toys. These figures stand out in my memory because I used to own a set, and loved the little gadgets you could put together and play with. I have no idea where they went in the long-term, but when I opened the little box from Airfix the other day, I was beaming from ear to ear (not the Star Trek kind) almost immediately. Arriving in a small end-opening rectangular box, you get four sprues of pure white vinyl, unlike the old ones with were a cheesy yellow colour, even from new. Funnily enough, the illustration of the contents on the back of the box show them to be yellowish, but white is the colour, and a proper colour it is too. The copyright message tags them as from 1971, and time hasn't been too unkind to them. They hail from the era of angular sprues with no external runners to protect the parts, but vinyl isn't as prone to breakage as styrene, so everything is still attached to the sprues. There's a little bit of flash here and there, but most of it is on the sprues, so won't be an issue, and there are a few ejector pin marks too, most notably on the rear of the tyres and the astronauts' backs, although the latter will be covered by their backpacks anyway, so don't matter. Some of the design work is fanciful, including two types of lander that could allegedly be used for getting around faster than the moon rover that is also supplied. The vehicles are a little simplified for obvious reasons, but they still have that cool factor that makes me smile. In the box you get 59 parts to make up the following: 1 x Astronaut with a flag 2 x Astronaut with a probe/golf club 2 x Astronaut carrying a pair of containers 2 x Astronaut walking with his hands stretched out to his sides 2 x Astronaut with a video camera 2 x Astronaut with a personal one-man rocket-propelled travel platform 2 x Astronaut in a moonbuggy 2 x Astronaut on 1 x larger 2-seat lander-style travel platform A brief clean-up was done for this photo of some of the parts, but most of the figures were much as they came off the sprue. The round platform took the most clean-up. Preparation involves nipping the parts off the sprue and cutting the gate flush to allow them to sit straight on the moon's regolith, and then using an incredibly sharp blade to remove any small blemishes or flash that might be found. Be careful of cutting the pins too short on the various parts that slot together, as they're a bit hard to see amongst the white of the sprues. This can bite you in the bottom later on when you realise your rocketman won't stay on his platform, which is incidentally where the most flash is to be found in between the verticals. They're vinyl of course, so flexible and not likely to take standard paints if you get the modelling urge, but I believe that there are some flexible paints out there, or some that can be made flexible with the addition of something akin to PVA… my memory is hazy on this though, so have a Google if some bright spark doesn't help us out below. Conclusion I think they're awesome, but then I'm biased. They're still very cool IMHO, and surprisingly affordable if you're feeling nostalgic. Lots of play value for the 8 and older child, self included. What glues vinyl well? Nostalgically highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. azureglo
  16. colin
    In this day and age that means very little, they could be assembled in the USA and still qualify for made in the USA We have appliances that say made in the EU etc, but most of the parts come from elsewhere
  17. Mike
    Spitfire Mk.I & Bf.109G-6 Brass Landing Gear (for Tamiya) 1:48 AeroCraft Models Tamiya have retooled their 1:48 offerings of this iconic duo lately (geologically speaking), and Ali at AeroCraft has created a pair of new landing gear legs to strengthen the models substantially so that they stand up to the handling that will doubtless occur if you intend to show off those magnetically-secured removable cowling panels. They will also be useful if you're planning on decking out your Tamiya kit with all the extras that have been coming out from Eduard and the like. Both sets arrive in their own little Ziplok bag with a card that states what they are, and they're usually cocooned within a little bubble-wrap envelope then shipped in a letter box friendly flat box so you don't have to wonder if you'll get them on time. Spitfire Mk.I Undercarriage (Tamiya) The Spit's main legs are moulded as a single part like the kit's legs, but with them being brass they're a lot tougher, and can stand up to the rigours of daily life as a model. The tail wheel is moulded into its yoke and has a long strut that fits into the rear of the fuselage underside. Both parts have a couple of pouring gates that have already been nipped off, and just need a good quality file to remove the residue and flat it back to where it should be. Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6 Undercarriage (Tamiya) This set consists of four parts, including the two main wheels, which have a long bar that keeps them at the correct angle in the bay, and at the other end a receiver for the wheel parts. Whatever you do though, don't be tempted to remove the little spigots on the top of the bar, as those are there to help fix the part in place. There are two tail wheel parts to match the two bay options, so be careful to use the correct one. Conclusion Not only are these nicely detailed, but they are also priced keenly to make the transition to tougher brass parts easier on the wallet. Unless you're wedded to 100% OOB, there's not much reason to hold back unless you're flat broke. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  18. azureglo
    Of course they are
  19. Earlier
  20. colin
    The Chinese factory is probably making the Xuron ones for then anyway and anyone else who wants their logo on them
  21. azureglo
    I thought I was having a deja vu moment: I bought these Xuron photo etch tweezer nose pliers in a store in San Francisco back in 2012... Hmm, looks like our Chinese friends have made some improvements, going for a snazzy orange plastic and blanking off the Xuron logo...yup emperor's new clothes. I doubt you could patent a plier but if I was Xuron I'd feel mighty peeved, they even copied the holes in the handle for a lanyard.
  22. Julien
    U-2/Po-2VS with Soviet Pilots and GP (48254) 1:48 ICM The Polikarpov Po-2 or U-2 in the training role, was a standard training bi-plane developed to replace the U-1 which was a copy of the Avro 504. The prototype first flew in 1928. The aircraft would also later find roles in crop dusting, light attack, reconnaissance, liaison and even psychological warfare, The Russian forces used the aircraft very successfully in the night bomber role where the Germans nicknamed it the Sewing Machine due to the note from its engine. The aircraft would also go on to fire some of the first shots in the Korean War. American forces would nickname the aircraft "Bedcheck Charlie" due to its nocturnal raids. Due to its low radar signature the aircraft was very hard to detect by allied forces in Korea. In what was fast becoming the Jet age the Po-2 was credited with a kill on an F-94 when it stalled trying to shoot down the Po-2, and a USMC would score the Skyraiders only Air-2-Air victory against a Po-2. It is estimated that upto 30,000 aircraft were built and it was in production longer than any other soviet era aircraft. The Albanian Air Force only retired the type in 1985! The Kit This is now the forth boxing since 2014 from ICM of the Po-2VS/U-2. This issue features the same plastic but with the addition of a sprue containing pilot figures and ground personnel. The kit arrives on three main sprues, two smaller sprues of armaments, and a small clear sprue. Construction starts in the fairly basic cockpits. Instrument panels are built up and installed into the fuselage as well a some flight controls. The fuselage is then closed up and the front added on to mount the engine. Once this is finished work can start on the wings. For the lower wing holes are opened up then the seats and their frames can be installed in the centre section which also forms the cockpit floor. one on this can then be added to the main fuselage. Next up the engine is made up and installed on the front of the fuselage. The tail planes and the rudder are then added. Underneath the main wing now the undercarriage is built up and added as are the bomb racks and bombs if using them. The struts are then added and the upper wing can be added. The observers rear mounted machine gun can then be made up and fitted. A basic rigging diagram is provided to rig the bi-plane. Markings There are three decal options included in the box. From the box you can build one of the following: U-2VS from 213rd Night Bomber Air Division, Soviet Air Force Summer 1943. Po-2CV from 46th Tamansky GvNBAP, Spring 1945. Po-2VS from 2nd Polish NBAP, Lubin Area, Summer 1944. Decals are printed by ICM, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Figures The kit comes with a set of 7 figures which are all well moulded. There are two what look like pilots, a senior office figure, 3 ground crew, and female figure. Conclusion It is good to see an important historical aircraft like this kitted, and its good to see the ICM kit on release again. The inclusion of a figure set makes for a ready made airfield diorama. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  23. sroubos
    Stilll a good kit. Nacelles a bit thin and the props are terrible. QuickBoost has sets for both but don't bother with the nacelles. they are even worse than the kit parts.
  24. sroubos
    Best easily available Skyhawk on the market and not that bad, but surface detail is still crude compared to the Fujimi. A shame that's not re-released more often.
  25. nheather
    Shame it isn't one of the VIIC's with an 8.8cm deck gun. Would have definitely caved in then. Cheers, Nigel
  26. Julien
    The Navy ones are the next ones out I think. Julien
  27. Dudikoff
    Yeah, it will be rather large with those rotor blades, so much that I'd prefer a 1/48 kit. But, looking at all the nice detail there, I could see myself going for a Navy SH-60B/F or even better the HH-60H, as I'd expect they'll provide a folded rotor option.
  28. exdraken
    looks like a nice kit! but will be huge, no??? thanks for the review! probably also a good base for a S-70 A42....
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