Search the Community

I'm going to build the hobbyboss A-6E intruder, I'll be building it a a tram version that took part in operation desert storm with the tan and sand scheme, I've got 2 aires gruea-7 seats and eduard A-6E tram interior, and the A-6E tram exterior kit and masks the decals are by hi decal line, not sure how I'll have the wings as yet, Glynn

Hi all, So I thought I'd start a thread for my build - I'm intending to build this (once it arrives): HobbyBoss Panzer IV B, kit no. 80131 I've also got some crew as I think it helps with the scale, though I'm not sure about my painting skills: Depending on time, etc. I was thinking I might make a little diorama with some "Battle of France" themed stuff - with some French infantry / AFV, but that will depend on how much of a glue bomb the Panzer turns into

My contribution to this build will be a TBM-3 from VT-83, which participated in the sinking of the Battleship Yamoto during the closing months of WW II. I'll be using the Hobbyboss kit. I was massively disappointed when I purchased the kit, as it is marketed as a British avenger, but doesn't give you the parts needed to build one. It sat in my attic for a year and then got moved to a new attic at my new house. Then last week I found this vt-83 sheet and the prospect of actually building the kit finally opened up.

I'm hoping to be able to build this alongside the Tamiya A version Not sure whether to use the kit decals or look for something different, though there is a limited number of squadrons to choose from.

Hello! Here's my HobbyBoss 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 Trop which I built back in 2008. It represents "Black 8", of 8./JG27, flown by Lt Werner Schroer, at Ain El Gazala, Libya, in April 1941. Despite being an "easy-build" kit, I had alot of work dealing with poor joints, especially along the fuselage sides. I added belts in the cockpit from an Eduard Luftwaffe WWII etched set. Although the boxtop displayed this option, it wasn't included in the decals so I used some from an old Airfix kit (from around 1980) which I had left over and were still in good condition. The main markings came from the HobbyBoss kit. The kit was mostly painted by brush except for the RLM80 mottling which was done with airbrush. The matt varnish was also airbrushed. Photos of this machine show it in reasonably good conditions so I kept weathering restrained. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome Miguel

So I have a general question for the group and those that know... I have some of the Hobby boss 1/48 flanker series, Su-34, Su-27 Flanker B I am going to order the Su-30MKK and I was wondering what options for other than PLAAF variants are buildable from the kit. I don't want to make a Chinese version or at least paint scheme, I could cannibalize the decals from my Academy Su-30 kit but I have plans for that kit. also is anyone coming out with any upgrades for this series? and lastly is HB planning to release an Su-35/37 with canards series? I have the SOL conversion kit for academy but that's a lot of work thanks A~

Hobby Boss has just re-released its Tomcat kit (link) as 1/72nd Grumman F-14A Tomcat "VF-1 Wolf Pack"- ref. 80279 Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1445&l=en V.P.

Here is my recently completed Astute Class Submarine using the 1/350 HobbyBoss kit. Pretty straight forward kit that's almost 'toy like'. Went together with no real problems and painted using mainly Halfords Satin Black from a can, kit decals were used and are I based on the earliest boats when I trial. Mounted on usual base and a few figures from Tamiya were added for scale. WiP: Stuart

Next on the building mat, a 1/350 Astuste Class Submarine using the HobbyBoss kit. The Astute Class is the current class of 'Hunter-killer' of the RN, replacing the older Trafalgar Class. Box art Hull halves. The upper hull comes complete the fin and aft planes fitted. Traditionally the fin would have been 2 parts and the after planes 4. Sprue shot that looks like parts for the top of the fin, masts, rudder,propulsion and foreplanes. Some photo-etch. Some 'blurb', instructions and painting call-out. Looks like a simple build but I've never built a HobbyBoss kit, so that might come back to bite me on the 'arras'. Stuart

Hi All I have also started another one (CC's ways are rubbing off on me), this time the Hobbyboss 1/32 Spitfire Vb of Jan Zumbach Serial EN951 code RF-D. The odd shaped fuselage Spine has been well documented online and well it just looks wrong. I am certainly no expert when it comes to Spitfires but the shape is too curved and appears too shallow. So I have set out to reshape this. I have started by comparing canopies and I put out a wanted request for a canopy with some kindly BMers offering and sending me some Canopies, take a bow Nick Belbin and Fightersweep. I have however got a complete Kit of the desired Spitfire via a generous trade with TrickyDicky210. Thanks you guys. I will be using the Revell MkII spitfire Canopy and have added some shots with it taped in place to see the height difference below I have used Plastrut rod glued along the spine on each side and rubbed down to hopefully a better profile Canopy rear section resting in place That's looking a bit better, just doing a bit at a time so I have fresh eyes each time . That's all for now Thanks for looking All the best Chris

Built in the nato v Warsaw pact gb, oob, peddinghaus decals, mr hobby paints, hobbyboss jabbo 33 f-84f, a nice little kit not many parts, terrible undercarriage connections, you'll have to pin them for strength Cheers Glynn I posted a couple of comparison pictures with something that may have been sent to intercept the F-84f in my thread in th gb, heres a couple, a yak 28p firebar

Hi folk's after overstretching myself with mainly 1/48 builds for recent and ongoing GB's time to pump the brakes and go back to smaller scale build's for this GB,first up is the Hobbyboss Mi-4 NATO reporting name Hound,Never built this aircraft before but have a couple of HB chopper's in the collection and they do build well,be a couple of week's before I start sprue shot's when the kit arrives.

Great news if you're a fan of modern British AFV's, I certainly didn't expect to see these from mainstream manufacturers: and this too: Just take my money now.

This is my Spitfire Vb built from the Hobbyboss kit, I know many complain about it for a few reasons, but to me it looks like a Spitfire...…...and that's good enough for me lol! Its was built out of the box and MRP paints were used. Hope you like it, but here is a bit about the man in the machine first. The son of Polish-born Swiss parents, Zumbach was registered as a Swiss citizen and hid his nationality in order to join the Polish army in 1934. He served as an infantryman until 1936 when he transferred to the Polish Air Force. After graduating from flying training in 1938 he was posted to 111 Eskadra Mysliwska. Zumbach did not fly during the German invasion of Poland due to a broken leg as a result of a flying accident during the summer of 1939. He returned to his unit only to be evacuated to France via Romania. While in France, Zumbach flew the Morane 406 and Curtiss Hawk 75 with GCII/55. On 10 June, he was one of several pilots shot down by Bf 109s, but escaped unscathed. On 18 June 1940, he traveled to England by boat and on 2 August was posted as one of the founding members of the newly formed No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron. During the Battle of Britain, Zumbach scored eight confirmed kills and one probable, mostly against Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Zumbach was shot down by a JG 3 Bf 109 over Dover on 9 May 1941 when returning from a mission, but he was able to bail out unharmed. Zumbach became one of the first Allied pilots to engage in combat with the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 when he damaged, and in return, his aircraft was damaged by a "single radial-engined fighter" on 13 October 1941. In December 1941, Zumbach was posted to 58 OTU, and in March 1942 returned to 303 Sqn as a flight commander. In May, he was promoted to Squadron Leader and took command of the squadron, a post Zumbach held from 19 May 1942 until 30 November 1943 During this period, Zumbach flew three Supermarine Spitfire VBs, carrying the serial numbers BM144, EP594 and EN951. All these aircraft carried the same code, RF-D, ("RF" being the squadron code for 303 Sqn) and "D" being the individual aircraft code. All three aircraft carried a cartoon of Donald Duck on the port side of the fuselage, slightly forward of the cockpit. Zumbach's victory tally was marked with German crosses under the cockpit on the port side; confirmed kills were outlined in white, probable kills in red, and damaged aircraft with no outline. After handing over command of 303 Sqn to Sqn Ldr Bieńkowski, Zumbach spent a year in staff appointments, including the Polish Air Force Staff College. He returned to flying duties as the commander of the 2nd Polish Air Wing, No 133 Wing. On 25 September 1944, he scored his final victory of the war, a probable kill over a JG 26 Fw 190 over Arnhem. On 30 January 1945, Zumbach was posted to HQ, No. 84 Group. While flying an Auster that was used to visit units under the Group's command, he made a navigational error and ran out of fuel. He force-landed in enemy territory and spent the final month of the war as a prisoner of war. Zumbach's final victory tally was 12 (and 2 shared) confirmed kills, five probables and one damaged.

This is my Spitfire Vb built from the Hobbyboss kit, I know many complain about it for a few reasons, but to me it looks like a Spitfire...…...and that's good enough for me lol! Its was built out of the box and MRP paints were used. Hope you like it, but here is a bit about the man in the machine first. Squadron Leader 'Buck' Casson, who has died aged 88, escaped from France in May 1940 to fly Spitfires over south-eastern England during the Battle of Britain; later he was a flight commander in Wing Commander Douglas Bader's "Tangmere Wing" before being shot down over northern France in August 1941. Casson was one of the original three trainee pilots to join the newly formed 616 (South Yorkshire) Auxiliary Air Force Squadron at Doncaster in early 1939. Training at weekends and during the annual summer camps, he qualified as a pilot in early 1940 before being sent to France as a reinforcement to 501 Squadron. But, before he could join them, the train on which he was travelling was bombed outside Amiens and he lost all his belongings. Casson managed to escape by boat back to England from Cherbourg. After a brief spell flying Hurricanes with 79 Squadron at Biggin Hill, he rejoined 616 at Leconfield, Yorkshire, just as the Battle of Britain gathered momentum. At lunchtime on August 15, the fighter squadrons based in north-east England were scrambled to face the Luftwaffe's most concentrated attack against industrial targets in Scotland and the north of England. Casson flew one of the 12 Spitfires which met the enemy as they crossed the Yorkshire coast. Within minutes, 616 Squadron had accounted for six of the unescorted bombers, with similar results achieved by other northern-based squadrons. A few days later, 616 flew south to Kenley where the squadron was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the battle as part of Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park's No 11 Group. Once 616 became fully operational again in early 1941, it was transferred and came under the command of the new Wing Leader, the legless pilot Douglas Bader, at Tangmere. The squadron boasted a glittering array of outstanding pilots, including "Johnnie" Johnson and "Cocky" Dundas. With his steadying and mature influence, allied to the experience gained during the hectic summer days of 1940, Casson became a section leader. On May 5, he shared in the destruction of a Junkers 88, but was hit by return fire, and was forced to bale out over Chichester harbour. On August 9, the "Bader" Wing took off for another sweep over France. During a hectic fight in which German fighters surprised them from above, Bader was shot down, and the Wing was forced to scatter. Casson had accounted for an Me 109 when he went to the aid of a lone Spitfire, but before he could join up he was engaged by a German fighter. Cannon shells damaged his aircraft's engine, forcing him to crash near St Omer, where he was captured. Shortly after his arrival at Stalag Luft III at Sagan, it was announced that Casson had been awarded the DFC. (The Telegraph)

T-18 Light Tank Model 1927 Hobbyboss 1/35 It occurred to me recently that, what with all the Bandai Star Wars kits I've been doing recently, it's been a while since I've done an armour build on here. In fact I think the last one was the SS-23 and that was over a year ago. Time to change that then, and something Soviet and inter-war seems like a good idea. This is the new Hobbyboss T-18, which was the first all Russian tank, albeit heavily based on the French FT. It's a pretty standard Hobbyboss kit, moulded in sand coloured styrene with non-working indi links and a splash of PE. This isn't meant to be an in-box review (I'm sure Mike will be doing a proper one soon), but I'll post some sprue shots so you've got something to look at until I start cutting plastic. It all comes in a smallish box (12" x 8" if you're curious) with just four sprues for the tank and another 2 for the tracks. There's a separate lower hull, upper hull and turret, and a small sheet of PE. Sprue A's got some of the hull panels and the fenders, along with a few details including, annoyingly, a solid moulded headlight. It's not even moulded with a separate solid lens, which would at least have made swapping it for a clear replacement easier. Rather it's got the housing and lens as a single solid piece, so to replace it I'll have to drill it out. Not much on sprue B. Just the turret base and main hatch. It looks like the sprue's been designed to be modifiable to take alternate part for future releases. I seem to recall Hobbyboss having more than one version listed in the 2016 catalogue. Two sprue D's carrying duplicate parts for the running gear. Two sprue T's (T for track, get it... oh, ever mind). Indi links aren't everyone's cup of char, nor mine for that matter, but these don't look too bad. No separate guide horns or pads to add, and the runs are only 51 links long. The single piece lower hull... ... and the upper hull and turret. Last up there's the small PE sheet. Mainly the perforated shroud that will need bending to a curved profile. There's no jig provided for that, so I'll probably end up doing it round a knife handle or pencil. I don't like the look of the tiny individual bolt heads. Don't know where they go yet, but I'll more than likely substitute some Meng bolt heads for them. And that's it. No decals as there's only one scheme provided, and it carries no markings. From a cursory glance everything looks well moulded. I've not really started checking references regarding accuracy, but I'll get on to that in the build. It looks like a T-18 which is the main thing. And, just so you know, this is a tiny tank. How tiny... this tiny More soon Andy

Soviet MBV-2 Rail Cruiser Late KT-28 Gun HobbyBoss 1:35 History The MBV-2 was a very large, self propelled armoured train or rail cruiser, as they were sometimes called. It was fitted with three turrets armed with the 76.2mm KT-28 guns removed from old T-28 Medium Tanks. They also carried four maxim machine guns within the hull with a further three DT machine guns in each turret. For anti-aircraft protection, the turret mounted DT’s in AA mounts were augmented by a Quad maxim in a retractable mounting between the control tower and first of the rear turrets. A pyramidal structure amidships formed something of a command cupola jutting out of the angled, armoured hull. This hull was simply fitted over the existing train car. Unlike other armoured trains built before, the MBV-2 included its own power pack - a diesel engine mated to a hydraulic transmission system - which allowed it to be self-propelled removing the use of a dedicated locomotive. In practice, MBV-2 trains were generally deployed as ranged fire support weapons and as deterrents along key fronts. Its firepower was capable of stopping all known light- and medium-armoured German tanks of the war which made German war planners take their threat seriously. However, the MBV-2 trains suffered from what other armoured trains suffered from - they were confined to existing railroad networks and weighed down by their heavy armament, ammunition, and armour. Fortunately for the Soviets, the country managed an extensive railway network - its value already proven in the First World War. Additionally, if disabled for any reason, these trains could also serve in a valuable static defence role. At least one (the second) MBV-2 armoured train was present along the Leningrad Front where it served as part of the 14th Independent Armoured Train Battalion (23rd Army). This example was saved from the scrap heap following the war to find sanctuary as a showpiece of the Kubinka Tank Museum. The Model Having reviewed the earlier release of this vehicle I was expecting to find something different in this version. But this is not the case. Other than the main guns it is in fact the same kit in a different box and paint guide. The kit comes in a large new style of box. It has a nice artist’s rendition of the rail cruiser on the front and a clear panel, through which you can see part of the main hull. Opening one end, you will find three of the main parts separate from the sprues, which are contained in two top opening boxes. On opening the smaller boxes the modeller is confronted with a box full of medium grey styrene, twenty sprues in total, along with separate hull, floor, bogies, control cupola, and turrets. There are also five rail ballast sections and a sprue of rails and sleepers in a light grey styrene. All the parts are beautifully moulded, particularly the single piece hull of the cruiser, with no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips, so cleaning up after removal from the sprues should be a bit of a doddle. Be aware that this is quite a large kit measuring out at 570mm in length and 94mm in width. The cruiser construction begins with the bogies, one is fitted with a frame, three sets of brake pads, three axles and three pairs of wheels. With the wheels fitted, the two side plates/axle bearings plus the front and rear plates. The second bogie is of similar construction, but with only two sets of wheels plus driving connecting rods and counterweights. The main body is then fitted out with the four two piece maxim machine guns from the inside. The floor is then attached followed a pair of air bottles and a single cross member. Two sets of control rods are then assembled and glued to the underside, followed by the two bogies and a pair of accumulators. The underside is then finished off with a pair of angled side skirts. Probably the most complex build is that of the quad AA maxim machine gun mount. The frame is assembled, followed by the four machine guns with separate handles. A connecting frame is attached to the front of the gund and two elevation arc frames fitted underneath. The ammunition boxes are glued to the guide frame which in turn is glued to the underside of the machine guns. The main mounting is part solid pyramid, part tripod with a two piece mount joint on top. The machine gun assembly is fitted to the joint and the completed assembly slid into the compartment just aft of the control tower hole. Unfortunately there are no bulkheads to this mounting position, so you can see straight through the main hull, including the previously fitted maxims, which are only the muzzle sections. You may wish to close this are in, but don’t forget any access doors. On the bow of the hull there is a three piece machine gun mounting for a DT gun, along with the two, two piece buffers, mid mounted dome and a load of handrails all over the hull. The six piece control tower/cupola is glued into place, along with more hand rails, as are the couplings fitted fore and aft. Four hinges are made up and attached to the hatch covers for the maxim pit, these can be made operable or just glued into the chosen position. Each of the three turrets are assembled from single piece upper sections, turret ring section, five piece coaxial DT machine guns eight piece main guns, two piece periscopes, and the separate commanders and gunners hatches. Two of the turrets also have another five piece DT machine gun fitted on the turrets rear face, while all three have a DT AA mount on the roof made of 10 parts. The completed turrets are then placed into their respective positions and the completed cruiser placed onto the rails. The three sections that make up the majority of the track are joined together and fitted with the two end pieces, one of which needs to be modified to fit. The sleeper sections are then fitted from beneath, again with one section requiring modification to fit. The rails are then slid through the ties and joined together with two fishplates per rail. Since most of the track laid in Russia seems to have been pretty much straight onto the ground surface, it might be best to leave the track bed parts and lay it onto a board or such like as part of a diorama. Conclusion As with the previous release, this is a great kit and will certainly look different in your model collection.. The build isn’t at all complicated and would be a good first build for anyone interested in these trains, just a shame that Hobbyboss couldn't make it at least a little different from the previous release, especially adding some more bulkheads around the AA machine gun well. The camouflage possibilities are interesting, with a few photos on the web showing how the cruisers were painted. Review sample courtesy of

Hobbyboss 1:48 BAe Hawk T.1 XX172 of RAF St Athan station Flight 2001 with ModelAlliance 'Dragon Hawk' limited edition decals. Overall I am satisfied with it but the glue failed on the seat belts after I fixed the canopy in place and the gloss is not as glossy as I would like...plus I should have taken more time with the transfers....but overall from a distance I'm happy....

The IAR 80 was a small-series Romanian-built WW2 fighter plane. Built with very limited resources and under many unfortunate circumstances, the plane behaved pretty well during its operational life, on all fronts. This little forgotten fighter is really close to my heart so I was very happy to see that Hobbyboss decided to offer a plastic kit dedicated to IAR 80. Now let's see what's in the box: Dry-fitting of the main pieces is very good and also the kit seems to be pretty accurate in dimensions. It really looks like an IAR80:) But this is where the good news is over, because the kit has some errors probably caused by sloppy documentation work (no wonder for Hobbyboss). Hopefully, with some love & tenderness, most of these can be properly addressed. I also acquired the separate PE instrument panel released by Yahu Models for IAR 80. It can be seen in the above picture with the canopy and windscreen. Although it looks like difficult to assemble (it is not the traditional just-stick one-piece IP from Yahu, this set consists of many small pieces that must be assembled together), I strongly recommend it for those interested in IAR 80, because it is a HUGE improvement over the kit's parts. The kit itself comes with a small PE fret containing the seat belts...but unfortunately these seatbelts are not correct for the early time-frame of the IAR 80 series. This type of seatbelts were indeed fitted to IAR 80/81 but only starting with summer 1943. They were also usually retro-fitted to earlier models of the plane, but of course starting with 1943. A 1940-1941-1942-early 1943 machine would not be fitted with such seatbelts. As said, the IAR 80 was produced in very limited numbers, only some 450 machines were built and it was used operationally only by the Romanian Air Force, mostly on the Eastern front and home defense missions. As an example, when fighting the Americans during the Ploesti oil fiend missions, it was usually mistaken with the Fw190:) Anyway, there is very limited knowledge about this plane and a very good reference work on the subject is the book "Romanian Hunter" authored by Radu Brinzan. Very solid work, it contains lots of details needed for an IAR 80 model. I greatly recommend it to anyone interested. One of the main problems of the Hobbyboss kit is that the original decals are almost unusable and the painting instructions are largely incorrect. There are decals for 2 airframes in the box: aircraft no.42 and aircraft no.137. But no.137 was a 6-gun wing model, while in the box we have the 4-gun wing model. Of course, some modifications could be made, but the idea is that OOB the markings for no.137 are incorrect for this model. The remaining variant, no.42 airframe, was indeed a 4-guns wing, but the King Michael's crosses are not the right ones for this model. But again Radu Brinzan came to help with this lovely decal sheet dedicated to early series on IAR 80, which is offering some very nice and correct markings and painting instructions for the earliest IAR 80 airframes. Another problem is related to the guns. As represented in the kit, they are not very correct and anyway under-represented. The early IAR 80 series were armed with 4 FN machine guns. These were some Belgian variations of the classic Browning 303. I looked to find some decent aftermarket for these and I found appropriate only this Quickboost set designed for the new Airfix P40B kit, which contains 4 browning 303 barrels. While not perfect, they are the closest match I could find for the FN's installed in the early IAR 80. Anyway, I intend to represent an early IAR 80 airframe, one of the machines built in the first series. The airplane was built in small batches, first series spanning from No.1 to No.20. I will probably go for a pre-war marking (1940 to early 1941 time frame), so the most probable candidates are no.2, no.9 or no.17 from Radu's decal sheet. That's all for the moment . Thanks for looking and cheers,

Why fight the inevitable? Every time I finish a kit I need to start a new one, no matter how many I have at the go at the moment. Serial kitstarter, thats me! This time I choose a subject a which will not have RAF roundels, nor a propeller. Almost scary! Why not some US Navy stuff from the fifties? White bellies, lovely rounded shapes and more often than not underpowered engines. Sounds a little bit like FAA Lets start with the obligatory shot of the box, complete with a quite bad painting: I got this used, and it included a little resin bangseat. No Idea who made it or anything, but it looks better than the kit item. Since this will be a relaxed build, that's the amount of aftermarket stuff I'll use. If need be, I'll scratch it. Anyway, I really liked option 2 with the nice blue stripe. The markings are for a FJ-4, but the kit itself is a FJ-4B so there is an abundance of Bullpup missiles and air brakes which will not be needed. Also, all the nice detail in the airbrakes are fictional so I'll close them. Not to easy to get a decent fit, but some plastic strips should get the brakes to the correct height. The small scoops on top of the fuselage should apparently be sanded down but I missed that, and will happily ignore it going forward. The wing and the undercarriage bay was not a big challenge to fit together at least. Rig Time to sort out that intake and a few other parts. //C

Hello Everybody ... So Im almost done over in the Carrier group build with my F-18 Hornet. Time to set this one up. For this build im going to use Hobbyboss’s easy build Me.262 A1a. Im not sure if i will use the kits markings options though. Im thinking a bit outside the box for this build. Im thinking of something like these two profiles might be the direction i go. Again i may or may not go with kit markings or profiles. I have a bit of time to think on it. I will also try to add a little to the cockpit to help the lack of detail for that. If im brave enough i will have a go at cutting the canopy, as its a single unit currently. I will take some photo’s of the sprue’s and box contents as the week progresses. I will post them before the start of the build. Any comments ? questions ? Or jokes ? Dennis

I was just perusing the Squadron Mail Order website and discovered that the HobbyBoss 1/72nd scale P-61C is now available. Squadron has it priced at $30.99USD; your mileage may vary. @72modeler, you may like this; you have told me that you prefer the 0.50 cal. turreted versions. The painting indicates an intake of some sort under the cowlings. This looks good; I believe that HobbyBoss intends to release the entire series of P-61s. Joe

BAZ-64022 Tractor with 5P85TE2 TEL S-400 Hobbyboss 1:35 (HB85517) The BAZ-64022 is a high mobility tractor truck. It is a member of BAZ Voschina family of heavy military vehicles. The BAZ-6909 is a baseline model of this family. There is a high degree of commonality between various trucks of this family. Development of this family was funded by the Russian MoD. The BAZ-64022 was designed to tow semi-trailers on all kinds of roads. Also it can operate over rough terrain and in remote areas. It is a purpose-designed military vehicle and has been bought by the Russian armed forces, being introduced around 2004. This tractor truck can tow semi-trailers with loads with fuel tanks, air defence radars, air defence missiles and other special equipment with a maximum weight of 15 000 kg. The BAZ-64022 is used as a prime mover to tow special semi trailers with Russian S-400 air defence missiles. The Kit The kit arrives in a fairly substantial box. There are 23 sprues and 4 separate parts in a sand coloured plastic, 2 sets of missile tubes, three sheets of PE, one sprue of clear plastic, and an acetate sheet of windows, some flexible hose, a set of window masks and 11 rubber tyres. The missile tubes are one part hollow mouldings. All the parts are well moulded with no sign of flash or other imperfections, just the normal moulding pips on some of the smaller parts. The build begins with the assembly of the engine, which is provided in two halves for the block to which the gearbox is attached. Since the truck is powered by a V8 diesel there are two cylinder heads to fit, to which the injector rails and coils are attached. These are then fitted to the engine block, followed by the alternator, water pump pulley and fuel filter. The exhaust manifolds are next, followed by the CDR valve and oil filter. The turbocharger is assembled from three parts, the turbine housing, compressor housing and attachment plate; the assembly is then fitted with the outlet pipes. The completed sub-assembly is then fitted to the engine with each outlet pipe being attached to the intake manifolds and the turbo intake to the exhaust manifold. The oil cooler is then fitted to the engine block, along with the fan, accessory belt pulley and the exhaust pipe, to which a two part silencer section is fitted to the end, is attached to the turbo. To enhance the engine further the modeller could/should add the ignition/electrical harness. The next part of the build is the assembly of the chassis. This consists of the two long chassis rails, to which the engine assembly is fitted at the front, between the rails there are numerous cross-members, motor mountings, gearboxes, driveshafts, and the chassis endplates fitted to one rail before the other rail can be attached. The engine assembly is then glued into position along with yet another driveshaft, some support flanges and suspension parts. Each of the six separate suspension units are then assembled from nine parts, keep each assembly marked as they only fit into one position, and it’s easy to get them muddled up. Once attached they have further parts added, and in the case of the rear suspension a set of carriage springs too. The parts that make up the steering rack are meant to be fitted without gluing, so be careful when you clip the parts into place as they look quite fragile. With all the chassis and suspension assembled, the large three piece mudguards are fitted over the rear wheels. The rear light clusters are attached, while the large fuel tank is assembled and glued into place on the right hand side. Several plates are then fitted to the top of the chassis rails, while a large step and additional checker plates are glued into place, followed by the fifth wheel, which itself is made from ten parts, and a host of additional detail pieces including towing cable, radiator and housing. Finally it’s on to the six huge wheels the tractor is bestowed with. Each wheel consists of six plastic parts and the large rubber tyre. Once assembled, they are glued to their respective axles. The next step is to build the cab. The floor is fitted with the front bulkhead lower console and instrument binnacle, with decal instruments, as well as two foot pedals. There is a small box where the central console would normally be and this is fitted with three levers, next to it are the two piece steering wheel and the gear stick. The drivers seats is made up from five parts and the two passenger seats are made from three parts before being glued to the box like base. The seats are then fitted to the cabin floor. The the large slide moulded cab is fitted with the two windscreens, valance and a small rear window before being glued to the cab floor. The three large bottles for the braking system each come as two parts before being glued to the underside of the cab floor. While on each side the large five piece steps are attached, followed by two fire extinguishers and two part aerial to the rear of the cab. The two five piece doors are then attached, as are the myriad of detail parts, such as windscreen wipers, roof hatch, lifting eyes, wing mirrors, beacons, searchlight and guard, before the cab is fitted to the chassis. The tractor is then fitted with an eleven parts left hand front mudguard, which includes the exhaust silencer and a six piece right hand mudguard. The engine cover is then added, made up from eight parts and the stowage boxes and large fuel cells fitted to both sides of the engine deck. To fionsih the tractor off, there are numerous small parts to be added, such as tools boxes, stowage bins, generators and the spare wheel in it’s frame. The main bed of the trailer is then assembled from large single piece upper and lower parts. The erector/launcher is made up very similar to the chassis of the tractor. Two large rails are fitted with cross members before being fitted with a pair of side panels. To this, the forty three piece front end and twenty two piece rear end tube holders are attached. The erecting gear consists of twelve parts and is fitted to the underside of the rear tube holder. More detail parts are added, another forty five parts in total. The main bed of the trailer is then assembled from large single piece upper and six piece lower parts. To the underside of the upper section a stowage box and launcher hydraulic ram are attached. The lower section is then glued to the upper section, before work begins on the trailer wheels, from four parts and a rubber tyre and central steadying pad, made from eleven parts. The rear suspension is assembled from eight parts and once the wheels have been attached it can be glued into position. The front mounted side steadying pads are each made from seven parts, whilst the rear mounted pads are made from thirteen parts. Each of the pads can be optionally posed in the travelling or deployed positions. The trailer is then detailed with front and rear mud flaps, and stowage latch wing nuts. The large control console fitted to the front of the trailer is made from forty eight parts which include two airline reels. With the control console in place the other details added include access ladders in either stowed or lowered positions, the lower launcher stop, and finally the launcher itself. This can be made to elevate and lower assembled carefully. The launcher tubes are each assembled from the single piece tube, rear cover, frangible front cover and optional protective cover, which can be fitted to the tube for travel or, the hubs of the rear wheels for firing. The kit is completed by fitting the trailer to the tractor. Decals Markings are provided for two machines, one in overall green camouflage with large stares and banners for the Moscow Mayday parade and an operational machine in three colour camouflage. No information is provided as to which units these belong to. The decals are of the usual standard, being well printed, in register and nicely opaque.  Conclusion I really love big Russian military equipment and this is a great example, although the tractor unit doesn’t have the quirkiness of the MAZ-543 used in many other applications, including, the S-300 TEL tractor and its associated Big Bird Radar system. It’s still an imposing unit though and when the trailer is attached will be quite a long model. Whether you build it in transport of firing mode it will be quite imposing in your collection. Review sample courtesy of

Treated myself to a couple of HobbyBoss easy-build aircraft after my struggles with Revell's Bf-109's. I like these: they're fun, and usually pretty accurate, within limitations. One limitation is that the trailing edges are very, very thick. A lot (a very large lot) of sanding and scraping is needed, and some post-sharpening work to re-scribe control surfaces and replace trim tabs will be needed. Note also the sprue attachment point on the rear fuselage, that would do credit to a short-run resin kit! Another limitation is the cockpit: it has some vestigial details, but it's not even a remote resemblance to the actual aircraft. Another issue is that it's much too shallow. The cockpit floor is basically the upper surface of the nose wheel bay, but the kit version is about 3.5mm above where it ought to be (about 10 inches in reality, so too much even for me to ignore). I drilled down to establish the right depth, then chopped out with a chisel to get rid of the "seat" and flatten out the floor. The instrument coaming position is wrong (it's too short) but that's a problem for a future version of me!

German Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz HobbyBoss 1:350 SMS Seydlitz was the fourth German battlecruiser, and was essentially an enlarged version of the previous Moltke class ships. She was 46 feet longer but 3 feet narrower, carried the same main armament of ten 11.1in guns, and had a designed speed one knot faster (although her actual top speed of 28.1kts was lower than that achieved by the Moltke). The Seydlitz was Admiral Hipper’s flagship from June 1914 until October 1917. She took part in the Gorleston Raid of 2nd – 4th November 1914, the first attack on the British coast during the First World War, and the attack on Hartlepool on 16 December, where she was hit by three 6in shells from the coastal guns, The Seydlitz was hit three times at the battle of Dogger Bank (24th January 1915). The second of those hits, a 13.5in shell from the Lion, hit the upper deck aft and penetrated the barbette of “D” turret. The flash ignited some of the cordite in the reloading chamber, causing a fire that spread up to the gun house and threatened to detonate the magazine. Only the actions of Pumpenmeister Wilhelm Heidkamp, who flooded “C” and “D” magazines, saving the ship. The damage spread to “C” turret when some of the crew of the “D” turret attempted to escape through a connecting hatch. The same thing would happen on four British battlecruisers at Jutland, destroying three. In the aftermath of the battle of Dogger Bank the Germans modified the way their cordite was handled. Automatic doors were installed in the ammo hoists, much more care was taken to reduce the amount of cordite charges in the turret, and the fore charges were to be kept in their tins until they were about to be used. These changes almost certainly saved several German ships from destruction at Jutland. The Seydlitz was Hipper’s flagship at the start of the Lowestoft raid of 25th March 1916. Early in the sortie she hit a mine, which blew a 90 meter hole in her side and let in 1,400 tons of water. Admiral Hipper had to transfer his flag to the Lützow, significantly delaying the raid. The Seydlitz needed two months of repairs, only coming back into service on 29th May. The High Seas Fleet sortie that led to Jutland was delayed until the Seydlitz was ready to take part. Once again she was very badly damaged in the battle, although not until after she had played a part in the destruction of HMS Queen Mary. The Seydlitz opened fire on the Queen Mary at 15.50. The British had the best of the early duel. A hit at 15.55 knocked out the starboard forward switch room. The significance of the changes made after Dogger Bank was demonstrated at 15.57 when the working chamber of “C” turret was hit. The turret was knocked out, but without the disastrous results that followed at Dogger Bank. At 16.36 the Queen Mary suffered from the lack of anti-flash precautions on the British battlecruisers and exploded under fire from the Seydlitz and Derfflinger. The Seydlitz continued to take damage throughout the battle. In all she was hit by 25 shells and one torpedo. C, B, D and E turrets were all hit, and she began to take on water. At 2.40am on 1st June she scrapped across Horns Reef, taking on more water, and by 2.30 that afternoon only her buoyant broadside torpedo room kept her afloat. She was rescued by two pump ships, and reached the entrance to Jade Bay by 2nd June, where she was briefly beached. She was repaired by 1 October 1916, taking part in most of the remaining High Seas sorties of the war. At the end of the war she was interned at Scapa Flow, and was scuttled on 21 June 1919. The Model Hobbyboss are continuing to release plenty of new and exciting maritime subjects. It’s even better now that they have started to manufacture German ships from WWI with this release of the SMS Seydlitz. Although it has actually been out a little while, it has proved so popular that we have only now been able to acquire a review sample. The kit arrives in a nice attractive box with a dramatic painting of the ship making way at sea. Inside you will find the instructions and hull sprue on the first level, then, once the cardboard shelf has been removed the rest of the kit, on seven sprues, along with three deck pieces and eight separate parts in grey styrene. There are also four sheets of etched brass, a length of chain and a small decal sheet. The moulding of all parts is superb, with no sign of flash or other imperfections other than the necessary moulding pips. The build begins with the joining of the two hull halves. These are strengthened with five internal bulkheads. The aft deck section is then attached, but before the mid section can be added, twelve two piece barbettes must be fitted to the hull and four to the underside of the deck. The foredeck can then be fitted and work begins on the underside of eh hull. There are four plated in propeller shafts, two A frame supports for the middle pair of shafts, four propellers, the main rudder and auxiliary rudder. With the hull turned upright work can then begin on the superstructures. Now, these ships didn’t really have much in the way of superstructures, there being three islands, the bridge, consisting of three decks, the top deck including the bridge wings, an eleven piece mast, plus a lower structure aft of the lower bridge, which contains two more tow piece barbettes. The bridge is then further detailed with PE railings, vertical ladders, halliard tie base and binnacle. Just behind the bridge is the fore-funnel structure. This consists of the three piece funnel split horizontally, three PE foot and hand rails, two piece funnel cap, with another pair of PE handrails. Eight individual auxiliary chimneys, a searchlight platform with two separate supports plus four searchlights, two lookout stations and four goose necked cranes. The whole structure is detailed with PE railings, vertical and inclined ladders. The bridge and fore-funnel assemblies are then glued to the foredeck lower superstructure section and the bridge unit is fitted with the forward mounted armoured control bridge, with separate rangefinder on top. In front of the control bridge, there is a ships wheel and separate binnacle, which are then encased in a deckhouse which is open to the rear. The lower bridge wings are made of PE parts are fitted, as well as some more PE inclined ladders, and railings. The foredeck is the detailed with the addition of the breakwater, capstans, windlasses, bitts, cleats and storage boxes. These are followed by the anchor chain, jack staff, three anchors, boat booms, inclined ladders between the main deck and fo’c’sle, bow torpedo tube cap, and ships crests either side of the bow. The after funnel is assembled with the single piece base attached to the main deck, along with five two piece cable drums. The three piece funnel is then fitted out with five hand/foot rails either side, and eight auxiliary chimneys before being fitted to the base, as are two ships crane king posts. Railings are then attached, as are two vertical ladders, one for each king post. The four piece jibs are then glued to the base of the posts and two top mounted cables are fitted to each crane. The after superstructure si made up from the base, main block, to which five platforms are attached followed by the main mast lower section. Several PE vertical ladders are glued into place, as are four searchlights, rear director tower with separate rangefinder, four lookout posts, and the top of the main mast which consists of eleven parts. The rest of the railings are attached as are two inclined ladders before the assembly is glued into position to the rear of the main deck. The quarterdeck is then fitted out with the paraphernalia that ships are known for, the bitts, cleats, ensign staff, stern anchor, nameplates, storage boxes, a host of skylights and other fittings. On the main deck the ships boats cradles are folded from PE parts and glued into position. The ships boats are assembled next, each of the ten boats multi-parts with separate hulls, decks, and rudders, the steam pinnaces then receiving a roof and smoke stacks. The completed boats are then glued to their respective cradles. The final assemblies are the five twin turrets of the main armament. Each turret is made from the base, two guns, separate trunnions and trunnion mounts. The barrels are well moulded and not too thick, so you could get away with not replacing them with brass parts should you so wish. They also have a nice indented end representing the interior of the barrel. The turret is the slid over the barrels and glued to the base and PE ladder fitted between the barrels. The turret assemblies are then fitted to the barbettes, one forward, two en echelon amidships and two aft. The model is finished off with a complete set of main railings and two three piece PE accommodation ladders The kit does come with a nice nameplate which can be painted as per the modellers wishes.. Decals The small decal sheet provides the ships name plates, ships crests and white identification circles for turret Anton and turret Dora. They are nicely printed with good opacity and in register. The ship is painted in Dark blue Grey hull and superstructure tow the height of the foredeck, then light grey above that, with red antifouling and no boot topping. Depending on the date for which the model is being built, and you will have to check your references, the modeller may choose to paint the aft funnel red. Conclusion This is another very welcome release, finally giving the modeller a German WWI battlecruiser. While this kit is pretty accurate, certainly with the hull form, which to be fair is quite simple, there does appear to be a slight discrepancy in the secondary armament. The kit has the rear mounted barbettes between the main and quarter decks as per her 1913 fit, but not the bow mounted barbettes, which had been removed by 1918, as had the rear barbettes. Easy fix though, just leave the barbettes out as their opening stayed unplated, although you will need to box the area in with plasticard. That said, it’s still a great looking kit. Review sample courtesy of