Search the Community

Coleman MB4 Aviation Tractor (229632) 1:32 VideoAviation.com Manufactured in the 1950s, the American Coleman MB4 was built and distributed by Coleman Company, who are more well known for BBQ equipment and gas canisters these days. This short aviation tractor was fitted with a Chrysler 230 flathead petrol engine, with an electric clutch and manual transmission linked to all four wheels, which were all selectively steerable for easy manoeuvring, just by operating a lever. It was capable of pulling a load up to 10,000 pounds from the pintle-hooks at the front and rear, with a small load or crew carrying area to the rear. Their heyday was the 60s and 70s where they saw service in the US military, but even now some are still in use, although they’re likely to be pulling less glamorous than a Phantom or SR-71 these days. How the mighty have fallen. The Kit This resin kit of the once ubiquitous airfield tractor has been available from VideoAviation in other scales before, and now we have one in 1:32, with a commensurate increase in terms of detail and size, but also of technology used to create the kit. The main parts are still cast in cream-coloured resin, but a number of the smaller, more delicate parts are 3D printed using SLA techniques, with the now-familiar tendrils or fingers holding them on their printing base. The traditional resin comprises twenty-seven parts, while the 3D printed parts make up a further nineteen, seven clear resin parts, four Photo-Etch (PE) parts on a small fret, plus a sheet of pre-cut clear acetate sheet for most of the flat-pane windows. Detail is excellent, and some of the largest resin parts have been pre-sanded to remove the casting blocks. You will have to saw or nip off the many fingers from the resin parts, and there is a slip of paper warning you to take care to avoid breaking parts, which is good advice. Construction begins with the resin dash, which has a solitary brake pedal attached underneath for insertion later into the cab, which is next, the lower half of which is detailed with accelerator pedal, rear-wheel steering lock, and a small stowage box, with the driver controls inserted into slots in the floor, before the two crew seats are added, and these 3D printed parts are very well designed. The dash slides into the lower cab on a small ledge and the steering column with 3D printed wheel are added in a sit-up-and-beg fashion common to commercial vehicles. Two trapezoid resin parts are installed under the cab, with a warning to test fit before applying the glue, to ensure they are square to the cab and each other. The cab is then glued onto the large chassis along with the engine cowling, radiator grille and chunky front bumper, plus two short sections at the rear. The load bed is made up from five sections, which is fitted to the rear of the chassis, and again test-fitting is recommended. A scrap diagram shows how the parts should look once installed and glued, which is helpful before outfitting the chassis with the detail parts. On the rear bed the two L-shaped 3D printed safety rails are slotted into holes in the resin flats, and 3D front fenders are fitted around the front wheel arches to the sides of the engine cowling. At this stage you have a cabriolet tractor, which is remedied by adding the five resin panels and windscreens around the top of the cab, checking and fettling before gluing, as usual. The doors can be left open or ajar by removing a small lip on the inside top, with the area shown on an accompanying diagram. The four wheels with their hub caps are fixed to the axles, aligning the casting block area with the ground to hide its lack of tread. A box is glued to the left fender, and a clear resin light on a PE bracket is glued onto each side of the front bulkhead of the cab, with a work light at the rear of the cab, and two small clear lights on the rear, plus two towing shackles for front and rear, one open, one closed. There is a clear ‘plant pot’ warning light for the top of the roof, plus a viewing port in the front, both of which are clear resin, then the clear acetate is freed from its sheet and inserted into the cab from the outside using a non-marring or fogging glue, and the final parts are two PE windscreen wipers for the front screen, suspended from the top of the frame. Both of those items can be seen below, with the acetate stapled to a protective piece of blue card. Markings A small decal sheet is included in the box that contains black stripes for the front and rear bumpers, a Coleman logo for the radiator, some US Air Force logos for the cowling, and four tyre pressure stencils above each wheel. The recommended colour scheme is overall yellow, but olive green is also an option, and if you have references showing one in other colours, go for it. You can find some useful images on the VideoAviation website by clicking on the link at the bottom of our review. Conclusion The level of detail available from the box is outstanding, and has risen commensurate with its scale to afford the modeller with a great diorama item, or as a model in its own right. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

USAF Flight Line Maintenance (198232) 1:32 VideoAviation.com Aircraft dont fly and generate sortie without correct maintenance. Flight line maintenance kits and figures can add an essential touch to any diorama and this set from VideoAviation is an update of a previous set. The Kit It arrives in a clear plastic bubble box, and inside there are a substantial bundle of resin parts, all in bags and protected for their safety. There are two figures, one standing as if about to start marshalling and the other fixing some thing a pilot no doubt broke There is no timeline for the figures and with the correct painting could resemble any period between the present and the cold war. There is a tool chest on wheels (with individual drawer), briefcase and 2 buckets provided. For the tool chest a whole host of PE and resin tools are provided. A couple of the news are newer ones but the majority are pretty timeless Conclusion If you're placing any of your models on a base, adding ancillary equipment and figures is a great way of enhancing realism. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

US Navy Aero 12c Cart "Explosive Ordnance Container" (198132) 1:32 VideoAviation.com The Aero12 cart is often seen on US Navy carrier decks to move bombs about, this new dual set from VideoAviation has two of these carts fitted with "Explosive Ordnance" containers. It arrives in a clear plastic bubble box, and inside there are a substantial bundle of resin parts, all in bags and protected by their safety. There are two carts and the boxes to fit onto them. The small decal sheet is crisply printed, and contains sufficient markings to complete the task in hand. Conclusion If you're placing any of your models on a base, adding ancillary equipment is a great way of enhancing realism.. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

LAU-51 Rocket Launcher (197732) 1:32 Videoaviation.com The LAU-51 rocket pod has 19 tubes from which is can fire 2.75" Folding Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR) or Wrap Around (WA) rockets either individually or in ripple-fire mode with a 40-60ms interval between launches to give a concentrated advancing barrage on a target. They were pylon mounted and commonly used on the Jaguar, Alphajet, F-104, G-91 light fighters in the ground attack role. The set arrives in a small clamshell box with a bag of resin behind the header card, two more resin parts wrapped in (removable) foam to protect the delicate parts, a small decal sheet in another bag, and the instruction sheet folded in front to reduce vibration damage during shipping and storage. There are six main parts, plus a run of eight suspension lugs, of which only four are needed, so you can afford to lose a few! Each rocket pack is made up from the main body, which has an aerodynamic nose with 19 perforations, the rear exhaust ports, and a coaming around the rear that both masks and contains the launch plume. Each part is a very snug fit to its mate, so there is very little room for error, other than losing more than four of the lugs. These fit two per pod onto the top line, which has two small recesses on top to receive them. The decals are well-printed with stencils, and half the A5 instruction sheet is devoted to detailed painting and marking of the finished pod, mostly in relation to Luftwaffe F-104G and G-91 Ginas. If you're not using them for these aircraft, check your references and adapt the decals and colour schemes accordingly. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A/M32A-86 Generator (197932) 1:32 VideoAviation.com This Hobart (and later under the Hollingsworth name) generator is designed with larger aircraft in mind, and came into service with many air forces in the 80s. It contains a 4-53 Detroit diesel engine and produces three-phase electricity at 400hz with a ton of power and enough amps to supply the biggest draw. There are many still available on the second hand market, although outside aviation there's little use for them due to the frequency they run at, which would fry anything designed for domestic feeds. The Kit It arrives in a rectangular white card box, and inside there are a substantial bundle of resin parts, all in bags and protected by their own roll of bubble-wrap for safety. There are twenty one parts in cream coloured resin, a small sheet of pre-cut acetate, a length of black insulation, and a decal sheet, plus the instruction booklet printed on both sides of an A4 sheet. The largest part is the cowling that contains the engine, to which the outriggers attach to two lugs. The axles fit to the underside and are joined by the four wheels with their hubs, which are separate parts. The front axle has a mount for the towing hitch, which can be posed up or down, with a filler tube for the diesel fitted into a slot nearby. At the rear is an insert for the radiator louvers, and on the top is fitted a lifting eye for when you simply must get your generator airborne. The controls for the unit are recessed into the side of the main cowling, and the panels fit snugly into the recess, covered over by two of the acetate parts, with two spares in case you're too lavish with the glue. The final parts make up the cable, which is made up from the insulation supplied, and a resin plug glued to one end. This is often seen stowed in the panniers built into the outriggers where the wheels are found, and the other end secures to the circular aperture on either side of the engine cowling. Markings The decal sheet is crisply printed, and contains sufficient stencils to complete the task in hand, with most of them in black, and a couple of emergency warning placards in red. They were originally painted in olive drab, but eventually transitioned to grey, and there are decals for one of each. This type of equipment wasn't particularly well looked after, so there are plenty of opportunities to weather it to your heart's content with soot, rust and horribly weathered or sun bleached panels, some of which probably started life on a different machine. The instructions call out detail painting in colour names, with the important ones given FS numbers to help you choose the right ones, and a quick Google will generate (hah!) plenty of pictures online for the weathering part. Conclusion If you're placing any of your models on a base, adding ancillary equipment is a great way of enhancing realism, so although you probably won't need to show it in use unless you've scratch built something humongous, it will look great parked awaiting its call to duty. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of