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TBD-1 Devastator (81783) 1:48 HobbyBoss via Creative Models Ltd The TBD-1 Devastator was an interwar design for a torpedo bomber that first flew in 1935 and entered service two years later during the “Yellow wing” phase of American Naval aviation, and although a capable aircraft when it first arrived, it was outclassed almost as soon as the Americans entered WWII with only around 130 being procured for use by the US Navy. It was a slow-moving target, and not the most manoeuvrable, which although it performed quite well in its first uses against the Japanese at the Battle of Coral Sea, subsequent attacks during the Battle of Midway suffered heavy losses with no torpedo hits, reducing a force of forty-one aircraft to only six that landed back on deck after the attack, and after that sad but heroic sacrifice of squadron VT-8 during Midway, the Devastator was soon withdrawn from active duty with fewer than 40 airframes still left in existence by that time, none of which survive today. The design was modern at a time when most of its competitors were biplanes, and it won its competition against several such designs that look incredibly archaic by comparison. The Devastator had an all-metal construction using corrugated sheets to add strength whilst keeping weight down, with monoplane wings that could be folded to save stowage space below deck. It also had retractable landing gear to reduce drag, and was crewed by three – the pilot, radio operator/rear gunner, and the bombardier in the centre, his seat allowing him to slide into the prone position under the pilot’s location that allowed him to aim via a window in the floor. Crew protection was poor for the time, which was magnified by its low speed and lack of agility to evade incoming fire, thanks in part to the low power output of the Twin Wasp engine and its high all-up weight. Their successors, the TBF Avenger suffered similar high-levels of attrition until air superiority was achieved, by which time the remaining crews had gained sufficient experience to properly coordinate their attacks against a weakened enemy. The Kit This is a new tooling from HobbyBoss, and is the newest kit of the type by a decade or more at time of writing. It arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of a yellow-wing era Devastator on the lid, and inside are six sprues of differing sizes in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of masking material, decal sheet, instruction booklet in grey-scale, with a glossy sheet of colour printed profiles for the decal options slipped between the pages. Detail is good, with finely engraved panel lines and riveting, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate, a well-detailed cockpit, full depiction of the Twin Wasp engine, open or closed wings, and open or closed canopy elements, with a monolithic canopy part for the closed option. Construction begins with the cockpit, the floor of which is a long part that has a lower tier with ribbed floor, supports and control panel added underneath. The pilot’s position is detailed with rudder pedals and a bulkhead with various details added that separate him from the bombardier, who also has a bulkhead fitted to the rear of his section. Another shorter bulkhead with radio gear and a D/F loop is slotted into the floor behind the two forward stations, turning the assembly around to fit crew seats to the front compartments that both have PE lap-belts applied to them, and a frame glued to the rear of the pilot’s seat before it is installed. A stack of equipment is built from two parts and placed at the very rear of the cockpit floor, acting as the aft support for the frame that is fixed over the rear two seats, fitting a control column into the pilot’s floor along with a cylindrical part, and a roll-over A-frame with PE side skins just behind his bulkhead, plus a V-shaped brace, a square panel in the very front, a fire extinguisher behind the bombardier’s seat, and two small ribs to the sides of the machine gun recess at the rear. The gunner’s position is finally made, starting with a recessed seat-pan with PE lap-belts and a back-rest on vertical struts, fixing a two-layer pivot to the front of the crewman, completing the circular frame around the gunner’s position. The gun with separate twin grips is mounted to the front of the operator on a triangular fitting, setting it to one side while the starboard fuselage half is detailed. There is substantial ribbing and other detail inside the extensive cockpit, adding a small window in the side, a hose that rises out to the sill, a small tapering wall panel under the engine cowling, then drilling two holes under the rear of the fuselage for the arrestor hook. The port fuselage is detailed in the same manner, adding a quadrant in the pilot’s area, then creating a pair of instrument panel sections that have eight decals applied after painting, mounting them in the starboard fuselage half along with two panels (one clear window) that are fitted into the nose to create the lower view cut-out. As the fuselage halves are brought together, a tiny tail-wheel is trapped between two pins in a fairing under the tail, taking time to wait for the glue to cure before dealing with the seams in your preferred manner. The lower inner wing panels are presented as a single part that has two bays inserted before the upper inner wing halves are glued over them, both upper and lower halves partially ribbed on the outer portions. Flipping the assembly over, an intake is made by trapping a PE mesh insert between two barrel-shaped halves, before embedding it into a recess under the starboard wing. The main gear is made at this stage too, although most will probably leave them off until later, as this is simple to do, because they are single struts with one retraction jack moulded-in, adding another at an angle, and mounting the two-part wheels on the axles at the bottom ends. These assemblies plug directly into sockets in the lower wing. The inner wing is then detailed with a set of flaps that can be posed deployed or retracted by using different parts, ribs on the outer ends of the assemblies, with a choice of a two-part option for folded wings, or a simple flat part with holes in it for the in-flight option, installing the completed inner wing assembly into the underside of the fuselage. The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp has both banks of pistons depicted, each row made from front and rear halves, fitting a two-part intake spider at the rear, plus a cylindrical spacer at the very rear. The exhausts have a hollow lip thanks to an insert at the tip, slotting the forward ends into holes in the back of the cylinders, attaching it to the front of the fuselage on a pair of pins, ensuring that the exhausts correspond with cut-outs in the nose bulkhead. You then have a choice of two cowlings, one with the cooling gills open, the other closed, both moulded as single parts by using sliding moulds, so watch out for almost invisible seam-lines where the moulds join, usually on or around panel lines. The model is inverted to add an arrestor hook under the tail on the two holes drilled out earlier, a small antenna under the trailing edge of the wing, and two doors for the bombardier’s aiming window, the two parts having lightening holes moulded into their inner faces. The prop is moulded as one, consisting of three blades and a hole in the centre that accepts the boss to finish off the assembly, which can be slotted into a hole in the bell-housing at the front of the engine. Righting the model to finish off the cockpit by installing the canopy and other detail parts has you deciding whether to open the canopy’s segments or portraying them closed. The simplest option is the closed version, which consists of just one clear part that you insert a tubular gunsight through a hole in the windscreen, adding an eye-cup to the inside once it is in position. The instructions are a little confused here, as it shows the forward aerial mast mounted on the nose, two PE parts added to the coaming in front of the pilot, two layers of glazing between the bombardier and gunner’s positions, and the gun compartment doors either closed, or open using two parts. It doesn’t mention that if you opt for a closed cockpit, those two glazing panels will interfere with the fit of the canopy and the open gun doors, so bear that in mind and test-fit everything before you apply glue. For the open option, the separate windscreen has the tubular sight inserted before it is glued to the front of the cockpit opening, fitting another four sections over the front two seats, but you’ll need to check your references if you aren’t sure how they should look. The rear canopy part is slid forward over the two sections glued earlier, so you’ll probably want to have the gun compartment doors open to make your model ready for action. HobbyBoss have included a sheet of pre-cut masks that are numbered on the sheet, and there is a diagram showing their locations on the instructions at this point, which will help you paint the canopy frames neatly with less effort. I’ve not yet used these masks myself, but other than appearing a little thick, they should do the job. Choices keep coming, deciding whether to deploy the wings for flight, or folded for storage. The outer wing panels are each made from top and bottom halves, adding an aileron to the trailing edge of each one, then either fitting a simple rib with pins to the inner ends for un-folded wings, or a detailed rib with lightening holes plus two wing-fold armatures that hook into the inner wings to hold them at the correct angle. The elevators are made from two halves, the undersides including the complete flying surface to achieve a thin trailing edge, creating a ribbed surface for the panel without the risk of sink marks that would ruin the ribbed surfaces. Laying the model on its back again, the first option is to fit an insert in the belly that conforms to the curvature of the torpedo that is included with the model. The torpedo is made from two halves with a two-part screw at the rear, and additional fins perpendicular to those that are moulded-in. A box-tail is made from four PE panels that slot into each other, and fit on the rear to retard the speed of entry into the water, which could pre-detonate or destroy the Mk.13 torpedo, which was already experiencing problems that proved difficult to remedy. The torp is lashed into the fixture by two PE straps, but it is also held in place by a pair of pins that insert into corresponding holes in the fairing. The last part is a PE tip to the styrene pitot probe in the leading edge of the starboard wing, which gives it a three-pronged tip, with an enlarged diagram showing how it should be bent to shape. To load your Devastator with bombs, a flat insert is installed in the belly instead, slinging three-part bombs on either side of the insert on short shackles. The diagram for this option shows the model with folded wings, in case you needed extra information on how the folded wings should look. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, but as usual with HobbyBoss there is no information offered on the location, period or pilots of the options, but the fuselage codes should allow the intrepid modeller to find out the back-story if you feel the need. From the box you can build one of the following: Decals aren’t always the strongest part of HobbyBoss’s kits, but here the register, sharpness and colour density seem to be of good quality, although there aren’t many stencils. There are however multi-coloured tip decals for the prop blades to make that task easier if you opt for the yellow-wing decal choice. Conclusion From the box this looks to be a good-looking model of the type, and the detail is certainly present, as are the options for open or closed canopy and wings that should show off your work. The open bombardier’s window is a nice option that isn’t always present on models of this aircraft. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

StuH 42 Ausf.G Early Prod May-June 1943 (72114) 1:72 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Following WWI the German military had identified a weakness in their forces, in that their advancing troops often left behind the support of their artillery as they moved forward, leading to a call for the creation of Sturmartillerie, which was effectively a mobile artillery piece that could travel alongside their forces, providing valuable protection. By the time the Nazis were gearing up their economy and military for war more openly, a requirement for just such a vehicle was made official, mating the chassis of the then current Panzer III with a short-barrelled 75mm gun in a fixed armoured casemate with limited traverse, which gave the type a distinctive howitzer-style look. In the later variants a longer high-velocity gun, the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 replaced the shorter gun to give it an improved penetrating power that was more in alignment with the Tank Killer job that it had become used for. These vehicles were designated Ausf.F or G, and were amongst the most produced version of this almost ubiquitous WWII German tank. A project to up-gun the StuG was instigated using an Ausf.F chassis and a 10.5cm leFH 18 howitzer, taking the name Sturmhaubitze 42 or StuH 42 for short. The rounds were electrically fired, and it was to be fitted with a muzzle-brake to bleed off some of the recoil, and a dozen of this type were made from repaired Ausf.F examples, then almost 1,300 were built as infantry support that were based on the Ausf.G, some without their muzzle-brakes due to the limited availability of certain metals as the war continued to turn against the Nazis, thanks to the Allied bomber force bombing their industrial base into rubble on a 24/7 schedule. The Kit This is a re-boxing with new parts of a recent tooling from MiniArt in their new 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 a certain extent for many years, certainly at this level of detail. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside are ten sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a small clear sprue with decals in a shared 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 or complex. 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. Various suspension parts are applied to the hull sides that have the highly detailed 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, the latter having 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 mounting block (it’s not a detailed breech) 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, with a couple of PE vertical plates on the rear. The gun mounting block is slotted into the front of the casemate, with a mantlet slid over the front, after which the lower heavily armoured and bolted lower 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 onto the left fender, then the engine deck is made, fitting two-part sides with separate baffles, and a single rear panel that is aligned when the deck is installed on the rear of the hull, choosing one of two narrow rear facets on the rear round-down. 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 the two at the very 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 to the front of the cupola for one option. Triple-barrelled smoke dischargers are formed at the front for some decal options, adding a pair of aerial mounts on the casemate rear, and a shallow stowage box in the middle of the engine deck. The barrel is moulded as a single tubular section with a hollow muzzle with brake moulded into the business end, and its sleeve is moulded into the front of the saukopf, which is an inverted trapezoid that is made from another two parts, plus small PE tie-downs on the rear corners of the casemate. Pioneer tools are built up and fitted wherever there is space as the build progresses, including muzzle cleaning rods, jack, fire extinguisher, and track tools. 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 splinter 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 cables, but you must provide the braided thread or wire to make the cables themselves, attaching one to each fender, and two stacks of wheels that are mounted on long pins on the rear of the engine deck on the aft vents, the pins made from your own wire stock. Two decal options have a section of extra armour around the forward curve of the commander’s cupola. Some decal options have schürzen skirts to protect the vehicle from incoming shaped charge warheads, pre-detonating them to disperse the energy of the weapon. Two mounts are made from angle-iron with three stand-off supports, which fit against the side of the hull, and once the glue is fully cured, the four PE main panels are hung individually from the hooks, with two smaller supplementary panels added to the centre section. Bear in mind that these panels were often lost or damage during combat and manoeuvring in the field, so think about adding some wear if you want to achieve a more realistic look, annealing the brass first to enable easier bending. Three decal options have another run of spare tracks across the back of the vehicle, attached to the top of the rear bulkhead. Markings There are four decal options on the small sheet, with various schemes all with a base coat of dunkelgeb, and various camouflage styles over the top – or not. From the box you can build one of the following: StuG Abt.245, Eastern Front, Summer 1943 StuG Abt.912, Eastern Front, Summer 1943 (with Schürzen) StuG Abt.245, Eastern Front, Summer 1943 StuG Abt.912, Jüterborg, May 1943 (with Schürzen) 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 have only recently brought their prodigious talents to bear on 1:72 scale armour, releasing a subject they have already researched for their extensive 1:35 scale StuG and StuH ranges, resulting in a highly detailed series of models with plenty of options for personalisation, and further expansion of the range to come. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

German Panzerträgerwagen (82936) 1:72 Hobby Boss via Creative Models Ltd During WWII German forces used armoured trains in large numbers, with over 20 locomotives in use, many of which were based upon the BR57 Dampflok, with a double-layer of armour applied, spaced apart by a wooden layer. Various cars were part of the train, all armoured in a similar manner to the locomotive, with different functions that could include control wagons, anti-aircraft, emplaced tank turrets, radio cars, infantry wagons and so forth. The initial designation for the standardised layout of carriages and wagons was BP42, which made use of extra flat-cars at the ends of the train to detonate booby-traps, although a Panhard 178 with specialised wheels would be sent up to 1km ahead of the train on the rails to reconnoitre the upcoming track. The revised BP44 arrangement eschewed the kick-off cars for Panzerjägerwagens that had turrets built-in, with a Panzerträgerwagen tank-carrier next in line front and rear. The Panzerträgerwagen was a well-wagon that had been adapted and armoured with side-skirts, with a pair of drop-down loading/unloading ramps to access the well-bed. These wagons carried a medium tank due to the weight limits, but the car had to be uncoupled for the tank to load or unload for action or at the end of the journey. The tank was usually a Panzer 38(t), manufactured by Skoda, and the intention was to provide covering fire from its position within the carriage well, or offload down the ramp that was generally left ready for action to counter-attack a ground-based ambush, using an automatic coupling to speed the process and minimise the danger to the train crew. The bogies were armoured with side-skirts to protect them from incoming fire, whilst retaining the ability to corner with the rest of the train, as the wagon would be a bullet magnet when it began firing, so it was crucial that the wheels remained intact. As the situation deteriorated further for the Third Reich toward the end of the war, even armoured trains would use the cover of darkness to protect their cargo from air attacks, which were becoming more frequent every day. The Kit This is a partial new tooling that is based upon the existing Hobby Boss range of armoured train kits, and includes a Panzer 38(t) tank to populate the wagon. The kit arrives in a standard top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and inside are five sprues and five loose parts in sand-coloured styrene, a decal sheet, instruction booklet in black and white, plus a colour painting and decaling guide that is printed on glossy paper on both sides. Detail is good, including rolling bogies, a separate tank that can be posed wherever you like on the model, and there are two sprues that provide a length of track with ballast that are common across the whole range of kits, plus two end-caps if this is either your last wagon, or you are building it in isolation. Construction begins with the bogies, cutting 1.15mm from the brake shoes that project from the sides of the wheels, fitting a leaf-spring and bearing cover to each wheel before they are fitted to the ends of the axles, making four wheels that become two bogies that clip into position in the roof of the wells that are found inside the body of the wagon. Buffers are fixed to the opposite end to the ramp, adding hooks, shackles and coupling parts, plus vacuum tubes to the sides, and a manual wheel on the side near the bogie. The surface of the well is covered with ribs on the sloped areas, adding hatches to the openings to each end, then gluing it to the body, fitting supports for the ramps and a centre block to the end of the body. The ramps are joined at the lower end, made from two layers, the upper layer having the same ribs as the well-bed, with support struts beneath the lower layer. It attaches to the wagon with twin pins from each side, the larger pins at the top, completing the wagon by adding L-profile rails to the sides of the wagon, creating an overhang within the bed. The tank is well-detailed for the scale, and the track runs are moulded with the majority of the road wheels, and have small sections of sprue between the wheels and track that should be cut away before adding the outer wheels to the idler and drive sprocket wheels. The lower hull has the suspension units moulded-in, and receives the two track runs, taking care to align the pins and install them in the correct orientation. The upper hull is applied over the open hull, slotting the fenders to the sides, with a separate jack and convoy light to increase the detail, finishing the glacis plate with a detail insert that has the bow machine gun added to the front. A rod with an eye at the top is glued to the front of the glacis, adding the exhaust and smoke box to the rear, then moving on to the turret, which is moulded as top and bottom parts, fitting the main gun and coaxial machine gun to the mantlet, an angled cupola over the circular upright, with a short periscope or vent added just in front. The turret mates with the hull and twists into position using a pair of bayonet lugs moulded into the ring. The track consists of two lengths of ballast that has the sleepers (ties for our US audience) moulded-in, with the option of adding them to any other kits from the range you have, and using one or two end caps to close the ends. The rails are separate parts that are slid into the fastener pads from both ends, linking them together with jointing plates on both sides that have the large bolts moulded-in. With careful painting and weathering the track should look realistic, but check your references to ensure you choose the correct colours to replicate the grease, soot and grime that was endemic during the steam era. Markings One colour scheme is provided, based upon dark yellow (dunkelgelb), with green and red brown camouflage stripes sprayed at random angles. The decals are mostly white stencils, with four balkenkreuz crosses for the sides of the wagon and tank. From the box you can build the following: The stencils are white, while the crosses are black and white, with good registration for the scale. Conclusion An unusual model from a growing range from Hobby Boss, and one that will garner attention once complete, thanks to the unusual subject matter and the detail that is incorporated from the box. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-47D-28RE Thunderbolt (48015) Free French Air Force 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Thunderbolt developed from a series of less-than-successful earlier designs that saw Seversky aviation change to Republic, and the project designation from P-35, to P-43 and P-44, each with its own aggressive sounding name. After a realisation that their work so far wasn't going to cut it in the skies over war-torn Europe, they went back to the drawing board and produced the P-47A that was larger, heavier and sported the new Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18-cylinder radial that would also power the B-26 Marauder, P-61 Black Widow and F4U Corsair. With it they added eight .50cal Browning machine guns aligned along the axis of flight in the wing leading edge. The P-47A was still a small aircraft, and was initially ordered without military equipment to allow faster completion, but it was considered inferior to the competition then available, so an extensive re-design was ordered that resulted in the much larger P-47B, firing up to 100 rounds per second from the eight .50cal wing guns, and with a maximum speed of over 400mph, leaving just the fuel load slightly short of requirements. It first flew mid-1941, and despite being a heavy-weight, its performance was still excellent, and the crash of the prototype didn’t affect the order for over 700 airframes, which were fitted with a more powerful version of the R-2800 and a sliding canopy that made ingress and egress more streamlined, particularly when bailing out of a doomed aircraft. Minor re-designs to early production airframes resulted in a change to the P-47C, which meant that fewer than 200 Bs were made, the C benefitting from improved radio, oxygen systems, and a metal rudder to prevent flutter that had been affecting control at certain points in the performance envelope. A quick way to spot a B is the forward raked aerial mast behind the cockpit, as this was changed to vertical on the C and beyond. The production from a new factory that had been opened to keep up with demand led to the use of the D suffix, although they were initially identical to the C, but the cowling flaps were amended later, making it easier to differentiate. Of course, the later bubble-canopy P-47s were far easier to tell apart from earlier marks, and constant improvement in reliability, performance and fuel load was added along the way. The P-47D-25 carried more fuel for extended range, including piping for jettisonable tanks on the bomb racks for even more fuel. Taking a cue from the British designers, the bubble-top was developed and that improved all-round visibility markedly, although like the later mark Spitfires, later models incorporated a fin extension to counter the yaw issues that resulted. Its weight, firepower and seemingly unstoppable character led to the nickname ‘Juggernaut’, which was inevitably shortened to ‘Jug’ and led to many, many off-colour jokes during and after the war. Jokes that are still soldiering on to this day, despite being eligible for a pensioner’s bus pass. The Jug was used extensively in the European theatre as an escort fighter, where it performed well in its ideal high-altitude environment. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe was a spent force, it also went on to become a highly successful ground attack fighter, strafing and bombing targets of opportunity, and eschewing camouflaged paintwork to add some extra speed with a smooth (and shiny) bare metal finish. As well as flying with the US forces, many P-47s were flown by the other Allies, including the British, Russians, and after the war many other countries as the remainder were sold off as war surplus. The Kit This is a new boxing of their recent kit from MiniArt, this kit representing a Evansville manufactured airframe that had subtle cockpit and direction-finding changes over the -25 model that preceded it, now utilising a Curtiss Electric prop as the standard. The kit arrives in one of their sturdy top-opening boxes with a dramatic painting of the subject with guns blazing on the front, and profiles of the decal options on one side, reserving the other side for practical details and text. Inside the box are nineteen sprues in grey styrene, although in our sample many of the sprues were handily still connected by their runners, which simplified photography. There is also a clear sprue, two sheets of decals, and the instruction booklet, which is printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles for the decal options on the cover pages, plus detailed painting and decaling information on the weapons and tanks on an inner page. Detail is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt in the last several years, with fine engraved panel lines, recessed rivets, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate, as well as fine detail in the cockpit, wheel bays and engine. Construction begins with the highly detailed cockpit, starting by putting the seat together from base, back and two side parts, which have elements of the seatbelts moulded-in, and are finished off by putting the remainder of the lap belts on the seat pan. A pair of support are inserted into recesses in the back of the seat, then it is installed on the ribbed floor, which has control column, plus seat-adjuster, and two other levers inserted, after which the rear bulkhead, one of the cockpit sidewalls and the front bulkhead are added, trapping the rudder bar with moulded-in pedals between them. The starboard sidewall has a hose added, and a scrap diagram shows the detail painting as well as the location of the decals that need to be applied. The head cushion is applied to the head armour, then the other sidewall is detailed with four controls, numerous decals and more detail painting, so that it can be inserted along with the instrument panel and auxiliary panel, both of which have decals for the dials, with a choice of three for the main panel. The tail wheel is made up in preparation for closing the fuselage, building a four-part strut that holds the wheel on a one-sided yoke, then adding a small curved bulkhead with sprung bumper at the front, or an alternative assembly can be made from four different parts plus wheel, which is less detailed as the mechanism is hidden by a canvas cover. The fuselage halves are prepared by adding two extra detail parts to the short sill panels that have ribbing moulded-in, and should be painted to match the cockpit. At the rear on the underside, the supercharger fairing is slotted into the starboard fuselage along with the tail gear bay, and at the front, a cooling vent and a belly insert are added to the underside, fitting another vent to the port fuselage half in the same place. The fuselage can then be closed around the cockpit, adding the aerial mast into a slot in the starboard spine, although whether that will remain intact until the end of the building and painting is a moot point, and I’d be tempted to nip it off at the base, gluing the base in to act as a socket for the aerial after the majority of the handling is over. There is a fuselage insert in front of the cockpit, and that has the two-part gunsight with clear lens added to the centre, and another equipment box on the port side before it is inserted and joined by a firewall that closes the front of the fuselage, and in the same step, the rudder is completed by adding an insert at its widest point (the bottom), to avoid sink marks, and it is mated to the fin on three hinges, allowing deflection if you wish. The engine is created by joining the two highly-detailed banks of pistons together by a keyed peg, adding the push-rod assembly to the front, the ends of which mate with a circular support that is the frame onto which the cowling panels are added later. The reduction-housing bell is detailed with magnetos and other parts, plus a collet at the centre where the prop-shaft would be. This is joined to the front of the engine as it is mounted to a bulkhead at the rear, again on a keyed ring. The intake trunking at the bottom of the nose cowling is made from five parts and is installed in the lower panel, and you have a choice of open or closed vents on the sides of the fuselage by using the appropriate parts. The finished assembly is enclosed by four segments of cowling, and at the rear you have a choice of open or closed cooling gills, using different parts to achieve the look you want. Under the tail, your choice of wheel assembly is inserted in the bay, with doors on each side, or if you are building your model in flight, a closed pair of doors is supplied as a single part, adding a small outlet lip further forward under the fuselage. The upper wing halves have well-defined ribbing detail moulded-in, which is augmented by fitting an insert, two rib sections, front and rear walls, and an additional structure that has a retraction jack pushed through a hole in one of the wall segments. The flaps are made from two sides, plus a pair of hinges and these are glued into the trailing edge of the wing with the ailerons, the remaining details of the gear bay, which includes another retraction jack, the gun barrels on a carrier to achieve the correct stepped installation, plus a pitot probe, and the wingtip light, which can be fitted now because the complete tip is moulded into the upper wing so that it can be portrayed as a more scale thickness. A scrap diagram of the lower wing shows the location of the flashed-over holes that you can drill out for pylons, then it can be glued to the upper, along with two inserts at the tip and to the rear of the gear bay, which includes a flush landing light. The same process is then carried out in mirror-image for the other wing, omitting the pitot and landing light, after which the wheels and their struts are made up, each wheel made from two halves plus a choice of three hub types, and two styles of wheels are also provided, one without a flat-spot, the other under load on the ground, leaving it to your taste which you prefer. The struts are detailed with separate oleo scissor-links and stencil decals, then are mated with their wheels, plus the captive gear bay doors, the lower door made from two layers, again to avoid sink-marks. The wings are glued to the fuselage with a stepped joint making for a stronger bond, and the elevator panels are each slotted into the tail, and have separate flying surfaces that can be posed deflected, each one a single part. If you are building your model with the gear down, the inner gear bay doors are fitted to the fuselage, which contains the inner edge of the main gear bays, so remember to paint that while you are doing the bays. The engine assembly is also mated to the firewall, locating on a pair of alignment pins. If you plan on making an in-flight model, there are two single parts that depict the closed main bays, or you can insert the two struts with their wheels for the grounded aircraft. The four centreline sway-braces are fitted between the main bays for some decal options, then the model can be flipped over to stand on its own wheels so that the canopy can be installed, gluing the windscreen at the front, and deciding whether to pose the blown canopy open or closed after fitting a guide across the rear frame. The prop is also fitted, and this is made up from two parts, each carrying two blades in opposition, and the spinner is glued onto the front section. The Jug could carry quite a load, whether it was extra fuel, rockets or bombs, and all these are included in the box, starting with the two-part pylons, which can be depicted as empty by inserting a cover over the business end. You have a choice of four styles of tank, a 108gal compressed paper tank with a ribbed nose and tail, a 200gal wide and flat tank, the third is a 150gal streamlined tank with flat mating surface, and the last one is slightly smaller at 75gal. All but the third option has a pair of sway-braces between them and the pylon, which fit into slots in the pylons. They are built in pairs to fit under the wings, but the first two options can also be used solo on the centreline support. The bombs use the same pylons, and can be built in 1,000lb, 500lb or 250lb variants, each one made from two halves for the body and two parts for the square tail fins, mated to the pylon by a pair of sway-braces that vary depending on bomb size. There is also a smoke generator that looks like a drop-tank with a spout on the rear, which would be used to lay smoke for the Allied troops below to cover their actions, at least temporarily. A large diagram shows the correct location for all the pylons and their loads, but checking your references won’t hurt either. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and a separate page shows the location of all the many stencils on a set of grey-scale profiles to avoid cluttering the main profiles. From the box you can build one of the following: 2eme Escadrille ‘La Rouge’, Group de Chasse III/3 ‘Ardennes’, Free French Air Force, France, late 1944 4eme Escadrille (SPA 167), Group de Chasse II/5 ‘La Fayette, Free French Air Force, France, late 1944 1re Escadrille (SPA 95), Group de Chasse I/4 ‘Navarre’, Free French Air Force, Spring 1945 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 There are a few other kits of this fighter on the market in this scale, but this series is rapidly becoming the de facto standard due to the wealth of variants that have been released already, with more to come. The detail is exceptional, and the moniker “BasicKit” seems to undersell its qualities. VERY highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hurricane Mk.IIC/Trop (81779) 1:48 Hobby Boss via Creative Models Ltd The Hawker Hurricane was one of Britain's foremost fighters of WWII, and although overshadowed by the more graceful and slender Spitfire during the Battle of Britain, it was a capable aircraft that was available in large numbers, and achieved more than its fair share of kills during the conflict. It went on to see service to the end of the war, but was relegated to less onerous tasks as technology advanced, resulting in faster, more agile aircraft that came to the front on both sides of the conflict. The type originated in the early 30s and first took to the sky in 1935, despite the Air Ministry’s tepid reaction to monoplanes at the time, and it was an aircraft that set standards for fighters that followed it, being a monoplane with a predominantly metal airframe, retractable landing gear, an enclosed cockpit and of course the delightfully powerful and throaty Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Compared to the Spitfire it was a little old-fashioned, starting out with a fabric-covered ‘rag’ wing that was eventually replaced by an all-metal aerofoil, and it was less aerodynamically streamlined, with a thicker wing and overall chunkier, blunt appearance. Although the wing was replaced by a metal aerofoil later, it retained the fabric rear fuselage and as such was able to have minor damage repaired quickly and easily, compared to the Spitfire that would have to go back to a repair facility for structurally insignificant through-and-through bullet damage. A fabric patch followed by a few coats of dope, and the Hurri would be back to the fray, which endeared it both to its pilots and ground crew alike. By the time the improvements to the airframe resulted in the Mk.IIC, it was tasked with ground attack, taking out German tanks, which weren’t as easy to crack as first expected, because 20mm cannon shells would often ricochet off frontal or side armour, and bombing a relatively small target such as a tank was a matter of mostly luck, all while the enemy poured lead in your general direction. It was withdrawn from front-line fighter service at this stage of the war, as by then the enemy aircraft outclassed it in most respects, so it carried on in ground-attack, night fighter and intruder roles where it excelled, without unnecessary exposure to enemy fighters. It was succeeded by the D that mounted a pair of 40mm cannon in gondolas under the wings, increasing its offensive power appreciably, at which point it acquired the nickname ‘The Flying Can Opener’, adding additional frontal armour to the airframe that was exposed during the run-in to target. They carried on in that role until the Typhoon came into service, which could do the job faster and more efficiently without the worry of being bounced by enemy fighters that outclassed it. The Kit This is a new boxing of Hobby Boss’s 2022 tooling of the type, and whilst we have an excellent de facto standard kit from another brand, there’s no profit in that for Hobby Boss. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of a Hurricane engaging successfully with some Luftwaffe Bf.110s, for which it was a good match, providing the Hurricane pilot was wary of the rear gunner on his approach. Inside are five sprues in grey styrene of varying sizes, two clear sprues, one of which is wrapped in foam sheet, two black flexible tyres in a separate bag, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a small sheet of pre-cut canopy masks, a decal sheet, instruction booklet in black and white, plus a double-sided sheet of colour profiles printed on glossy paper to assist with painting and decaling. The metal exterior surfaces are covered with finely rendered rivets and engraved panel lines, while the fabric areas have fluted surfaces to depict the ribbing showing through the doped cloth skin. There are also oddities such as separate gun bay doors in the upper wings, despite there being nothing within, and that perennial head-scratcher, the clear instrument panel that has a decal for the dials. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the foot-trays and a small section of “floor” that doesn’t exist in the real aircraft but has probably been included because it gives the seat armour something to plug into, slotting the seat into a recess near the bottom of the part, and applying six-part PE belts to add detail. The control column and rudder pedals are installed between the foot-trays, then the side frames are brought in, and the clear instrument panel is slotted into the top, applying a dial decal and a gunsight into the top centre. The completed cockpit is trapped between the fuselage halves along with a front bulkhead, with very shallow sidewall details moulded into the port fuselage side, and nothing on the starboard other than an access door that is also separate. As the fuselage is closed, the prop assembly is built from blades that are trapped between the spinner and back-plate, secured with a cap on the rear of the axle, being careful with the glue in that vicinity. Two sets of fish-tail exhaust stubs are slotted into the cowling on each side, with solid tips and a seams down the sides, which will need dealing with if it bothers you. The lower wing is a full-span part that has the outer portions of the main gear bays moulded-in, fitting an insert in the centre to complete boxing in the bays, although detail here is perhaps a little simplified when compared to the recent competition. The upper wings are fitted with extraneous double bay doors before they are mated to the lowers on either side of the fuselage, which could be useful if you are scratching or buying aftermarket gun bay interiors. Turning the model over sees additional detail inserted in the main gear bays in the shape of short ribs, struts and retraction jacks, building the belly radiator housing from four parts and installing it between the wings, plus a desert air filter that is made from two parts that includes a portion of the cowling under the nose, with a separate intake lip. A crew step is fitted under the wing trailing edge, a pitot probe under the port wing, and clear wingtip lights on the leading tip of each wing, adding a clear landing light cover further inboard, then fixing the cannon inserts in the leading edge after installing the two barrels with moulded-in recoil springs. Careful alignment is key here, assisted by steps around the edges of the cut-out, which can be trimmed to improve fit as necessary. The main gear legs are moulded as struts with separate aft retraction jacks, fixing captive gear bay doors, adding a tyre to the hub part before fitting it to the axle at the base of the leg. The tail-wheel is moulded into its strut, and drops into a fairing under the tail to allow the model to stand on its own wheels for the first time. Righting the model sees the elevators slid into slots in the tail, each one interlinking to give a strong bond. The canopy is in two parts, gluing the windscreen in position with a rear-view mirror at the apex, the framed canopy fitting behind it, and an aerial mast on the spine behind the cockpit. The last page of the instructions shows the locations of the numbered masks for the canopy, which also extends to the landing lights and wingtip lights. Markings There are two decal options included in the box, one on each side of the colour instruction sheet, but Hobby Boss have a widely variable track-record for their decals and profiles. Both examples here are dressed in desert schemes, but the underside colours seem at variance with the standards for the era and theatre, using Sky for one, and Light Blue for the other. It’s possible that azure blue was unavailable at times, but that’s a task for your references and the balance of probability to decide. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals should be easy enough to apply, but some of the colours used are unusual. The roundel red is bordering on peach/pink (the scan doesn't show that), and the yellow outlines appear translucent on the sheet. There are a cluster of stencils included, plus a decent rendition of instrument dials for the panel, but check your references carefully regarding colour schemes, and factor in some new decals if they bother you. Conclusion Every major company has a Hurricane in their range, and this is Hobby Boss’s. It’s not the best in scale, but to those that aren’t obsessed with detail and accuracy this could fill the spot, as it will look like a Hurri once complete. If you’re a serious modeller however (I hate that phrase), you’ll probably be looking at the competition instead. Recommended with caveats. Review sample courtesy of

Dune - Harkonnen Ornithopter (DS-009) 1:72 MENG via Creative Models Ltd Dune began life in the 1960s as the first book in a long-running series by Frank Herbert, and several attempts have been made to realise the initial book in movie form, with varying levels of success. David Lynch made a decent, if simplified attempt at it in the 1980s, although it was a flawed movie with irritating voice-overs (from my point of view, at least), while a three-part TV movie in 2000 was considered a reasonable adaptation, but I haven’t seen that one. This latest expedition into the deserts of Arrakis benefits from the availability of realistic Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) that can be used to enhance the scope and scale of the saga as it deserves, without looking false, for the most part. It also benefitted from a massive budget and acclaimed director, not to mention a cast of many famous actors, although David Lynch’s version also had some famous faces, including a young Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck before his Star Trek days. The new film has been split into two episodes to portray as much of the book’s content as possible in an effort to retain as much of the important plot subtleties of the original story as possible, and part 2 has been out now for several months, rounding off the original story, allegedly, with the possibility of more to come if it has made enough money for the studio, which I expect it has by now. I still haven’t seen the second part yet, so no spoilers please! The new film of course has some great new ships, which includes a less toy-like Ornithopter that is more insectoid and less clockwork bubble-bug than the 1984 edition. They are quadruped aircraft with six or eight helicopter blade-like ‘wings’ providing the lift in a dragonfly-like manner, and a pointed nose that incorporates expansive windscreens that probably don’t give as good a field of view forward as you’d think. The Kit This is a new kit that follows on the heels of the ‘vehicle scale’ mini-kits that now look more like stocking-fillers as this new tooling is in 1:72, corresponding with the dominant scale in which the Bandai Star Wars kits were released in, giving modellers the opportunity to compare their sizes, and display them together without any disparity in scale. The kit arrives in a standard MENG box with a painting of the ‘thopter on the front in desert tones, and a satin finish to the box, as usual. There are nine sprues of olive-green styrene plus a slide-moulded cockpit framing in the same colour, two sprues in sand for the base, two poly-caps in black, a small black sprue containing crew figures, a small decal sheet with two Harkonnen logos on it, and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper. Detail is excellent, and the inclusion of four crew figures in contrasting colours indicates that the designers kept a watching eye on the novice modeller that may not either want to, or be able to paint the model, whilst providing sufficient detail for the hardened Sci-Fi modeller. This kit is different from the Atreides kit in the same scale that we reviewed recently, having a more muscular, curved body, and only six blades for the wings, plus more aggressive cannons under the nose. It shares the same stand as the Atreides kit, and the landing gear legs are also replicated between the two kits. Construction begins with the cockpit and rear interior, with two step between the flat areas, the lower section for the pilot that controls the aircraft with twin sticks inserted into the deck along with a pair of rudder pedals that have an instrument binnacle installed between them, rising up near the pilot’s eyeline. Four identical crew seats are fitted with bases, building the pilot from two parts so his arms can reach out to the sticks, and three other passengers with their hands on laps, essentially in the same pose and garb, even down to their bald heads. Paint the uniforms a black or dark grey, and the visible human aspects any shade you like. The seats and pegged-in crew are inserted into holes in the cockpit floor, the pilot at the front, a row of two passengers behind him, and another row of two seats, one of which is empty, behind them on the central portion of the floor. Attention shifts to the attachment points for the six blades that sprout from both sides of the fuselage, and the first assembly creates a pair of sockets that pivot in unison with the corresponding socket on the opposite side, thanks to intermeshing quadrant gears that are moulded into the rear of each socket, requiring them to be carefully placed in the correct socket before gluing the two retaining surrounds together. Two more pairs are made, linking two together before they are trapped between the fuselage halves in the next step, with another sited behind, fitting the cockpit, a pivoting access ramp on the underside, and an insert under the aft slope of the fuselage before joining the two halves together, then adding a curved top cover to the blade area. The entire upper nose and framing for the cockpit is moulded as one part using sliding moulds, clipping four clear panes into the roof, one on each side, and another two in the nose. The clear parts have lugs on the sides that allow them to clip into position without glue, and while they may show a little through the edges of the windows, they are much tidier than the risk of glue squirting out of the sides, but if you prefer, you could always cut replacement acetate panels from your own stocks, using the clear parts as a template. The completed assembly is slotted into the fuselage horizontally, locating on three pegs that slide into corresponding holes in the fuselage halves. Another insert is placed under the nose with two poly-caps trapped in place, adding detail inserts around the sides and transition areas of the underside that include fixed barrels that are made from two halves each. The poly-cap turrets are populated by building a pair of twin weapons (or searchlights - it's a while since I watched the first film) on a central rod, which clips into a holder with another part that covers the innards, which slots into the hole under the nose, held in place by the poly-cap, making another assembly that is more obviously a double-barrelled weapon from five parts, mounting it on the second turret, and routing two three-part trunks around the edges of the underside symmetrically. Four directional exhausts are built in pairs, two under the root of the tail, the others on the sides at the root, each assembly made from three parts each. Two towel-rail assemblies are fitted into troughs under the boom, making the fish-like bifurcated tail sections from five parts that remain linked by pins through holes, and have a ‘stinger’ made from four parts that is inserted in another trough above the tail boom. Three tapering surrounds to the blade sockets were fitted into the hull sides without glue earlier, totalling six, and you can choose whether to fold the blades or deploy them as you like, installing the base of the blade on the main part without glue, ensuring that the flat recess on the peg is facing upward when you insert them into the sockets with a click, three per side. To deploy them, the blade is pivoted out straight, and then rotated 90° so that the moulded-in pivot pin ends are at the top. This will prevent them sagging in the cabinet, although the model will also take up a lot of room, as each blade measures over 28cm from the pivot-point. The craft’s landing skids can be posed up or down, pivoting around a central island fairing, which comprises seven different parts depending on your choice. The gear legs are built from a varying number of parts, each sub-assembly receiving a letter code to assist with placement later, and each of the four main legs ending in a pad, except for two seemingly vestigial legs at the rear. They are plugged into the upper assembly according to the last sub-step of each option, and this in turn is mated with the underside of the craft, posing the lower hatch in the open position with the gear down if you wish. The stand is moulded in a desert sand colour, and consists of a two-part support, with a pivot at the top that can be manipulated to various angles, and the base, which is a single gently undulating part that has a uniform sandy texture on its surface, and a circular dais where the support plugs into a large rectangular peg. Markings There are profiles printed at the rear of the instructions, with colours in MENG codes and Gunze Sangyo’s Acrysion range. The main colour is sand yellow, with the two Harkonnen decals applied one per side. The decals are both black, so there’s no registration, but sharpness and colour density are sufficient to do the job. Conclusion I’ve been waiting for larger kits of the Ornithopter, and MENG have now granted that wish, so I’m very happy. There is good detail included on a kit that is a relatively simple build, and offers plenty of scope for the modeller to practice their paint and weathering effects on the kit when it is ready. The two 1:72 kits are sufficiently different to warrant getting them both, so you may want to warn your wallet. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mclaren MP4/4 1988 (CS-007) 1:24 MENG via Creative Models Ltd McLaren are named after their founder, Bruce McLaren, who began the team in 1963 competing in Formula One, with their first Grand Prix win in 1968 during a four year period where they dominated F1. Bruce McLaren was killed during testing in 1970, but the team continued to do well under new management, merging with Ron Dennis’s team in 1981, under whose management they have gone from strength-to-strength, expanding their range into production cars in more recent years. During the 1988 season drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost dominated almost every race of the season, achieving a 1-2 in the Detroit Grand Prix, Prost coming in 38 seconds behind Senna, powered by turbocharged Honda engines that were outputting immense levels of power, part of the reason for the change to normally aspirated engines by the governing body the FIA for the 1989 season. The MP4/4 was arguably one of the most successful overall designs in Formula 1, using a V6 Honda engine that displaced only 1.5 litres, but output 675hp at 12,000rpm thanks to a substantial boost from the turbocharger while they still had access to its benefits, deleting the turbo intakes briefly due to aerodynamic concerns, which proved to be a mistake that was rapidly corrected. The car ran almost unchanged for much of the season, with a reclined driver position keeping the centre of gravity low, allowing it to corner at high speeds, and with the reliability of its engine, its retirement was limited to only four races of the season, and it achieved a great deal of success and many podium positions. Their worst placing other than retirement was 6th at Portugal, although both Senna and Prost had Nigel Mansell in his Judd snapping at their heels, which perhaps spurred them on to greater things. Senna placed 10th in Italy after retiring from pole in a collision with another driver he was lapping, who unexpectedly regained control after locking his wheels in a corner. In preparation for the 1989 season, an altered MP4/4 chassis was fitted with a 3.5L V10 normally aspirated engine for testing to ensure they were ready for the following season in conjunction with the new chassis that was under development. The Kit This is a new tooling from MENG in my preferred vehicle scale, and it’s also from an era when I regularly watched F1 before I took on an old house that needed total renovation, and my free time evaporated. The kit arrives in one of MENG’s typical satin-finished top-opening boxes, with a painting of the car on the front, against a stylised backdrop. Inside the box are four sprues and a bodyshell part in light grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), four flexible black tyres, two sheets of self-adhesive chrome stickers, a sheet of pre-cut woven material in black, three sheets of decals, and the instruction booklet, which has a painting guide in colour, sprue diagrams and a paint chart with MENG AK and Acrysion codes, plus the names of the colours in four languages including English. Detail is excellent as expected, and the inclusion of the afore mentioned extras creates a model that can be built by most of us without the need for aftermarket. The PE is trapped between two sheets of adhesive film, as it has been etched with no equivalent to sprue-gates, so once the sheets are removed the parts will be loose, as I found out when I forgot about their way of doing things. Construction begins with the Honda V6 engine, the block of which is made from seven parts, with a Honda logo decal applied in the centre of each bank of piston heads. The air intake trunks in between the banks and the fuel injectors are installed on pegs in the centre of the block, fitting additional pipework to the ends, the first-motion shaft on the rear, and a pair of exhaust manifolds on the sides. The transmission is built from two long halves that project from the rear of the engine, adding a pair of braces for the bodywork panels, and inserting two driveshafts on the sides, then applying decals to the backs of the body panels before plugging them into the sides of the transmission. Two pairs of wishbones are fixed to the top and bottom of the transmission assembly, adding more linkages and a turbo intercooler radiator over the top, then creating the rear wheel hubs from a two-part brake disc and callipers that give it the prototypical venting between the two layers of braking surface. The discs are attached to the front of their bearings with a poly-cap allowing easy removal of the wheels at any point, gluing each one to the wishbones on pegs, and mating the engine and transmission together into one. The monocoque chassis of the vehicle was laid-up from carbon fibre, which was still relatively new at the time, here depicted by the main shell with two lower sections and a front bulkhead that are spot painted, using white for a small section that is seen through the outer bodywork panels, fitting bulkheads at the rear of the side pods, then attacking it with carbon-fibre decals that are found on the large sheet. A similar process is carried out in the cockpit, which starts as a single curved tub that has decals applied all around the seat, fitting some small ancillary controls into position after decaling, moving on to create the lap belts from the black fabric sheet, threading the PE buckles through according to the diagrams, and adding a circular quick-release to one of them. The shoulder belts are each two fabric parts that wrap around a U-shaped assembly at the top, with PE adjustment buckles linking the two sections of each belt together, finishing them with more PE buckles. The completed assembly is fitted in the cockpit on the rear lip, and a pair of Boss advertisements are applied from the decal sheet in a prominent part of the upper belt where it went over Ayrton or Alain’s shoulders. A logo decal is applied to the belt holder on the lip, subtly letting everyone know which chassis and variant it is. The cockpit is mated with the shell from below, applying another small decal to the shell behind one of the cut-outs in the nose, fitting the dash into position at the front of the cockpit, using decals for the instruments, and painting the many buttons appropriate colours according to the key nearby. The relatively simple steering wheel with two red and green buttons is attached to the dash via a short column, showing just how much steering wheel technology has come on, the modern wheels costing hundreds of thousands to make, as they contain complex computers, and are covered in buttons and often have a screen built-in. A control box is decaled with another Honda logo and fixed onto each side pod, making up two radiator assemblies per side with their own feeder hoses and supports, installing them on the angled rear sides of the pods after detail painting them. Air-intakes are made from two handed parts each, fitting a cylindrical assembly to the rear, and installing them across the face of the rearmost radiator, making sure that anything needing painting is done before you start applying glue. The undertray, or lower surface of the body is almost flat at the front, with splitters near the rear that guide the airflow out from under the car, creating downforce that sucks the car onto the track, with a lot of help from the upper aerodynamic fixtures. The inside is decaled with carbon-fibre and reflective stickers, applying paint to the other areas, then doing the same to the underside, painting crucial parts of the undersides a wood colour, which are the FIA’s guide to whether the vehicle is obeying the regulations regarding its height from the ground. Additional decals are applied to the sides of the splitters at the rear, and a set of wishbones are glued into the nose, adding three pedals and a small tank in the driver’s foot well. Another set of wishbones are attached to the top of the monocoque’s nose, bracing them with additional damping rods before bringing the two assemblies together, and applying another two decals to the sides of the nose once the glue is set. The front discs and hubs are made in the same manner as the rears, and are glued to the wishbones in the same way as at the rear, with a steering linkage applied to the front bulkhead, wrapped in a protective shroud, which has three small reservoirs applied beneath it. The sloped rear behind the driver has two assemblies fitted on pegs, followed by the roll-over hoop, building up the remaining hoses and ‘conch’ shaped turbo housings to link them and the engine to their outlets in the underside between the splitter plates, which allows the engine assembly to be fitted, assuming everything is painted and decaled at this stage. Two engine mounting brackets link the monocoque to the motor, and a large cylindrical reservoir with filler cap is fixed to a peg at the front of the transmission. The plenum chamber that is sited over the air intake trunks between the piston banks is made from three sections, with an FIA logo decal applied to the cylindrical assembly at the front, locating it on four pegs at the top of the trunks after painting, then adding waste-gate cooling hoses between the intakes at the rear of the side pods. The nose cone and rear wing supports are both covered in carbon-fibre decals and installed in their respective places at either end of the vehicle, painting the four parts of the wing red and white before applying decals over their inner and undersides and assembling it so it can be installed on the supports at the rear. A brief interlude to make the wheels is next, using the flexible black tyres, which have a seam around the centre of their circumferences. These can be removed by ‘scrubbing’ the contact surface with a motor tool or other sanding material to replicate the scrubbed wheels that were usually fitted before the race so that the car got maximum traction for the start, providing the tyres were also warm. The hubs are single parts, and like their full-sized counterparts, they are attached to the car by a single stud, which in this case slips into a poly-cap rather than screwing in. Dymag decals are provided for each hub, two per rim, and if F1 isn’t your thing, you’ll need to fit the smaller, narrower wheels to the front axles for maximum traction at the rear, which will stop your more knowledgeable friends from laughing at your mistake. The completed wheels slide into position and are held there by the poly-caps, whilst giving you the flexibility to remove them whenever you need to. The front wing provides down-force to the wheels, and much of this assembly is moulded as a single part, adding a small section under the nose, and two end-caps, after painting it all white and applying carbon-fibre decals to the inner faces of the caps. Another carbon-fibre decal is applied to the full width of the wing on the underside, consisting of three separate sections to make it a little easier to wrangle. The main portion of the bodyshell is moulded as one, adding the small windscreen to the front of the cockpit, and a pair of intake inserts to the holes in the side pods, marked L and R to ensure you fit them in the correct position. The wing mirrors are each single parts, using two small chromed stickers to depict the mirrors, and mounting them either side of the driver on their short supports. The bodyshell and nose cone can then be lowered over the car to complete the build, or you can make up two A-frame trestles from four-parts each to keep the body off the floor using a similar method used by the mechanics during maintenance, showing off the details of the chassis. Markings Mclaren Honda were sponsored by the Marlboro brand of cigarettes in 1988, while such advertising was starting to be banned in many countries, and MENG have used the name McLaren on the rear wing, which IIRC was the case in some countries that had already moved to ban advertising of cigarettes and tobacco-based products. You shouldn’t smoke, vape, or drink too much, but you know that already, so I won’t go on. Two decal options are supplied as you’d expect, with just a small decal on the roll-over differentiating between Senna and Prost, the drivers for that year, plus their numbers on the nose and sides of the rear wing. Shell and Honda also get a look-in, with their logos also found on the sheet. The stickers are chrome, but look blue due to the reflections in the photobooth. You can see your face in them, although there's a little distortion. Decals are printed in China to a high standard, and have good register, sharpness and colour density. There are no decals included for the Marlboro red stripes that make the car stand out, but instead you are given a slight step in the surface of the bodyshell to mask against, and I’m unsure if that will work. The step is infinitesimal, but is the additional layer or layers of red enough to make up the difference in height? Will subsequent layers of clear gloss after decaling encourage the steps (and the carrier film on the decals) to disappear? I’m not sure. You can of course sand away the step, which shouldn’t be too onerous, as there are only short lengths on the body. Conclusion The old McLaren MP4 was an impressive machine, and this new kit does it justice. The hardest part will be choosing the correct shade of red, although Zero paints have probably got a shade in their range already, followed by a little patience applying the many carbon-fibre decals, and deciding what to do about the step mentioned above. Overall, it’s a cracking kit though. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

M55 203mm Self-Propelled Howitzer (63548) 1:35 I Love Kit via Creative Models Ltd Based upon the chassis and some of the lower hull of a P47 Patton, but with the running gear and hull reversed, it travelled engine-deck first, with a huge turret that had limited traverse overhanging the rear that necessitated changes to the rear of the track run, and had a self-entrenching tool attached to the rear. It was developed from the earlier M53 that carried a 155mm gun, which it replaced in 1956 with the US Army, serving in Vietnam until the end of the 60s, when it was replaced in turn by the open-topped M110 howitzer after serving with it side-by-side for several years. The type also served in small numbers with a few NATO states, the last of whom kept it a little longer before it faded into history, scrapyards and museum storage. It was operated by a crew by six, consisting of a commander, driver and gunner, plus three more crew members to feed the gun with massive shells, of which it could carry just ten in internal storage, and as it was essential that it was required to continue firing for more than twenty minutes (1 round per 2 minutes), it would be accompanied by support vehicles that carried more rounds to feed the beast. The type was built by Pacific Car & Foundry, and was protected by 25mm/1” of armour, as although it wasn’t expected to be on the frontline, the nature of combat couldn’t always guarantee that it wouldn’t occasionally see limited action, even if it was only sporadic gunfire as a target of opportunity by the Vietcong, as the North Vietnamese army was sometimes known. Its top speed was a surprising 30mph, but that would reduce markedly on unmade roads or tracks, as 44 tonnes of metal and armour will stress any suspension system. The Kit This is a new boxing from another of Trumpeter’s brands, although it’s a strange name for a brand by any usual standards, even if it is descriptive of how we sometimes feel about our stashes. The kit shares many of the hallmarks of a Hobby Boss kit, which is another of their brands, and arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front. Inside the box are five sprues and two major parts in sand-coloured styrene, two identical sprues in brown styrene, a blast bag part on its own sprue for the gun in light grey flexible plastic, a tree of sixteen translucent poly-caps, a small clear sprue, two substantial frets of Photo-Etch (PE), a small decal sheet, instruction booklet in black and white, plus a glossy colour painting and decaling guide printed on both sides. This is an exterior kit, and the detail is good, extending to the link-and-length tracks, and the PE adds more fine detail to the kit, remembering that you’ll need to glue the PE parts in with Super Glue (CA). Construction begins with the road wheels, making eight pairs of one type, four more of another, and two of a third type, each made from hubs and separate tyres, with a poly-cap trapped between the two wheels for easy installation and removal. Six pairs of return-rollers are made up, then the hull is prepared with suspension details, four on each side, plus a more complex arrangement at the front, building one for each side from five parts. A pair of hatches with separate latches are fitted into holes in the rear bulkhead, mounting several small parts around them, including a towing hook and lugs for various eyes, breaking it down into two separate stages. The suspension arms and stub axles are inserted into each of the axle ports, fitting two suspension struts per side, adding the return-rollers to their sockets, and a single small wheel to the front suspension arm alongside a pair of road wheels, using up the rest of them in specific order on both sides of the hull. The front bulkhead has two small hatches and eyes installed, building up the drive sprockets from three parts, plus a two-part final drive housing that is glued to the sides of the hull. The tracks are link-and-length, using a long length on the lower run, plus three shorter sections for the upper run, adding a diagonal section under the drive sprocket, and creating the rounded ends from seven individual links at the front and ten at the rear, plus another two between the diagonal and lower run at the front. The upper hull is a large part with the turret base in a stepped down area at the rear, and this is detailed with louvred grates that have separate lifting lugs, stowage boxes with separate hatches and handles, two tapering assemblies with PE grilles on the open wider end, and many small parts around the deck and sides. Two more boxes are built with PE inserts glued into slots within, and their open rear ends house the front light clusters with clear lenses that are fitted on a PE support, adding a PE strip along the sides of the hull so that the PE side skirts can be fixed in place along with several PE fixings per side. More lifting handles are dotted around the deck, then it is mated to the lower hull, and the travel lock is built from five parts, some without glue, and mounted on slots in the front bulkhead. The turret is a large moulding, as is the floor, which has two supports that trap the mantlet between it and the upper when they are mated. A rack with several shelves is attached to the left of the turret before it is closed, covering the projecting edges of the floor at the sides with PE that has tread-plate texture etched into it, bending the edges over to hide the styrene underneath. A lower door is mounted in the cut-out in the rear, building the upper door with its locking mechanism from seven parts, adding vertical parts with PE sections to the sides, and festooning the turret sides with individual pioneer tools, and more on racks, along with several small parts, which have their shapes magnified in the instruction steps for a better view. A side hatch is added, and jerry cans are made for either side of the rear door, with a vent on the right side, creating the commander’s cupola from three parts reminiscent of a Patton’s cupola, making the gunner’s hatch from three parts, gluing it in place with another side door beneath it. More detail parts in styrene and PE are used, and two pairs of track links are fixed to the sides of the mantlet, sliding the two-part gun barrel through the flexible blast-bag after dealing with the seam, which will be eased by ensuring proper alignment of the two halves whilst gluing. The barrel assembly is slotted into a keyed hole in the mantlet, adding a small searchlight nearby, and completing the detailing of the turret with PE racks on the left side, grab handles and styrene protective cages around parts at the front of the roof. The self-entrenching blade has two pivots made and linked with a flimsy panel, which is probably best done after locating the pivots on the blade to ensure they are glued at the correct angles. The blade has several stiffening ribs moulded-in, with three more inserted in slots, joining the blade to the hull using two pegs that slide into the projecting trunnions at the back of the vehicle, passing through holes at the ends of the pivots. The turret then slots into position on the rear of the deck, but as there aren’t any bayonet lugs, it will be held in place by gravity and will fall out if you invert the model. The barrel is locked in position with a C-shaped clamp that glues it to the travel lock assembly at the front of the vehicle. Markings Two decal options are provided on the sheet, and the only clues to their use and location is given by the serials and the names painted on the barrel. From the box you can build one of the following: US Marines 233244 ‘Eve of Destruction’ US Army 40228648 ‘Tiny Tim’ The decals are printed with good density and sharpness, and only one has two colours, so register isn’t a problem. Conclusion The M55 is a bit of a monster, and quite appealing as such. It served in active combat zones, so can be built in a state of heavy use, and the detail should be enough for most modellers to make the most of. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

British Tank Crew Special Edition (35332) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd British tank crews in WWII generally wore custom overalls and either a black beret with the tank regiment badge on the front, or a cut-down style helmet without brim, so that they wouldn’t get hung up on the equipment inside their vehicles. During colder weather, a leather body-warmer was worn over the overalls, cinched in by the crewman’s webbing belt to keep from snagging inside the tank. This set depicts a crew of five in and around a tank wearing just such items of clothing, suitable for all but the hottest and coldest of weather. Inside the figure-sized box are four sprues, two containing the figures and two their accessories, including helmets, weapons and pouches, plus a small paper sprue diagram to show where all the parts are. The commander is wearing a leather tabard over his overalls, while the rest of the crew aren’t, but some of them are wearing drop-leg holsters for their side-arms, which look surprisingly modern. The commander is stood with hands on hips, two other crew are stood, one resting a hand and foot against something, while the other inspects some charts in a rigid folio against his compass. The two seated characters could be placed half in or out of their hatches, one with a foot up level on the edge of the hatch, the other leaning forward talking into a microphone. Three of them also have comms headsets integrated into their helmets or on a band over their berets. The helmets have their internal webbing moulded-in in case you want to pose them off within or on the tank, and a set of goggles and holster is supplied for all, with a few ammo pouches, map case, unholstered pistols and even a sniper rifle with scope found on the sprues. Conclusion As usual with MiniArt figures their sculpting is exceptional with crisp detail and sensible parts breakdown plus extras to add some detail to their vicinity if you use them in a diorama. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Panzer Crew 1943-45 (35465) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII, German tank crews usually consisted of four, sometimes five men, led by their commander, who was generally dressed differently from the other men, and had the lofty seat in the cupola on top of the vehicle, communicating with the rest of the crew and others in their unit by radio with a wired throat-mic, and over-ear headphones. In the early part of the war, the crews were usually dressed in black uniforms with a large beret, but as the war progressed, they transitioned toward camouflaged uniforms to make them at least a little less visible when they were outside the comparative safety of their tank. This set arrives in a figure-sized box, with a painting of the contents on the front, and the same artwork sectioned up and used as the instructions and combined painting guide, with a paint 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 grey styrene in a heat-sealed bag, with the parts for each figure on separate 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. There are four figures, two standing as if they are in a turret hatch, both wearing headphones, one of whom is scanning the horizon with pair of V-shaped ranger-finders. The two seated crew members appear to be on the outside of the tank from their poses, both looking down, one studying a map, the other navel-gazing. All crew are wearing a standard two-piece uniform with double-breasted jackets, and low-profile cloth side caps, plus rolled cuffs over their combat boots. The two men with comms will need some fine wire to represent the cords leading to their headsets and throat mics for additional realism once the figures are painted and ready to be placed on/in the model. The accessory sprue contains plenty of pouches, Lugers, other pistols in and out of pouches, a Gewehr 43 and Kar98k rifle with scope, an FG42 machine gun, an STG44 assault rifle, a Bergmann MP18, a Steyr MP34, and an unusual Erma EMP with a stubby fore-grip. Not all of those will be appropriate for the crew, but can be added as part of the clutter in the background, or used on another project in the future. Conclusion A crew gives an AFV model human scale, with the realistic sculpting and poses adding to that feeling. Careful painting and weathering will further add to the effect. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

StuG III Ausf.G Mar 1943 Alkett Prod. (72105) 1:72 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The StuG is a popular German WWII AFV subject, 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 15° 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 obliviously into its path, where it could be deadly in the right hands. 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 gun that was also used in the Panzer IV for tank-on-tank combat, extending the type’s viable career to the end of WWII, but making ditch-crossing a little riskier due to the longer barrel. The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and whilst they were equipped with working 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 by '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 or 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, and schürzen plates mounted on brackets to diffuse incoming shaped charge rounds. The Kit This is a re-boxing of a recent tooling from MiniArt in their new 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 ten 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 or complex. 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. 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 sleeve 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, with a choice of shortened fenders for one decal option. The gun sleeve is slotted into the front of 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, remembering to remove small raised chevrons from the cheeks of the casemate before you move on. A convoy light is glued into the centre of the glacis, then the engine deck is made, fitting two-part sides with separate baffles, and a single rear panel that is aligned when the deck is installed on the rear of the hull, choosing one of two narrow rear facets on the rear round-down. 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 two 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 for one option. Small PE fittings are glued to the rear corners of the casemate, with triple-barrelled smoke dischargers at the front for some decal options, adding a pair of aerial mounts on the casemate rear. The barrel is moulded as a single tubular section with a hollow muzzle glued to the business end, and its sleeve is moulded into the front of the saukopf, which is an inverted trapezoid that is made from another two parts, with a stowage box in the middle of the engine deck for some decal options. Pioneer tools are built up and fitted where there is space as the build progresses, including muzzle cleaning rods, jack, fire extinguisher, and track tools. 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 V-shaped 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, and two stacks of wheels that are mounted on long pins on the rear of the engine deck on the aft vents, the pins made from your own wire stock. One decal option adds a further two identical stacks of wheels on the forward fenders, using more of your own wire to attach them, using more wire or stretched sprue to make two aerials of 30mm each that are needed to fit on the bases on the rear of the casemate. One decal option also has a different arrangement of the towing cables at the front of the fenders, and the same variant has another length of track draped over the rear of the vehicle, with a large stowage box made and fixed on the engine deck near the rear. Markings There are five decal options on the small sheet, with various schemes all but one with a base coat of dunkelgeb, and various camouflage styles over the top. From the box you can build one of the following: 201 Stg.Abt., Greece, Summer 1943 322 Stg.Abt., Eastern Front, Summer 1943 1st Company Pz.Abt. ‘Rhodos’, Rhodos, Autumn 1943 Bulgarian 1st Assault Gun Battalion, Autumn 1943 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’, Pomerania, March 1945 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 have brought their talents to bear on 1:72 scale armour, releasing a subject they have already researched for their extensive 1:35 scale StuG range, resulting in a highly detailed model with plenty of options for personalisation, and an ongoing broadening of the range available, three down, with another still in the queue to be reviewed, and doubtless more to come. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dune - Atreides Ornithopter (DS-007) 1:72 MENG via Creative Models Ltd Dune began life in the 1960s as the first book in a long-running series by Frank Herbert, and several attempts have been made to realise the initial book in movie form, with varying levels of success. David Lynch made a decent, if simplified attempt at it in the 1980s, although it was a flawed movie with irritating voice-overs (from my point of view, at least), while a three-part TV movie in 2000 was considered a reasonable adaptation, but I haven’t seen that one. This latest expedition into the deserts of Arrakis benefits from the availability of realistic Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) that can be used to enhance the scope and scale of the saga as it deserves, without looking false, for the most part. It also benefitted from a massive budget and acclaimed director, not to mention a cast of many famous actors, although David Lynch’s version also had some famous faces, including a young Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck before his Star Trek days. The new film has been split into two episodes to portray as much of the book’s content as possible in an effort to retain the important plot subtleties of the original story, and part 2 has been out now for several months, rounding off the original story, allegedly, with the possibility of more to come if it has made enough money for the studio, which I expect it has by now. I still haven’t seen the second part yet, so no spoilers please! The new film of course has some great new ships, which includes a less toy-like Ornithopter, which is more insectoid and less clockwork bubble-bug than the 1984 edition. They are quadruped aircraft with eight helicopter blade-like ‘wings’ providing the lift in an insectoid manner, and a pointed nose that incorporates expansive windscreens that probably don’t give as good a field of view forward as you’d think. The Kit This is a new kit that follows on the heels of the ‘vehicle scale’ mini-kits that now look more like stocking-fillers as this new tooling is in 1:72, corresponding with the dominant scale in which the Bandai Star Wars kits were released in, and giving modellers to opportunity to compare their sizes, and display them together without any disparity in scale. The kit arrives in a standard MENG box with a painting of the ‘thopter on the front in desert tones, and a satin finish to the box, as usual. There are six sprues of dark olive-green styrene plus a slide-moulded cockpit framing, two in beige for the base, two poly-caps in black, a small black sprue containing crew figures, a pale faun sprue with a pair of Atreides emblems, the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper, and no decals. The only emblems are the two styrene parts that are painted a contrasting shade on the finished model. Detail is excellent, and the inclusion of four crew figures and the logos in contrasting colours indicates that the designers kept a watching eye on the novice modeller that may not either want to, or be able to paint the model, whilst providing sufficient detail for the hardened Sci-Fi modeller. Construction begins with the cockpit and rear interior, with a step between the two areas, the lower section for the flight crew, who controls the aircraft with twin sticks that are inserted into the deck along with a pair of rudder pedals that have an instrument binnacle installed between them, rising up near the pilot’s eyeline. Four identical crew seats are fitted with bases, building the pilot from two parts so his arms can reach out to the sticks, and three other passengers with their hands on laps, essentially in the same pose and garb except for their head gear and hair styles. Paint the uniformsa dark steel colour, and the visible human aspects any shade you like. The seats and pegged-in crew are inserted into holes in the cockpit floor, the pilot at the front, a row of two passengers behind him, and another row of two seats, one of which is empty, behind them on the raised portion of the floor. Attention shifts to the attachment points for the eight blades that sprout from both sides of the fuselage, and the first assembly creates two pairs of sockets that pivot in unison with the corresponding socket on the opposite side, thanks to intermeshing quadrant gears that are moulded into the rear of each socket, requiring them to be careful placed in the correct socket before gluing the two retaining surrounds together. Four blade sockets are made in the first batch, followed by another four that are made in the same way, joining the two assemblies together before they are trapped between the fuselage halves in the next step, fitting the cockpit, a pivoting access ramp on the underside, and a recess in the aft slope of the fuselage before joining the two halves together, then adding a top cover to the blade area, and an insert that extends from the rear of the fuselage some way down the boom at the rear. The boom is further detailed with a pair of exhausts and an insert at the rear, plus a rail that extends the length of the boom on each side, attaching on several pins along its length. Another insert is placed under the nose with a poly-cap at the front, adding detail inserts around the blade sockets, and the Atreides emblems just aft of the cockpit. Two Harrier-like exhausts are fixed behind the rearmost blade pairing on each side, clicking four tapering surrounds to the blade sockets on both sides without glue. The reason for the poly-cap under the nose becomes clear now, building a pair of twin weapons (or searchlights - it's a while since I watched the first film) on a central rod, which clips into a holder with another part that covers the innards, and a cylindrical drum with a peg on the upper side, which slots into the hole under the nose, held in place by the poly-cap. The entire upper nose and framing for the cockpit is moulded as one part using sliding moulds, clipping four clear panes into the top, one on each side, and another two in the nose. The clear parts have lugs on the sides that allow them to clip into position without glue, and while they may show a little through the windows, they are much tidier than the risk of glue squirting out of the sides. The completed assembly is slotted into the fuselage horizontally, locating on three pegs that slide into corresponding holes in the fuselage halves. Whether you want to install the wings before the landing gear is entirely up to you, but you have a choice of depicting them straight and ready for flight, or folded back for storage, installing the plug-in end of the blade on the main part without glue, ensuring that the recessed portion of the peg is facing upward when you insert them into the sockets with a click, four per side. To deploy them, the blade is pivoted out straight, and then rotated 180° so that the moulded-in pivot pin ends are at the top. This will prevent them sagging in the cabinet, although the model will also take up a lot of room, as each blade measures over 33cm from the pivot-point. The craft’s landing skids can be posed up or down, pivoting around a central island, which comprises of seven different parts depending on your choice. The gear legs are built from a varying number of parts, each sub-assembly receiving a letter code to assist with placement later, and each of the four main legs ending in a pad, except for two seemingly vestigial legs at the rear. They are plugged into the upper assembly according to the last sub-step of each option, and this in turn is mated with the underside of the craft, posing the lower hatch in the open position with the gear down if you wish. The stand is moulded in a desert sand colour, and consists of a two-part support, with a pivot at the top that can be manipulated to various angles, and the base, which is a single gently undulating part that has a uniform sandy texture on its surface, and a circular dais where the support plugs into a large rectangular peg. Markings There are profiles printed at the rear of the instructions, with colours in MENG codes and Gunze Sangyo’s Acrysion range. The main colour is Dark Earth, with black frames around the windows, and dark yellow for the Atreides emblem. Conclusion I’ve been waiting for a larger kit of the Ornithopter, and MENG have now granted that wish, so I’m very happy. There is good detail included on a kit that is a relatively simple build, and offers plenty of scope for the modeller to practice their paint and weathering effects on the kit when it is ready. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

M3 Stuart Early Prod. Interior Kit (35404) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The M3 Stuart was designed before the US went to war, based upon the experiences of the British, which led to the US top brass deciding that their M2 light tank was obsolete. While the radial engine M3 was an improvement over the M2, it suffered from an underpowered M6 main gun at only 37mm, which although it was improved later in the war, the crews had to suffer with it for some considerable time. The British troops in Africa used it first against the superior tanks of the Afrika Korps, but fared badly in combat, suffering from the lack of range of the Stuart in the wide-open spaces of the African desert. It was fast and manoeuvrable however, and a British driver’s comment that she was a "honey" to drive led to one of its nicknames during the war. The M3A1 was an improved version that deleted the sponson mounted machine guns of the initial production, and some of these used more conventional diesel engines instead of the bulky radials, which gave the crew more room for other equipment. It also had a new turret with a basket for the turret crew to stand in, and no cupola for the commander that gave the tank a lower profile, and added a gun stabilisation system that helped with vertical alignment of targets while the tank was on the move, ironing out the bumps for the gunners. In British service it was known as the Stuart III and with the diesel engine version was designated the IV. It was hopelessly outclassed by Axis armour in Europe for tank-on-tank engagements, and was soon relegated to infantry support and recce roles, where it performed well. It was more successful in the Pacific theatre against the lightly armoured Japanese tanks in the jungle, where medium and heavy tanks could soon flounder in the mud and jungles. It continued to be used to the end of the war by the Allies in the Pacific area, although Russia, another user of the Stuart disliked it intensely and refused to take the upgraded M5 design that followed the M3A3. Variants were used well into the 60s, and Brazil even built their own version with redesigned upper hull and carrying a 90mm gun. Paraguay still had a few of its ancient original stock of 12 beyond the turn of the millennium, which is astonishing, considering the age of the machine. The Kit This is a reboxing of a brand-new tooling from our friends at MiniArt, which are producing an amazing output of new kits and partial re-tools in recent years, which is doubly-impressive given the situation in Ukraine over the last few years. This kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of an initial production Stuart on the front, clearly illustrating the prominent sponson-mounted machine guns that it shared with early variants of its stablemate, the M3 Grant/Lee. Inside the box are twenty sprues in grey styrene, although your boxing might be a variance from the sprue map and be linked together on runners like in one of our earlier boxings. There is also a clear sprue, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass in a card envelope, a decal sheet, and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on glossy paper, with profiles of the decal options on the three sides of the cover. Detail is excellent as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt, and as this is an Interior Kit, you also get the complete engine and the entire crew compartment, for which the hull panels are detailed on both sides, although the interior has a few unavoidable ejector-pin marks, as they must go somewhere, or they wouldn’t be able to remove the still-hot sprues from the moulds. The running gear is similarly well-defined, and the tracks are supplied as link-and-length, taking the benefits of individual links and rubber-band simplicity and making the job a lot less labour intensive. Construction begins with the vehicle’s floor, laying out driver controls, foot pedals and other equipment, plus a choice of two styles of rectangular floor hatch, just in case you have a preference. The transmission and front axle assembly is made up from five sculpted and cooling-finned parts, which is then detailed with pivots, end-caps and linkages before it is installed on the floor, adding a short length of wire to link the assembly to a nearby conduit if you feel adventurous, then building up a box with a padded top, and two crew seats from base frame, cushion and back cushion, with a pair of PE lap belts wrapped around from the rear. The curved transmission armour on the front of the tank is detailed with various towing eyes, additional bolt heads that are cut from the sprue runner, and a central frame that can be folded from PE or replaced by a single styrene part. When it is complete, the interior face should be painted so that it can be installed on the front of the floor, locating on a trio of ledges with the floor inverted. The sloping drive-shaft tunnel is made from three main parts, adding a bottle to one side, a decal nearby, and a small grab-handle on the opposite side. This is lowered into position in the centre of the floor, with a small cut-out allowing it to fit over a transverse suspension bar moulded into the floor. A very busy engine firewall is based upon a rectangular panel with cut-outs, onto which a fire extinguisher and other equipment are installed, followed by a pair of radiator cores and associated hoses, plus a Thompson machine gun latched in place, minus magazine. The completed assembly is slotted vertically into the floor, which will later mount the radial engine on the opposite side, but first there is much more space to take up with equipment. A square(ish) stowage box with soft top is built and installed in front of the firewall on the left, a two-part instrument panel is attached to the transmission housing, applying three dial decals into the circular faces, making another diagonal panel from three-parts, with a PE dial in the centre, which then has a decal applied over it. The driver’s seat is emplaced behind his controls, fixing another box made earlier into position on the right side behind the bow-gunner’s seat, with another smaller box nestled behind that, and a pair of ammo boxes in front of the gunner for his immediate use in battle. Just because war isn't quite dangerous enough, a four-part jerry can is made and sited behind the driver in case they run short, although its usefulness might not yet be apparent because the fuel tanks are next to be made. First however, another small palette of boxes is made and attached at two points on the bulkhead on the right side, which even has a canteen flask stowed to one side. Working on the engine bay now, the two fuel tanks are situated in the front corners of this area, with caps on top that can be accessed from the engine deck by removing two large armoured covers. Another tank is installed in the rear left of the compartment, adding various manifolds and hoses once they are in position before the curved engine support is slotted into the bay near the front. The Continental W-670 engine is next, with all seven cylinders moulded in this boxing, all of which have separate head parts, three pairs of which are linked by a narrow curved rod. A conical fairing is arranged around the forward end to duct the cool air from the large cooling fan, with a cross-brace and circular boss across the open space at the forward end. The fan is mounted on this boss, with a stub-axle on the outer face, with all the blades moulded into this well-detailed part. The tinwork is substantially different from an aviation variant of this motor, but the push-rods, intake hoses and ancillaries are similar, while the exhaust take-off doesn’t have the same constraints on it. The two exhaust manifolds carry the fumes from three and four pistons each, reducing to two larger pipes that end with a stepped joint to strengthen the join between it and the exhaust pipes. The intake manifold at the bottom of the engine is fed by two pipes that head up the sides of the engine, covered by a substantial engine carrier beam that also holds additional ancillaries, with the hole in the centre allowing more to protrude. More ancillaries including distributor and belt are layered over the carrier, with two tubular mufflers attached to the tops of the exhaust pipes, after which it is fitted into the engine bay, adding a cover to the top portion between the fuel tanks. Only now can the hull sides be fitted, but not before they are detailed with various parts, including electrical junction boxes, ammo boxes and other small parts, adding final drive housings to the front ends, using the bogie axle ends to locate the parts on the sides of the floor. The rear bulkhead is built with a hatch space in the upper half, with a dash-pot on the inside and a beam across the top edge, gluing it to the rear of the vehicle with the assistance of a scrap view from below. The rear hatch is in two sections, one of which has a PE clapping plate, both having handles, while the left door has a strange pot with a short hose fixed to the inner face, and both doors can be posed open or closed as you wish. Above the hatch is an overhang with a PE mesh horizontal insert and styrene rear, with a couple of towing eyes mounted on the lower edge of the bulkhead. The next assembly is a thirty-cal machine gun, which has a cloth dump bag half moulded-in, finished by an additional part, and with an ammo box with a short length of link under the breech with a two-part mount. This is slotted through the glacis plate in a ball-mount from the inside, adding a two-part instrument panel with five dial decals in front of the driver, plus a strengthening strap under the driver’s hatch. It is glued into position on the front of the tank, fitting the transmission inspection hatch with handle to the centre, and adding a pair of towing shackles to the front. The driver’s hatch is in two parts, and can be posed closed for battle, or with both parts folded open to allow the driver to see a broader vista. A two-layer T-shaped cross-member is located over the upper glacis, adding a PE bracket that supports the open driver’s hatch, and a pair of bearing spacers to the final drive housings. As already mentioned, the earliest Stuarts had sponson-mounted machine guns, which extend from the main hull out over the tracks, roughly along the middle third of the vehicle’s length. The two parts are glued into position, and two .30cal machine guns are trapped between two-part mounts, one fitted to each sponson on a curved adapter with a three-part magazine that has a short length of link visible at the top. In the space behind the guns, boxes of ammo cans are stacked, leaving sufficient space for the two-part radio box in the left sponson, adding a length of power cord later in the process. A battery box is situated at the rear of the right sponson, adding a couple of grab handles, and inserting a divider between it and the flammable ammo storage. The sides of the sponsons can then be built around the equipment, painting the interior faces as you go, consisting of a short wall to the rear, a long panel along the side, and an angled panel with exit for the machine gun muzzle at the front. This is repeated for both sides, fitting two hatches to the front of the upper hull after adding an extra layer behind, a clear vision port, and openers to the sides. If you intend to pose the hatches up, you have the option of leaving the inclement weather inner hatches in position, which have large panes of glass and windscreen wipers to save filling the tank with precipitation. The open outer hatches are propped up with a pair of short stays from their top hinges. The hull roof is next, starting with the panel that has the turret ring moulded-in, adding rollers in housings to the underside, additional nuts on the top ring, and a pair of filler caps on the deck behind it, shaving away clasp details around them, and fitting a grab handle to one side. The completed part is lowered into place on the hull, adding a horn to the glacis next to the bow gun, including a small length of wire between it and the nearby bracket. Turning to the engine deck, four holes are drilled out on the diagonal deck panel to fit handles, gluing it in position and fitting a pair of rear lights on brackets to the sides, adding a little connecting wire if you wish. The main deck panel has a box added to the underside before it too is placed over the engine, adding a PE shroud to the forward edge to deflect incoming rounds or debris. Another PE bracket for one of the aerials is attached to the right, with another mounted on the side wall slightly lower and further to the side than the other. The aerial bases are each made from two parts, adding 73mm of stretched sprue, wire, or carbon fibre rod to represent the aerials themselves. A pair of dome-topped cylindrical airboxes are built from four parts each and attached to the rear of the sponson on brackets on both sides. We finally get some wheels for the bus, starting with the over-size idler wheels, which are trapped between two halves of the swing-arm, choosing one of two styles depending on where in production the tank fell. The idler wheels have PE rims glued on each side, building two of these assemblies, plus two more drive sprockets for the other end of the track run. The road wheels are mounted in two-wheel bogies, each one made from ten parts, building four in total, handed for each side. The road wheels flex-fit into position between the arms of the bogies, so that they can be mounted on the sides of the vehicle in shallow recesses along with the idlers and drive sprockets, with three return rollers on short axles above the main run. As discussed earlier, the tracks are link-and-length, using long single-part lengths under the wheels, individual links around sharp curves, and shorter lengths where the tracks are relatively straight. The various sections are attached to the sprues at the edges, and each short portion has a unique tab and slot format to ensure that parts can only be put together in the correct manner. There are a few ejector-pin marks on the inside of the longer track link sections, but these are raised and on flat surfaces, so shouldn’t be difficult to remove with a sanding stick or sharp blade, and won’t slow you don’t too much. When the track runs are suitably cured, fenders are added over the open areas, the rear straight sections fitted with a curved end to reduce kicked up mud, while the front sections have inner side skirts to prevent mud ingress, which is improved further by gluing a PE web between it and the leading edge of the glacis plate, along with a PE stiffening strap further back. Before we start festooning the vehicle with pioneer tools, a pair of headlamps with clear lenses are placed, one on each fender protected by a PE cage, and both with a short length of wire leading back to hole in the glacis plate. To apply the pioneer tools you have two choices, the first and easiest method is to use fully styrene tools that have their clasps moulded-in. You can fit the same variety of tools to the rear of the vehicle removing the slightly raised location points from the styrene panel, and replacing them with PE clasps around separate tools that have no clasps moulded-in. An axe, pickaxe shaft and head, and a shovel are included, with a scrap diagram showing the finished area with PE clasps. More tools are located on the forward sponsons, with the same choice of moulded-in styrene clasps or separate PE fittings, which again have the raised marks removed first, with a completed diagram showing their locations once in place. The same process can be carried out for the single towing rope that the modeller must provide from either a 157mm length of braided wire or thread, fitting a pair of styrene eyes to the ends, and clamping it in place with PE brackets along the left sponson and fender. Now for the turret, starting with the main 37 mm M6 gun, the gun tube formed by a single part with hollow muzzle that is surrounded by a two-part frame, and has the halves of the breech closed around the rear, adding extra detail on the right, and a breech protector to the left side, followed by three-part pivots that are fixed around the gun without glue, then the coaxial machine gun is attached to the right side of the breech, and its ammo box is located on the left side, fed by a ‘bridge’ of link over the main gun in a guide to the breech of the smaller gun. The sighting tube is installed on the left with an adjustment wheel, pushing the barrel through the mantlet and inserting it into the front of the turret, which has been made from a well-detailed ring, with the faceted turret sides arranged around it after being detailed themselves. The roof has a yoke inserted on its underside in stowed or combat positions, and is glued in place, sliding the mantlet armour over the main and coax guns from in front. The commander’s cupola is similarly faceted, and each side is prepared by fitting a vision block in the slot, creating an asymmetrical hexagonal shape, and deciding whether to pose the turret crew’s vision ports open or closed. The commander's hatch is a flat panel with a lock on the upper edge, and hinges on the lower, which can be fitted open or closed, with more vision ports on the turret sides posed open or closed around the rest of the perimeter. Another .30cal machine gun is trapped between a two-part mount with adjuster handle, and fixed to a short column that is secured to the left side of the turret on curved brackets moulded into the surface. An optional two-part ammo box with a length of link can be fixed to the side of the gun, or if you wish to leave it off, an alternative stub part is supplied in its place. Before putting the turret into position, a few small parts are added under the gun near the hand-winding wheel for the turret. With that, the turret can be dropped into position to complete the model, unless you are building decal option two, which has a PE banner with a pair of stars mounted over the mantlet, and two PE flags on 30mm posts that are fitted to the edges of the glacis plate. General Patton was always one to try to make an entrance. Markings There are seven decal options included on the sheet, and you’d be right to guess that they are all in some variation of WWII Allied green, with only their individual and national markings to tell them apart. From the box you can build one of the following: 192nd Tank Battalion, Philippines, Luzon, 1941 General Patton’s Tank, Desert Manoeuvres, California, Summer 1942 Armoured Forces School, Fort Knox, Summer 1942 4th Armoured Division, 84th Reconnaissance Troop, Tennessee Manoeuvres, Autumn 1942 192nd Tank Brigade, Red Army, Volkhov Offensive, Oryol Region, Summer 1942 192nd Tank Brigade, Red Army, Volkhov Offensive, Oryol Region, Summer 1942 Unknown Unit, Red Army, Eastern Front, 1942 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 It’s great to have this much detail present in a modern tooling of the diminutive Stuart, or Honey as the Brits called it, and it deserves to become the de facto standard for the scale. If interiors aren’t your thing however, there are a growing number of exterior kits available from MiniArt now. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

US 1t Cargo Trailer with Canvas ‘Ben Hur’ (35443) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII, the US used two small two-wheeled trailers for transporting additional equipment and other essential stores around the battlefield, towed by trucks and other vehicles that had at least a ¾ ton payload carried internally. There were two major variants, one for carrying many types of equipment and designated as G-518, the other a specialist water carrier that was given the catalogue designation G-527. The main contractor was Ben-Hur Manufacturing Co., which led to the nickname ‘Ben-Hur Trailer’ regardless of where they were built, and its 1-ton load capacity in 3.2m3 volume meant that it saw a lot of action, although mostly ignored by war historians and modellers alike, as it was a transport and not as interesting as the things that went bang. Nevertheless, there were over a quarter of a million built, and many of them spent their days dutifully following a Chevrolet truck or similar around the roads and tracks of Europe and the Far East. The Kit This is a new boxing of a recent tooling from MiniArt, launched just after the G-527 Water Buffalo we reviewed recently, this kit and its companions are ripe for filling with useful gear that a squad may find helpful on the battlefield, or to make themselves comfortable before or after action. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and inside are seven sprues of grey styrene, a card envelope that contains a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret and a length of shiny silver chain, adding a sheet of decals and the glossy instruction booklet to complete the package, the latter having painting and decaling profiles on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent as usual with MiniArt, including a full chassis, well-rendered chunky treaded tyres, and even a set of slat extensions to the sides of the structure with moulded-in wooden texture, plus in this boxing we have a canvas tilt that was a must for those locations where it wasn’t always sunshine and balmy days. Construction begins with the bodywork, starting with the two sides that have leaf springs moulded-in, which have the axle retention bolts added to both sides, PE tie-down loops are glued along the sides, and the light cluster that are fitted on a PE bracket next to the rear suspension mounts. A choice of external framework to the sides without the extension slats is glued to the sides except for one option that has them fitted, including small PE brackets at both ends of the slatted extended sections. The wheels are built from two parts, the larger having the outer hub, tyre carcass and the tread moulded as one, the smaller having the opposite sidewall details moulded-in. They are then put to one side while you build up the rest of the load area. The two sides are mated with the floor assembly, adding brake actuators underneath and on the side, and bringing in the ends to create the load box, with more PE brackets and foot stirrups to aid entry and exit. While the chassis is upside down, the two-part inner hubs are fitted to the ends of the axles, adding a short length of 0.5mm wire to each one, and another length of 0.2mm wire to a master cylinder under the floor on one side. The towing frame is made from two converging lengths, which are fixed under the front of the floor on a pair of U-bolts, The tailgate is completed by adding the PE retaining pins on chains at floor level, then the two-part towing eye is mounted atop the front of the A-frame, and a jockey-wheel is built from two halves plus a yoke and pivot, with an alternate all-steel wheel if you prefer. This can be fitted under the hitch in either horizontal position for travel, or vertically for a parked trailer, locking it in place between two halves of the pivot. Another longer length of wire is fitted under the left chassis rail and hitch frame, dangling the end down over the hitch, adding a plug for the electrics, which has a hole moulded-in for the wire. The safety chains are cut to length, and are each trapped between two halves of their bracket, adding the hook on the loose end after drilling a hole in the part first. A pair of mudguards are mounted on the chassis sides on pegs, inserting the wheels into their wells on both sides. The newly tooled tilt is made from five parts with creases, folds and the shape of the internal structure showing through, adding four PE straps and buckles to the opening end, and later four more around the front, plus ten short lengths of wire depicting the bungee cords that hold the tilt down on the PE hooks glued into place on the sides earlier. If you have chosen the decal option with the slats however, the tilt parts will stay in the box, adding the front and rear slat sections to brackets on the slatted sides fitted earlier, then four curved roof supports are fixed to the sides that supports the tilt when it is fitted during poor weather. Markings There are six decal options on the sheet, with a choice of camouflage that dictates the fitment of canvas tilt, slatted sides (one option) and/or steel jockey wheel (one option), so take care during construction if you have a particular scheme in mind. From the box you can build one of the following: US Army, North Africa, Spring 1943 834th Engineer Aviation Battalion of the 9th (US) Engineer Command, Normandy, Summer 1944 ‘Red Ball Express’, Autumn 1944 US Army Combat Medic Unit, Europe, 1944-45 834th Engineer Aviation Battalion of the 9th (US) Engineer Command, Normandy, Summer 1944 US Army, Korean War, 1950-93 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 A trailer might not be one of the most charismatic of military vehicles, but its importance from a strategic point of view can’t be understated, as an army without supplies isn’t going to get very far, as has often been illustrated in extended campaigns throughout history. MiniArt have done a great job tooling this kit, with the new tilt similarly well-done, and it will make an interesting addition trundling along behind your next softskin project, or as part of a diorama. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Tempo A400 Lieferwagen. Bakery Van (38066) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The A/E400 Lieferwagen was another of Hitler’s standard vehicles that is perhaps lesser known than the original Beetle. It was produced by company Tempowerk Vidal & Sohn from 1938, and was joined by an identical Standard E-1 that was manufactured in another factory. It was one of the few factories that were permitted to carry on making civilian vehicles, although this permit was eventually withdrawn as the state of the war deteriorated for Germany. The wagon was a little unstable in the corners due to its single front wheel, and it had a front-mounted engine that probably made matters worse, with a chain drive from the motor to the wheel. The two-stroke 400cc engine in the standard E1 output 12 hp that gave it sluggish performance to say the least, which was probably just as well due to that front wheel. The Bakery delivery driver was situated behind the front wheel, with a pair of side doors for entry and exit, and a single-panel windscreen that overlooked the short, tapered bonnet/hood. The load area was to the rear of the vehicle that was integrated into the cab for this variant, with a single door on the side, and another pair of doors at the back to keep the contents safe and another load area on the roof inside a railed in portion, and with several other rear bodyshell designs available. The covered van was common, although flatbeds and other designs were available. The Kit This is a new variant of the recent tool from MiniArt, using the enclosed van body style that we have seen in the beer and milk delivery trucks. This unusual little vehicle arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside are twelve sprues of varying sizes in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) in a card envelope, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet on glossy paper with colour profiles on the front and rear pages. It’s a full-body model that shares its panels with the cab, so you’ll get to build all the internal parts and during the process possibly learn a little about how it works – I did when the first boxings came in. Detail is as good as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt, with a lot of it and it’s all very well-defined. Well considered use of slide-moulding also improves the detail without increasing the part count, and makes parts like the forward cowling a feast for the eyes. Construction begins with the small cab floor, which has a planked texture engraved on its surface, and is fitted out with foot pedals, a hand-brake lever and narrow cylindrical chassis rail down the centre, plus a battery attached to the floor on the left. The front bulkhead has a clear windscreen with rounded corners popped in with a small sliver of PE at the bottom, a short steering column and a L-shaped lever, with the windscreen wiper motor cover added to the top of the screen frame, cutting off the two bunny-ear indicators because they are set further back on this version. The windscreen/bulkhead assembly is attached to the front of the floor with a pot for the washers and the conversion stub of the steering column, with a pair of PE wiper blades added in a boxed diagram later along with the latching-point for the bonnet. The padded bench seat for the crew is slotted into the floor, and the back is attached to the rear bulkhead that is joined to the floor, and you’ll need to find some 0.3mm wire 24.6mm long to represent the linkage to the floor-mounted brake lever and the back of the cockpit. The steering wheel and rear bulkhead are glued in, then the two crew doors a made up, having clear side windows plus winders and handles that are quite delicate for realism, making up the rear door with locking mechanism and handle ready for the building of the load area. This starts with the two side panels that have the B-pillars moulded into the front and the mudguards for the rear wheels, plus a pair of bunny-ear indicators that are installed just behind the pillar for this variant. The rear chassis is built around a cylindrical centreline rail with the back axle and its triangular bearers slipping over it and hubs with brake drums added at each end. A sturdy V-shaped brace is added between the ends of the axle and the other end of the cylindrical chassis rail, with a large retainer locating in a recess between them. The rear wheels are made from a centre section that includes the contact surface of the tyres and back of the hub, with a choice of two inserts to represent two hub cap styles, that are then fitted onto the axles on short pegs, with a brake-line made from some more of your own 0.3mm wire and suspended from the frame on PE brackets that are folded over the wire and are closed up then glued to the frame with an etched-in rivet giving the impression that it is attached firmly to the chassis. The load bed floor is a single part with more planking and fixings engraved into both surfaces, adding clear lights into recesses in a rear valance and a number plate in the central recess. The floor is mated to the rear bulkhead of the cab, fixing an interior skin to the back of the bulkhead during the process. The load area sides have already been fitted with mudguards, and have a pair of interior skins added with supports for the racks moulded-in. As the two sides are glued to the edges of the floor, a set of optional rack stops are glued across between them, on the rear frame of the side entrance door. A shelf is slotted into the middle rack of the three, and another is inserted through the side door dropping the roof in from above, and fixing the pre-prepared back door and its single-part counterpart at the rear in open or closed positions, doing the same for the side door, which has the same locking mechanism and handle added, and the two rearward-hinging crew doors to the cab. The little engine is superbly detailed with a lot of parts representing the diminutive 400cc two-stroke motor and its ancillaries, including radiator, fuel tank, exhaust with silencer and chain-drive cover that leads to the front axle. The completed assembly comprises the motor, axle and the fork that attaches to the front of the cab and is wired in using three more lengths of 0.3mm wire from your own stocks, which the instructions advise you again makes you an experienced modeller. An easy way to earn that badge. After the rear axle and chassis tube have been fitted under the load bed and plugged into the rear of the cab, the slide-moulded cowling for the engine is fitted-out with a choice of two fine PE radiator meshes with layered Tempo badge, an internal deflector panel, PE numberplate, a pair of PE clasps on the lower rear edge of the bonnet, and a tiny hook on the top in between two rows of louvres. The cowling can be fixed in the closed position or depicted open to show off the engine, when the little hook latches onto the clip on the roof’s drip-rail, holding it up past vertical against the windscreen, as per the scrap diagram over the page. A pair of headlamps with clear lenses are fitted below the windscreen and a solitary wing mirror on an angled arm is glued to a hole in the front of the bulkhead below the windscreen frame, with a PE bracket giving the appearance that the etched rivets are what holds it in place. The last job for the model itself is to fit the PE frame around the strengthened portion of the roof, bending the legs outward and locating them in small depressions around the edges. This is a bakery wagon, and parts are included to create six trays with a fine wooden planking engraved in the parts, and each one can accommodate a quantity of bakery products from two sprues that you may have seen earlier if you have some of their other diorama products, or read our reviews. Markings There are five decal options from the sheet, all painted in solid colours, and decorated with the markings of the owner’s brand. From the box you can build one of the following: Germany, late 1930s Germany, early 1940s Germany, early 1940s Germany, late 1940s Germany, 1948-1956 The decals are screen printed 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 These little three-wheelers must have been prolific in post-war Europe, and we must now have at least half-a-dozen boxings of the different variants now. This is the most modern-looking bodyshell, and the detail is excellent as usual. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Scaffoldings (49005) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd If you’ve been watching the procession of the new 1:48 diorama kits from MiniArt, you’ll have noticed that they’ve been applying their magic shrink-ray to the diorama accessories that they have been releasing in 1:35 over the last few years. This scaffolding set is one of those boxes, and while the box didn’t shrink, the contents did, so if you want some scaffolding for a project you have in mind, read on. The kit arrives in an end-opening figure-sized box with five sprues in grey styrene within. Due to the modular nature of the scaffolding, there is only one sprue design, and there are three assemblies to be made up, two that are basically the same but have the N-shaped tubular frames reversed to add strength to the assembly, the other a top platform with U-loop making up a perimeter. The parts are fixed to a bottom frame to create a ‘storey’ and have a ladder section attached to the bottom, and can be stacked as far up as the contents of the box allows, topping them off with a flat section of tread-plate, with inverted U-shaped brackets that give the user a modicum of safety. To facilitate movement of the unit there are four castors attached at the bottom, which have pedals to apply the brake once they are in position. These are moulded integrally as wheel, yoke and pedal, with ten in the box that can be used to complete two mobile bases with up to four additional layers of scaffold to make up, with a stack of three and two (including bases) shown on the box and in the build-up photos below, each with a standing area at the top, and some spare parts for the box. Conclusion A scaffold is a handy thing to have for any 1:48 diorama, whether it is tall or wide with planks or spare sections of tread-plate between them. They can be painted any colour you like, but a few examples are given in the instructions printed on the rear of the box, plus you can have some fun with wear and weathering effects. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AH-64D Saraf Heavy Attack Helicopter (QS-005) 1:35 MENG via Creative Models Ltd The AH-64 emerged as the successful entrant to the Advanced Attack Helicopter programme in the mid-1970s, as the potential replacement for the ageing AH-1 Cobra. It first flew in 1975, and went into production in the early 80s, entering US Army service in early 1986, ironing out the many issues that plagued the early airframes, whilst it also demonstrated its phenomenal potential as an attack platform. One such issue was the rotor blades, which were lasting less than 10% of their expected lifespan, and were a difficult fix, taking several iterations before the problems were fully resolved, and the expected lifespan achieved. The resolution of a laundry list of issues and the advance of technology led to an updated variant, which was cancelled in favour of a further improved airframe that became the AH-64C, differing from the -D only by the lack of Longbow radar that would be a major improvement to the type’s capabilities, allowing it to ‘see’ its enemies over terrain without exposing itself to enemy fire to any great extent. During this period, Augusta Westland became involved in the project, and the Westland AH-64D with more powerful engines and folding rotor blades was a by-product, giving the British Army a powerful weapon that is highly regarded worldwide, the airframes built from kits that were upgraded with after market parts to the buyer’s specification. Sound familiar? Overseas exports have been robust due to the Apache’s reputation, having performed admirably during the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, where the British Army airframes were known as ‘the Mosquito’ by the Taliban, as the way it was used by the British as a weapons platform that hovered high above the combat zone almost out of hearing range, meant that its 30mm explosive tipped rounds or Hellfire missiles appeared to come out of the blue. Israel ordered forty-eight AH-64Ds early on, and these are known as Saraf in their service, a fire-spitting serpent of some description. They have been well-used since they entered service, and in-service upgrades have been made to incorporate the indigenous Spike Long-Range (LR) Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM), which can be launched in Fire and Forget, or Lock-on After Launch modes as the need arises, with a longer range than the excellent Hellfire that further enhances the type’s capability, guided by a fibre-optic cable that it pays out. They can also now carry 70mm laser-guided missiles, making them smaller, more cost-effective, and with less collateral damage potential due to its small size and warhead. The Apache/Saraf continues in Israeli service and development worldwide, with its service is unlikely to end very soon. The Kit This is a reboxing with new parts of the 2023 tooling from MENG, and is available in either standard boxing, or as a special edition with resin figures to crew the model once you have completed it. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box in MENG’s usual satin-finish, and inside the box is extremely full, the Special Edition having a blue card band around one end of the box. There are sixteen sprues, two fuselage halves and several loose parts in grey styrene, two sprues of clear parts, a Photo-Etch (PE) fret in thick-gauge brass, a small tree of black poly-caps, a decal sheet with a tiny extra sheet that you could quite easily miss/lose, a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masks that have been pre-weeded on a clear acetate background, the thick instruction booklet in landscape sub-A4 and printed in spot colour, an A2-sized painting and decaling guide that is folded in four, three pages of thick card detailing the Apache in Israeli service in four languages, only one of which I understand. The first thing that hits you on opening bags is that the aircraft is large at this scale, over 41cm as it exits the box without its FLIR turret equipped nose cone. Construction begins with the twin cockpit, adding side consoles, flight controls and additional details to both crew positions, building up the armoured seats with frames, headrests and lumbar support, then adding bulkheads and instrument panels after applying decals as per the scrap diagram nearby. Their mission-specific equipment differentiates the two positions, adding more decals, coamings, and sidewalls above the consoles that turn the cockpit into a tub. The base plate for the rotor is a slender rectangular platform with a short turret moulded into the forward end, onto which a cylinder and cruciform assembly are fitted, adding four triangular supports to the sides, and a blade-adjustment mechanism on top of another cruciform plate. The rotor shaft is built from two halves, and has a collet fitted around the top that has a pair of dog-bone actuators and a zig-zag adjuster threaded through the rear and attached at each end. The fuselage halves are prepared next, remembering to remove the foam packaging support from one side, along with the flexible adhesive layer that holds it in position. It shouldn’t leave a residue, but a wipe with some isopropyl alcohol (IPA) won’t do any harm. Several holes are drilled out from within, fixing a two-part cylindrical assembly in the port tail root, plus a large rounded detail insert on both flanks of the fuselage, and another small two-part duct insert in the engine bulge on the starboard side. The fuselage can now be closed around the cockpit and the rotor head assembly, creating a four-part bulbous insert to the top of the fin, filling the cut-out in the forward edge. Turning the fuselage over, an insert is glued into the belly, and the two winglets are made from eight parts each and plugged into slots in the sides of the fuselage. The two sponsons on the fuselage sides that house much of the avionics and fuel are each supplied as separate parts, and have avionics inserts near the front that can be left open, or covered by a hatch, adding extra parts in and above the bays, plus a rectangular cover with rounded corners at the rear of the sponsons. The port sponson has a landing-gear piston inserted inside near the front, and a link hose at the rear, then additional details are glued to the mid-fuselage, a transmission tunnel to the top of the boom, and a ‘power bulge’ at the root of the boom. This kit includes both engines, and they are each made from a plethora of parts, all of which have colour call-outs, which carries on throughout the build, creating the triple exhausts and their heat dispersal boxes that mount on the rear of the large circular manifold, mating them on the lower cowling, fixing ancillary assemblies and cowling panels around them, some of which have sensors and lenses installed. The intake lip is a shallow torus, with a diffuser made from three parts and mounted in the centre. The opposite engine is made in mirror image, and when complete, they are mounted on each side of the fuselage on five tabs to create a strong join, making the choice to close the top cowlings or posing them open. Each option uses the same three parts to create the L-profiles cover as a base, and the open option adds a stay to hold the panel open at the correct angle. The canopy is a large assembly, and is crystal clear, with pre-cut masks provided to help you keep it that way, with masks provided for inside and out for added realism. The blast shield between the two crew members is also provided with a mask, and the rectangular hole in the centres are intended to be there, and are painted the same black as the surround. The main canopy part has several detail parts and hoses fitted around the interior, plus a glare-shield with a ‘No Grab’ decal applied. This fixed portion is glued in place, adding frames and personal weapons to the open side, then detailing the two doors with handles and masking on both sides, deciding whether to pose them open or closed, the open position adding support struts to the centre framework, and a PE strip down the rear. Detailed painting guides are shown in scrap diagrams nearby, as are the positions of the final glare-shield and its decal. Attention then turns to the area around the rotor head, placing an insert over the rotor, and adding sensors, which includes a faceted laser-deflection turret, and a small fairing that is partly under the main insert, and drilling out two 1mm holes in the circular base for the afore mentioned turret. The nose of the Apache carries a host of equipment that is referred to in the instructions as ‘Nose Mounted Electro-Optical Equipment’. The twin turrets have a pair of poly-caps at their hearts, and have faceted lenses on one side, mounting on a centre-section on which they rotate, which in turn rotates under a platform with its own poly-cap trapped inside, and that in turn slots into the nose fairing, with yet another turret pivoting on the top poly-cap, again with lenses that are clear parts. The various turrets should be push-fitted in position, with no glue needed, even if you’re unlikely to ‘play’ with then later. The fuselage is prepared by adding several panels around the nose joint, with a choice of cheek sensors on both sides, and windscreen wipers with twin arms on both front screen panels. The nose assembly can then be glued in place on a T-shaped tab and corresponding hole in the fuselage, with scrap diagrams assisting with sensor placement. The Saraf shares its gear with every other Apache, and these are single struts raked sharply to the rear, mating with the struts inserted inside the sponsons earlier in the build. The wheels are in two parts each, and have a subtle weighting at the bottom, plus two masks per tyre, one per hub. Wire fenders are made from two parts and glued to the legs on moulded-in flat-spots. The M230 Bushmaster Chain Gun is one of the Apache/Saraf’s primary weapons, and it is the one that strikes the most terror into its enemies. The breech and barrel are moulded in three parts, sitting in a frame that is then surrounded by a two-part protective cage underneath, with an actuator and the ammo feed fitted into the top. The ammo feed has been separated into three sections that are glued side-by-side to obtain the correct shape and level of detail, trapping it between the support trunnions with a circular top where it rotates in the insert, held in position with a washer, being careful with the glue, then adding two cable bundles, before inserting it under the fuselage and adding small parts in front. The tail wheel is comparatively complex compared to the main gear, fitting the two-part wheels (with masks) into a yoke, then trapping that between a five-part mount that slides into the rear of the tail after inserting the curved rear bulkhead. The elevator is made from upper and lower halves, adding a pair of strakes to the trailing edge, then inserting it into the rear of the fin on two tabs, plus an actuator that retreats inside the boom. The strakes are folded from PE parts, and one should be facing up while the other is angled downwards, as per the scrap diagrams nearby. There is a choice of open or closed hatches on the bays in the fuselage sides, and a host of sensors, aerials and antennae are scattered around the boom and aft fuselage, plus more on the fin, and two PE strakes on the sloped area behind the rotor, either side of the exhausts. Grab handles and foot holds are added to the forward fuselage, duplicating the sensor fit on both sides of the fuselage for the most part, and installing a large fairing under the root of the boom. Apart from the rotors, the model is mostly complete, and the weapons are next to be made. Four pylons are made up in pairs, separating the inboard and outboard assemblies, although they look very similar, and are each made from three parts. The Spike-LR missiles are each loaded in a protective box that is made from four parts plus a clear lens at the business end, making up eight of these, and two six-part rectangular palettes that hold two missiles per side, and have a three-part shackle on the upper surface. You can load these or use eight AGM-114 Hellfires instead, each one made from four parts plus either a solid nose, or a nose with a clear lens at your whim. Their launcher is made from seven parts, and like the Spikes, four are mounted in pairs on each side of the two launchers, and each one has a three-part shackle on the top of the launcher. The pylons are suspended under the winglets, adding an end-cap to each one, then you can install two-part fuel tanks with three-part shackles on the inner pylons, and a choice of the Spike or Hellfire carriers on the outboard pylons. In addition, the starboard winglet has a five-part sensor turret hanging from the tip, locating it with the aid of a scrap diagram nearby. The technical name for the Longbow radar is AN/APG-78, and it is a large flattened dome that sits above the rotor head. The complex base and adaptor is made from eleven parts, and it is joined to the underside of the radome, which is made from three parts, imitating the diagonal panel line on the real radar. It is set aside for a while during the building of the four-bladed rotor, starting by gluing the blades into the cruciform centre, then locking them in place with two parts under each blade root, and fitting an actuator ring underneath that is linked to each rotor by small parts to complete the assembly, save for four actuator struts that are added when the rotor is installed on the shaft without glue. The Longbow radome slides over the top of the shaft, with the alternative consisting of two parts that caps off the rotor head if the radome is not being carried. The tail rotor consists of two pairs of blades that are fixed to the head at a shallow angle to each other, fixing a crown on the inner face with actuator rods, and finishing it off with a four-part shaft that then plugs into the bulge near the top of the fin. The last few parts are antennae fixed to the engine pods, and a long aerial on the tip of the fin. Figures The two crew figures that are included in the Special Edition that we’re reviewing are cast in resin, and the detail is stunning. They are moulded with integrated legs and torso, with separate heads and arms to complete them. They each have specialist helmets that are individual to the Apache/Saraf, partly due to the split optics that the crew must master, focusing one eye external to their helmets, the other on a view-screen close to their other eye. They say it gives the crew headaches after a few hours, and I believe them. The standard boxing doesn’t include the figures, but the difference in cost between the two boxings makes the figures excellent value. Markings There are two decal options included on the sheet, and both machines wear the same tritonal camouflage. From the box you can build one Saraf that looks like this: The profiles were large and absolutely covered with decal arrows as you can see, all of which will add tons of visual interest, but made them hard to reproduce here, so we have only provided one, as they are almost identical. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion We somehow missed out on the initial Apache boxing of this impressive model, so this is the first time we’ve seen the sprues. The detail is superb, and the inclusion of the crew figures for the Special Edition is worth the extra unless you’re figure-phobic like I used to be. It’s a massive model, and the finished article will be well worth the effort you put into building and painting it. Very highly recommended. Special Edition with Figures Standard Boxing (minus Figures) Review sample courtesy of

US Tank Chassis Repair Crew (35481) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Following on from their newly tooled M3 Stuart tank, MiniArt released a new figure set that included a pair of mechanics working on the tank’s engine, and in case you didn’t get the Interior Kit, it also includes an engine. Now we have another pair of mechanics working on the tracks of a tank, and they would look equally at home working on any Allied tank from WWII if you feel the urge. The set arrives in an end-opening figure-sized box, with a painting of the men at work on the front, and the same painting broken down to act as painting and part location instructions, accessories underneath, and a paint chart beneath those. The chart gives codes for Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, plus colour swatches and generic names for completeness. Inside are five sprues in grey styrene, locked inside a heat-sealed clear foil bag for protection. The parts for each figure are found in separate 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. The remaining three sprues contain copious accessories in the shape of three-part tanker helmets plus goggles, grease guns with separate stocks, pistols in and out of their holsters, binoculars, a camera, ammo pouches and bags. Conclusion Adding figures to a model gives it extra realism and human scale, and when they’re as well-sculpted and realistic as these, they’re a boon to any modeller. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Oil Products Delivery Car (38069) Liefer Pritschenwagen Typ 170V 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Mercedes 170 was based upon their W15 chassis, which was their first with all-round independent suspension, and was available as a bare chassis for coach-builders, as a saloon, cabriolet or as a light van, debuting in the early 30s with sales affected by the worldwide depression that started in Wall Street in 1930. Sales picked up after the recession eased, and later versions had internal boot space and sleeker lines, moving with the times. As well as sharing a chassis with the saloon, the van was essentially identical in the forward section and inside the crew cab. The bodywork from the doors backward were designed with the same ethos but differed due to the practical but boxy load area behind the drivers. These vehicles were often used for years after their original purchase passing through the ownership of several operators for dwindling sums of money, especially after the war years where funds were sometimes short following the devastation in Europe. The Kit This is a reboxing of a partial re-tool of the original 2012 saloon and subsequent Beer, Furniture, Cheese Delivery and other vehicles that we have reviewed earlier, with the same base sprues, another sprue added to create the tilt for this covered flatbed variant, and three sprues to create the load for this wagon. The original kit is highly detailed, and this one is no different, showing just how far MiniArt have come in their design and moulding technology. There is superb detail throughout, with delicate framing, realistic-looking fabric door pockets as well as a full engine and interior to the cab. Inside the box are fifteen sprues of grey styrene, some of which are still linked on our sample, one sprue in clear, a decal sheet and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass for finer details, protected in a card envelope. Construction begins with the 1700cc engine and transmission, which is made up from a substantial number of parts that just need a little wiring to do it full justice, and in fact the various hoses are shown in 1:1 and 3:1 diagrams to ensure that you obtain the correct bends, but you’ll need to find your own 0.2mm wire to use. The curved X-shaped chassis is prepped with a few mounts and PE brackets, then the rear axle, differential and driveshafts are fitted on a pair of very realistic styrene springs that have hollow centres and individual coils thanks to some clever sliding moulds. Drum brakes, straps and brackets finish off the rear axle assembly, then the completed engine and drive-shaft are installed in the front to be joined by a pair of full-width leaf-springs from above and below with a stub-axle and drum brake at each end. The exhaust is made up with an impressively neatly designed four-part muffler, a pair of PE mounts, straight exit pipe and an angled length leading forward to the engine. With the addition of the bumper-irons and number plate at the front, plus the supports for the front fenders, the lower body can be fixed to the chassis and PE mudflaps fixed under the rear of the front arches. The front firewall is next to be made up, and the pedal box is installed one side, with a set of tools and another neatly designed cylinder, this time the fuel tank, which is curiously situated in the rear of the engine bay. This fits over the transmission tunnel that is moulded into the floor, with more driver controls such as the gear lever, hand brake and steering column with PE horn-ring added at the same time. The dashboard is inserted below the windscreen frame after being fitted with decals within the instrument housings, then covered over with clear dial faces for realism, and three heater blowers attached to the roll-top. There is also a nicely clear curved windscreen with PE rear-view mirror and windscreen wiper motor housing fitted before it is inserted into the firewall, joined by a rear cab panel that has a small window and the back of the bench seat applied before fitting, plus two strips with upper hinges for the doors inserted into the edges of the rear frame, plus indicator ears on the B-pillar. The base of the bench seat is also fitted on a riser moulded into the floor along with a couple of half-height body panels that links the cab to the rear fenders. Vehicles need wheels, and this one runs on four. Each wheel is made from a lamination of two central sections to create the tread around the circumference, and two outer faces that depict the sidewalls and shoulder tread of the tyres, with maker’s mark and data panel moulded into them. The hubs are inserted into the centres of the tyres, with a cap finishing off the assemblies in handed pairs. The flat floor for the load area is a single piece to which headboard and tailgate that hinges on PE brackets are fitted, followed by shallow sides with moulded-in rails, and PE brackets for the number plate and rear light clusters added beneath the tailgate made from PE and styrene elements. The tailgate retention lugs are PE, with styrene latches that extend into the corners of the tailgate to strengthen the joint. At this stage the front of the van needs finishing, a job that begins with the radiator that has a PE grille and three-pointed star added to a styrene surround, then the radiator core and slam-panel with filler cap at the rear. This is put in place at the front of the body at an angle, locating on a feeder tube to the radiator, with two cross-braces reducing body flex along with a central rod that forms the hinge-point for the side folding hood. A pair of combination PE and styrene wipers are added to the windscreen sweeping from the top, adding reflectors on the rear arches. The front doors are handed of course, and have separate door cards with handle and window winders added, and a piece of clear styrene playing the part of the window, which is first fitted to the door card with or without window before it is added to the door skin. Both doors can be posed open or closed as you wish, and are of the rearward opening "suicide door" type, and these are joined on the vehicle by the rear cab hinges. To complete the bonnet, small PE fittings are fixed first on the louvred side panels in open or closed options, then they are glued to the top parts in either the open or closed position, inserting the open clasps to the front of the compartment for the open variant. A pair of clear-lensed headlamps, a choice of two styles of wing mirrors on the A pillar or the wing finish off the build of the van, leaving just the canvas tilt to be made after the load bed is mated with the chassis. The tilt is on the newer sprue, and can be built with the canvas at the rear rolled up and tied open or closed. To close it, a single part covers the open rear end, adding PE clips along the lower sides to tie it to the load sides for both open or closed options. To portray the canvas rear tied open, a curved header part is glued into the open end, then is partially covered by the rolled canvas in styrene, which has two PE straps added to the synch-points that are moulded-in. Three PE L-shaped straps are applied to both sides of the opening to stop it flapping in the wind, and different PE parts with the buckles visible are used for the closed option, while the parts for the open cover have no buckles and should just hang loose. The buckles on the real tilt will be rolled up inside the canvas, so won’t be seen. The last task is to mate the tilt to the raised sides of the load area. There are two oil drums included on the latest sprues, making the bodies from two halves, and wrapping ribs around the circumference in two grooves after removing a small amount of styrene from the inside of the bands. The end caps are inserted to complete the drums, and there is a manual pump and delivery gun on the sprue that you can use if you wish. Markings These were commercial vehicles during peacetime, so they were designed to attract attention with more colourful liveries, which extends to the oil drums that are included in the box. There are four options depicted in the instructions, and from the box you can build one of the following: Hamburg, Early 1950s Nordrhein-Westfalen, Early 1950s Belgium, 1950s Denmark, 1950s 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 This is another well-detailed kit of an old Merc commercial van, and even if you’re not usually a vehicle modeller it would make a great background subject for a diorama, especially if the other delivery versions doesn’t suit your needs, possibly with post-war Allied or Soviet armour making its way through town. Highly recommended. At time of writing, this kit is currently on offer at a reduced price from importers, Creative Models Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

Chandler’s Family Refugees (38089) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII there were millions of displaced populations created by the advances of the Nazis across Europe, escaping from combat or persecution, resulting in huge streams of humanity making their way to a perceived safer part of their own or a neighbouring country. People took only what they could carry, unless they were lucky enough to possess a motor car or some kind of transport such as a cart, whether hand-pulled or horse-drawn. People would take their truly important belongings, loading up with their most valuable goods, whether monetarily or otherwise, often comprising items that might be of use in their profession or as currency to trade when they arrived at their destination. The Kit This set supplies two figures, plus the possessions that they are carrying, and a trolley with more of their personal effects onboard. The set arrives in an end-opening figure-sized box, and inside are six sprues in grey styrene, plus a sheet of instructions, and a small decal sheet containing labels for various items. The parts for each figure are found on separate 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. Both figures are wearing overcoats, the lady wearing a full-length fur coat that goes down to her knees, her legs formed by separate parts that plug into the underside of her coat. The gentleman’s jacket is full length, and the tails are moulded as part of the rear panels in two sections, hanging down past where the legs join at the waist for realism. He is wearing a soft cap with a minimal peak, while the lady has a headscarf covering her hair and a gramophone in her hands, both of them tramping toward hopeful safety, the gentleman pushing the cart with the rest of their remaining possessions in front of him. The accessories are contained on four sprues, and include parts for the one-wheeled barrow cart on one sprue, a sprue of sacks with contents pressing against the material from within, a sprue of suitcases and a hat box, and the final sprue providing parts for a five-bulb standard lamp, a gramophone with horn, some of which aren’t documented in the instructions, but are simple to put together. Markings Whilst there aren’t any specific colours you must paint the figures and their possessions to make them accurate, there are some helpful suggestions included on the guide on the rear of the box, with a chart that shows colour swatches for Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK Real Color, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya and colour names to assist you, using a letter code in blue boxes to correspond to the suggested colours. There is a small sheet of decals in the box, which gives you badges, stickers and logos for their belongings. 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 The figures are expertly sculpted, and they have a care-worn look to them that would be typical of anyone that has been displaced by war, their profession is semi-implied by their luggage, and their downtrodden demeanour that contrasts with the luxury possessions worn and carried by the lady gives a clue to their past. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Wooden Pallet Set (49016) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd There can’t be many people in the modern world that haven’t either come across, stumbled over, or had to move a pallet at some point in their lives, and while they are a very useful method of transporting goods in standardised quantities, once their load has been shed, they can be a nuisance. They’re supposed to be recycled back into use to carry on their load-bearing role, but a lot get left behind only to be ripped apart and burned, reused as rough timber, or even recycled into furniture by enterprising souls, and there are more than zero books on making things from left-over pallets - I found two in a search lasting a few seconds. What this means is that they’re not far away from ubiquitous, and seldom can you travel far in industrial or shabby areas without seeing at least one, so they’re a useful diorama tool. The Set This set arrives in a figure-sized box with a painting on the front and brief instructions on the rear, and contains five sprues of pallets, with four pallets per sprue, totalling twenty pallets in-all, which will make quite a stack. Construction is simple, but clever. The top surface is moulded as a single part, while the lower section is moulded as three parts joined together with three spacer bars that are cut off after the two sections are joined together. Each rod narrows at the end so that clean-up will be minimal, although you must be careful with them as the joins are necessarily weak, and won’t stand up to bending. Place the top upside-down on your cutting mat, lower the linked lower rails over the little guide markings on the upper part, applying glue carefully to avoid disturbing them. Clean-up of the sprue gates and spacers can be left off until after the glue has set, making life easy for yourself. These smaller scaled parts don’t have wood grain moulded into the parts , but with the drop in scale that shouldn’t matter too much, and anyone with a shabby brush and some oil paint can always add wood texture themselves after an initial coat of light brown. For the pallet nerds amongst us here, the pallets scale out to 800mm x 1200mm, which is the equivalent to EUR1 in the Euro Pallet table, and ISO1 in the ISO pallet table. Isn’t that nice? What it shows some serious attention to detail that must have been acquired with the aid of copious cups of coffee to avoid nodding off! Whether the nail holes are moulded in the correct manner, and if there are 75 of them is for you to research, as I’ve had enough and need a break! Conclusion Twenty pallets for your post WWII diorama. Not very exciting in themselves, but necessary if you’re depicting any kind of storage, shipping or factory type scene. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Omnibus Crew & Passengers (38092) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd We’re all familiar with the word bus, a shortened version of the original Omnibus, which in typical human fashion was shortened because that fraction of a second would be far better used doing something else. Originally intended as transport for the masses before the motor car became prevalent, the bus was highly popular until after WWII, when cars became more convenient and relatively affordable, winding down to a mode of transport that was frowned upon as being inconvenient, sometimes dirty, and dangerous, as well as no-longer the cheap option that it once was. If we go back to the 1920s and 30s however, it was a hugely popular method of transport that was used by people as an alternative to the expense of a taxi-cab, and was a lot faster than walking. As such, ladies and gentlemen of working and lower middle class would use it to travel around their town or city, while the vehicles were crewed by a driver, and a conductor or conductress, allowing the driver to concentrate on driving, letting the conductor look after the passengers, collect fares and issue tickets with relevant change. During wartime, the conductor job was sometimes taken over by a woman to free up men for military service, as was common in many home-front industries. The Set We reviewed The London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) Omnibus X a few years ago, one boxing of which can be found here. This set of figures is intended as the human component of the model, and contains six figures, four passengers and two crew. It arrives in a figure-sized box, and inside are six sprues in grey styrene. A composite painting of the figures is printed on the front of the box, with the same figures separated with part numbers and paint codes with arrows acting as the instructions and painting guide in one set of drawings. Underneath is a chart containing colour swatches, plus paint codes for Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK Real Color, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya and colour names for those that don’t have access or don’t use those brands. The crew comprise a male driver in a seated position with his hands on the wheel, and feet on the pedals, wearing a long uniform coat and peaked hat, the standing conductress wearing a similar coat with a softer, wide-brimmed hat, plus her ticket machine and change pouches at her waist and lower chest. The seated passengers include a gentleman with a bowler hat and walking stick, two ladies with wide-brimmed hats in early 20th century dresses, and a police officer with the traditional domed helmet and uniform appropriate to the era. The parts for each figure are found on separate 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. The ladies have a parasol and open book, and one of their hats has a ring of flowers around the band that is made from two sections, with a purse on her knee under one hand. All the figures have flat tops to their heads to accommodate the hats appropriate to their roles in the set, the ladies and police officer having a smaller dome that is used to locate their hats correctly during construction. Conclusion Another realistic, life-like figure set from MiniArt that will be perfect for inclusion in your LGOC bus kit, either separately or in a diorama setting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-47D-30RA Thunderbolt Advanced Kit (48029) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Thunderbolt developed from a series of less-than-successful earlier designs that saw Seversky aviation change to Republic, and the project designation from P-35, to P-43 and P-44, each with its own aggressive sounding name. After a realisation that their work so far wasn't going to cut it in the skies over war-torn Europe, they went back to the drawing board and produced the P-47A that was larger, heavier and sported the new Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18-cylinder radial that would also power the B-26 Marauder, P-61 Black Widow and F4U Corsair. With it they added eight .50cal Browning machine guns aligned along the axis of flight in the wing leading edge. The P-47A was still a small aircraft, and was initially ordered without military equipment to allow faster completion, but it was considered inferior to the competition then available, so an extensive re-design was ordered that resulted in the much larger P-47B, firing up to 100 rounds per second from the eight .50cal wing guns, and with a maximum speed of over 400mph, leaving just the fuel load slightly short of requirements. It first flew mid-1941, and despite being a heavy-weight, its performance was still excellent, and the crash of the prototype didn’t affect the order for over 700 airframes, which were fitted with a more powerful version of the R-2800 and a sliding canopy that made ingress and egress more streamlined, particularly when bailing out of a doomed aircraft. Minor re-designs to early production airframes resulted in a change to the P-47C, which meant that fewer than 200 Bs were made, the C benefitting from improved radio, oxygen systems, and a metal rudder to prevent flutter that had been affecting control at certain points in the performance envelope. A quick way to spot a B is the forward raked aerial mast behind the cockpit, as this was changed to vertical on the C and beyond. The production from a new factory that had been opened to keep up with demand led to the use of the D suffix, although they were initially identical to the C, but the cowling flaps were amended later, making it easier to differentiate. Of course, the later bubble-canopy P-47s were far easier to tell apart from earlier marks, and constant improvement in reliability, performance and fuel load was added along the way. The P-47D-25 carried more fuel for extended range, including piping for jettisonable tanks on the bomb racks for even more fuel. Taking a cue from the British designers, the bubble-top was developed and that improved all-round visibility markedly, although like the bubble-top Spitfires, later models incorporated a fin extension to counter the yaw issues that resulted. TheP-47D-30RA was fitted with air-brakes and built at the Evansville plant, technically identical to the 30RE that was built at Farmingdale. Its weight, firepower and seemingly unstoppable character led to the nickname ‘Juggernaut’, which was inevitably shortened to ‘Jug’ and led to many, many off-colour jokes during and after the war. Jokes that are still soldiering on to this day, despite being eligible for a pensioner’s bus pass. The Jug was used extensively in the European theatre as an escort fighter, where it performed well in its ideal high-altitude environment. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe was a spent force, it also went on to become a highly successful ground attack fighter, strafing and bombing targets of opportunity, and eschewing camouflaged paintwork to add some extra speed with a smooth (and shiny) bare metal finish. As well as flying with the US forces, many P-47s were flown by the other Allies, including the British, Russians, and after the war many other countries as the remainder were sold off as war surplus. The Kit This is another reboxing of a brand-new tooling from MiniArt, and is labelled an Advanced Kit because it includes an additional sprue of plastic parts, and a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass to increase the level of detail of the kit, including the gun bays, fins for the bombs, and the ability to open the engine cowlings to display the excellent detail that is mostly hidden away on the Basic Kit. The kit arrives in one of MiniArt’s sturdy top-opening boxes with a dramatic painting of the subject on the front, and profiles of the decal options on one side, reserving the other side for practical details and text. Inside the box are nineteen sprues in grey styrene, although in our sample many of the sprues were handily still connected by their runners, which simplified photography. There is also a clear sprue, a sheet of PE in a cardboard envelope, two sheets of decals, and the instruction booklet, which is printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles for the decal options on the front and rear pages, plus detailed painting and decaling information for the weapons and tanks on the next page. Detail is beyond excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt in the last several years, with fine engraved panel lines, recessed rivets, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate, as well as fine detail in the cockpit, wheel bays, plus gun bays in the wings and engine. If you’ve seen their AFV kits you’ll know what to expect, but this is special in this reviewer’s humble opinion. Advanced Sprue & PE Construction begins with the highly detailed cockpit, starting with a choice of seat style. One option has the seat put together from base, back and two side parts, which have elements of the seatbelts moulded-in, and are finished off by putting the remainder of the lap belts on the seat pan. The other option uses new parts to build the seat without belts, adding the belts from the PE sheet separately. A pair of supports are inserted into recesses in the back of the seat, then it is installed on the ribbed floor, which has control column, seat-adjuster, and two other levers inserted, after which the rear bulkhead, one of the cockpit sidewalls and the front bulkhead are fitted, trapping the rudder bar with moulded-in pedals between them. The starboard sidewall has an oxygen hose added, and a scrap diagram shows the detail painting as well as the location of the decals that need to be applied. The head cushion is fixed to the head armour, then the other sidewall is detailed with four controls and a PE wiring loom, numerous decals and more detail painting, so that it can be inserted along with the instrument panel and auxiliary panel, both of which have decals for the dials, with a choice of styles for the main panel. The tail wheel is made up in preparation for closing the fuselage, building a four-part strut that holds the wheel on a one-sided yoke, then adding a small curved bulkhead with sprung bumper at the front, or a most simplifies three-part assembly. The fuselage halves are further prepared by adding two extra detail parts to the short sill panels that have ribbing moulded-in, and should be painted to match the cockpit. At the rear on the underside, the supercharger fairing is slotted into the starboard fuselage along with the tail gear bay, and at the front, a cooling vent and an insert are added to the underside, fitting another vent to the port fuselage half in the same place. The fuselage can then be closed around the cockpit, adding the aerial mast into a slot in the starboard spine, although whether that will remain there until the end of the building and painting is a moot point, and I’d be tempted to nip it off at the base, gluing the base in to act as a socket for the aerial after the heavy work is over. The engine is created by joining the two highly-detailed banks of pistons together by a keyed peg, adding exhaust collectors at the rear, the push-rod assembly to the front, the ends of which mate with a circular support that is the frame onto which the cowling panels are added later. The reduction-housing bell is detailed with magnetos and other parts, plus a collet at the centre where the prop-shaft would be. This is joined to the front of the engine as it is mounted to a bulkhead at the rear, again on a keyed ring. The convex firewall at the front of the fuselage is detailed with a ring of fasteners on a PE strip that curves around the edge, and the cylindrical intakes with PE mesh grilles. There is a fuselage insert in front of the cockpit, and that has the two-part gunsight with clear lens, PE backup sight and link-plate added to its mating point, adding more equipment and a PE lip to the coaming before it is inserted under the coaming and joined by your choice of complex or simple firewall that closes the front of the fuselage. The intake trunking at the bottom of the nose cowling is made from five parts and installed in the lower panel, and you have a choice of open or closed top cowling panels by using additional parts. To leave the cowling open, the engine is fitted to the detailed firewall along with the lower cowling and the three sections of cooling gills. the closed option is surrounded by all four cowling segments, and at the rear you have a choice of installing open or closed cooling gills, using different parts to achieve the look you want, sliding the assembly over the completed engine, to which you can add the wiring loom if you are feeling adventurous, using the helpful diagrams near the back of the booklet, which also includes diagrams for extra wiring in the gear bays. The rudder is completed by adding an insert at its widest point (the bottom) to avoid sink marks, and it is mated to the fin on three hinges, allowing deflection if you wish. Under the tail, your choice of bare or canvas-covered wheel assembly is inserted in the bay, with doors on each side, or if you are building your model in flight, a closed pair of doors is supplied as a single part, adding a small outlet further forward under the fuselage. Note that these closed bay doors can be used effectively as masks by gluing them in place with a relatively weak adhesive for later removal. The upper wing halves have well-defined ribbing detail for the gear bays moulded-in, which is augmented by fitting two rib sections, front and rear walls, and an additional structure that has a retraction jack pushed through a hole in one of the wall segments. The gun bays and their extensive ammunition stores are supplied in this boxing, using different upper wing panels with the bays opened. The gun bays themselves are built from a mixture of styrene and PE surfaces, making up a four-compartment box into which the gun breeches are inserted, linking them to the outer wall with ammo feed chutes, and placing the ammunition boxes with open tops into the upper wing from within. The closed bay option is shown with just the barrel stubs projecting from the leading edge, while both options install the wingtip lights and a pitot probe in the starboard wing. A scrap diagram of the lower wing shows the location of the flashed-over holes that you can drill out for rocket tubes or pylons, then the flaps are made from two sides, plus a pair of hinges, and these are glued into the trailing edge of the wing with the ailerons, then the lower wing can be glued to the upper, along with two inserts at the tip and to the rear of the gear bay, which includes a flush landing light. Three PE bay edge strips are inserted over the open gun bays, adding a PE indicator and PE bay prop to hold the styrene panels at the correct angle, the gun bay hinging forward, the ammo bay hinging aft. The same process is then carried out in mirror-image for the other wing, omitting the pitot probe and landing light, after which the wheels and their struts are made up, each wheel made from two halves plus a choice of three hub types, and two styles of tyres are also provided, one without a flat-spot, the other under load on the ground, leaving it to your taste. The struts are detailed with separate compressed or relaxed oleo scissor-links plus stencil decals, and they are mated with their wheels, plus the captive gear bay doors, the lower door made from two layers, again to avoid sink-marks. The wings are glued to the fuselage with an offset joint making for a stronger bond, and the elevator panels are each slotted into the tail, and have separate flying surfaces that can be posed deflected, each one a single part. If you are building your model with the gear down, the inner gear bay doors are fitted to the fuselage, which contains the inner edge of the main gear bays, so remember to paint that while you are doing the bays. If you plan on making an in-flight model, there are two single parts that depict the closed main bays, or you can insert the two struts with their wheels for the grounded aircraft. The four centreline supports are fitted between the main bays for some decal options, then the model can be flipped over to stand on its own wheels so that the canopy can be installed, gluing the windscreen at the front, and deciding whether to pose the blown canopy open or closed. The prop is also fitted, and this is made up from two parts glued perpendicular to each other, each holding two blades in opposition, and the spinner with PE washer is glued into the front section. The Jug could carry quite a load, whether it was extra fuel or bombs, and all these are included in the box, starting with the two-part pylons, which can be depicted as empty by inserting a cover over the business end. You have a choice of four styles of tank, a 108gal compressed paper tank with a ribbed nose and tail, a 200gal wide and flat tank, the third 150gal streamlined tank with flat mating surface, and the last one slightly smaller at 75gal. All but the third option has a pair of sway-braces between them and the pylon, which fit into slots in the pylons. They are built in pairs to fit under the wings, but the first two options can also be used solo on the centreline support. The bombs use the same pylons, and can be built in 1,000lb, 500lb or 250lb variants, each one made from two halves for the body and two parts for the square tails or thinner PE fins if you prefer, and mated to the pylon by a pair of sway-braces that varies depending on size. There is also a smoke generator that looks like a drop-tank with a spout on the rear, which would be used to lay smoke for the Allied troops below to cover their actions, at least temporarily. Markings There are three decal options in this boxing, all with very little camouflage and some very colourful nose art to draw the attention. From the box you can build one of the following: 366th Fighter Sqn., 358th Fighter Group, ‘Orange Tails’, 9th Air Force, Spring 1945. Pilot: Lt. Ike Davis 509th Fighter Sqn., 405th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, Germany, May 1945. Pilot: Capt. Milton William Thompson 379th Fighter Sqn., 362nd Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, Germany, Spring 1945. Pilot: Col. Joseph L Laughlin 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 aren’t the only choice in this scale for a Thunderbolt, but I have a feeling that this rapidly becoming the de facto standard, as their selection of variants and detail level widens. The detail is exceptional and even better than the alleged ‘Basic Kit’ that preceded it. VERY highly recommended. At time of writing, this kit is at a healthy discount from UK importers, Creative Models Ltd. Click the button below to pay them a visit. Review sample courtesy of

Cheese Products (35656) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Cheese. It’s based on stale milk, with some extra steps of course as otherwise we’d all be making it! There are so many varieties of cheese on the market these days that your head would spin if you were asked to count them all. During the early 20th century in Europe there were a number of prominent cheese varieties, many of which were produced in discs that are referred to as wheels, cutting a wedge out as you need it, or as it is sold to a customer from a cheese purveyor. The Set The sprues from this set of diorama accessories have been seen before in the figure set from MiniArt by the name of “Cheese Sellers”, which we reviewed here at the end of last year. Now, if you need more cheese (and who doesn’t?), or don’t particularly want or need the figures, you’ve got your wish. The large cheeses are found on two sprues, plus another three with smaller cheeses and some meat, some of the cheeses of the holey variety. There are also three sprues of trays, each containing parts for three of them, the planked bases having the longer sides moulded-in, adding separate ends with handles cut-out of the centre. Markings You are at liberty to paint the trays any colour you like, but the cheeses are usually somewhere between yellow and orange, with a few exceptions such as Edam with its waxy red covering, and Brie that is covered in a white waxy ‘crust’. The decal sheet that is included with the set is printed with a host of labels for your painted cheeses, three of them larger, the rest in medium and small sizes, which should be enough to finish the cheeses included in the box, especially if you apply decals just to the top cheese of any stacks you make. 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 1:35 cheeses. They could be described as a niche product, but if you want or need some, these are perfect for your requirements, and I’ve managed to complete the review without any cheese-related puns. Can’t be bad, but it won’t last in the comments. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Refugees Teacher’s Family (38086) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII there were millions of displaced populations created by the advances of the Nazis across Europe, escaping from combat or persecution, resulting in huge streams of humanity making their way to a perceived safer part of their own or a neighbouring country. People took only what they could carry, unless they were lucky enough to possess a motor car or some kind of cart, whether hand-pulled or horse-drawn. People would take their truly important belongings, loading up with their most valuable goods, whether monetarily or otherwise, often comprising items that might be of use in their profession or as currency to trade when they arrived at their destination. The Kit This figure set supplies two figures, plus the possessions that they are carrying, and a trolley with more of their personal effects within. The set arrives in an end-opening figure-sized box, and inside are six sprues in grey styrene, plus a sheet of instructions that also has several pieces of art printed on it to use with the picture frames that are included on the sprues. The parts for each figure are found on separate 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. Both figures are wearing overcoats, the lady wearing a full-length mack that goes down to her knees, her legs formed by separate parts that plug into the underside of her coat. The gentleman’s jacket is shorter, and the tails are moulded hanging down past where the legs join at the waist for realism. He is wearing a Trilby or Homberg-like brimmed hat, while the lady has a headscarf covering her hair, both of them striding purposefully toward hopeful safety. The accessories are contained on four sprues, and include parts for the trolley cart on one sprue, a smaller sprue of picture frames for use as detailed above, a sprue of suitcases and other bags, and the final sprue providing parts for a table lamp, a wireless set, and a globe in a finely-carved rotating mount with four ornate legs with feet carved into the ends. You’ll have fun painting the globe, but it doesn’t have to be too detailed to look the part. The eight paintings supplied on the accompanying instruction sheet that is printed on glossy paper include some very famous paintings that are almost certainly intended as reproductions, given their provenance and likely cost even in the 1940s. You simply cut them from the backing paper and fix them in place on the narrow rim around the inside of the frame in much the same manner as a real picture frame. If you want to add glass to the frame, some thin acetate sheet would be much easier to cut to shape than trying to adjust the size and shape of a glass slide cover that is often used to depict broken glass in dioramas. Conclusion The figures are expertly sculpted, and they have a care-worn look to them that would be typical of anyone that has been displaced by war, their profession is semi-implied by their luggage, and their downtrodden demeanour gives a clue to their likely state of mind. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of