del Magazine International 147 - 01 2008

There's been somewhat of a resurgence of interest in model kits of artillery subjects of late, and Dragon have amply contributed to that revival with a string of '88' gun kits, all produced to an extremely high standard. Just received at the TMMI office is Dragon's newest addition to the line-up of heavy weaponry in the form of the German army's heavy field howitzer sFHl8, complete with limber for use when the gun is depicted in travel mode. Perhaps the first thing to report is that although they are shown on the boxtop artwork, no crew is provided, these having to be purchased separately. Open the box, and you are greeted by the now familiar carded packaging carrying the 'multi-media' parts of the model, namely the beefy turned aluminium gun barrel, flexible mouldings for the ammunition containers, two short lengths of brass tubing, two small PE frets, some waterslide decals and a sprue of clear parts for the sighting mechanism. The main parts of the kit reside across eight sprues of grey polystyrene, (the D' sprues are repeated), and there sure are a lot of parts! The howitzer is broken down very thoroughly into multiple component form, and because of Dragon's use of sacrificial mould-ejector pips' to limit the impact of ejector pin marks, there will be a fair bit of clean-up required before each part is ready to be glued to its neighbour.

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Military in Scale 12 2003

Tamiya's late Tiger I was groundbreaking when it came out in the late 1980s. It featured individual link tracks, even though they were DM quite accurate. It also featured in-house aftermarket upgrades in the form of photoetched engine grilles and turned brass ammunition. But perhaps most significantly of all. the late Tiger I was an all-new kit. Tamiya had not just revised its original early Tiger I, but had released a brand new model with state-of-the-art levels of detail. The late Tiger I went on to spawn all the major Tiger variants - initial production, early production, mid production and Sturmtiger. Although it is now around 15 years old, it is still a superb kit today. The kit can be built as either a late model or final model Tiger I. The major differences are the size of the muzzle brake and the turret roof details. Like most kits, Tamiya's late Tiger I will please most people as it comes, while superdetailers can use it as a platform to add whatever amount of extra detail they feel is appropriate. I carried out a fairly basic upgrade on my Tiger. adding new tracks and small resin details from Anvil Miniatures, etched engine grilles from Aber, a new gun barrel from Elefant. FineMolds' German AFV periscope set and finally two tiny wing nuts from ModelKasten.

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Military in Scale 11 2003

The annual War and Peace Show, held at the Hop Farm at Paddock Wood in Kent has an internationally-recognised reputation, which is justifiably deserved. Attracting many thousands of visitors and participants from all over the world this unique event celebrated its 21st anniversary over the five-day period 16 -20 July 2003. This year's attendance figures were just as impressive as always, with nearly 4000 vehicles on site, to make it the largest show of its type in the world. The vehicles ranged from the great to small ranging from bicycles to a full range of tanks, including M60 and M5 Light tanks, M8 armoured cars. German Hetzers and artillery. As usual the show came with all the surprises, thrills and excitement which one has come to associate with War and Peace, or Beltring, as it is popularly known, and makes it such a great place to take research photographs.

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N-Scale 01-02 2009

Atlas Model Railroad Company has recently released a model of the EMD GP15-1. 1 picked up four undecorated units from my local hobby shop and decided to put them to the test. Right out of the box, I noted that the fuel tank is not a plastic shell snapped over the frame, but rather, is molded into the frame itself. This is a handy way for Atlas to save on cost while still providing the detail needed. A quick shot of "Grimy Black" and it will look as good as any plastic molding. Additionally, the horns and plows were in a little bag of parts for the modeler to apply. Applying these details is a simple task. While in the store, I also took a look at a painted version and noted that the paint was applied in a thin, but opaque manner so as to let the detail of the castings show through very nicely. Running qualities of my undecorated units are quite good. 1 was able to set the four units on my test track, separated by about 16", start them all together and have them maintain their separation for a few times around the loop. After I gave them an hour of break-in running forward, then another hour backwards, I tried the separation test again. This time there were two locos that ran slightly faster than the other two. I have two sets of two that run perfectly together as a duo.

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