Reviews-Modeling

Propagteam Foreigners in Foreign Skies #00172

Empire City Decals — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:32:07 +0000

Foreigners in Foreign Skies

A small, but intriguing sheet covering (4) WWII combatants in the enemny guise. From the allied side, the P-51C and P-47 (razorback) are presented in Luftwaffe markings, as they appeared when flying with the "Zirkus Rosarius". On the other side, the Me-109E and Fw-190A-3 are offered in RAF markings; these both look neat in the Dark earth/dark green/yellow scheme. The sheet is printed by Propagteam in the Czech Republic and looks to be excellent quality.

Hit-Kit Spad 61

Empire City Decals — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:37:28 +0000

Hit Kit Spad 61

Some of you will remember Hit Kit as a short run kit producer from Poland in the late 1990s.Their small catalog focused on a mix of rigged types flown byy the Polish AF during the interwar period. The Spad 61 kit is typical, with decently detailed parts with thick mold gates one a single sprue. All parts will need clean-up, while smaller detail pieces may be best replaced from the spares box. A small instruction sheet includes a detailed cockpit schematic. The real highlight is the colorful decal sheet featuring (20) markings options for Polish and Rumanian machines.
I tried tackling their Potez 25 kit and eventually ran out of will power. I have yet to see you of these kits built, but, with a little preserverance, a nice model can be created.

Trumpeter Type 61 JDSDF battle tank

Empire City Decals — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:28:37 +0000

Trumpeter JGSDF Type 61 battle tank

A really nice armor kit from Trumpeter, the Type 61 is the first in a series of modern JGSDF armor from this company. All parts are crisply molded with fine surface detail throughout. A nicely sculpted crew is included. Vinyl tracks form the treads and the underside of the side sponsons are open; most modelers will want to blank these off. Markings for a single vehicle are included. All we need to finish this kit off properly is 72nd scale Godzilla!

HobbyCraft "International Sabre Mk. 6"

Empire City Decals — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:24:25 +0000

HobbyCraft Sabre Mk.6

Hobbycraft's claim to fame seems to be their inconsistency in kit quality. Their Sabre series appears to be among the better of their catalog and most other reviews find these fairly accurate too. Petit surface scribing and decently detailed cockpit and undercarriage and wheel wells are all here. The real highlight of this issue is the decal sheet covering (8) schemes: West Germany, Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Ethiopia. The markings are nicely printed and offer a neat alternative to the typically seen USAF NMF schemes.

I believe this issue had gone OOP, but is readily available through eBay and modeling show vendor rooms.

Right Staff Ki-61 Hei "Hein/Tony"

Empire City Decals — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:17:46 +0000

Right Staff Ki-61 Hei "Hein/Tony" JAAF fighter

Japan's near-legendary Right Staff studio put out a handful of resin Japanese aircraft kits in the late 1980. While these kits have been supplanted by later styrene kit, the Right Staff offerings are still far ahead of all competitors in detail. This Hein kit is, in my opinion, far better than the Hasegawa offering. With the major components cast in whitish resin, it boasts superior surface detail and holds up well to dry-fitting. Smaller parts are on an injected fret, with a multitude of PE and metal finer details. A colorful decal sheet rounds out the package. These kits demand a high premium on eBay. I purchased this for a song at a recent model show. As much as I'd love to build it, the pack-rat in me tells me to squirrel it away to pay the mortage.

Monogram Models Buck Rogers Starfighter

Empire City Decals — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:58:52 +0000

Monogram "Buck Rogers" Starfighter

Set 500 years in the schlocky future, Buck Rogers was a rather short-lived American prime-time TV series in the late 1970s. It spawned two model kits: Buck's sleek Starfigher and his nemesis Draconian fighter. Both kits were fairly simple affairs and were well within the skill set of most boys watching the show (including this one, of course!) With the inevitable demise of the show, the kits went OOP and have not yet been reissued. Both are quite collectible among the sci-fi crowd. I picked this up at a hobby shop a while ago and paid a small premium for it. It can be seen on eBay from time to time.

Blue Rider Albanian Air Force # BR219

Empire City Decals — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:26:53 +0000

Albanian Air Force

A neat sheet covering (6) Albania types: Mig-15, Mig-15UTI, Shenyang F-4 (Mig-17), Shenyang F-6 (Mig 19), Shenyang (Mig-21), IL-28, all in natural metal. I've never used Blue Rider decals, so can't comment on the quality. I believe Blue Rider/Pegasus has suspended all business activities...can someone confirm?

Max Decals Fouga Magister Pt. 1 #7205

Empire City Decals — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:25:30 +0000

Fouga Magister Pt. 1

A really colorful sheet offering (14) schemes for the venerable Heller kit. Nationalities include West Germany, Togo, Gabon, Morocco, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Ireland, Finland, and the former Katanga. Brilliantly printed by Propagteam in Czech Republic, this sheet will make the Heller kit shine on the contest tables.

Lifelike Decals 244th Sentai Pt.3 #48-005

Empire City Decals — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:19:52 +0000

244th Senati Pt.3

A real stunner from this Japanese deal producer. Covering (8) "Tony" fighters (both Ki-61 and Ki-110). We have a full set of colorful markings for the vaulyed 244th Sentai, plus a really uniquely marked special attacker machine adorned with an illustration of a Hein fighter plunging towards an aircraft carrier. The sheet is printed by Propagteam in Czech Republic and is supported by color guide and full documentation.

Decals Carpena Morane Saulnier MS 406 #72-34

Empire City Decals — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:18:35 +0000

Morane Saulnier MS.406

A nice sheet covering (5) schemes for this diminutive French fighter. My past experience with Decals Carpena has been a mixed bag, so it would be advisable to test an unused decal first. I recall Decals Carpena folded a while ago, but later re-emerged out of Portugal. Does anyone know their status today?