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The next HobbyBoss 1/48th Corsair variant is a F4U-5N (early) - ref. 80390 Release expected in late April 2015 Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=89&l=en V.P.

Hello all, It's been about a year since I last posted an RFI, as I have been chipping away at Hobby Boss' magnificent P-61 Black Widow, augmented by... * Avionix resin cockpit and gunner's station set, and radar operator's compartment * Eduard photo-etch interior and exterior * Radu Brinzan seat belts * Miracle Mask custom serials, and stars and bars So, having done all that, what was it like? The cockpit was a real trial, trying to combine the best elements of each of the resin, photoetch and OOB features, as they all have their strong and weak points. Strongest point for me turned out to be the opportunity to make errors... cock it up with resin and it's OK because you can fall back to photoetch. And if you haven't sanded away the plastic, you might yet be able to revert to OOB. Go on, ask me how how I came to this conclusion? It was hard work getting the fuselage to close up with the resin onboard, in the end I had to install a shim of plasticard and fair it in, but having the gun access and undercarriage doors open means you can't tell it is ever so slightly podgy. After humming and hawing awhile, I decided *not* to go for broke and weather it heavily. Instead, I just relied on the effect you get when brushing Klear over extremely matt Tamiya NATO black paint to give it a semi used look. I didmake liberal use of Citadel washes around the interior bays and the engine, though. So, on with the show. 3 overviews... A couple of views into the cockpit. The 'H' shaped radar aerials on each side had the original plastic mouldings replaced with straightened out rioja-bottle wire - it's the gift that just keeps on giving! Drilling holes through the two 0.5mm diameter horizontal arms gave my pin vice and me a slight work-out, I don't usually get that precise! The radar operator's position. Sadly, not much to see for quite a lot of mucking about with very fine tipped brushes and washes, but (all together now) "I know it's in there..." The eagle eyed might have spotted the nose cone isn't a great fit. That's because I thought I would have a go at making up some *entirely ficticious* wiring around the dish, courtesy of more rioja wire, then leave the nose detachable. Same bottle? Who can tell... It took *a lot* of grinding with the Dremel to thin down the interior of the nose cone to allow it to fit, and even now, if you look at it sideways it drops off without a moment's hesitation. I also dressed up the undercarriage with a bit of fuse wire. I originally started with the Eduard PE, but didn't like the two-dimensional effect it gave so replaced it with fuse wire (Rioja wire just doesn't seem to have the strength to carry brake fluid!) One of the engines (they can both be exposed), showing further liberal application of Rioja wire. Yes, I know Hobby Boss neglected to supply exhaust stacks but I couldn't work out how I would plumb them in so did the sensible thing and turned a blind eye! Hobby Boss leave large voids in the leading edges where I suspect lights are supposed to go, so I plugged them. Also, for the first time ever, I acquired some Micro Mesh which allowed me to boldly sand the transparencies flush, and then restore clarity through polishing. Result! Phwoar! Waddaya think of them guns, then? And here she is, parked up with the Luftwaffe's contemporary solution to the same problem. Hope you like... Mike

Here's my Israeli Mirage III CJ. The model represence the 159 which was credited for 13 victories. De Hobby Boss kit is added with some Eduard parts and an Aires ejection seat. I allways wanted to do an Israeli bird, just because of those fancy big yellow triangles. The scheme was airbrushed freehand. Reference was never clear to me whether the demarcations of the scheme were hard or soft. The soft demarcations I liked more. Hope you like.

SS-23 Spider Hobby Boss 1/35 This arrived this morning and I decided that, despite the fact that I've got way too many other projects on the go, I had to start this strait away After a quick rummage through the box, the kit seems to be well detailed. There's certainly plenty of plastic and the finished thing is going to take up quite a bit of shelf space. The main hull moulding is well over 12" long The first step deals with the cab interior which has a lot of detail considering that not that much will be seen. The majority of the interior is white and I've got most of the main component ready for paint. I'll paint some of the smaller details separately and do the final assembly after painting You get a few instrument dials on the decal sheet but there's some nice moulded detail on the parts so I may just paint these and give them a wash and dry brush More soon Andy

HobbyBoss is to release in late October a new tool 1/72nd SEPECAT Jaguar A kit - ref.87258. Source: http://scalemodels.ru/news/7809-Hobby-Boss-oktjabr-2014.html V.P.

Inspired by Rick's excellent 1/48 scale Jayhawk here on the forum, I'm also building one albeit in 1/72 scale for a 'TV & Movies' group build. This is the Hobby Boss kit.. What you get in the box.. And while you get seats for the cabin, you don't get much else in the way of rescue kit. So scratchbuilt most of that from odds and ends in the spares box. From left to right in the back, a marker buoy thing, some bags, a radio rack, radios and fire extinguisher (kit seats in the front obviously!) Cabin floor masked up for the anti-slip strips...before.. And after.. Thanks for looking. Dermot

After the D-9 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234930559-148th-focke-wulf-fw190d-9-by-hobbyboss-release-february-2013-sprues-pics), D-10 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234944110-148th-focke-wulf-fw190d-10-by-hobbyboss-release-september-2013-sprues-pics), D-11 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946466-148-focke-wulf-fw190d-11-by-hobby-boss-released/) and D-12 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971437-148-focke-wulf-fw190d-12-by-hobby-boss-released/) next HobbyBoss 1/48th F***-Woulf will be a Fw.190D-12 R14 kit - ref.81720. Source: http://new2.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=35&l=en Box art V.P.

Dear Fellow Modellers Vickers were succesfull in exporting their 6-ton tanks round the world. The model with two turrets was called the 'trench sweeper'. The Soviets wanted to kick start their tank industry and they started producing these oddities themselves. This is the nice Hobby Boss kit. No I did not add all the track pins! The figures are from miniart but heads from Hornet or Tank. Hope you like it? Andrew

Hi guys This has been staring down at me from the stash for a while now so I thought it was time to get it started. Box art It's going to be OOB apart from the markings. The original (only one was built, converted from a regular Wildcat) was in blue grey over light gull grey and that's the box scheme (there's actually two schemes from the box, both virtually the same apart from the insignia size). Box scheme I was going to do this scheme but, since the original was never operational, I felt that a little licence would be acceptable so I thought the Atlantic scheme might suit it. Progress so far has been a little slow cause of other projects on the go at the same time, but the cockpit is almost done. No extra detail added apart from a basic harness from lead foil. The canopy will be closed (as it doesn't fit open ) so not much will be seen anyway. More progress soon (hopefully) Andy

Hobby Boss T-24 Medium Tank Hi Guys, this is one of my earlier armour builds, built April-May 2013 It was build pretty much OOB with just some Albion Alloys brass tube for the MG barrels. I didn't add the missing engine vent cover at the right rear as I couldn't find any reference to work from. Of course, as soon as I'd finished it I found a photo showing it . Anyway, I covered the area with a big pile of stowage and hoped nobody noticed. This was the first build I used Vallejo's coloured primers on and they worked well on this although I've found them hit and miss on other projects. The base colour was Russian green, then highlighted with Kare-Kusa. The turret band and number was hand painted with Vallejo Off-White. Enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy

BAe Hawk T Mk.1A 1:48 Hobby Boss The Hawk has been the RAF fast jet trainer of choice since it replaced the Folland Gnat in the late 70s, at which time it was still under the management of Hawker Siddeley, who were later subsumed into British Aircraft Corporation. It has gone on from there to be a widely used across the world in varying guises, including a carrier-borne variant operated by the Americans as the T-45 Goshawk. The T.1 has been in service since the beginning with the RAF, and a number of airframes were upgraded to the 1A specification to carry Sidewinders and a cannon pod. As well as being used to train pilots, it is also the mount of the much-loved and admired Red Arrows, who are probably the best advert for the aircraft available. The new T.2 has been designed as a lead-in to the new fast jets, the Typhoon or F-35, as and when it arrives in service. The Kit This release from HB was a bit of a surprise to all but the diligent, with very little heard about it before it hit their catalogue a few months ago. It arrives in a busy market, with the old Airfix kit, and the newer Italeri kits in this scale as competition, both of which have their own foibles. Can this new release correct those, and give us a nice Hawk T.1A out of the box? The box art is a little dull, and inside are eleven sprues of mid-grey styrene, two and a bit of clear parts, and a pair of small frets of Photo-Etched (PE) brass. There are also two decal sheets, a glossy painting guide, and the usual instruction booklet, with a card divider inside the box keeping some of the smaller sprues in place. First impressions are quite good, as the designers have certainly tried to pack plenty of detail in, and they have used a good degree of slide-moulding to achieve this, although this has introduced some additional seam lines here and there, which will need some careful scraping to make good. There is also some restrained use of raised riveting at the rear of the fuselage, which looks nice, but may fall foul of the sanding stick during building, so to this modeller is only really valuable if you can manage to avoid damaging them. There's always a few runs of Archer 3D rivet decals if you fail to keep them intact, so I'll not worry about it. The cockpit is the first task in building the kit, and it is well appointed with moulded in side consoles to the two-piece tub, separate instrument panels with moulded in raised dials and decals to finish off, twin control columns, but no rudder pedals (which probably won't be seen anyway), but there are some bits and bobs missing from the rear "parcel shelf" behind the back-seater, which is an accusation you can also level at other kits of the subject. Detail on the seats is nice, but you only get the early wedge-shaped head-boxes, so would need to spend out for a more modern iteration of the Martin Baker seat if you wanted to model a more recent article. Once complete, the cockpit and single part nose bay are inserted into the nose and closed up for posterity. The nose bay is a little shallow, but most folks won't notice that anyway, as it's quite dark in there. There is a bit of detail moulded into the sides that should come up nicely under paint however. The nose section goes back as far as the rear of the intakes, which is a requirement to maximise the use of tooling for all the variants they have planned. The rear fuselage closes around the back of the nose section, with an insert for the belly-mounted air-brake, and the front cockpit coaming added during the process. The intakes are single parts, with slide-moulding giving them plenty of detail all around, and a nice thin lip. There is a clear light part to add to each one, but they weren't fitted to all airframes, so check your references before you install them into the engraved spaces on the intake sides. The exhaust fits into a rear bulkhead, and although it is too short, it has engine detail moulded into the end. The canopy can be installed at this point, complete with the blast screen that fits between the pilots attached to the canopy. Some GS Hypo cement, or PVA would be best to fix that in to avoid clouding up the canopy, which seems quite thick on the sills, with a bit of distortion. There are PE rear-view mirrors provided, plus a small latch on the forward edge of the canopy for external opening. There are no references made to the det-cord pattern on the canopy top, and a representation isn't moulded in, but there are decals that are provided on the larger sheet to accomplish the task, and if you look carefully at the last two decal options, it is mentioned there, but not on the first option. Odd! The tail fin isn't integral to the fuselage halves, as there are differences between marks in fit and finish, and the two halves are glued together then added to the fuselage on two pins that fit into matching sockets. The fin looks a little short and/or blunt, but is actually taller than the Airfix offering, and both now look a little wide and short to my eyes. That's annoying! The horizontal tails are single parts that attach to the fuselage sides via a single point, just like the real ones. The wings will be the cause of a little sanding and trimming, because they have four fences moulded into them, some of which aren't needed for the T.1A, which generally sports only the larger outer one. One wing for all marks seems to have been tooled, but you aren't advised to remove the inner fences for this edition, even though you'll need to do so if they bother you. Comments have been made about the vortex generators being too far aft, but that might be an optical illusion caused by the excessive wing fences, or the fact that the wing span scales out correctly for an airframe with tip-mounted Sidewinders at 9.94m, when the Airfix kit is almost 10mm shorter in wingspan, which is about right for the basic wing at 9.39m. The wings look like they're about 10mm too wide if I'm correct. The vortex generators are actually closer to the leading edge than the Airfix kit, and are finer too. The lower wing is full-span, while the upper wings are split either side of the fuselage, with flaps and ailerons moulded into the wing. The flap actuator fairings are added to pairs of holes under the wings after they have been joined to the fuselage, but the main gear bays are inserted beforehand. The bay inserts are a single part each, and have wiring and ribbing detail moulded in, some of which is fictional, and they don't have the deeper inner section of the real thing. A lovely clear nose-light and wingtip lights are added here too. The landing gear has been moulded in halves to add extra external detail, but this will mean a seam to hide, although with some careful alignment, you do at least have some control over it. You will also need to remove some large ejector pin marks from the mating surface to achieve a snug fit, so test-fitting is the way to go. The nose gear leg has a single wheel trapped within its yoke, and the moulded-in hubs are shallow, while the tyre has a substantial sag to it, which isn't all that evident on the real thing unless it has been parked up for a while. The main gear also have sag moulded in, but this is more appropriate, and again the hubs are too shallow by far, having an almost hub-cap like appearance. CMK's wheel set will come in handy here for sure. The main legs are built from four parts, plus small legs that hold the captive bay doors at the correct angle, but you'll probably want to leave them off and paint them with the rest of the airframe exterior. The air-brake and actuator strut are shown open only, and although the brake is nicely detailed on the inside, the bay itself is a little simplified, and until I have fitted the parts together, it is difficult to say whether it will be easy to pose retracted as it is often seen when on the ground. A full set of pylons are included in the kit, which aren't frequently seen installed all at once, but they're there, and you can use them if you wish. You are supplied with the following ordnance and a diagram of which pylon they can be placed on, but you are better off looking for some actual photographic evidence rather than loading up regardless. 2 x AIM-9P with adapter rails 2 x AIM-9L with adapter rails 2 x LR-155 Rocket Packs 2 x M117 Iron Bombs 2 x Additional fuel tanks I do wish that companies (in general) would provide some training rounds for more typical real-world practice scenarios, but I suppose you could always take your knife to a "live" Sidewinder instead. Markings There are three markings options from the box, which have sufficient variation to please many folks, but I believe some of the roundel sizes are incorrect, so you'll need to check your references again there. The red centres of the roundels are also way out of register on my copy, which will stick out like the proverbial sore-thumb if applied to the model. From the box you can build one of the following: XX256 of No.2 Tactical Weapons Unit (No.63 "Shadow" Squadron) RAF Chivenor, 1981 wrap-around grey/green camouflage. XX341 of the Empire Test Pilots School, Advanced Systems Training Aircraft (ASTRA) Boscombe Down, 2000 Raspberry Ripple scheme in blue, red, white and grey. XX226 of No.4 Flying Training School (No.74 "Shadow" Squadron) RAF Valley, 2001 all-over gloss black with tiger head on the tail. Decals are a little below-par for Hobby Boss, and some of the yellow doesn't seem to have been under-printed with white, so will probably disappear if applied over any darker colours. The red is a little spotty on my sample, as well as being out of register to a fair degree, and the overall view under magnification is slightly fuzzy, but it's not so obvious at 1x. The smaller sheet contains all the stencils for the weapons, as well as two nice decals for the instrument panels, which should improve their look after being well soaked in decal softening solution to get them to settle over the raised detail. Conclusion Not the easiest review in the book, because from an advanced modeller's point of view the kit has some fairly difficult problems to fix in terms of shape as well as the smaller details. If built up out of the box you should obtain a reasonable replica of the aircraft as you can see in the tape-up pictures above, but the more critical eye will notice problems that they would either choose to address or go elsewhere. The apparent issue with the wing span doesn't bode well, but I would prefer corroboration one way or the other before waving my arms around in horror. The kit is best suited to the casual modeller who has no major concern regarding accuracy, and I'm sure it will sell well as such. All Hawk kits in 1:48 so far have their issues to a greater or lesser degree, but for the more detail and accuracy motivated modeller, it's a case of choosing which one you are prepared to work with, and I suspect the case for this one will be weak. Review sample courtesy of

Just finished......... Note the two crew members aft of the missile tubes...... Battle of the Big Boomers...... Typhoon and USS Maryland - with the new Russian Borei class at the front.... Ken

Soviet SS-23 Spider Tactical Ballistic Missile (85505) 1:35 Hobby Boss Known by the Russians a Oka, the SS-23 Spider is NATO's codename for it, and the complete system was a definite threat to the West, which resulted in some controversy during the 90s, when its ability to strike quickly and without any viable means of defence against its warhead brought its existence into question during the disarmament treaty discussions. It ended up with Mr Gorbachev withdrawing them as a gesture of goodwill toward the west, although some were used by former Soviet states in a conventional role after this. Based on the eight-wheeled BAZ-6944 amphibious launch platform made by Bryansk Automobile Plant, it replaced the ageing Scud Bs in the late 1970s, and could set up and launch a missile within five minutes. The missile was highly capable too, and could hit mobile as well as stationary targets, and at the time was impossible to defend against due to its trajectory and speed. Its 250 mile range was hotly disputed by the west, and all of the nuclear tipped warheads have been withdrawn, as have the conventionally equipped missiles. A few vehicles and dummy missiles still exist in museums, fortunately. The Kit The modelling manufacturers seem to have a bit of a thing for missiles and their transporters, with this just one of many announcements over the past months, and now we have it available in the UK from our friends at Creative. The box is a large one, and is quite heavy with good reason. Once you lift the lid, you see why, as there's a lot of styrene in there, in the shape of ten sprues in sand coloured styrene, six large parts on their own, plus two smaller cylindrical parts, all in the same coloured styrene. The wheels are black "rubber", there is a length of copper wire hidden in the bag for the cab part (watch out for that), there are two frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass in a card backed bag, and a small decal sheet. A clear sprue contains the windows and lights, and then it's just the instruction booklet and a glossy full-colour printed painting and marking guide. Initial impressions are that you'll need a big shelf/cabinet/base to display the finished model, as it measures almost 34cm long before you deploy the missile for firing. Detail is good throughout, and you have the option of posing the missile in transport mode, where it is completely covered within the vehicle, or in firing mode with the missile deployed in a vertical position and stabilising legs dropped from the front and rear of the vehicle. Construction starts with the crew cab, which sits within a large "bathtub" that is later dropped into the front of the body before it is closed up. A separate dash with steering and missile control equipment is first in, followed by a set of gear and drive mode selection levers, two crew seats, and a pair of odd turrets that stand behind both seats. In the roof are more instrument boxes, and a rear bulkhead, with the glazing added to lips from the inside at the sides, and from the outside at the front. Two hatches are added to the roof, along with an intake that can be posed raised or lowered, a series of grab-handles around the sides, and three windscreen wipers for the faceted windscreen. The huge keel of the vehicle is a single part, and has lots of suspension detail and ribbing moulded in, onto which eight suspension units are built up with swing-arms and dampers, before adding the wheels, which have styrene hubs and "rubber" tyres that are very nicely detailed. The keel is then added to the lower hull, locating on a number of large tabs. A profusion of grab-handles and other small parts are added to the sides, and the rear sponson boxes are installed behind the last pair of wheels. Note here that both front wheel pairs steer, so remember to pose them accordingly if you are planning on showing them deflected to one side or other. You need to choose whether your missile will be on display about now, as that will determine whether the four large stabilising legs are deployed or stowed in the sponson end-boxes for transport. After installing the triangular shaped strengthening beams and fuel tanks on each side, the hull is flipped over, and yet more small fixings are added to the sides. A small recessed panel is added to the inside of a rectangular hole in the hull side, which is later covered by a fine PE mesh, and the cab interior that you made earlier is installed in the front. The little PE brackets on the sides have short lengths of the copper wire inserted through their holes, of which you have to make 21, so it would be an idea to make a basic jig to cut 1.3mm reliably. It's time to build the missile, and here you are helped by the bottom two sections being moulded as cylinders, with plenty of detail added using sliding moulds. Four exhaust nozzles are added, as are the four waffle-textured steering vanes on each quadrant, and into the top is inserted the tapering business end of the missile, which is split lengthways, so will need a little work to hide the seams. The launch rail is another large moulding, with two inserts for the attachment of the missile, which secures on two large lugs on the transition from cylindrical to tapering. The triple rams are added under the rail, and its bay is decked out with three hinged hydraulic cylinders into which the rams slide, and the launch rail is attached via two hinge-points, which should allow it to be raised or lowered if you are careful with the glue. The missile bay walls are busy with equipment as moulded, to which more is added before they are installed on the bay floor using a number of location tabs and slots. It is then time to build the roof of the bay, which takes up most of the length of the vehicle. The main part is one of the large mouldings that comes with a removable strengthening sprue binding the two sides together to prevent damaging flexing during transport. The front of the bay is added, as are a number of access panels on the sloping sides, and another eight of the little brackets with wire cross-pieces. The two assemblies are now brought together, with the bay mounting in the roof by six hidden slots and tabs. It might be good to brace this joint further with some rod to prevent gravity working its magic over time. There is an optional cover for the nose of the missile that can be added at this stage, which has a blunt nose, and two clam-shell doors in the upper half to allow the missile to rise out of the cover during erection (don't!). The long doors are added next, and these can be left to hinge to expose the interior if you wish, as long as you have glued the small hinge-points into the doors securely. The finishing act involves installing the cab, roof, and the light-clusters, plus the grilles on the side, footstep under each door, and if you were sensible and left them off until now – the wing mirrors. With a little scratch-building work you could make the stabilising feet movable, so you could change your model's stance from transport to launch on a whim, as the doors and missile already have that capability. Markings Two options are available from the box, and neither have much in the way of decals if you ignore the instrument decals for the driver's controls. One is painted all-over light green (FS34102) with black lines wriggling over its surfaces as if someone was going to paint in camouflage, but forgot. The second is more flamboyant and has a dark grey and middle stone camouflage with black demarcation lines separating them. The decals are well printed, and all that will be placed outside are a pair of small unit markings for the front sides of the cab. The rest are in the cab, and should improve the detail there very well. Conclusion A big mobile missile launcher is quite impressive to look at, and HB have done well in terms of the detail that will be on display here. My only complaint is the fixed nature of the legs, particularly when the rest of the model can have its pose changed at any time. Address that as you see fit, and it's a good thing. Very highly recommended. The first stock has sold out already, but they will be back, and in the meantime you could always pick up one with a damaged box here Review sample courtesy of

Soviet T-28 Medium Tank (Early) 1:35 Hobby Boss The T-28 was one of the first medium tanks, and like the larger T-35 was inspired by the British Independent Tank, even though that never progressed beyond prototype. It suffered many of the same problems as the T-35 too, such as unreliable engine & transmission, being under-armoured, and poor out-dated suspension. The tank had a main turret lifted directly from the T-35, and two small machine–gun turrets from the T-26. The main gun was a hefty 76mm cannon, which was upgraded late on to a more effective longer barrelled unit. After the initial poor showing in the Winter War with the Finnish, the armour was upgraded by adding appliqué panels, which were sometimes fitted in the field. Many T-28s in the Winter War were knocked out and repaired many times due to the close proximity of a suitable factory. The tank was advanced when first developed, but by 1940 it was hopelessly outdated, and was overshadowed by the new T-34, as well as the flexibility of its main opponent, the German Panzer IV. It left service after a few attempts to bring it up to date with newer suspension, but it was totally outclassed by the T-34's superior design, with the last one rolling off the line in 1941. The Finns pinched a couple which they still have in museums and storage, with another in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia. The Kit Just like its sibling kit, the new T-35 from Hobby Boss, this tank has only been kitted before in this scale by Alanger/ICM, and it now long out of production. A completely new tooling that shares a few parts with the T-35, which arrives in a standard box with a shiny T-28 parading on Red Square. Inside are thirteen sprues in tan styrene, five in brown styrene, two clear sprues (containing one part each), two hull parts, three turrets, two Photo-Etch (PE) brass frets, and a small decal sheet. A length of braided copper wire is also included, although the instructions refer to it as brass, but colour implies otherwise. The instruction booklet is standard HB fare, and the double-sided painting and decaling guide is printed in colour on glossy paper. Construction starts with the road-wheels as you'd expect, with four wheels added to each bogie with a central suspension rod installed vertically in the centre. Twelve bogies are made up of varying sorts, plus two each of the multi-part drive sprockets and idler wheels. The hull is closed up next, and is already moulded with plenty of surface detail, including the underside, and some very neatly moulded turret rings with teeth lining the inner edges. Unusually, the tank's main road-wheels are sat on an extension of the underside, which projects out from the sides of the tank, to which the bogies, separating pads and so forth are added, while the return roller axles are added to the sides of the hull. Large suspension units are then added to the top of the extensions, with their ends appearing to go through the plate and mate up with the tops of the bogies. The various gaps are then filled with angles plates to shed mud from the top run of track, before a full-length plate is installed over it, which has PE skins added to the sides of the stepped areas, and the side-skirts covering most of the suspension and road-wheels up. Various shackles, engine bay doors and a circular radiator fan arrangement are added to the rear deck, in much the same way as the T-35, together with angled sections across the front of the glacis to give it extra strength. A large double-ended exhaust sits in the middle of the engine deck with a shroud added to its front, and a central driver's compartment is installed in the space between the two machine-gun turrets, with a vision block inserted on the back-side of the separate front hatch-with-a-hatch. The engine deck is then given two vaguely triangular sectioned breather vents, which have PE grilles, and sit facing in toward the middle of the deck. Return rollers are added to both sides made up from four pairs of wheels per side, and then it's track-building time. Five sprues of individual links are provided, which differs from the T-35, which had long lengths moulded together for the top and bottom runs. Each link has four sprue gates on curved surfaces, so a little sanding is all that's needed after they are nipped from the sprues. If you fancy counting the links in the diagram you could turn the tracks into link-and-length yourself with little additional effort above the clean-up of parts. With the tracks done, the side-skirts are inserted into their retaining slots, detailed with PE straps, and the armoured louver is added over the radiator fan, which doesn't have see-through louvers, but does have louver detail moulded inside if you feel like posing it open. You'll need to remove a few ejector pin marks if you do, but they're quite easy to get to. Large stowage boxes are added to the fenders each side of the main turret, and pioneer tools are dotted around the sides, as are two spare bogies and two jacks. The rear formation light is shrouded with a PE protector, and a styrene light is placed inside, with one installed on each fender. Another stowage bin with a framework side is added to the port rear fender, and two more road wheels are added to the very back. The towing cables are built up from lengths of copper wire that is topped and tailed with styrene eyes and shackles, before being draped around the sides of the two machine-gun turrets with the other end attached to the front towing hooks. Possibly for ease if they were prone to frequent break-downs? The turrets are the final part of construction, and should be familiar if you've got a T-35, as the two early T-26 turrets mount a machine-gun in a ball mounting with a poseable hatch, while the main turret sports a short-barrelled 76mm gun and separately mounted machine-gun in another recessed ball-mount. There is only one choice of towel-rail aerial that runs around the turret, and it is supplied essentially as one part, but with an armoured lead running from an exit on the top of the turret into the aerial tube on the starboard side. The turrets just drop into place on their respective rings, and that's the build done. Markings Russian Green is the order of the day, and two schemes are available from the box, although schemes might be a bit of an over-statement. One scheme has a red stripe running around the main turret with no other markings, and the other scheme has no markings at all. The red stripe is supplied as a decal, and that's the sole decal on the sheet. The red looks suitably dense and crisp enough, and as there is only one colour printed as a decal, there are no registration concerns. Conclusion Another super kit that relegates the old Alanger offering obsolete, and as I understand it we can expect "late" versions of both this and the T-35 with upgraded armour and sloping turret faces in due course. These things are quirky, and represent the tank's struggles while developing, and the influence that the British efforts had on designs, while happened again after WWII with the Tortoise. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Soviet T-35 Heavy Tank (Early) 1:35 Hobby Boss The T-35 was a Russian answer to the British Independent, a multi-turreted super-heavy tank that was intended to crash through the enemy front-line (albeit at a slow pace), and was intended to be virtually impregnable to the enemy. Although this was a dead-end in the tank's development, considering them useful in a trench-warfare situation reminiscent of WWI, there were plenty of supporters, so a prototype was built with a 76mm gun in a single turret, and then upgraded with four additional smaller turrets sporting two 45mm guns and two machine guns by the time of the 3rd prototype. The weight had increased by over 10 tonnes during the gestation, and a new engine had to be installed to drag along the extra turrets. Only 61 T-35s were built in total, with some of the later ones having sloped armour on their turrets, and they saw service in the defence of Moscow, where most of them were lost to mechanical failures due to poor design of the transmission. The only survivor is the training machine that spent the whole war behind Russian lines. The Kit This is a new tooling from Hobby Boss, and fills a gap in the market left by the demise of Alanger/ICM's rather archaic tooling. It arrives in HB's standard ribbed card box with a painting of a T-35 on parade on the front, which was where it spent most of its active duty, impressing the dignitaries. Inside the box are thirteen sprues of green styrene plus two hull part, two smaller turrets, two sprues of brown track-links, three tiny sprues of clear parts, three frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a short length of braided copper wire, decal sheet instruction booklet and colour painting and markings guide. It's a very full box, and the hull parts are secured by a card insert that keeps them safe during transport, along with the PE and other sprueless parts. Detail appears to be excellent, and the sheer size of the hull – or rather the length – is impressive. Unsurprisingly, construction starts with the bogies, which have two pairs of wheels mounted on a pivoting arm around a central axis, which is damped by a pair of springs on each side. The springs are moulded as pairs in a single part, with a mould seam running down their sides that are probably not worth tidying up, unless you're showing any part of the suspension by removing some side-skirt sections. You will need to make eight of these bogies, as the T-35 had a lot of wheels to try to spread the weight around. With these completed, you then glue the two hull parts together, doing a little remedial filling of holes, drilling of new ones, and removing a bullet splash-guard from in front of the driver's hatch. A small rectangular insert is also added to the sloping aft part of the rear deck. The upper hull looks like the aftermath of trench warfare, due to the profusion of holes in it. There are five turret rings, plus another hole in the rear for the big cooling fan that is inserted later. Firstly, the suspension fixtures are added to the hull sides, with axles for the bogies and return rollers, plus the dividing plates that are there to prevent the suspension clogging with mud, but to me look like they would only exacerbate the problem. The return rollers are twin-wheels, and there are five of them on each side, which will be visible through the small gaps at the top of the side-skirts. The engine deck receives the main hatch with mushroom vent, plus the aforementioned circular fan that is inserted from outside the hull and sits on a lip around its edge, before being covered by a raised armoured louver. Two big exhaust boxes with exit pipe sit between the two assemblies with an armoured shroud covering the front, and the driver's hatch is added along with his vision hatch at the front of the glacis plate, next to twin headlamps that have clear lenses. The bogies are then added with the small pre-idler wheel, and the fenders are added to the mounts on the top of the hull. The large idler wheel and drive sprockets are added to front and rear stations respectively, and you will then need to start on the tracks. If you're phobic about individual links, fret not, because these are link and length, with long runs across the top, the bottom, and the angled sections, and individual links to accommodate the drive and idler wheels, plus the transitions at the bottom of the track run. The top run seems a little devoid of any sag, but it looks like there was precious little from period photos, so this is correct. The next step is to add the close-fitting sideskirts, which have stand-off brackets added to the insides, which should sleeve into the return-roller axles, plus the locating lugs moulded into the divider plates, and lastly the bosses on the centres of the suspension bogies. In practice, getting all this lined up will be tricky if you don't loosely set the skirts in place while the glue holding all the parts is curing. The other option is to shave off any lugs that don't fit exactly. A set of PE straps are then attached after being bent around the edge of the fenders, which are adorned with a full set of pioneer tools and towing cables, using styrene eyes and short lengths of the braided copper wire that's included in the box. Two more armoured vents are added to the sides of the engine cover, and additional track-links are set on brackets on the fender next to the louvered panel, with a PE locking bar holding them in place. The profusion of turrets is now built up, with two each of the smaller T-26 derived turrets, with either a machine-gun mount or long-barrelled 45mm cannon with coax machine-gun, and removable hatches if you have enough Russian tank figures to go around. The main turret has a short barrelled 76mm cannon with a pair of searchlights mounted above it, and the barrel of the larger calibre guns are all slide-moulded with a hollow muzzle, which is good to see. The main turret has an egg-shaped planform, with the sides moulded as a single part, and the roof a separate part with curved edges, and the communist star standing proud from the roof like some 1950s aircraft model! That was a real feature of the vehicle however, so don't sand it off. The large hatch behind the star is separate, and the mantlet fits into the front from the outside, as does the separate machine-gun on a ball-mount to the right of the mantlet, which can't really be called a coax as a result. The large antenna for the radio is fitted to the finished turret, and this is moulded as a single part and the sprue was wrapped in protective foam due to its delicate nature. Cut it carefully from the sprue, perhaps shaving the moulding seams before you remove it, and it should fit neatly onto the mounting pads that are marked out on the turret with very fine raised lines. There is an armoured feeder wire rising from the roof in a protective shroud, which links into a socket on the inside of the rail. There is also another variant on the antenna "towel-rail", so check your references and install the correct part for the vehicle you are planning on portraying. The supporting rails are subtly different between parts, so good luck with that! With all the turrets built, the superstructure needed to raise the main turret above the smaller ones is constructed with PE skins on the tops of the side-mounted stowage bins. A pair of large jacks are mounted outboard of the stowage bins, which I understand are to raise the turret, but I'm not entirely sure how or why that would be done. Whatever their function, they are nicely moulded and each one is made up from five parts to achieve a good level of detail. Add a couple of PE crew ladders to both sides of the tank at the front and rear, drop in all the turrets, and that's the build finished. You can see my colleague Dave's take on the build here, and his over-riding comment was that it almost fell together. Always nice to hear! Markings Russian Green is the name of the game with most Soviet tanks, and this no exception. Because the majority of its life was spent showing off Soviet might on the parade circuit, the two schemes presented with the kit are ceremonial, and have decorative striping around the turret tops, so you'd have to go easy with any weathering if you were to use the decals. Both schemes have a big red star on the sides of the skirts, and one has red striping around the turret-tops, while the other has yellow and white. In service, these would probably have been removed with some urgency, and in some contemporary photos you can see where the star has been overpainted due to the difference in tone on the black and white photos. Various small unit markings or turret markings seem to have been the main extent of its service markings, so check your references, and scavenge the decals from where you can. Decals are printed in-house, and are up to Hobby Boss's usual standards, although the stripes and dashes are a little over-blessed with carrier film in places. There is no registration to the decals, but the colour density and sharpness seem up to scratch, but the yellow and white seem a little thin, and suffer a little from translucency. Conclusion These gargantuan dead-ends appeal to my sense of the unusual, so I'm sold already, but the kit is a good one, with plenty of detail and it is a distinct improvement over the previously available (and now unavailable) offering. Prepare for a deluge of the old kits on eBay, if it's not happening already. Incidentally, if you wanted to go for individual links for your T-35 for whatever reason, there is a set available to satisfy your need. You can get those here. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello, this is my first take on vessels in a scale. These are 1/700 from Hobby Boss. I'm about to apply clear gloss varnish and put the decals on. I'm welcoming any hints for weathering

And this is my second post for today presenting my penultimate work for 2014. A nice little kit from Hobby Boss. It's quite simplified and misses some items. So I've had to add some things in the cockpit, Venturi tube, inner undercarriage doors and the oil radiator carburetor air intake under the engine cowling, as well as antenna. Also, I've tried to open the wheel bays, which were completely closed in the kit but not on the prototype and fill them with wiring and tubing . Not the best of my attempts... Happy New Year, guys and girls!

Hobby Boss is to release new tool 1/48th Awfulschmitt Bf.109G kits in 2015/2016 - ref.81750 - Messerschmitt Bf.109G-2 - ref.81751 - Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6 Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972796-hobbyboss-148-for-2015/?p=1828290 Considering Eduard is to retool its Bf.109G-2/-6 in 2015 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234947521-148-messerschmitt-bf109f-g-family-by-eduard-bf109g-6-released-new-corrected-mould-in-design/?p=1810113) and the release from a Bf.109G-6 by Zvezda in 2015 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234961817-148-messerschmitt-bf109g-6-by-zvezda-release-in-2015/)... V.P.

The next HobbyBoss 1/48th Corsair variant is a F4U-5 - ref. 80389 Sources: http://scalemodels.ru/news/7594-anonsy-Hobby-Boss-avgust-2014.html http://www.hobbyboss.com/a/en/Preview/2014/0612/1125.html Box art V.P.

After the D-9 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234930559-148th-focke-wulf-fw190d-9-by-hobbyboss-release-february-2013-sprues-pics), the D-10 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234944110-148th-focke-wulf-fw190d-10-by-hobbyboss-release-september-2013-sprues-pics ) and the D-11 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946466-148-focke-wulf-fw190d-11-by-hobby-boss-released/ ) next HobbyBoss 1/48th F***-Woulf will be a Fw.190D-12 with catalogue reference 81719 Source: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10300160 1:48 Focke-Wulf FW190D-12 ITEM No.: 81719 V.P.

Hi, hope you don't mind me joining this GB? Had this in the stash for some time, this seems a good reason to drag it out and get it built! Looks relatively straight forward, could do with some aftermarket decals if anyone knows where I may obtain any (Hannants are out of stock). Any tips appreciated! Cheers FF

Hi! Here's my Tu-2. It's Hobby Boss' Easy Build kit. The model is painted using Tamiya paints and weathered with Flory wash,oils, pigments and a silver pencil. The kit has excellent fit, but sparse details. Any comments appreciated Best regards Rune Haugen Norway

First two seats from the Hobby Boss Schwalbe family is a Messerschmitt Me.262B-1a to be released in April 2014 - ref. 80378. Source: http://scalemodels.ru/news/7155-anonsy-HobbyBoss-aprel-2014.html Box art Hobby Boss Schwalbe variants & boxing: - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a - ref.80369 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948927-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1a-schwalbe-by-hobbyboss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U1 - ref.80370 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965082-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-release-october-2014 - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U3 - ref.80371 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=523&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U4 - ref.80372 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=551&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U5 - ref.80373 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=448&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U2 (V056) - ref.80374 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=430&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1b - ref.80375 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=330&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a - ref.80376 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971808-148-messerschmit-me262-a-2a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a/U2 - ref.80377 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987781-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-2au2-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-box-art-release-october-2015/ - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a - ref. 80378 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234954190-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a/U1 - ref.80379 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953218-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss V.P.

After the future 1/72nd Trumpeter kit of this unusual a/c (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951594-172nd-blohm-voss-bv-141-by-trumpeter-test-shot-pics-box-art/?hl=blohm) here's the HobbyBoss one. HobbyBoss is to release a 1/48th Blohm & Voss Bv.141 - ref.81728 Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804569608 V.P.

P-61B Cockpit & Radar Operator Sets (2 sets for Hobby Boss) 1:32 Avionix by Squadron Hobby Boss's new(ish) P-61B has pleased a lot of modellers, and this big aircraft has been popular, despite or maybe because of its large size. These detail sets from Avionix will replace the majority of the kit interior with highly detailed resin parts. They are split into two separate sets, as some modellers might be happy with the rear cabin, or simply want to keep their budget down. Both sets arrive in small white cardboard boxes, with the opening lid on the opposite face to the label, which caused me a few moments of confusion (not difficult these days). Once you figure out that the "underside" is easy to open, you are presented with some nicely bagged resin, plus a set of black and white instructions that use photos to illustrate the build process. These are really helpful, and the parts are numbered against a list of part names, but there are no graphical representations of the parts or part numbers on the casting blocks, so there's a bit of guesswork where the picture doesn't show the part too clearly. Cockpit & Gunner Station (BLC32059) This box contains parts to detail and replace the interior of the fuselage nacelle forward of the gun turret, including the pilot and gunner positions, although some kit parts of the pilot's seat are retained, presumably because they are of suitable quality. The set starts with a pair of sidewall detail panels, which are surprisingly long, and very well detailed with instruments and cabling. Additional parts are added along the length to improve the look, and the two-part cockpit floor requires you to remove the forward section from the kit part where it steps up as it reaches the cockpit. The kit landing gear bay should sit snugly under the new part, which has the same lugs to guide the installation as the kit parts. You will need to remove the flash across the entrance however, which I there to simplify the moulding process. A new rear bulkhead is included, with a nicely done canvas cover over the accessway and addition detail. The crew operated fire extinguisher is replaced, as is the large tubular cabin heater, and more small parts are dotted about to add extra detail. The pilot's seat is mainly built from kit parts (a credit to the kit designers), with the exception of the seat bucket, which is replaced with a new resin part that has very neatly sculpted seatbelts moulded in. The control column is replaced entirely by new parts, as are the rudder pedals and throttle quadrants, which are much finer and with more detail. The instrument panel is built from a resin back-plate to which some boxes are added, and the instruments panels are then sanded to the rear until the flash over the dial apertures abrades away leaving holes. They are laminated with sections of pre-printed acetate sheet, and added to the base panel after the rear has been painted white to show up the printed dials. The gunner's seat is a work of art, comprising the seat in full with padded back and seat bucket with more belts moulded in. The remote station for the control of the armament is replaced too with a significant number of parts for additional detail. This is then mounted on a H-shaped base and added to the back of the cockpit area. P-61B Radar Operator's Station (BLC32060) Occupying the rear "stinger", the Radar Op's station has the same chair/remote sight arrangement as the Gunner, and some of the casting blocks are the same as the cockpit set as a result, giving you a few spares that could come in handy - especially the oxygen hose that needs bending using heat. A spare for that type of work is always handy! The kit supplies a nice set of black-boxes for the RO, but the detail on the replacement resin parts has to be seen to be believed. The cabling is excellent, and gives a real sense of the mess of wires that would accompany what was cutting edge radar technology back then. The kit has a Photo-Etch (PE8) basket around a box under the main table, which if you plan on using it means you'll have to remove the moulded in cables that lead to the box. It would be a shame to ruin that detail, so I'll be looking for alternative options when I build mine. Conclusion A really nice looking set that raises the level of detail significantly over what is a very visible part of the kit, courtesy of the quantity of glass that covers a large portion of the crew nacelle. Detail is superb, and the instructions are helpful for the most part, let down only by some over-exposed photos that have bleached out in the printing process. These pictures speak about 995 words as a result, but they are very useful for positioning and envisaging how the parts go together. Casting is to a very high standard doing the detail plenty of justice, and the casting blocks are sensibly placed to preserve the detail and ease removal. Take care with joining the new cockpit floor to the kit parts and test fit everything, as per the note at the top of the instructions, and you should have no problems. Check out the "Buy It Now" links for more pictures of the sets built up. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of