nmayhew

So, how was The Moon?

Nice review Jim Wonderful looking kit

Come on now

Nice one Jim Looking forward to it

Think you need to hunt out Jennings Heilig maybe if no-one here can provide a definitive answer; JH would definitely know. Chaps, can we help at all?

the "only" accurate P-51 stencils... http://www.fundekals.com/p51Stencil.html

Simon Welcome Beautiful Spitfire, excellent photos, and your English is fine! But... Please be aware that LSM is for LARGE scale models = 1/35 or 1/32 and up or aircraft, 1/35 and up for armour. I will speak to the other Moderators to see what to do with your post etc and let you know Thank you Nick

Was that the chap from Revell I saw keeping an eye on things?!

Hi I'm posting from my phone so can't insert a link but for those wondering, the price is £33.57 from Hannants That seems pretty damn good value to me I may have to get one of these rather ugly but curiously appealing birds! Nick

Hi Petr Given there will be obvious comparisons made between your kit and that of PCM, would you be able to answer Cees' question? This in itself may answer lots of other questions people may have in the future. Also, regarding the clear fairings between wing and drop tanks that were present on the real aircraft, will these be clear on your kit / how will this be tackled? PCM has been quite innovative in this area I feel... Can't wait to see more pics when you have them. Kind regards Nick

Beautiful build Dave - a master class!

Hi Sean Welcome I took the liberty of editing your topic title and removed the duplicate thread Enjoy the forums Nick

Welcome John Very good to have you here Dave's 109 is indeed beautiful, and from a research perspective, I always find discussions like this both interesting and productive Whilst as a modeller I would rather know before the model is complete, I would rather know full stop, so "it's all good" as they say By the same token, it is also the modeller's responsibility to do the research (assuming he is thus motivated) Sometimes you just miss stuff - God knows I do that often enough!! All the best Nick

lovely Mike! my Mrs loves Dachshunds - might have to build this one for her one day great photoshopping too

thank you Petr i must say that the surface detail looks excellent

So that's it nailed surely? Hurricane

As I struggle to stay awake whilst te subject turns to jets (sorry), I find it an interesting assertion that the Sabre would outsell the MiG... In the USA perhaps, but in Europe? I wouldn't be so sure... Everyone knows MiGs, even if they don't know which one they know, if you see what i mean; not sure the same can be said about the Sabre here in Europe. Personally, I quite like the F-86's lines, and remember making one in teeny weeny weeny 1/72 when I was like 6 years old!

Mark I for me I'll start building that immediately after review Lol :0

Fyi i am talking about 1/32, not 1/48, so... re Tamiya, well I'm just telling you what two other aircraft they measured, and every one they have measured they have made. Also, applying logic to Tamiya-san's thought processes is well, as Mr Spock would say, "not logical"

Wow Looks fantastic Thank you Petr for the additional information and pictures Can't wait! Kind regards Nick PS is there a 'ball park' indication on price yet?

To ramble OT, yes I do understand that Fw190 (A...or F?, not D) is next from Z-m Also watch for a 109E or Hurricane from Tamiya - they measured one of these two (maybe both) when doing Corsair research at the museum in Canada they go to, but the guy who works with them (Bob Swaddling, on HS) wouldn't say which Remember that!

Been discussed a lot before by us here actually (the staff that is) Basically, 1/32 is where the big boys play: the standards for accuracy are much higher than in 1/48, especially for iconic subjects such as the 109, P-51' Spitfire etc Eduard were a little miffed when their 109 did not get the plaudits they thought it deserved (it is ok, but far from great, and the DML kit is a lot better in my own view), hence the retreat from 1/32 as I see it On the flip side, why not go for the "low hanging fruit"?? (a ghastly business bs term, but fair enough in this context) 1/48 is massive, and very lucrative, so good luck to them I only wish that they would bring out some of their 1/48 accessories in 1/32 eg the drop tank for the Spitfire came out in a flash, whereas I have been waiting for one of those in 1/32 since the release of Tamiya's über-kit

AMX-30B French Main Battle Tank Meng Model Catalogue # TS-003 Available from Creative Models for £44.99 Meng are not a company to follow everyone else it would seem. Their 1/35 scale releases have included an experimental German WWII minesweeping vehicle, a pseudo Toyota HiLux pick-up truck, and a British super heavy assault tank that came too late to serve before VE Day. And whilst they have also done some more mainstream armour in the Israeli Merkava (IDF does indeed seem 'a la mode'), Cold War French armour is not something that any other mainstream manufacturer has attempted as far as I can recall. The AMX-30 was designed and built in the 1960s, serving with both the French Army and a number of foreign countries into the 1990s. It served in the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), but before you get all in a lather about Norman Schwarzkopf & Co, this was the AMX-30B2: you cannot build this out of the box, and the only conversion is by Azimut for the ancient Heller kit. The AMX-30 looks like a cross between an American M48 and some of the early Russian Cold War tanks – I guess because that's what it is in effect. Nothing particularly ground-breaking here – v-shaped hull, domed turret, rear engine and rear drive sprocket. That being said, I can see the aesthetic appeal. So what do we have in the box? There are seven main sprues, plus a further five for the track links; a small fret of PE; a clear parts sprue for commander's cupola and headlamps etc; a flexible rubber / plastic part for the mantlet cover; some poly caps and a small decal sheet with two schemes. The hull tub is moulded as a single piece, whilst the turret is a two part affair. Sprues are bagged separately and the parts fit fairly well in the box – no DML craziness here. There is a 21 page instruction booklet with clear line drawings – think a mixture of Tamiya and AFV Club – and some colour profiles showing the markings. The parts are moulded in a mid green plastic, and first impressions conjure up images of an AFV Club kit: little or no flash, some very small parts which are extremely delicate, very sharp moulding but plastic perhaps softer than some would like, when compared to Tamiya for instance. Construction will be fairly straightforward and as long as you are happy handling some eminently breakable parts, this is a kit that is fine for most intermediate modellers I think. The suspension will be workable to a degree, although of course you can always glue parts in place if you want it completely fixed. There are both torsion bars and hydraulic shock absorber assemblies which will be moveable. It should be worth leaving the suspension as intended, because the tracks are also designed to be fully articulated. They are moulded on the sprue, so there will be a lot of clipping and snipping, but not that much clean up. Each track link is made up of an inner and outer part, with the inner overlapping two outers. Assembly is made pretty easy by the inclusion of a jig: you simply insert a run of 'outers' (part #B2) - which are not glued together – and then overlay and glue the inner part which has the guide tooth (part #B1). If you are careful, your tracks will be fully workable. Lots of these to cut from the sprues! Laying the outer track pads in the jig provided Inner part overlays the outer pads and is glued; the resultant link will be fully workable These parts were snipped from the sprue and 'assembled' (I have not glued them) with no clean up – fit was excellent The tank does not come with interior, but the turret does have the breach for the main gun. All three guns are moulded in plastic (no turned metal here). The main gun is telescopic, but moulded top and bottom, so careful clean up will be required. The small calibre MG on the commander's cupola looks very neat, and probably doesn't need a replacement, whilst the 20mm co-axial cannon is probably best displayed with muzzle cover on unless you can find suitable aftermarket. Both the commander and driver have vision blocks provided as clear parts, and turret hatches can be displayed open or closed. The turret baskets which adorn either side are probably the most delicate parts, just because they are quite large, but also very thin. Again, clean up will be fiddly but very important here. There are prominent casting marks visible on the turret top, front and back. The rain guard for the gun mantlet is a flexible rubber part which should be conformed to the turret contours and glued. At first I was a bit suspicious of this, but it really is quite 'floppy', so as long as it takes CA glue, there should be no problem. Mantlet with flexible rubber rain guard One of the two turret baskets Main gun tube parts Hull assembly will be pretty simple – there is a main plate plus engine deck. Tools are moulded complete with clamps / tie-downs, but look pretty convincing, and I am sure there will be PE upgrades from the usual suspects if you want extra detail here. Engine deck grills are a combination of PE – which will need some bending – and also plastic parts which have gills moulded crisply and discretely. The small decal sheet provides markings for two schemes, but no meaningful information is given about either. The first is in overall olive drab and I presume a French Army tank; the second a NATO tri-colour scheme in green / brown / black. Markings are generally the weakest point of nearly all manufacturers' offerings, so no real surprises here. It is a bit disappointing though as the rest of the kit seems so good. Conclusion The vast majority of construction will be straightforward, but there are quite a few small parts that will have the carpet monster licking his lips! The tracks will be a test of patience rather than ability. Meng have chosen a slightly off the wall subject, but have done it thoughtfully so that even out of the box you will get a tank that looks great, with no real need for aftermarket (always refreshing). This really looks a very good kit. Highly recommended With thanks to Meng Model for the review sample. Nicholas Mayhew

Cheers guys glad you like it Bench time could well be coming back on the agenda when I switch out of the night shift and on to the main desk at work...early July...can't wait! Will be reviewing the Master Details resin cockpit shortly btw, so watch this space

Conclusion I am a big fan of Revell's 1/32 releases, partly because of subject matter, partly because of their versatility: they have the ability to appeal to both modellers who are happy to build out of the box and those who want to add detail via aftermarket. In this respect, I think they are some of the best value for money kits on offer. If I had to rate this kit, I would put it up there with Revell's excellent Ju88. The Heinkel probably has more areas where detail is lacking - the 88 really is excellent without any aftermarket. But as a subject, the 111 is perhaps more imposing, and certainly this H-6 variant offers a wide choice of possible markings and armament options in a way that the Ju88 A-1, and indeed the initial He111 P-1 kit simply cannot. Highly recommended References (I have put the abbreviations used above in brackets): AirDoc #007 Heinkel He111 Part 2: P and Early H Variants - Manfred Griehl [AD] Kagero Monograph - He111 Vols 1 & 2 [KA] Kampfflieger: Bombers of the Luftwaffe Vols 1, 2 & 3 - Eddie Creek & J. Richard Smith [KF] KG55: 'Greif' Geshwader (In Focus) - Lionel Quinlan [KG] Luftwaffe Crash Archive: Volume 1 1: A Documentary History of Every Enemy Aircraft Brought Down Over the UK - Nigel Parker [CA] Gardermoen Museum, Norway - Guttorm Fjeldstad He111 In Action - Squadron Signal With thanks to Revell for the review sample. Thank you also to Matt Low for technical assistance. Nicholas Mayhew