Tabla de contenidos para December 2020 en FineScale Modeler

Modelers love details, am I right? If we didn’t, there would not be a market for the thousands of resin and photo-etched metal (PE) addons available today, scratchbuilding would not be as popular, and the publishers of all of the reference tomes that crowd our bookshelves would be out of business. Of course, my shelves would be less crowded and my wallet heavier, but that’s beside the point. Which is that we love details. We love re-creating them on our models whether it’s ensuring that is the right ejection seat for that F-15 at that time or nailing the Zimmerit pattern on a StuG III. For me, that also means looking for ideas to add detail to my models. (I especially like any ideas or techniques that make PE easier…

If you are playing Dungeons & Dragons for the first time, or revisiting it from your youth, you may have encountered a monster called a wyvern. These dragon-like monsters have 50-foot wingspans, razor-sharp teeth, and scorpion-like tails with stingers. For this build, I used Reaper Miniatures’ Bile the Wyvern 25mm white-metal figure (No. 14260). The kit comes with three parts and a plastic base.…

The Imperial Russian pre-dreadnought Knyaz Suvorov had a short but dramatic career. Launched Sept. 25, 1902, the Borodino-class battleship entered service two years later after the start of the Russo-Japanese War and almost immediately set sail for Port Arthur as the flagship of the Second Pacific Squadron. En route, the Russian fleet was intercepted by Japanese ships and the ensuing Battle of Tsushima cost Russia all of its battleships, including the Knyaz Suvarov, which went down with the loss of all but 20 of its 928 crew. Zvezda’s 1/350 scale Knayz Suvorov is a nice kit of the predreadnought with good fits and detail, including engraved planks on the decks. But it doesn’t include any photo-etched metal (PE) details, so I acquired a set of Tom’s Modelworks generic 1/350 scale…

When Round 2 announced AMT would release the Supernatural 1967 Chevy Impala four-door hardtop, the first thought for me was: “Will it have an opening trunk?” Fans of the show know the car, called Baby by its owner Dean Winchester, holds a treasure trove of weapons and tools used in hunting all things otherworldly. Unfortunately, no, the trunk didn’t open, so there was no large box of evil-trashing goodies to display. To a modeler, that is an invitation to get creative. Final Thoughts My intent from the beginning was to open the trunk and display the tools of the hunter’s trade held inside. But without reference, what are we looking at? I was able to come by a couple of resin figures of Supernatural’s main characters Sam and Dean Winchester.…

Aircraft design advanced rapidly in the 1930s from fixed gear biplanes to monoplanes with fully retractable gear. Some aircraft were caught in the middle of the transition, including the Dewoitine D.500 series. A world-leading design at its inception, the D.500 and its close relatives quickly lost ground in performance compared to up-and-coming rivals. Dora Wings chose this little known but important evolution in combat aircraft as its initial 1/32 scale kit. Boasting excellent surface detail, decals for four schemes, photo-etched metal (PE) parts, and handy vinyl canopy masks, it’s a good-looking freshman effort. The instructions call for PE instrument panels that are detailed with additional brass bezels. I used the optional injection-molded panels because they offered better detail for less work, even though they aren’t mentioned in the instructions. The…

AIRCRAFT 1/32 SCALE 1/48 SCALE 1/72 SCALE ARMOR 1/35 SCALE 1/48 SCALE 1/72 SCALE FIGURES 1/35 SCALE SPACECRAFT 1/48 SCALE AUTOS 1/35 SCALE MISCELLANEOUS 1/35 SCALE AIRCRAFT DECALS 1/48 SCALE 1/144 SCALE 1/200 SCALE AIRCRAFT DETAILS 1/32 SCALE 1/48 SCALE 1/48 SCALE BOOKS More at www.FineScale.com Check out Aaron Skinner’s reviews of the latest kits in New Product Rundown on the FSM website. Workbench Reviews Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM. WBR Find us on Facebook Connect with modelers from across the globe, share ideas, have some fun!…

With its straight wings, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star did not have the sleek appearance of speed while sitting still that oozed from later swept-wing jets; however, it still looked streamlined compared to its earlier piston-engined brethren. A decal sheet from the 2015 Columbus, Ohio IPMS/USA National Convention came my way from a modeling friend, and I decided it was time to mate that sheet with the Sword 1/72 scale P-80C kit (No. 72025). The sheet provided markings for a Columbus Naval Air Reserve TV-1 and the orange reserve band complimented the aircraft’s natural-metal finish. Looking at pictures of the actual aircraft, I noted some additions and changes to the scheme which were not covered by the Columbus decal sheet. I would have to make minor adjustments. Follow along as…

The Soviet Union’s T-28 medium tank featured three turrets: one armed with a 76mm main gun and two housing machine guns. Zvezda’s 1/72 scale T-28 is a pretty quick and easy build consisting of 201 tight-fitting parts and straightforward construction. I started by adding the running gear to the tub-style lower hull. Although the T-28 has a large number of road wheels and mudguards, all of the parts required no cleanup and fit well. The link-and-length tracks go together like a dream and look good, too. Only six parts are needed for each run. The parts show nicely molded detail and are flexible enough to allow for some sag. The upper hull and turrets built quickly, which was not surprising considering the low parts count. Even so, Zvezda manages to…

The Ural-4320 is a durable 6 x 6 off-road truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant for the Russian army and civilian use. Introduced in 1976, it is still in production today and has been adapted for a variety of roles. Kitty Hawk’s 1/48 scale kit builds into two full trucks, a standard cargo truck and a Ural APA-5D airfield starter vehicle. Construction for both starts with the frame. I encountered a few easily solved fit and part issues in the first few assembly steps. For example, a some parts had locator pegs on both parts rather than pegs and holes. I had to shave off both sets of pegs and align the parts by eye. I suggest drilling a hole in Part B8 before installation so the driveshaft fits…

The jeep’s all-terrain capability and its versatility — countless modifications can and were made to the vehicles — saw them serve in nearly every capacity and every theater during World War II. I wanted to represent a Jeep in winter with the windshield and canvas top up and snow chains on the wheels. To do so, I built Tamiya’s 1/35 scale jeep (kit No. 35219) making some modifications. I forced the rear leaf springs flat and adjusted the attachments to show the suspension taxed by the extra weight. The cargo and the wheels with chains came from Adler (No. AD.35055) and the canvas roof with its support is a Def.Models item (No. DM35014). The kit’s windshield was too thick, so I replaced it with clear plastic cut from a cotton…

Minicraft released a 1/144 scale KC-135E with New Jersey Air National Guard (NJANG) 141st Air Refueling Squadron, and being a Jerseyite and friends with a Stratotanker driver, I grabbed one. Immediately, my thought was to show the tanker refueling another aircraft. Maybe an F-16. But then it hit me: Why not have it refueling an F-4E (in this case, 67-0343) from when the 141st was a tactical fighter squadron? Because, in reality, it’s not possible. That’s never stopped me before! Kits Used Minicraft 1/144 scale KC-135E (No. 14627) Platz 1/144 scale F-4E Phantom II (No. FC-5) Paints Tamiya gray surface primer (No. 87064) Pactra airframe gray (No. MG60) Model Master gunship gray (No. 1723), insignia white (No. 1745), aluminum (No. 1781), jet exhaust (No. 1796), dark green (No. 1710), medium…

What do you do when you have too many great airplanes to build? You let someone else in on the action. That’s what Grumman did for their advanced “light weight” Wildcat design, built exclusively under license by General Motors as the FM-2. A lighter, feistier version of the famous F4F, the FM-2 was a stalwart addition to the many escort carriers fielded by the U.S. and British navies during World War II. While not the first 1/72 scale kit of the FM-2, Arma Hobby’s new release is the most accurate. There are many subtle – and some not so subtle – differences between F4F and FM-2 Wildcats, and Arma Hobby seemingly hits them all. The revised cowling and exhaust for the more powerful single-row R-1830 radial is correctly depicted, as…

First released by ESCI in 1979, the now-Italeri 1/48 scale F-86E has been reissued numerous times - this boxing marks the 19th. While lacking in fine details, this Sabre boasts outstanding fit and a terrific decal sheet with four options: natural-metal USAF, Italian and Canadian fighters, and a camouflaged West German Luftwaffe jet While you will not find separate slats or flaps on this Sabre, the side-mounted speed brakes are provided. Simplistic details are molded into the speed brake wells along with the landing gear bays. The undercarriage is simple but robust and has adequate detail, including brake lines on the main gear legs. Cockpit detail consists of a simple tub with decals for the flat side consoles and instrument panel. A seat with molded on seat belts fills the…

A small hiccup has derailed these German soldiers. Maurizio Laudis of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, created this humorous wartime diorama after seeing a photo of a similar unfortunate situation in a book about German armored vehicles. The vehicle is Italeri’s 1/35 scale SdKfz 232 (6 Rad). He added Hussar Type 1 resin wheels with a spare. Not shown is the scratchbuilt impact roller attached to the chassis’ midpoint. The base is scratchbuilt too — the wall and sidewalk are foam, the fence is styrene, and he added the pavement and drain. He also painted two Tamiya German military police figures, and two MiniArt German tank repair crewmen. He says that the build took a while, but that it was a lot of fun. At least something was looking up!…