Hi modellers! This week we have for you modelling digestion a Focke-Wulf night fighter, more fresh snaps of the Tamiya P-51 Mustang from Shinjuku, Some civilian figures from Italy and more.
First up, from the great shop Airbrushes.com comes the latest in the line of 1/48 aircraft from Great Wall hobby, the Focke Wulf Fw189-A1 Nachtjager. This kit is a variation of Great Wall's original in this series of the daytime recon and light attack (the A2). This aircraft features five sprues of injection moulded plastic, complete with additions in the upper gunner's armour, flame dampener for the engines, MG 151 20mm cannon, and a new FuG212C radar array for finding its prey in the dark.
Also supplied with this kit is a new set of decals from a single night fighter in Greifswald in Germany in late 1945. The decals are supplied with a numbered sheet of masking adhesives for the literal acre of glass in the cockpit. This part of the build now holds no fear for this modeller. Removable engine covers, engine access steps and wheel chocks, plus the supplied photo-etched sheet depicting engine looms and seatbelts further enhances the anticipation.
This looks to me like an interesting kit, and a much-wanted replacement to the troublesome MPM kit of the same type. We are actually getting to build one of these to show you how it all goes together on this blog so keep your eyes peeled.
Next up we have the latest on the much-anticipated P-51 Kit from Tamiya. While the discussion goes on as to whether the Tamiya or Zoukei-mura kit will be better, the 50th annual Shinjuku Hobby show has revealed many pictures and a video of the new Tamiya kit. This kit will beat the ZM kit to the shelves by many months, so looks like it may have an early lead. There is a problem though that some have picked up on.
The test kit parts displayed show a riveted wing. Some say that the Mustang's laminar flow wing should be puttied and smooth, while some say it had tiny rivets, (I think it has VERY tiny rivets) but just have a look at some of these pictures to see the progress on the kit, including markings, the pilot figures, cockpits, early and later filleted style tail plus nice looking wheel wells and radiator innards.
8+9+10+11
1/35th scale figure news next up. From Italy comes the model makers Royal Model. Royal are known for mainly accessories and dioramas, and their newest arrivals have impressed us. We start off with item number 638 "Children playing" showing, as you may have guessed, children in three different settings…. well, playing! The first of the children is pictured on a swing, and the child in this picture is seen swinging off the barrel of a tank.
Next is kit number 628 "Evacuee Pulling Cart". This resin kit has the figure of one civilian pulling a small baggage train down the road. The cart has his suitcase and other meagre belongings. Well sculpted; it looks pretty good.
The third kit from Royal Model is kit number 636. Further keeping with the civilian them for these kits this month (they do make many military figures in different scales as well), it is called "Mother with her Children". This resin kit shows a mother and her two children walking down probably the same road as the evacuee kit. These figures are shown with no baggage and so could well be the companion piece of the evacuee or just by themselves in a town or house setting. All of these figures from Royal are quality sculpted and look to be a great differential point to your diorama.
New from the Czech Republic this week from the model accessory makers HGW is a new set of "wooden" decals for several First World War fighters. This is meant to eliminate the tediousness of painting wood effects onto the planes yourselves. These sets add to the expanding range from HGW, who have previously produces sets of rivets for each specific aircraft and some excellent seatbelts that anyone would be proud to have adorning their kit.
These sets of wood decals are in 1/32 and I'll let Jan explain his latest release in full and how to go about buying them.
Other produced options:
532007 Albatros D.V / D.Va TRANSPARENT (WNW 1/32)
532008 Albatros D.V / D.Va BASE WHITE (WNW 1/32)
532010 Albatros D.V / D.Va TRANSPARENT (WNW 1/32)
548009 Albatros D.III OEFFAG 1/48 - TRANSPARENT
548010 Albatros D.III OEFFAG 1/48 - BASE WHITE
Free panels:
INSTRUCTIONS (base white)
Pasted/fixed/glued, puttied and polished model paint by base white (it is suitable to polish also this coloured layer before applying wooden decals). The decals are not transparent, so colour of the decal will be same after its application. Then cut required shape of panel (with 2 mm overlap) and apply as same as ordinary decal (use Mr. Mark Setter, Mr. Mark Softer). After these processes cut protruded wooden decal with very sharp knife.
INSTRUCTIONS (transparent)
Pasted/fixed/glued, puttied and polished model paint by base white (it is suitable to polish also this coloured layer before applying wooden decals). The decals are transparent, so it is necessary to apply base colour. It is possible to mark off single panels by using different shades of base colour (white, of white, yellow). Then cut required shape of panel (with 2 mm overlap) and apply as same as ordinary decal (use Mr. Mark Setter, Mr. Mark Softer). After these processes cut protruded wooden decal with very sharp knife.
By this technique it is possible to create very believable imitation of the wooden surface without skill in using of oil paints. Finally it takes cca 4 hours to cover whole fuselage of Albatros D.Va (1/32 WNW).
You can buy these a few different ways:
Ebay: http://shop.ebay.co....=&_trksid=p3686
e-shop: http://www.battlefie...?category_id=51
or just send an email: hgwcolor@seznam.cz
Stay tuned this week to see some very nice new figure reviews. Until next time, have fun with your modelling!