Mike

Studebaker US6-U3 US Military Truck (35490) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Before WWII, Studebaker began development of a 2.5-ton truck for military and civilian use, that was capable of working equally well off-road and on, with a 6 x 6 drivetrain giving it good grip in all weathers. It was up against substantial competition however, and other designs were found to have better performance under the conditions prevalent in locations where the type was to be used, the Studebaker being better suited to cold weather operations. The first trucks arrived in the USSR in 1941 under the Lend/Lease agreement, where it was well-liked, resulting in Soviet Russia being the major overseas operator of the type, calling it the ‘Studer’ in their service, where they adapted it to various roles, including most famously as a Katyusha rocket launcher. It was powered by a 5.2L straight-six petrol engine that could output around 86hp and drove all six wheels, while the over-engineered engine boasted a low compression ratio that made it extremely reliable. It was its reliability and ruggedness that endeared it to its operators and drivers, and inspired Joseph Stalin to write a note after the war congratulating Studebaker on the design of the vehicle, and telling them of how useful it had been to their war effort. Many Studers were used post WWII in the Soviet Union, often with their military equipment removed. Even after retirement, the cab and general configuration was also used as the pattern for the GAZ-51 truck, although heavily modified due to technological progress in the meantime. The Kit The origin of this kit stems from 2007, when it was first released, but there have been many variants and additional parts added to the tooling in the interim, and it still gives the impression of being a thoroughly modern kit, with some impressive detail. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with the usual captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are five sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate bag, and a decal sheet between the pages of the colour printed instruction booklet that has profiles of the decal options on the rearmost pages. As already mentioned, detail is good, and the kit is a full chassis offering, with engine, cab, chassis and bodywork all provided, including a rather complex, single-part transmission system that is found under the ladder chassis. Construction begins unsurprisingly with the ladder chassis, spacing the two main rails apart with six cross-members of various designs, some of which are made from 2, 3 or four parts, plus more dotted around the chassis, and a pair of leaf springs at the front, which locate in recesses in the outer faces of the rails. The chassis is finished at the ends by a large bumper bar at the front, and a pair of sprung R-shaped forms on either side of the towing shackle. The engine is next, basing the work on a two-part block with separate cylinder head, end caps with fan-belt moulded into one end, air intake box and pathway, plus other ancillaries, and the fan itself. The gearbox is created from three parts and is mated with the rear of the engine, lowering the motor into the chassis and coupling up the radiator assembly, which has been made from inner and outer faces, plus header tank and feeder hose that links to the top of the engine, adding the exhaust system under the engine, leading back to a separate muffler that has the exhaust moulded-in, exiting the side of the chassis behind the cab. The monolithic transmission system is fleshed out with separate halves of the differential castings, plus half the casing of the transfer box between the front and rear wheels. A steering linkage is added to the front axle, and the completed assembly is then installed under the chassis, linking the first drive-shaft to the rear of the gearbox, and locating the three axles onto their mountings. At this stage the rear axles don’t yet have their springs, first needing the central mount between the twin axles, after which the inverted leaf springs, dampers, and tie-bars can be installed, plus more linkages added to the front axle both for steering and damping. Two sets of running boards are attached to the chassis by L-brackets on each side of where the cab will be, accompanied by a three-part fuel tank on the left side, and a two-part spare wheel on the right. The US6 rolled along on eight wheels, four sets of pairs that are made from five parts, and two singles at the front, each made from main carcass and inner sidewall, trapping a disc in the centre, in case you wish to leave the wheels mobile. The completed wheels are attached to the six axle ends with care, then the bodywork can begin. Work on the cab begins with the roof, windscreen frame and scuttle that are moulded as a single part, fitting the shallow-V shaped glazing from outside, and adding supports to the sides, with the dashboard inserted from beneath, applying three dial decals during the process. The firewall and kick board part has the lower sills and bottoms of the A-pillars glued to each side, mating them with the roof assembly once the glue has cured. The steering column has the wheel and separate boss applied to the top, joining it to the underside of the dash and kick board, then adding the three foot pedals around the base, mounting the four controls and gear lever on the floor, and the bench seat after building it from just three parts, including the base. The floor is slid in from behind, followed by the sides of the engine compartment, adding the battery into a recess in the left side after painting it and deciding whether to wire it into the engine. The front fenders are fitted to the sides, and the back is closed after inserting a lozenge-shaped window into the curved panel. Headlights with clear or hooded lenses are mounted on the wings along with side lights, with the grille applied to the front of the engine bay, the side extensions protecting the lights from frontal impacts. Crew doors keep the weather out, and have simple door cards moulded-in, to which the handles, winders and the window glass are installed, and these can be fitted open or closed as you wish. A pair of supports are fitted under the front of the wings, fixing the bonnet over the engine compartment, and adding outer door handles before mating the cab with the chassis, gluing the bottom of the steering column as you do so. This boxing has an open load bed with ribbed floor, raised sides, and fold-up benches for carrying personnel, which can be stowed upright with the supports hanging vertically, filling a rather draughty space that would chill the kidneys of anyone sitting on the seats. Flipping the load bed over, two longitudinal support rails and a rear light bar are fitted, followed by the four mudflaps with U-shaped supports that hold them to the correct angle. The bed can then be glued to the chassis, aligning the tabs with the corresponding slots that are found on the top of the chassis rails. Six curved tilt supports are included in this boxing, and they can be stacked in the front of the load bed, or fitted in place by cutting the lower portions from the parts before gluing them in. The final step involves adding windscreen wipers, wing mirrors and towing hooks to the cab, all in pairs. Markings There are four decal options on the included sheet, with four profiles and a cab top scrap diagram for each one, and you wouldn’t be wrong if you guessed they were all green. From the box you can build one of the following: United States Corps of Engineers, 1942 Rusty Dow’s Studebaker US6-U3 – Rusty was the first woman to drive on a military road in Alaska US Army in Europe, 1944 US Army in the Far East, 1945 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Whilst this isn’t the first boxing of this kit, it’s an interesting option with a clutch of non-Soviet examples, and as we lost our last one before we managed to review it, it was good to see it. How we managed to lose a substantial box like that remains a mystery to this day. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

I thought everyone had missed that

He's not wrong you know

That looks like the swollen rim, yes 😐

That's good to know. I doubt I'll be using A-Stand unless I get some in for review, as I've got tons of other brands knocking about, but you never know

It's a good excuse Seriously though, it's one of these things that happens. If you're lucky enough to have your device last long beyond its support date, you find that the developers stop updating your browser, and eventually you start noticing that things aren't working as well as they used to. You could try another browser other than Safari, or whichever one you're currently using. Historically, Firefox and a few others have supported older devices for longer, but they're all based upon Apple code called Webkit, and once that's out of date, most browsers will behave in a similar screwy manner. @Enzo the Magnificent's problem was user generated, although we don't know which of the staff accidentally moved all his files, but I found them for him It was just a coincidence that it happened at around the same time as the update. Typical, eh?

It can't be that difficult if I managed

They don't look like that, more like the Mk.6 Kevlar, TBH. I've added another pic to the review, but I'll reproduce it here to save your scroll-wheel The curve of the helmets are more domed than the one in your pic, and the brim is nothing more than a mild swelling around the rim That sounded dodgy.

A-Stand is basically Alclad, from what little I know. Not suitable for brush-painting if I'm right. If I'm wrong however, just ignore me

IIRC they’re bowl-like without a rim, but I’m away from my desk right now, so can’t check. I’ve got to get back shortly though, so I’ll try and remember to have a look.

As Dave said, I had to do a manual update, which took longer than the usual automatic ones, but it completed just fine and we came back just before I had to leave to help my old folks. Good timing for a change

You sound like you know more names of the different headgear than me already, so have a zoom in. I saved the files at 1280 px so you could all see the detail

British Armoured Car Crew Special Edition (35387) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd All forces during WWII operated armoured cars, which whilst they were generally ineffective against tanks, were of immense use of great use when fighting infantry and lightly armoured vehicles or emplacements. They were also useful for reconnaissance, as they were able to cover greater areas in a shorter time than a similar-sized foot patrol, and had at least some level of protection if they should run into enemy forces, with the capability of withdrawing quickly, enabling the intelligence to get back to HQ for dissemination and a suitable response. This set contains five crew figures for a British armoured car of WWII, and arrives in a figure-sized end-opening box with a painting of the crew on the front, and instructions on the back, reusing the same painting but with arrows in blue pointing out suggested colours, and black showing the parts used for each one. Under the instructions is a chart that gives codes for Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, plus colour swatches and generic names for completeness. Inside are five sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, two of which contain the figure parts, while the remaining three are full of accessories that can be utilised to personalise the figures, or as equipment to stow around the vehicle or diorama you are creating, with some finding their way into the spare parts box. The crew are in various poses, the most amusing of which is the driver, who is hunched over a large steering wheel, looking very intensely in the direction they are (hopefully) travelling. Three more figures are standing, two with one foot raised on something, the commander looking through his binoculars, while the other rests one hand on his hip, the other on a part of the vehicle. The fourth crewman is standing in a hatch with one hand on the deck, while he talks on the radio, whilst the final seated figure is leaning slightly back, supporting himself with one arm, and shading his eyes with the other hand. He and one of the standing figures are wearing shorts and have their long-sleeved shirt sleeves rolled up, while the rest of the crew are in long trousers and have their sleeves rolled down. This is because three of the crew are more suited to a North African location, whilst two are intended to be in European service. The commander is suitably ambiguous however, and can be used in either locale, and if you place some of the figures in turrets or hatches, their pant legs or nobbly knees won’t be seen anyway. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprues for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. Conclusion Superb injection-moulded styrene figures from MiniArt that will bring any British Armoured car to life, with clothing suitable for hot or cooler climate operations. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

As @treker_ed says, the Help & Support section is for site issues. I've moved it to the Airbrushes section, as that's the main thrust of your post, but you might want to put another thread about your gunsights in the Military Aircraft by Era > WWI section, or have a look at Scalemates.net where there's a gigantic database about everything modelling related. Going back to your airbrush question, I've got a couple of Infinities, which are similar to the Evolution, and I tended to give them a proper clean at the end of a session (If I remember), backflushing them in between colour changes. If you've been spraying metallics though, it would be an idea to clean it properly once you're done, because a little metallic goes a long way, and can contaminate your next few colours, which will be most visible if you're spraying darker shades. You'll end up with a slightly sparkly finish, which will show up more under artificial or strong lighting. I also do a clean when I'm switching from acrylics to lacquer, or vice versa. This is because the next thinner causes the previous residue to curdle, which will probably block your nozzle more times than you'd want. it gets very frustrating, very quickly if you keep having to backflush to clear the blockage - especially if you blow your lid off and cover the place (and yourself) with paint If you're planning on doing fine work such as modulation or mottle, then a scrupulously clean airbrush will pay dividends, as you'll get a much smoother paint flow and fewer blockages or paint drying on the tip. Flow improver will make it better too.

There's also pigment grind size. I was unfortunate enough to have some faulty Humbrol acrylics once many years back, and I couldn't get them to spray through ANYTHING from 0.2mm to 0.4mm, no matter how much I thinned them. I think someone had set the grind size to "football" by mistake

If we can't find things like this a bit funny, even when we're affected by it, we're without hope. There are a few good Dyslexic/dyslectic jokes about too People also claim to be a bit OCD or dyslexic (which is what we all usually say), as an excuse for a random failure. It's become a thing somehow. "Ooh, I'm a little bit OCD". No, you're just anal about that thing, just like we all are about something or other

Proof read, much?

I think that's the case. I pulled that info from IMDb.

Agree entirely.

P-40K-1/5 Warhawk ‘Short Fuselage’ (SH72379) 1:72 Special Hobby First flying before the outbreak of WWII, the Warhawk was a development of the P-36 Hawk, and although it was never the fastest fighter in the sky, it was a sturdy one that took part in the whole of WWII in American and Allied hands, with large numbers used by Soviet pilots in their battles on the Eastern front. The various marks garnered different names such as Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, so it can get a mite confusing if you're not familiar with the type. It was unable to keep pace with the supercharged Bf.109, but was used to great effect in the Far East and Africa, which may have assisted in the feeling that it was a second-string aircraft of inferior design, when this actually wasn't the case – certainly not to the extent inferred. It was robust, cheap to make, and easy to repair, although its high-altitude performance dropped off somewhat. The early marks were under-armed with just two .50 guns firing through the prop from the top of the engine cowling and a pair of .303s in the wings, but later models benefited from improved armament. The B model was a revision of the initial airframe with lessons learned from early production, self-sealing fuel tanks and armour in critical parts of the airframe, although this extra weight did have an impact on performance. The -D was a partial re-design, eliminating the nose guns, narrowing the fuselage and improving the cockpit layout and canopy. In British service it was known as the Kittyhawk Mk.I, but only a small number were made before the -E replaced it with a more powerful Allison engine, and an extra pair of .50cl machine guns in the wings bringing the total to six, but even that wasn’t sufficient to let it keep up with the opposition. It wasn't until the –F model that the Allison engine was replaced by a license-built Merlin that gave it better high-altitude performance and a sleeker chin. The -K was an Allison engine version with a shorter fuselage, retaining many of the earlier visual cues just to confuse us, known at the Kittyhawk Mk.III in British and Commonwealth service. The Kit This is a rebox of a recent tooling from Special Hobby with new parts to depict this variant, and it arrives in a red/white/grey themed top-opening box with a painting of the subject after a successful engagement with a late mark Bf.109, which is banking away whilst trailing smoke from its engine. Inside the box are three sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue that’s separately bagged, a tiny bag of two grey resin parts, a wide decal sheet, and the A5 portrait instruction booklet printed on glossy paper in colour. Detail is good, with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed details around the airframe and a few spare parts that can stay on the sprues, which are marked with a red X on the sprue diagram. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, mounting it on a frame, then it is attached to the bulkhead and given a set of four-point decal seatbelts, after which it is set aside for a few steps. The fuselage sides are fitted with sidewall inserts, with sections further forward painted silver as they form part of the air intake pathway, adding the core with three circular intakes inside, and the intake lip in front once the fuselage halves are together. The rear bulkhead with seat and the instrument panel with two decals for the dials are trapped between the two halves of the fuselage as it is closed. A small circular shape on the cockpit side is removed and smoothed over at this stage too. Moving on to the wings, the full-span lower has the perimeter around the bay openings painted, as are the side-walls that are glued in the recesses, and the roof that is moulded into the upper wing half, adding a landing light under the port wing from within. The cockpit floor is moulded into the centre of the upper wing, and that is also painted the same colour, so quite convenient while you have the paint out. The control column and another lever are inserted into the floor, then the wings can be joined to the fuselage, taking care not to knock the stick off as you do so. The elevators are each a single part that affix with the usual slot and tab method, with a separate rudder that can be posed deflected if you wish. The exhaust stubs are supplied as inserts with one per side, and are far too small to drill out unless you have the world’s steadiest hands. The last option involves selecting open or closed cooling gills behind the radiator housing, inserting a pitot probe in the port wingtip, and painting the moulded-in lights on each tip above and below the wing. The main gear struts have an additional bracing leg fixed at the top, then the tripod arrangements are inserted into the sockets in the bay, adding the two doors to each side of the bays, and another two that are linked by a cross-brace in the tail bay and a single part strut/wheel to complete the undercarriage. The three-bladed propeller is moulded as a single part that is trapped between a back-plate and spinner, with a short spindle on the back that slides into the hole in the front of the fuselage. You then have a choice of two loads under the centre of the fuselage, consisting of a fuel tank, or a bomb for ground-attack operations. Each option is made from two halves plus four braces for the fuel tanks, and two for the bomb. Flipping the model over allows the last step to be completed, fitting the coaming and gunsight into the cockpit, adding the windscreen with rear-view mirror, and the two side windows into the scalloped sections behind the canopy, followed by the sliding canopy, which can be posed open or closed as you like it by using a different part for each option. One decal option has a two-part resin D/F loop aerial and fairing added to the spine behind the cockpit, with its location shown during step 6 of the instructions. Markings There are four options available on the decal sheet, three US options having bright personalisations around the nose area, while the other option is a Lend/Lease airframe in Soviet service, replete with red stars. From the box you can build one of the following: P-40K-1 (42-46040) White #13, Pilot 1st Lt. Robert Johnson ‘Jay’ Overcash, 643FS, 57FG, Based at Hani Main, Tunisia, May 1943 P-40K White #23, Lt. Nikolai Federovich Kuznetsov, 436 Fighter Aviation Regiment, 239 IAD, 6 Air Army, Lake Seliger, North Western Front, Winter 1943 P-40K-5 (42-9768) White #255, Maj. Edward ‘Big Ed’ M Nollmeyer, CO of 26FS, 51FG, Kunming, China, December 1943 P-40K, White #15, 25FS, 51FG, Assam Valley, India 1944 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The P-40 is an interesting and oft overlooked aircraft that played some important roles in WWII, as evidenced by the number of notable pilots that gained their reputation in this doughty fighter. This is a well-detailed kit of a later variant, and has some interesting decal options that make it an appealing prospect. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II ‘Special Markings’ (AZ7868) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov The Gauntlet bears a family resemblance to the Gladiator from the same stable because it preceded it, entering service earlier after an extended development process that would be worthy of a modern defence project. Its development began as early as 1929, but it wasn’t until 1933 that it was given the name Gauntlet, and another two years before it started to enter service with the RAF in small numbers. It was intended as a replacement to the Bulldog, which it outpaced by 50mph thanks to its Bristol Mercury engine, with heavier armament that included two machine guns in troughs in the fuselage sides, firing through the cowling and propeller. Only twenty-four of the initial airframes were made before there were improvements made, which were give the designation Mk.II, resulting in the initial batch being retrospectively named Mk.I. The Mk.II made up the majority of production, with over 200 manufactured in the UK, plus more built overseas. At its peak there were fourteen squadrons equipped with Gauntlets, but as the storm clouds of war began to gather, it was already outdated. By the time war finally broke out, only one squadron was left in frontline service, the rest having transitioned to more modern fighters such as the Hurricane, which was created by Gloster’s new owners, Hawker, still carrying over some design traits from the Gauntlet through the Gladiator to the Hurricane, particularly in the rear fuselage and tail areas. Fortunately for the Hurricane pilots however, the speed and armament of their new aircraft was much improved and gave them a fighting chance against the enemy. The Gauntlet lingered on as a trainer in the UK and abroad for a while, with a single Mk.II preserved in airworthy condition in Finland, one of its former operators, although the engine has been replaced by something a little more modern for practical reasons. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2008 tooling from AZ that has been re-released with new decals that depict special markings of the Gauntlet in RAF and Finnish service. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of a Gauntlet over a battlefield engaging with a Soviet i16 on the front, and profiles for the decal options on the rear of the box. Inside are three sprues of grey styrene, a decal sheet, a small sheet of clear acrylic with two windscreens printed on it, plus the instruction booklet that is printed on a folded sheet of A4, with a series of rigging profiles on the rearmost page. Detail is good, with just a wisp of flash here and there, and a good representation of the fabric covered framework over the majority of the airframe. Construction begins with the simple cockpit that is based on a well-detailed flat section of floor, onto which the seat, control column and rudder pedals are fixed, applying four-point decal seatbelts to the pilot’s position for a little extra detail. There is cockpit sidewall detail moulded into the insides of the fuselage halves, and once these and the cockpit are painted and weathered, the fuselage halves can be joined together, adding a two-part instrument panel at the front of the cockpit cut-out. The engine is supplied as a single part with nine cylinders arranged around the core, which is surrounded by a three-part cowling due to the teardrop fairings around the perimeter, finishing the cowling off with a separate lip at the front. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage halves, adding the individual elevator fins to the sides in small slots, and a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut underneath. The lower wing is a single part that is inserted into a slot under the fuselage, and once the seams have been dealt with, the landing gear can be built, made from two triangular struts that are linked by the axle that has wheels mounted on each end, positioning the assembly on the underside of the fuselage using the small recesses that are moulded into the model to locate them accurately. Four cabane struts are similarly fitted to the fuselage in front of the cockpit using more guide recesses, which supports the upper wing that is also moulded as a single part. Four interplane struts are fitted between the wings, and a scrap diagram gives details of the tensioner rods that are suspended in the rigging, which is dealt with over the page. A pair of exhausts are mounted under the cowling, cutting the windscreen from the acetate sheet and folding it to shape before gluing it to the front of the cockpit, then slotting the two machine gun barrels in the troughs on each side of the fuselage. The final task (if we ignore the rigging for now) is the three-blade propeller, with a moulded-in spinner to the front. Speaking of rigging, there are four diagrams on the rear of the booklet, detailing the location of the wiring, which should assist with the process along with the box art for a three-quarter view. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, two RAF, and one in Finnish service, which comes with the reversed Swastikas they used at the time, confusing the uninitiated for many years. The British subjects are away from the usual silver dope, including desert and night fighter schemes From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The Gauntlet was a well-used interwar fighter that in its day was an impressive improvement over those that it replaced, but was soon to be left in the wake of the next generation of fighters due to the speed of development at the time. The kit depicts its fabric covering well, with a detailed cockpit, and it comes with some interesting decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mike the Barely Adequate did that for you

Star Trek Galaxy Class Upgrade Sets (for AMT) 1:1400 GreenStrawberry Whether Star Trek or Star Wars is your preferred method of Sci-Fi entertainment, you can’t help but acknowledge that Trekkies have some great ships, one iconic vessel being the USS Enterprise in its various incarnations. After The Original Series (TOS) hung up its Phasers, there was a substantial hiatus before Star Trek the Next Generation (TNG) came to our screens, giving Sir Patrick Stewart the captain’s seat as Jean Luc Picard, and a bridge full of diverse and peculiar crew that went off on an open-ended cruise through the galaxy. The Enterprise D was a Galaxy Class starship with a saucer section that could separate if needed, although this happened less and less as the series progressed. It was also faster and larger than its predecessors, with whole families accompanying the crew members on their travels, which was a nod to the less jingoistic “we come in peace – shoot to kill” mantra of Captain Kirk’s era. Starting in 1990, the show ran for seven series until 1996, with Enterprise D making its first big screen appearance in the 1994 cross-over with The Original Series Star Trek: Generations, where Kirk and Picard meet toward the end of the film. Several more cinematic outings followed from the Enterprise and her crew, some better than others, before they too hung up their Phasers to make way for other series, spin-offs and potential movies. Whether you like those next, next generation offerings is entirely down to you, but you can probably still remember the hate when TNG first arrived, and although there is still much love for TOS, TNG also benefits from the rose-tinted glasses we tend to don once a show has been and gone after a long run. In the modelling world, AMT have long produced kits from this lucrative property where no man/one has gone before, and they have a range of ship kits in 1:1400, of which the Enterprise D has been one that was first issued in the 90s, and has been re-released in many different boxes over the years, with new parts and decals added along the way. GreenStrawberry have been watching, and have created a number of sets to upgrade the detail on those ageing kits, whilst also making the lighting of the model a much easier and painless proposition. We have three sets in for review, and they are a feast for the eyes that will move warp-speed once you have woven your chosen lighting method into the upgraded kit. Galaxy Class Warp Nacelles (19923-1/1400) This large set arrives in one of GreenStrawberry’s shallow top-opening black boxes with a captive lid that is kept closed during transit by the overlapping sticker on the top that gives the modeller information upon what is inside. Once opened, there are eight parts in grey resin, two more in translucent red resin, and a further two parts in translucent blue resin. That doesn’t sound a lot until you see the size of the parts. The entire Warp Nacelles are replaced by new resin units that are made from upper and lower halves that are separated by a translucent blue part that wraps around the sides and rear of the nacelles. At the front, a corrugated section is fitted between the main nacelle and the forward Bussard Collector fairing, which then receives a translucent red ‘tongue’ that projects from the collector, which has pre-prepared holes moulded-in, and the hollow nacelle further assists in this regard. There are two of these of course, as no-one wants to go round in circles at warp 8, and each one is handed, with a helpful part number on a raised plaque inside the nacelle halves to avoid confusion. These parts have been 3D mastered, then further prepared to be traditionally cast for incredible finesse and smoothness of the parts throughout. Galaxy Class Impulse Engines (19723-1/1400) This set arrives in a small black box, and upgrades the Enterprise’s sub-light Impulse Engines with four grey resin parts, plus three translucent red resin lenses for lighting, and a small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) with three grille parts. The simplistic kit engines are first cut from the back of the saucer and the base of the neck, as indicated in red on the instructions, then the three Impulse Engines are cut from their bases, have the translucent red parts slipped into the centre, taking care to align them correctly, using the chamfered end to achieve a snug fit, and remembering to flatten and smooth the cut surface. A PE grille is then glued over the red resin to increase detail, and a long spine insert is supplied for the central engine at the bottom of the saucer’s interhull neck, using hot water to subtly bend the resin part to the curved shape of the hull in that area. The engines have a crisp grooved outer, and are hollow behind so that a light source will make the red resin glow from behind the PE grille. Galaxy Class Main Deflector (19623-1/1400) This smaller box contains three grey resin parts, a clear resin lozenge, and a PE sheet with two parts included. The kit defector can be discarded, as this is a drop-in replacement when complete, and the set has again been mastered in 3D, then worked on further to improve the detail. Only one resin part is used on the model, which is the deflector dish, complete with ribbed detail within, and a central recess into which the clear resin part is glued. This is to disperse a light source from behind, the dish having a hole marked out in its base to assist with this, but the light is further muted by adding a PE part over the top of the clear resin diffuser, which is surrounded by another larger PE part that has a hole in the centre. You might baulk at having to curve the PE part to fit the contours of the dish, but you don’t need to worry, as the other two resin parts form a jig to curve the surround to the contours of the dish with very little effort. It may be wise to anneal the brass first by heating it in a flame and allowing it to air-cool to soften the metal, then place the part centrally on the concave section of the jig, pressing down with the convex portion to press it into shape. Then it can be carefully glued into place around the centre, and the completed assembly can be pushed into the front of the lower hull to complete. Conclusion If you’re building an Enterprise D in this scale, you will want to consider these upgrade sets, and choose which ones you feel you want, based on your needs and budget. If you don’t yet have a kit to suit the sets, we understand that the kit is being re-released in 2024, so you may wish to plan ahead. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

StuG III Ausf.G Feb 1943 Alkett Prod. (72101) 1:72 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The StuG is a popular German WWII AFV, and the more you learn about it, the more obvious it becomes why. The SturmGeschütz III was based upon the chassis of the Panzer III, but removed the turret and front deck, replacing it with an armoured casemate with a lower profile that mounted a fixed gun with limited traverse. It was originally intended to be used as infantry support, using its (then) superior armour to advance on the enemy as a mobile blockhouse, but it soon found other uses as an ambush predator, and was employed as a tank destroyer, lurking in wait for Allied forces to stumble haplessly into its path, where it could be deadly. With the advances in sloped armour employed by the Soviets, the original low velocity 75mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon was replaced by a higher velocity unit that was also used in the Panzer IV for tank-on-tank combat, extending the type’s viable career to the end of WWII. The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and whilst they were equipped with guns, they were unsuitable for combat due to the relative softness of the steel that would have led to a swift demise on the battlefield, being withdrawn in '41-42. By this time the StuG III had progressed to the Ausf.G, which was based on the later Panzer III Ausf.M, with a widened upper hull and improvements in armour to increase survivability prospects for the crew. Many of the complicated aspects of the earlier models that made them time-consuming and expensive to produce were removed and simplified by that time, which led to several specific differences in some of the external fitments around the gun, such as the Saukopf mantlet protector. The Ausf.G was the last and most numerous version, and was used until the end of the war with additional armour plates often welded or bolted to the surface to give it enhanced protection from Allied tanks and artillery. The Kit This is a new tooling from MiniArt in their nascent 1:72 armour line, which is bringing high levels of detail to this smaller scale, with MiniArt’s engineers and tool designers applying their skills to a scale that has been neglected to an extent for many years. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside are nine sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a small clear sprue with decals in a Ziploc bag, a Photo-Etch (PE) brass fret in a card envelope, and the instruction booklet in full colour in portrait A5 format. Detail is excellent, including weld-lines and tread-plate moulded into the exterior of the hull, with plenty of options for personalisation, and link-and-length tracks to provide good detail without making the building of the tracks too time consuming. Construction begins with the lower hull, which is put together with five parts creating the ‘tub’, then adding the three-part glacis plate at the front, and the exhaust assembly at the rear, accompanied by duct-work and overhanging vents with a PE mesh panel underneath. One decal option has a few holes drilled into the rear overhang before installation for use later, then various suspension parts are applied to the sides that have the swing arms and axles already moulded-in. Six paired return rollers are made up, along with twelve pairs of road wheels, plus two-part idler wheels and drive sprockets, which have an alternative front sprocket face for you to choose from. Once all the wheels are installed on their axles, the tracks can be built, utilising the long lengths on the top and bottom, adding shorter lengths to the diagonal risers, and individual links around the sharper curved sections toward the ends of the runs. There are eight individual links at the rear, and six at the front, plus another between the lower and its diagonal, each link having three sprue gates in sensibly placed locations. The gun shroud is built from four parts and mounted on a carrier between a pair of trunnions, which is then fitted to a pivot plate and set aside while the casemate front is made from two sections. First however, the fenders are glued to the sides of the hull, locating on three lugs moulded into the sides. The gun shroud is slotted into the casemate, with a mantlet slid over the front, after which the lower heavily armoured and bolted lower casemate front has a vision slot and armour cover applied before it is glued to the bottom of the casemate, along with the sides and rear bulkhead, attaching it to the lower hull while the glue cures to ensure everything lines up. A convoy light is glued into the centre of the glacis, then the engine deck is made, fitting two-part sides, and a single rear panel that is aligned when the deck is installed on the rear of the hull. Two PE grilles are glued over the outer cooling intakes, and a length of spare track is fitted over the rear bulkhead of the casemate, adding armoured covers over the five vents on the engine deck, with a choice of cast or bolted vents on those at the rear of the deck. A choice of three styles of cupola can be made, each one made from a differing set of parts, based around the commander’s vision blocks and central hatch, adding wire grab handles from your own stock where indicated, then inserting the completed assembly in the cut-out on the roof, adding a periscope forward of the cupola from within the roof. The barrel is moulded as a single tubular section with a hollow muzzle glued to the business end, and sleeve moulded into the front of the saukopf, which is an inverted trapezoid with an optional stowage box on top for one option, and an alternative site on the engine deck for the other decal options. PE brackets are added around the vehicle, with pioneer tools built up and fitted where there is space as the build progresses. The gunner’s hatch can be posed closed, or replaced by two separate parts in the open position, adding another scratch-built grab handle from wire, then fitting a drum magazine to the supplied MG34, sliding it through the frontal bullet shield with PE support and another DIY grab handle before putting it in place in front of the gunner’s hatch. Towing eyes are supplied for the tow cable, but you must provide the braided thread or wire to make the cable itself, attaching one to each fender, fixing fire extinguisher, jack block, jack, barrel cleaning rods etc. to various places, and for one decal variant, two stacks of wheels are mounted on long pins on the rear bulkhead, making the pins from more of your own wire. Option four also has a PE railing around the engine deck, which has a basket to hold two jerry cans, each one made from three parts, and slotted into position at the rear of the deck. Two scrap diagrams show how the forward ends of the railings attach to the back of the casemate, and the other four decal options can have stacks of road wheels stowed on the back of the engine deck on the aft vents, again on pins made from your own wire stocks. Two aerials of 30mm each are also needed to complete the model. Markings There are five decal options on the small sheet, with various schemes ranging from pure panzer grey to dunkelgeb, with camouflage or distemper over the top. From the box you can build one of the following: Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 189, Eastern Front, Spring 1943 21 Luftwaffen-Feld-Division ‘Adler Division’, Staraya Russa Region, Eastern Front, Spring 1943 21 Luftwaffen-Feld-Division ‘Adler Division’, Staraya Russa Region, Eastern Front, Spring 1943 Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung ‘Grossdeutschland’ Okhtryka, Ukraine, Eastern Front, Spring 1943 Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 210, Eastern Front, 1943 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion MiniArt bring their talents to bear on 1:72 scale, releasing a subject they have already researched for their 1:35 scale range, resulting in a highly detailed model with plenty of options for personalisation. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Universal Acrylic Thinner & Airbrush Cleaner (HC10001 & HC10003) Hobby Colours Having thinners and airbrush cleaning products for many different brands of paint can be a logistical nightmare, cluttering your spray booth or painting area with extra bottles, and forcing you to keep a track of what you have left for each system, with a likelihood of running out if you lose track. Hobby Colours have taken that on board, and have created their own brand of universal thinners and airbrush cleaners for use with Acrylic paints of whatever brand you might have on hand. Each product arrives in a 100ml translucent plastic bottle with a screw-on cap that matches the colour of the contents. The thinners is clear with a white cap, while the cleaner is a pale blue with a blue cap, which is also useful in telling them apart quickly, using the cap or colour of the liquid to prevent grabbing the wrong one in haste. Universal Acrylic Thinner (HC10001) This clear liquid is useful for any acrylic paint, and can be used to thin for brush or airbrush painting, the latter using the usual ‘consistency of semi-skimmed milk’ as a guide, and working from there. It has a flow improver and drying retarder mixed in, so the paint will dry more slowly, which will be especially useful for brush painters, and for airbrush users on a hot day, when a drying tip can make spraying tiresome, constantly stopping to remove accumulated paint before starting the process again. I’ve used it for several tests, particularly with the Jim Scale paints, and it works beautifully, helping give it a silky-smooth finish. Universal Airbrush Cleaner (HC10003) Tinted blue to differentiate it, this mixture should be used when cleaning brushes or airbrushes, and it has a slight foaming action when agitated, helping to break up dried paint that’s stuck in hard-to-reach crevices. It has also been formulated to be kind to seals and O-rings, reducing your maintenance burden and costs in the long run. Seeing it in action, it lifts away caked-on paint easily, and is very useful, especially if you’re like me and have been known to leave paint sitting in the cup for a few days by accident. Conclusion Keep your airbrush in good fettle, whilst easing painting of your models too, picking up a few bottles of each to ensure you don’t run out. Remember that you’ll almost always use more cleaner, so adjust your purchase upwards. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of