JayDee

Aluminium Planking & Decal Set This release is packaged into a sturdy brown cardboard box, padded out internally with plenty of bubble-wrap to protect those delicate contents. Inside the box, two wallets are included; one containing the various instruction sheets for the aluminium set, and an entirely different one for the decals. This is due to both parts of this being available separately. We were lucky enough to receive the duel set for review. The Aluminium Planking set, or as we should nominally call it 'exterior skinning set' contains enough material to entirely sheath your Desktop Zero in real metal. No smooth finished here, as when applied, this will give the appearance of stressed metal. The lion's share of the exterior skin is supplied as FOUR self-adhesive metal sheets, which have been either die or laser cut in order to produce a series of metal shapes which you will use to plate your model in sections. Each section is clearly noted on the instruction sheets, with information on how to apply it. Particular note is given to key areas of the model, such as wing leading edges etc. Now, look at those metal panels on the sheets. You'll see a perfect reproduction of the riveting pattern for the zero, recreated as a flush-rivet appearance. I don't know how these have been produced. It could be laser engraving or through mild etching. Either way, it looks amazing. When it comes to the engine cowls and wing fillets though, of course we have to have a different solution. Imcth has produced these as white metal parts, with the same consistently high quality as those in the Zero kit itself. Some of the shapes are quite intricate, such as the fillets which sit at the roots of the horizontal tail surfaces. There are THREE packs of white metal parts, taped to a cardboard sheet in order to stop them rolling around. This won't be an easy set to fit, and some care will need to be exercised when aligning the various panels, but stick with it. The finish you get will be astounding! A paper sheet is included for covering the ailerons and rudder, as these were fabric covered on the real bird. I think I would use these as templates for model flying tissue though, and use some cellulose dope to shrink this to the frames. A single decal sheet contains all the national and serial insignia for a single scheme, depicted on the instructions sheets. The decals are a little thicker than I'm used to, but having seen these applied to a finished model, they do look very good. I can't vouch for setting solutions, so maybe test a small decal first. Printing is first rate and everything is in perfect register. Drop Tank This set contains a single centre-line carried drop tank for this model, and can be clipped directly to the Zero with no modification required to the main model. Packaged into a small cardboard box with a single instruction, white metal parts are supplied which will build up into a perfect cutaway fuel tank for your model. The tank includes all the various internal pipe-work and baffles which stop the fuel from sloshing around and affecting flight performance. A two-part upper fairing is included for this, and the tank itself is cast as halves. I assume you'll perhaps want to leave half of this off the model though so you can see the mechanics within. It would be more work, but you could paint and assemble everything, and view the internals through a curved section that you would cut out of one half before final assembly. That would be rather neat, depending on how you wish to finish your final kit. Again, casting is excellent, with all parts being keyed for easy assembly. Acrylic Plinth This small stand and its supporting two rods, are manufactured from clear acrylic sheet, and when assembled, is designed to support the model by holding it up slightly via the wheel wells. This is a nice little touch, although I don't think entirely necessary if you wish to build the model with paint etc. This is more for aesthetics if you complete it in bare, polished metal. Still, it's quite an inexpensive item, and certainly would make sense to purchase with the main kit. Conclusion There's no doubt that these aren't particularly cheap model kits, and you also can't just pop into your LHS or even go to most online retailers and buy them. Apart from Imcth and Hobby Link Japan, I think I've only seen them available from Hiroboy in the UK. However, these for me, are the crème-de-la-crème of technical kits, and represent the actual internal structures of the Mitsubishi Zero about as perfectly as you could ever expect to achieve in 1:32. Looking at the completed model, you really should see what a Zero looks like if you could peel back the skin and peek at its skeleton. Perhaps only a little extra wiring would be needed, if at all. With this model, being the navalised Zero, even the wingtips hinge! Looking at the frets and instructions, there seems to have been at least one amendment since the Zero was first released, and that's the inclusion of the engine construction jig. There may be others too. Photos courtesy of Imcth Facebook page Imcth have taken this model one step further than the Desktop Mustang though (although I'm led to believe that this is coming soon for the latter), by producing this innovative Aluminium Plank set. The inclusion of this opens up whole new opportunities, such as partially skinned and skeletal finishes, right up to this rather amazing diorama that's been created using this set. Attention to detail has again been taken to the nth degree, and this can be seen by looking at the stressed skin effect that this set offers, and the beautifully realistic flush riveting detail. If all this wasn't enough, the Drop Tank set is also like looking at a magically shrunken version of the real thing. Again, this and the planking set come at a premium price, but that is because they are premium products. You really do get exactly what you pay for, and this must be one of the ultimate models available today in any format. Simply amazing, and HIGHLY recommended! James H Imcth also inform us that their highly anticipated new 1:32 Desktop Messerschmitt Bf 109F will be with us in a few weeks, as soon as the production is complete. We are simply drooling at the prospect! Our sincere thanks to Imcth for the review samples seen here. To purchase directly, click the links in the article.

1:32 Desktop Zero Imcth Catalogue # IMCZ-001 Available from Imcth Here at LSM, we also like to look at kits/projects which are a little more left-field of the regular injection moulded or resin release. We are of course no stranger to photo etch detail sets, but a whole model built from photo etch? With the exception of white metal detail parts, that's what we have for you here today, in the form of Imcth's 'Desktop Zero' kit, and we are extremely proud to be able to bring you not just this, but a couple of EXTRA sets for the same model. Imcth really have spoiled us here, so it's only right we bring you a fully detailed review of these extraordinary sets. Here's what we have for you: 1:32 Desktop Zero, 29,800¥ JPY 1:32 Aluminium Planking & Decal Set, 15,730¥ JPY 1:32 Droptank, 4,200¥ JPY Acrylic Plinth, 630¥ JPY It's true that some modellers actually quite like to build projects with internal structures, whilst some really don't like the approach and would rather just see the clean external lines of whatever aircraft they choose. Those that do like the engineering aspect of what makes these warbirds tick, have been pretty low on choice when it comes to representing this sort of detail. We can of course add detail sets which can show radio sections within fuselage etc, and the closest we've come to seeing skeletal models has been the Zoukei-mura kits, but their internal structural detail is only representative, and certainly nowhere near accurate. Take a look at the wing structure in their P-51D or He 219, for instance. Quite disappointing if you like actual accuracy. Photo-etch is really the only way to go here. Desktop Zero Firstly, if you haven't already seen the review we did recently for Imcth's Decktop Mustang, you really should take a look as this will pave the way for this follow up review. The Zero was actually Imcth's first 1:32 aircraft release, and it has now been re-released following the ongoing success of that Mustang kit. These guys have style. Everything about the packaging and presentation is sumptuous as can be seen from the rather tidy looking satin white box with its side opening flap and hologram label. Inside this box are two small boxes containing white metal and clear parts, and surrounded by a protective layer of bubble-wrap. Lift these out, and there is another, larger box. In here you'll find the various stainless steel photo etch sheets, pre-stamped to shape key parts. Plenty of bubble wrap is placed between these sheets in order to prevent any damage to the delicate shapes. That's right, you did read that correctly. The photo etch sheets contain SHAPED parts! We'll look at those later though. For now, let's take a journey through the smaller boxes containing the detail and clear parts. Any misconception you might have regarding white metal parts, forget them. The cast metal parts in Imcth kits are produced by Model Factory Hiro, and are quite extraordinary. Unlike some mainstream white metal upgrades you might see for your models, complete with poor definition and an a pitted surface, these are about as perfect as you can get them, and the tolerances of them are so good, that the fitting together of them is what you would come to expect from top end resin sets from the likes of Eduard. Some parts fit neatly without a hint of glue. The detail is also as sharp as quality resin too. There are a small number of seams to remove, resulting from the paring of the moulds, but they are so fine as to be almost negligible. A quick tickle with some fine abrasive paper or buffing tool with eradicate them in next to no time. A number of parts have a very small pouring gate which will need snipping away. These are very tiny. Delving into those parts bags....... PARTS H (Propeller) We start with propeller parts. There are two mini bags within this set. One of them contains a superbly smooth single piece propeller, complete with half hub, and the other bag holds the lower hub which locks into the rear spinner plate, the forward and rear spinner parts, and also governor parts. Dry fitting the spinner and prop parts shows a fit unlike anything I've seen before, with the exception of parts with the Mustang kit. PARTS I (Engine) The Zero's Nakajima Sakae engine has been broken down into six smaller bags of individual white metal components. In fact, there are FIFTY-TWO parts involved in the assembly of this section, inclusive of a small fuel tank, and a number of engine support struts and frames etc. All engine cylinders are cast separately, and this kit includes a photo etch jig/framework which is used in order to ensure that all of these are precisely aligned to the central crankcase parts. Even the jig itself needs construction and is a miniature work of art! Those cylinders, complete with their integral head detail, are amazingly detailed, with very fine cooling fin detail. Again, a number of parts within the assembly of the engine will fit together without glue, although I don't suggest you do this when you come to build your model. That's just an indication of the precision nature of this kit. A little drilling will need to be done with micro drill bits on various parts, but this is by design. Indentations exist so you know where holes need to be drilled for the piano wire pushrods etc. Included in this group of parts are the engine mounting ring and supports, engine cowl flaps (no cowl though as this is part of the exterior Aluminium Planking set), auxiliary equipment, hub and shaft assemblies, and lubricating oil cooler, exhaust manifolds etc. The engine is a project in itself and demands your complete attention at every stage. Whilst there is no deformation in any strut or bracket etc, you'll need to ensure that everything is lined up precisely. This is of course vital, even if you don't intend to use the cowl parts etc. PARTS J (Main wing parts) EIGHT mini bags comprise this section, of which 3 have duplicate bags (one for port and starboard wings). In total, around SIXTY-SEVEN parts provide the hardware requirements for fitting out the photo etch wings. Just about anything which can't be reproduced in PE is to be found here. Two bags contain parts for a number of curved radius parts for wingtips and also aileron joint faces. A Type 99 cannon and its associated parts are supplied, split over two bags. Each bag is per wing as some parts are 'handed'. The guns are broken down into main body, shell ejection chute, ammunition drum and forward recoil gas spring. It's intended that the builder will use piano wire and narrow tube for the barrel and muzzle. Another two packs, including handed parts, are those concerning the undercarriage. Imcth have done a great job with the actual gear legs, and optional parts are included which govern whether you build the model with its undercarriage up or down. You have to choose from the outset, as you cannot change your mind once these have been installed. As well as wheel hubs, there are also the inner cast spoked ring which sits behind these! That is attention to detail. The last two packets contain the wing fuel tanks and various other small wing hardware such as mass balances etc. You will also find a two small plastic sprues which hold the various wing tip lights and other wing based lights. These are moulded in opaque plastic/resin. PARTS K (cockpit) If you are a stickler for detail when it comes to the cockpit of your model, then you'll have nothing to complain about here. There are another SIX packets containing FIFTY-FOUR white metal components which cater to the cockpit and the ancillary equipment in the fuselage space to the rear of the pilot's position. Of course, the cockpit is going to be a focal point of your build, and you want the detail within to be sharp and precise, and that's what we have here, in bucket-loads. Various side console and equipment units are designed to key into the photo etch structural walls, and test fitting them to this, it's clear that they fit perfectly. All cockpit instrumentation is as good as any resin part you might wish for, and certainly as good as the best injection moulded plastic parts you might see in your Tamiya kits. I perhaps should have primed some of these parts for you to see the detail sharply, as my photography lamps shining on cast metal can cause a strange effect. Instrument gauges are cast 'open' so that the card with printed instruments on can be fitted from the rear. Don't worry either, as the panels are recessed from the rear so the instruments sit back with a scale distance. Perhaps also look at inserting some fine clear acetate in there to mimic the gauge glasses. Everything you would expect to see in the cockpit it there, reproduced in the sharpest detail, beautifully cast in flaw-free white metal. The instruments, consoles, avionics, rudder and control column assemblies, fuel tanks, forward machine guns and magazines, radio sets, and various compressed gas cylinders, all looking like perfect miniatures. All looks simply superb. Even the console switches look like they would operate. The pilot seat is a beautiful thing to look at, and seatbelts are supplied as printed parts on a separate sheet. If I'm honest, I would perhaps look at using some HGW belts with this. That should make the office as about as perfect as can be. Attention to detail means that the emergency flotation valve, trim tab controls, radio motor, flap/landing gear selectors etc. are intricately reproduced and their assembly should be very simple. High pressure oil tank, antenna, loop antenna, radio transmitter and receiver are just a few other parts which you'll find in this packet. PARTS L (tail parts) This small, single packet contains just TEN parts. These concern the whole rear fuselage/tail unit, and here you'll find the tail wheel leg, elevator edges, arrestor hook and more curved flying surface edges that can't be reproduced in PE form. That concludes the contents of the first small box. The second small box contains: PARTS M Here you'll find a miniature fabric sheet with seatbelts which are laser engraved into it. Perhaps the only area of the kit that needs replacing, along with the small colour printed instruments sheet. I would look at using something from MDC or Airscale here, as the instrument definition could be a little better. Three packets of stiff rod/piano wire Rubber tyres Vacuum formed canopies The tyres are very good, and the seams are almost nil, but of course, you'll need to clean up the sprue connection point. A rubber piece is also included for the pilot's headrest. If vacform parts worry you, then try not to be too concerned. These are beautifully thin, with great frame lines and they are also very clear. To remove from the sheet, consider filling the parts with Blu-tak so that the part is supported, and trim just to the outside of the part. You can use a fine sanding stick to remove the last microns of waste material from around them. Now, onto heavy metal. All photo etch frets (sheets) are manufactured from high grade, medium gauge stainless steel, which impart a superb sheen. Let's look, one by one: FRET A As with the Mustang kit, this contains the various ribs for both port and starboard wings. The ribs exhibit good detail in themselves, with the various open structure ribs and sold ribs looking excellent, with positive slots for wing spars etc. All connection gates to the fret are small. You really don't want to kink any of these, so snip the connection point away from the rib, and file away the last remnants. FRET B Here we have a mixture of wing spars and fuselage formers, as well as the under-wing, central landing flap. The ailerons are to be found here too, and with these, you twist the small ribs by 90 degrees to create the main structure. FRET C More fuselage formers are to be found here, as well as the gently curved stringers which help form the fuselage tube. This is also the home of the jig upon which the rear fuselage tube is created, in order to build it without any twist or warp. FRET D The majority of this sheet contains parts associated with the tail module. You will also see the various parts for the engine construction jig here too. FRET E You must be very careful when handling these frets due to the number of shaped parts contained therein. The upper and lower port wing panels, curved to the wing aerofoil shape, are here, plus the rather complex shape that forms the port side of the forward fuselage/cockpit. It's not unusual for one of the connecting tags to break during the stamping process, due to the metal on the extremities being stressed. This is what we have here, and Imcth have added a small tape tag to secure the part. The part is of course undamaged. This is entirely normal. I really have to say that the shapes which have been created are amazing to see in photo etch form. I did first wonder how you built such a model from PE, until I became acquainted with the style of kit. FRET F This contains the starboard wing panels and forward fuselage sections as with the previous sheet. Here you will also find the complicated bent shapes which form the Zero's wheel well walls. FRET G This last fret holds a small number of frameworks or 'rear engine rings', and these will be used to create laminated rings of a thicker gauge. Adhesive silver framing sheet Imcth have seen fit to include TWO sheets of self-adhesive foil for the canopy frameworks. These are die cut, and include neat laser engraving for the rivets. If you screw up a part, then you have a backup.....just be careful. The fuselage MG cooling jackets are here too, and are designed to be wrapped around wire to create the barrels. I would perhaps opt for barrels from MASTER for this purpose though. This model really deserves it. INSTRUCTIONS There's no doubt that an intensive and complex model will need instructions to suit, and this one delivers. Presented in a plastic sleeve, a series of FOURTEEN single A4 sheets are printed, double-sided. TWO A3 sheet with a parts map, are supplied folded, into which the separate A4 sheets are placed. The drawings for this model are extremely thorough and so minutely detailed. Before you start to assemble this model, I suggest you spend a week of evenings studying the drawings, whilst referencing the various cast and photo etch parts. Familiarity here will be your real champion as you proceed through the MANY constructional phases. Each aircraft section is shown in intricate detail using clear, if not busy, line drawings. All drawings are annotated in both English and Japanese, and parts numbers are easy to source and identify. Some colour ink is used to highlight the placement of certain parts and sections. A small amount of folding will need to be performed on some PE parts, and a key to help you with this (Valley and Mountain folds etc) and other aspects of small work is given. I could easily spend many hours just looking through the plans for this model, and each time see something new and interesting that catches my eye in terms of general construction and detail. Simply amazing....

Very impressive set, and a thorough review too. Many thanks for sharing that with us.

Lovely review Nige, and very nice photos too. I have one of those sets here, and there is some serious weight there. Now get that B-17 resurrected and treat us

This is looking so damn good. How do you manage to work on this with that adorable little chap looking at you?

I want a huub too!!

I'm watching this one closely Lovin' it so far Any bigger pictures?

....shit a brick!

They look fantastic, and such smooth skin too! Get that primer on

1:32 Micro-Fibre Textile Seatbelt Sets HGW Catalogue # see article for prices and code. Available from HGW HGW have sent us some of their latest seatbelt sets for recent kit releases, produced from their now famous micro-fibre textile. All of these sets pertain to 1:32 scale releases. These latest releases are: 132534, B-17 Flying Fortress, 499 Kč 132530, Junkers Ju 88A-4, 279 Kč 132527, F4U-1 Corsair (for Tamiya kit), 229 Kč B-17 Flying Fortress: A BIG kit of a BIG bomber is going to require some serious detail sets if you want to do something other than an OOB build. And let's face it, if you're going to put money into a kit which is that big, then it makes sense to sprinkle a little extra love into some of those interior areas. HGW know that too, and as a result, have released this rather spiffy set designed to cater to the comfort of your bomber crew. As with other HGW seatbelt sets, this is packages into a stiff, narrow wallet with some attractive artwork. The belt parts sit in the front of the wallet, whilst the resin parts and instructions are to the rear. This particular HGW set is certainly an epic in itself, as it contains not only seatbelts, but also seat and backrest cushions, and decals to suit also. First though, let's look at the belts themselves. As with all new releases of HGW sets, this one has the various micro-fibre textile parts laser cut into the main sheet. Provided are belts for the pilot and co-pilot alone, but are certainly not going to be short of parts to assemble. The full colour-printed textile sheet contains no less than FIFTY-TWO precisely printed and detailed seatbelt parts. This textile sheet has a paper backing, and you'll remove this as you snip the individual parts from the sheet. Printed onto the sheet are various stitching patterns and also some text. While it's quite hard to make it out to the naked eye, it is unmistakably writing! Most parts are olive drab, whilst the lap belts have a leather colour material. An added bonus to the inking process is the very mild way the laser heat has affected the edges, giving a very unique, natural shading which looks superb. As this is not there by design, it certainly can't be faulted. Before you assemble these parts with CA, you must remove the backing paper and scrunch the parts into a small ball until you feel it become very pliable. At this point, you open them out and you should find they are easy to manipulate into a natural looking drape. When everything has been assembled, you can gloss varnish the parts before applying your favourite wash, followed by matting them and then dry-brushing. If you like a good parts count to your project, then the PE fret will now disappoint. Beautifully produced by Eduard, and with THIRTY-NINE parts, this fret has excellent detail and small connecting tags meaning easy parts removal. Two pale grey resin blocks are packaged into the back of this set, and each contains a padded seat and back cushion parts. HGW have made these look highly realistic with both the material creases and texture. The photo of these parts on the card insert show them painted in yellow, with what is probably an oil wash. In the front of the package is also a small decal set which needs to be applied to the cushions; one per back cushion and one for each seat. The latter can't even be seen on the photo, but at least you know it's there. A single instruction sheet is included, with a colour code being used to identify the different PE and textile parts. Construction is shown via a number of clear, line drawings, and assembly should prove to be no problem, even for the relatively inexperienced modeller. Junkers Ju 88A-4 We don't have any resin parts with this release, but what we do have are belts for ALL FOUR crew positions. These are the pilot, rear gunner, engineer and gondola gunner. A single, large piece of micro-fibre textile is superbly colour printed, and contains FORTY-ONE individual laser-cut parts. Printing detail is excellent, with a combination of both printed and laser etched stitching, and some rather neat data/manufacturer plates and serial numbers. The photo etch fret containts FORTY-EIGHT neatly produced and detailed parts which have small attachment gates, meaning easy and clean part removal. Constructional images are broken down into easy to follow diagrams, with it being easy to locate which style of belt needs to be fitted to the various crew locations. F4U-1 Corsair Obviously, a smaller set this time, comprising THIRTEEN textile parts which are superbly printed and laser cut, with that distinctive and attractive heat affected edge which produces warm, rich shading. All stitching is laser engraved and will only really show up when you give the belts a wash treatment. The photo etch fret contains THIRTEEN more parts, again professionally produced by those wonderful guys at Eduard. Assembly again looks a breeze, with a card insert breaking the various assemblies down into easy to follow drawings. All parts, textile and PE, are colour coded for easy reference. Conclusion. For the B-17, One of the criticisms of the HK Models kit has been the seatbelts, and this set goes 100% of the way to rodressing that issue. Even if the kit belts had been high standard, you would have had to go a long way to beat the appearance of the parts included in this set. If cockpits are one area that you like to lavish attention on, then please consider this release. Put it together properly and weather it, and it should be eye-wateringly superb. Both the Junkers Ju 88A-4 and Corsair sets are also up to HGW's impeccable high standards, and can't fail to impress once assembled and installed. I also find all of these sets to be very reasonably priced, and as with the B-17, the latter sets should also be able to be tackled by someone new to this aspect ogf upgrading their model. Very highly recommended James H Our sincere thanks to HGW Models for the review sample shown here. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Full cockpit rebuild?

Looks great Mike! Do you have any in-progress shots?

PCM Hurricane To finish Fokker E.IV WNW Albatros D.V WNW He 111 'Cutaway' Project X

Don't tell me it's ready for a test flight

1:32 Vickers machine guns GasPatch Models Catalogue # See article for price and code Available from GasPatch Models You may or may not be aware, but GasPatch models are responsible for more than the recent Salmson kit that we reviewed on SP&R, or those beautiful sintered metal turnbuckles. We've also taken a look at the rather remarkable 3D-printed anemometers, but today, we can show you a selection of Vickers machine guns from their new 1:32 range. Just for interest, these are also available in 1:48. In total, the range includes EIGHT Vickers MG variants, but for the purpose of this review, we elected to look at the following FOUR items: 13-32042, Vickers 11mm 'Balloon Gun', €14.50 13-32043, Vickers Colt-Built, €14.50 13-32044, Vickers French Extended Loading Handle, €14.50 13-32046, Vickers Hyland Type B Loading Handle, €14.50 Each of these gun sets, as with other GasPatch items we have seen, are supplied in attractive, clear blister packs, which unlike others of the ilk, are easy to open without breaking a finger nail. The parts within are carefully placed into laser-cut recesses within a piece of soft grey foam. A painting and assembly sheet is folded and placed within to act as part of the product pack display. While there are eight different Vickers guns available from GasPatch, they all represent slightly different permutations of this widely used weapon. The changes can be quite subtle, yet nonetheless important, whilst other differences between the gung are more stark, such as the one with an extended loading handle. Each of the four sets we have here include TWO Vickers guns per pack, including ammunition feed belts, whilst one set, the Vickers French Extended Loading Handle type, includes that unusual loading handle, represented in photo etch. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think the guns and ammunition belts themselves are 3D-printed. I know that can conjour up images of coarse layers which need to be refined, but the printer that GasPatch use must be of extremely high resolution. No where can I see any layering, with the guns themselves being super smooth, shiny and without any casting blocks which would be the tell-tale sign of a resin product. The delicate cocking levers are even printed as part of the main gun! These are quite delicate, but thankfully, the plastic from which these is made, means that they will flex a little before you experienced any breakage. Detail overall is simply astounding, with these being perfectly represented miniatures of the real thing. You'll be hard-pressed to ever find anything as good as these. The cooling jackets are hollow all the way down to the breech, despite there being a small plate at the forward end of the jacket. Seriously, these are like nothing I have ever seen before. You have to see them to believe. I hope the images I show here go some way to represent what I am trying to explain. Of course, I can't get a camera lens right into the jacket to show you the internals! With the exception of one set, all of the 3D printed parts are made from black plastic, with one of them, the Hyland Type B, being made from clear red plastic. It is this particular one that gives away the fact that the jacket is entirely hollow. Exterior gun detail is excellent, or even nigh-on perfect, with superb cocking lever and breech detail. The characteristic serrations of the cooling jacket are also perfect to my eye. Of course, you could represent this detail in resin too, but never perfectly with injection moulded parts, unless you were to employ serious slide-moulding technology. With the jacket itself, I would have to say that of course, you couldn't represent this in brass either, but the fact it has a delicate barrel running down through its length, is quite extraordinary. The ammunition belts are very delicate. Detail, again, looks perfect, with finely reproduced shells/cartridges, and the cloth belt being nicely represented. The ammunition belts also fit neatly into the breech of the gun, so no fiddly trimming to conduct here. As mentioned, the Extended Loading Handle set has a small PE fret, and this comprises FOUR parts. Two of these are for the handles themselves, whilst the last two parts need to be curved, and form the muzzle flash hiders. Photo etch quality is also extremely good. Inside each packet, a colour illustration of the Vickers is shown, with noted for painting. This also serves as your assembly drawing, for what little there is to actually put together. Conclusion Simply the most amazing MG sets I think I've ever seen. They aren't the cheapest aftermarket item for your model, but the overriding quality of these makes them a must have, stand-out item for enhancing that project, and in my eyes, that makes the cost absolutely justified. I sure hope we see these guys make some Spandau and Parabellum sets too. In fact, I'll suggest it to them anyway. VERY highly recommended James H Our sincere thanks to GasPatch Models for the review samples see here. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

1:32 Oberursel U.0 and U.III rotary engines Taurus Models Catalogue # See article for price and codes Available from StoryModels After a short break from the heavy work of mastering and casting, Taurus Models are back. In one fell swoop, then have doubled their 1:32 WW1 aero-engine catalogue with the release of the Oberursel U.0 and U.III engines. These of course tie into the recent release of the Fokker E.I and E.IV kits which have been released by Wingnut Wings. The items we have been sent are: D3216, Oberursel U.III, £26.90 D3217, Oberursel U.0, £19.50 Each of these little masterpieces is packaged into a small box, hand constructed from very lightweight satin card. The lid top depicts the engine from a frontal view, whilst the box edges show close-up images of the finished engine that you would swear were in-service images of the real thing. Inside the box, a small instruction sheet is included. Whilst there isn't too much illustration, there is enough for the experienced modeller to be able to interpret and to be able to construct this properly. You really need to look at the parts alongside the instructions and study them thoroughly. The Taurus website does have a link for a set of detailed instructions, but these don't seem to be online yet. These would be interesting to see, but if you look at the instructions, along with the detailed photos of the completed engine, then you won't go far wrong. Parts count? Well, for the U.0, it is a very respectful NINETY-ONE parts, all cast in a flaw-free, medium grey resin. Now you can see how much of a project this is. What about the U.III though? Well, the parts-count increases drastically to ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN! Yes, you need a few evenings of peace and quiet and a steady hand, and then you might just be able to complete the build! The instruction sheet for the U.III does incorrectly say there are 91 parts, presumably carried over from the U.0 sheet. Some colour notation is given on the sheet, but this is a rotary engine, so it wouldn't be difficult to fathom yourself. The various parts within are all packed into a number of very small zip-lock bags. There is some order to the packing too, with cylinder head and piston crowns in one bag. Whilst the cylinders are cast individually, the crowns are cast over two blocks. Cooling fins on the cylinders are extremely fine, and of course, there is no issue with seams needing removal. A small indentation is included for inserting the ignition plugs. The base of the cylinder has a small tab which enables it to plug into the crankcase with the correct orientation. A neat recess on the top allows the crown to be inserted. Another bag contains the crankcase and associated parts, such as the tapered airscrew shaft and hub plates/insulating ignition ring etc. All parts are individually cast, and some parts lie very close to their casting block. I advise an extremely fine razor saw to remove these, and some final working by grinding in a circular motion on successively fine grades of grit-paper. Of course, each cylinder head is to be fitted with a rocker armature. These are cast over two blocks, and are extremely fragile looking. Some of the small holes on them would benefit from a micro-drill bit passing through them to clean them up. Again, use a razor saw to remove these, or a sharp scalpel blade, and work from both sides in order to minimise any clean up on them. As per the instructions, you will need to place these in slightly different positions on the piston crowns in order to simulate open or closed valves. These fragile parts are enclosed an a wallet with other similarly fragile parts, such as the actuator rod linkages, cups, and of course the rods themselves. Those cups are extremely fine, and almost a wonder of casting. The rods fit into them snugly with no need for clean-up, and I do tell you, those parts are extremely small. As mentioned earlier, the ignition plugs are cast separately, and in amazing detail. COMPLETED MODELS FROM TAURUS SITE Oberusel U.0 Oberursel U.III Lastly, a small wallet includes some amazingly thin copper filament wire for wiring up the ignition plugs and also for making the small clips which run between the piston crown and rocker part. Some of these last details are what will take the most patience, so don't rush things. Wire is supplied in 0.1mm and 0.2mm diameters. Almost seems a shame to lock it up into a model cowl, eh? Conclusion There's no one does replica WW1 aero engines like Taurus Models. These are simply the most detailed, most astounding reproductions available. To be able to pose the rockers to indicate an open or closed valve, and to be supplied with the valve-sequence so this can be properly represented is simply incredible. You would need to look closely to even see the difference between open and closed valves, but for Taurus, that's academic. They have designed these resin engine sets to be as close to authentic as possible. You will need some serious levels of patience, and some time set aside to construct these. The E.IV's Oberursel U.III has almost as many parts as the actual kit into which it will fit. It is true that these upgrade sets are certainly not designed with the beginner or intermediate modeller in mind. You really do need some modelling experience to get the very best out of these. We reviewed the previous Oberusel U.I and Gnome-Monosoupape engines from Taurus, and I do know that the use of the U.I with the E.II and E.III Eindecker kits means that you will need to thin the cowl out a little. My U.III engine has been constructed for my own Fokker E.IV project on Large Scale Modeller, so I'll be able to see if the same applies here. As we also like to build things up at LSM in order to show you how things go together, here is my build of the engine, alongside the Wingnut Wings kit parts: VERY highly recommended Our sincere thanks to Dawid at StoryModels for the review samples seen here. To purchase directly, click the links in the article.

Tamiya Flat White actually covers real well. Give a few thin misted coats for the main paint to bite onto, leave dry, then just build up the layers. It didn't take too long to paint white. It surprised me too!

Time for an update? Ok, but I warn you....I'm no armour modeller. It's all alien to me. I decided to throw some paint on that garish red plastic, but in all fairness, forget the plastic colour, this is a seriously nice kit, and some great fun to put together. The fit is mostly very good. Where it's less than very good, it's pretty close. This model has a full interior, and test fitting everything together shows that it slots together without any issue. An absolute dream to work with. My reference for armour is shit. In fact, it's non-existent. I asked the ever-amiable David Parker from AFV Modeller (and a member here) what colours he used, so he gave me some basic ideas of what to use, so I've gone with that. The main interior walls are sprayed with Tamiya Flat White, and to break it up, I used Gunze Radome, heavily thinned to bring out some of the plating and rivet areas in a sort of quasi-rust manner. I then accentuated this with some Tamiya XF60 Dark Yellow, again heavily thinned and worked in a similar way to compliment the Radome. I have now coated this in Klear prior to washing and doing a thinners drag to show running rust. That will be later. I still need to do a few paint chips around sharp corners etc, but for a non-armour modeller, I'm happy so far. I've used Alclad Aluminium for the driver floor area, and Alclad Dull Aluminium to simulate the cast metal effect of the engine block and transmission. It looks rather grey in these photos, but it is metallic....trust me I still need to add oil and grime washes yet. This is just part of the basic painting, which I still need to finish yet. There are other engine components to add too, all which still need paint. If the red plastic wasn't enough, Takom decided to paint their PE fret in red too, meaning you need to scrape it off if you wish to solder the chain guard, as I have here. This fret isn't too thin, so CA wasn't an option for me. Solder, done with my trusty gas soldering iron and Fry's Fluxite, means that part will last longer than the model probably will Whilst coats were drying, I glued the turret ring to the upper deck and decided to start removing that shit rivet detail on the turret. In all fairness, Takom have done their best with this, and without slide moulding, the result was the best they could achieve, but the rivets look distorted etc. Luckily, they added lots of spare rivets on their track sprues, so these will be what I'll use. I'm also thinking of subtly texturing the turret too, but I need to see if it's justifiable. If anyone can say yay or nay, please let me know.

I saw some pics of the Heritage one, and I might be wrong, but the engines look really slim looking. I've not heard great stuff about both the quality of Heritage stuff, and the attitude of the guy who runs it.

Damn, that looks good. Stop it, it I'll have to haul this from my stash....

WANT!

And our review is here too: http://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/1085-132-hannover-clii-decals/

Old Propeller do the centre section and wing loz as decals: Review HERE

That's far bigger than I thought it would be. Thanks for posting up Jeff.

That looks pretty neat Jeff, Any chance you could give us some in-box shots?