Military in Scale 10 2005

The Sherman is a vehicle that I have always meant to build, but never attempted before; one day you finally get around to one and before you know it, you've got four of the damn things! So. for the first attempt I present you with a British Army 17 pounder Firefly Vc. This model is built from the now updated Dragon kit - one of many kits in their range that they rework from time to time to improve their accuracy - which produces a very impressive model. Just be prepared for a lot of work along the way... Much of this work is down to the parts count; this is another box stuffed full of tiny pieces. Just seeing the number of parts needed to build the tracks - three pieces per link! - is enough to outnumber most standard kits - and that doesn't take into account the remaining model! As usual, there are a lot of parts culled from Dragon's other Sherman kits and as such, dozens of items are destined for the spares box; in fact, I used some of the spare parts to improve an old Italeri Sherman, which I built up for Trumpeter's LCM that we'll see later in the year.

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Military in Scale 01 2006

The Leclerc is typical of the latest releases from Tamiya, professionally produced, easy to assemble and crisply moulded. However, for the price I think it falls far short of what else is available from companies like Dragon. For instance, etched parts should have been included and not been an expensive optional extra. Also, having to cut out periscope lenses from clear acetate is unacceptable, as these could have been incorporated into the clear sprue instead of having two pairs of goggles for the single crew figure! I would have preferred plastic road wheels as opposed to the white metal wheels supplied. I found the Vallejo paints I have been using with much success had a real problem adhering to the primer these wheels are coated in - though I am aware that others paints may not have produced these results. They do however add a nice weighty feel to the model, but roughing up these wheels for that worn look, would prove far more difficult than with an injection plastic counterpart... My thanks go out to the Hobby Company for supplying this kit for review.

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Historic Ship Models

Some ships have been dug up, or raised from the seabed, including the gigantic Roman state ship which lay in Lake Nemi in central Italy, the famous Viking ships of Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway and Roskilde in Denmark, a cog at Bremen, which is at present undergoing restoration in the German maritime museum, and the royal ship Wasa, which sank in Stockholm harbour in 1628. Another possible source is the stock of original and dockyard models, which can be relied upon for absolute accuracy. The most famous collection of this type is probably the British "Admiralty models", which represent almost the entire British Royal Fleet in the form of splendidly worked models. They cover a period of a century starting around 1660-70, and no types are omitted. There are other models of the highest quality covering a very wide range of ships, although not including a compete series encompassing any particular period. These are to be found in Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, the USA and Italy, and in quality they are by no means inferior to the British examples.

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