Archives: Kit Reviews
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Merit International USS Yorktown CV-5
FineScale Modeler reviews Merit International’s 1/350 scale plastic model ship kit. Merit International’s 1,100-part kit represents the first USS Yorktown as she was at Midway shortly before being sunk by Japanese torpedoes and bombs. The 12″ x 30″ box has 16 sprues of gray plastic, 15 clear sprues for the aircraft, and 5 large photoetched-metal frets.
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Dragon Saladin Mk.2 armored car
FineScale Modeler reviews Dragon’s 1/35 scale plastic model armored car kit. Until now, if you wanted a 1/35 scale plastic kit of the Saladin, the only game in town was the old, inaccurate, difficult-to-find Tamiya kit. Now Dragon has released this brand-new kit of the Saladin Mk.2 under its Black Label line.
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Kinetic Sea Harrier FA2
FineScale Modeler reviews Kinetic’s 1/48 scale plastic model airplane kit. Kinetic’s brand-new Sea Harrier comprises 271 parts, including two sprues dedicates to ordnance, photoetched-metal wing fences, and a crystal-clear canopy. Markings for 28 aircraft from five squadrons are provided.
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Tamiya Panzer 38(t) Ausf E/F
FineScale Modeler reviews Tamiya’s 1/48 scale plastic model tank kit. Tamiya’s newly tooled PzKpfw 38(t) consists of 144 dark gray plastic parts with four poly caps and two metal plates. Two marking options are for overall gray Eastern Front tanks in 1942, one from the 22nd Panzer Division, the other from an unknown unit.
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Airfix Hawker Hurricane Mk.I
FineScale Modeler reviews the 1/48 scale plastic model aircraft kit. Less glamorous than the more modern and arguably prettier Spitfire, the Hurricane was the backbone of defense during the Battle of Britain. Numerically superior to the Spitfire, Hawker’s fighter was tough, shot down numerous Luftwaffe bombers, and helped stem the German tide.
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Kitty Hawk’s Sabre Dog, IBG’s Otter reconnaissance car, Hasegawa’s Lavochkin La-7, photoetched-metal connectors from Albion Alloys, and Moebius Models’ “Battlestar Galactica” Colonial One
Four new kits and cool photoetched metal for scratchbuilding
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IBG Models 1/35 scale Otter light reconnaissance car
FineScale Modeler builds the 1/35 scale plastic armored car model kit. The Otter was based on the Canadian C15TA truck chassis and was armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle and Enfield Bren machine gun. Later vehicles had turrets replaced by a mount for a Browning M2 machine gun. Between 1942 and 1945, more than 1,750…
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Airfix Jet Engine
FineScale Modeler reviews the plastic model aircraft jet engine kit. The parts are molded in colors that represent the kits’ parts and are sealed in their own bags. No gluing — everything either presses or screws together — or painting is required. However, I painted some parts to make them look less like plastic.