Display bases

By Bill Curtis

A note from Bill…
For a more detailed description check out the T35, Chaffee and the Italian L6/450 articles you’ll find in Finished Now.

Here’s the short version

It was made by cutting plastic card to raise the height of the base by building a rectangle which was mounted on a piece of contiboard.

This had been edged with iron-on surround and the centre of the rectangle filled in with polystyrene.

Poly filler was then added to the top and with some off cuts of polystyrene a bank was formed and covered with plaster which was then allowed to dry.

Just prior to the filler going off the Leopard was pressed into the plaster to imprint the tracks from the edge of the base to its position in the centre.

When dry the whole base was painted with Tamiya matt black and left to cure.

PVA adhesive was brushed over the top and then grit and small stones were applied to the track area and green nylon fibres to the grass areas. I allowed this to dry and then applied another coat of PVA adhesive and water mix to seal it. Again left to dry and then various bits and pieces were stuck to represent natural growing plants and grass. I had some rubberised horsehair and cut two pieces into irregular shapes and applied some PVA with a brush to one side only and then dipped each in turn into a container of leaf material. Hey presto we now have a small bush or brambles. These were then stuck on top of the bank.

PVA was applied to the track impressions and the tank positioned and allowed to harden into place.

A point to remember when making groundwork is to make sure that the vegetation looks irregular as nothing in nature is symmetrical.

As mentioned above, for more detail description check out the T35, Chaffee and the Italian L6/450 articles.

Good luck!
Bill C.

Our thanks to The Airbrush Company Ltd for supplying our review sample.

A bit of Background

On October 5th 1937, the first two aircraft entered VT-3 Squadron on CV-3 Saratoga and started the type’s service.

On December 7 1941 after the IJN combined fleet sneak-attack on the US Navy Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, the US entered the war.

The TBD-1 removed its shiny silver coat and put on a more sombre grey camouflage scheme. It took part in almost all the US Navy actions against the Japanese fleets and harbours before the Midway campaign.

The Midway campaign was the turning point of the Pacific War and it was the last battle that the TBD-1 acted as the main torpedo bomber in front-line units.

The war promoted rapid progress in aviation terms, especially weapons and the TBD-1 was unable to keep up. It did though mark up some ‘firsts’ when it came into service several years earlier.

In the Midway campaign, when the TBD-1s from VT-8 led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron sighted the enemy carriers, they attacked the Japanese fleet without any fighter escort.

Sadly, all 15 TBD Devastators of VT-8 were shot down by anti-aircraft gunners and the much faster Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zero” fighter, not being able to inflict any damage. Ensign George H. Gay, Jr was to be the only survivor.

Because of the determined attack by the TBDs from VT-8, the fighter cover was able to be kept occupied while three squadrons of American SBDs began dive-bombing the IJN aircraft carriers untroubled. Three carriers were put out of action and were eventually abandoned and scuttled, which led to the final victory in the Battle of Midway.

Thought-provoking and useful too…

Initial Assessment

It’s clear that quite a few of you also build armour kits and I only mention this because Great Wall Hobby (GWH), who are well known to armour modellers, may be new to aircraft modellers.

The fact that they have now turned their attention to aircraft in 1:48th scale - with a number or recent releases as mixed-media kits - is very good news for us – especially if you like US types. The P-61 Black Widow and Fw-189 are also impressive new tools.

The quality and precision/detailing on GWH armour kits is very high and this new kit looks to be well tooled too; not perfect, but certainly at the forefront of what we can expect these days.

What’s in the box…

Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample.

A bit of reference…

Background

It is hard to overestimate the role of minelayers in naval combat. The German Navy used these elongated U-boats to place mines near enemy shipping routes.

The Type VIID featured five mine silos, located just behind the conning tower. Each silo could store up to three mines each, making the Type VIID a formidable foe for the Allies.

Kit features an extended hull with fine riveting and welds, authentically reproduced deck details, a detailed engine, a realistic periscope, a true-to-the-original weapons assortment and decal markings for U-212, U-217 and U-218.

The Kit

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge images.

This is not a completely new kit, but one that dates from 2009; nonetheless, it’s a fair size at 22cm long and will compliment your other 1:350 models very well.

This is a very straightforward model to build and I think that it offers a lot in how you choose to weather and finish your model. Done well, it could look stunning!

I have just uploaded a great video from Graham Thompson into your Techniques Bank where he shows you exactly how you can replace delicate plastic masts with brass metal replacements – much, much more straightforward than you may at first think, so do check that out.

The reason for mentioning it here is that there are rigging possibilities with this kit and some of the parts look delicate, so this would provide a great canvas from which you can move on.

The deck is nicely moulded with decent recessed detail that will good to weather. Some of the other parts like the conning tower and deck gun have excess flash that will need to be removed, but hey, that’s modelling.

The inclusion of a stand is a nice touch as your completed model will look great mounted on it.

Instructions

These comprise of a fold-out sheet with exploded diagrams showing where all the parts go – clear enough. The model should present few, if any problems to modellers with just a little experience.

Decals

Revell include a decal sheet with appropriate markings for the U-Boats featured and some of the schemes will prove challenging, yet excellent if you pull them off.

Colour is solid and strong with no items out of register, just remember to apply them onto a high gloss finish and then matt down as appropriate to reduce any chance of decal silvering.

One problem is, of course, that the German flags do not have their swastika printed so you’ll have to source these from elsewhere (like White Ensign Models).

In Conclusion…

An impressive package when you take into account the price and size of model.

Plenty of people buy and make models in this scale and you will have another U-Boat to add to your collection and a sight easier to store and display than Les’s Trumpeter 1:200 scale USS Arizona!

You might even try the Revell Type VIIc in the larger 1:72 scale – who knows, you may even get converted and motivated to do more maritime modelling as some of the SMN Review Team have been!

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	***
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	***
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Geoff C.

Review by: Geoff Coughlin (Jan 2012)

Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample.

Background

Recently Les V told me about the History Channel HD, where he saw a few months back a documentary on the battle of Layette Gulf.

It was there he had the sight of the enormous Yamato and a number of cruisers and destroyers, going to battle against a smaller force of incredibly courageous and tenacious US escort carriers, Fletcher class destroyers and some smaller escort destroyers.

The US ‘fleet’ won a remarkable battle but the shots of the beautiful Yamato were something else and indelibly imprinted on his mind.

The Ship…

Here are a few words on this magnificent vessel.

It was 263m in length, 38.9m in beam and was 72,000 tonnes loaded for battle. It was the largest warship ever to put to sea.

Top speed was 28kts, had a crew of 2500 and a range of 7200nms a 16kts. Armament was staggering comprising: 3 main turrets each with 3 x 18.1inch guns each of these had a range of 41,000 meters and could penetrate armour at 30,000 metres each barrel weighted 166 tones and each turret over 2600 tones!

Additionally the Yamato also carried a secondary armament comprising, 2 x Triple barrelled 6.1inch guns. 12 x 12.7cm double barrelled guns, 41 x 25mm triple barrelled guns, 28 x 25mm single barrelled guns, 2 x 13mm double barrelled machine guns, 3 x observation seaplanes and 2 x catapult launchers.

The Yamato was launched on 16 December 1941 just 9 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. But it was during Operation Kikusui on 6th April 1945 that the Yamato was spotted by a USN F6F Hellcat.

The first air attack by what eventually amounted to more than 300 aircraft carrying bombs and torpedoes sunk the Yamato on 7 April. All of its crew of 2498 went down with their ship, which despite its awesome power was never to prove itself in battle.

A sad end in almost every way for what was a magnificent piece of human engineering.

The Revell kit

This is another in Revell’s waterline series and the package contains main hull, main deck and upper superstructure, plus of course the various gun batteries.

Some of the details like the aircraft (X2), catapults and cranes are necessarily simple and straightforward, with slightly soft moulding but it works fine in 1:1200 scale.

With a little work you can refine parts even more to make some items, such as the aircraft, flash free and presentable.

Instructions

This comprises a fold-out sheet with exploded diagrams showing where the small number of parts go – clear enough. The model is hardly complex so a build will present few, if any problems to modellers at any level.

Decals

None included.

In conclusion…

A worthwhile purchase, taking into account the price and size of model.

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	**
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	N/A
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Geoff C.

Review by: Geoff Coughlin (Jan 2012)

Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample.

Some good inspiration for your build…

Initial Assessment

We continue to review many new and re-released maritime kits from Revell and very welcome the manufacturer’s release programme is too.

Within this kit, there are six sprues moulded in white plastic and my immediate reaction is how big this vessel is. The hull looks enormous compared to the upper superstructure, but all looks to be cleanly moulded and promises to be an absorbing project.

The issue, as ever with a kit building this larger scale, is how much detail to add and what to replace, if anything. Frankly, the choice is yours!

I don’t usually comment on the price of kits, mainly because this is such a subjective matter and so many modellers have such different views on the subject; and, of course, price variations are great between country to country and supplier to supplier.

In this instance though I was hugely surprised to see how low the price was for this model – it immediately looks like great value for money.

The Kit

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images.

There’s some good detail is on offer here: superstructure, railings and of course the deck crane. There’s a small launch as well.

There is some flash that’ll need to be removed, but overall the mouldings look quite good.

Perhaps the biggest drawback is that the windows are moulded solid, but it all depends what you have in mind for your project. They can easily be opened up using a motorised modelling drill or pin-vice drill and files. Then you’ll have the opportunity to detail some of the wheel house and interior.

Many of the parts will benefit from additions and some you may even decide to replace, but it’s all about what you want.

This could be a great starter kit for someone who’s new to maritime modelling, as well as the basis for something much more involved if you have some experience.

Looking at the video that I have included above, you’ll see that there are some great additions you can add to make your model unique.

Instructions

This comprises a booklet in the usual Revell style, with exploded diagrams showing where the parts go – clear enough. The model is hardly complex so a build should present few, if any problems to modellers at any level.

Decals

Revell include a small decal sheet with appropriate deck markings and they look good enough to use – just remember to apply them onto a high gloss finish and then matt down as appropriate to reduce any chance of decal silvering.

In Conclusion…

Yes, pretty good really for the money and size of model. Lots of people buy and make maritime models in this scale and this would be an impressive addition to your collection – with work and effort.

After all, this is what scale modelling is all about and, for the money, the kit can provide a great basis for creating something really unique and special.

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	***
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	****
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Geoff C.

Review by: Geoff Coughlin (Jan 2012)

Price: £6.99 approx

Our thanks to Revell Germany for supplying our review sample. 

Something to get you in the mood…

The Kit

Revell are proving prolific these days, with plenty of new-tool kits being released like the impressive armour subjects such as their Panther Ausf D in 1:35 scale and of course the big cousin of this review subject, the Arado Ar-196A-3 in 1:32 to mention just two.

But it’s not just these larger scales that are attracting interest, clearly the smaller scale 1:72 is too, with the Arado Ar-196A-3 seaplane with new decals another new model in this scale.

This kit continues a recent theme, with several smaller ‘new’ kits in fact older kits repackaged with new, high quality decals.

Box and Contents

Click on thumbnails to enlarge images.

The box artwork is usually impressive and it’s good here, showing an Arado Ar-196A-3 overflying an Allied submarine.

The light blue-grey sprues are packaged well as part of this starter set and no damage is apparent. Taking the main components first, they are quite well-tooled, feeling quite hard and brittle-like.

No distortion was apparent and a dry fit of the fuselage promises a decent fit and overall shape looks pretty good. Moving to the wings, they are reasonable in outline shape.

Detail Sprues

The components feature raised panel lines, which won’t impress all of you, although the fabric effect but subtlety is as you’d expect with an older moulding. The type will give you plenty of weathering opportunities for sure.

The cockpit is spartan when compared to references, although does include a control column; seat and internal cockpit detail only bear a passing resemblance to the original, with decals supplied for the main instrument panels although this is quite reasonable in this small scale.

The large float detail is adequate, reflecting the original units ok and should be fine in this scale.

Quite a bit of excess flash is formed around most parts that will need to be cleaned up and removed to ensure the best fit possible.

Rear observer/gunner position has the twin MG’s but these will either need quite a bit of cleaning up to look convincing or be replaced with aftermarket items.

This kit sits in the pocket-money bracket and so it’s fair to say that the kit is surely aimed at the junior and novice market.

You will of course need to add the bracing wires between the floats but there arrangement is straightforward and their addition will add a lot to your finished model. See your Techniques Bank for advice on this kind of addition.

Clear Parts

The clear parts look clear enough with the canopy split into three separate sections. I’m not sure if the sections that should move on the real aircraft will slide over their rear portions, but the parts are commendably thin.

Unless you are prepared to do a lot of work on the interior you may be better closing the canopy and just creating a decent overall impression of an Arado Ar 196A-3 cockpit. Through careful painting of the kit parts and adding some scratched seat belts and a harness it should look quite good.

Instructions

The Revell instructions follow their usual exploded stages format. Location of parts is clear but colour paint coding is for Revell paints only. However, the colour names are provided and this will help you to match your own choice of paints.

Decals

The decals seem good, being newly created and manufactured.

Certainly colour saturation and register is good and all markings are accurate and sharp in their detail. This is probably the best part of the package.

Conclusion

This kit is definitely worth a look if you’re a small scale modeller, especially as given the low price you could build a number in different markings by cross-kitting and mixing decals.

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	***
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	****
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Geoff C.

Review by: Geoff Coughlin (Jan 2012)

Price: £6.00 approx

Our thanks to Revell Germany for supplying our review sample. 

Something to get you in the mood…

The Kit

Revell are certainly on a roll these days with plenty of new-tool kits. But, as well as the larger releases, the smaller 1:72 scale is also attracting interest. So we now have the Alpha Jet advanced trainer in new decals for a 1,000 000 hours commemorative scheme.

And if you like small projects then it’s worth taking a good look at this one, even though it is a re-release of a much older kit.

Box and Contents

Click on thumbnails to enlarge images/go back.

The box artwork is usually very good and it’s decent enough here with one of the Armee de L’Air 2008 aircraft sporting 1,000 000 hours flying time.

The light blue-grey sprues are packaged well as part of this starter set and no damage is apparent. Taking the main components first, they are quite well tooled, feeling quite hard and brittle-like.

No distortion was apparent and a dry fit of the fuselage promises a decent fit and overall shape looks pretty good.

Moving to the wings, they are reasonable in outline shape.

Detail Sprues

The components feature raised panel lines, which may not impress all of you. They are a bit over scale and not as fine as, say, the newer kits from this manufacturer.

The trick in this scale I think is to not go overboard on the weathering and start accentuating the panel line detail too much, as it may look unconvincing, especially in such a small scale and given the subject – a French Air Force demonstration aircraft!

The cockpit is spartan when compared to references and the seats only bear a passing resemblance to the original, with decals supplied for the main instrument panels; this is quite reasonable in this small scale.

Undercarriage detail is adequate, reflecting the original units ok, although they are simplified.

Quite a bit of excess flash is formed around most parts that will need to be cleaned up and removed to ensure the best fit possible. Two under wing drop tanks and centre-line pod are supplied but no other stores.

This kit sits in the pocket-money bracket, so it’s fair to say that the kit is surely aimed at the junior and novice market. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it’s important to point this out here.

Clear Parts

The clear parts look clear enough, with the whole canopy moulded as one piece.

Unless you are prepared to do a lot of work on the interior you may be better closing the canopy and just creating a decent overall impression of an Alpha Jet cockpit through careful painting of the kit parts; adding some scratched seat belts and a harness.

Instructions

The Revell instructions follow their usual exploded stages format. Location of parts is clear but colour paint coding is for Revell paints only.

However, the colour names are provided, which will help you to match your own choice of paints.

This is a basic model and so should present little difficulty in working out where all the parts are located, even for inexperienced modellers.

Decals

The decals seem good, being newly created and manufactured. Certainly colour saturation and register is good and all markings are accurate and sharp in their detail.

This is probably the best part of the package; good quality decals will make a world of difference to your completed model.

Conclusion

Basically, if you are into small-scale modelling, then this kit is worth a look, especially as given the low price you could build a number in different markings by cross-kitting and mixing decals.

If you’re prepared to spend a lot of time, you can get good results.

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	**
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	****
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Recommended for all inexperienced and small-scale modellers.

Geoff C.

Kit/Product: Revell Tornado GR.Mk.1

Kit Number: 04063

Total kit parts: 84

Scale: 1/144th

Price: £3.99

Availability: In all good model shops.

Designed for: Age 10 to adult, Skill level 3 – more demanding models with up to 100 parts

The box lid shows the 75th Anniversary Tornado from 27 Sqn, RAF Marham in 1990. Upon opening the side-opening box you are greeted with cellophane wrapper containing 4 grey sprues and 1 clear canopy sprue.

The moulding and detail is very crisp with recessed panel lines showing good detail for such a small aircraft kit. The main features that I dry fitted, fuselage, wings, nose section fitted together very well and the shape of the Tornado GR1 was sitting in front of me. Cockpit detail is very simple but Revell have provided instrument details on the decal sheet, which is a nice touch.

The stores choices you get with the kit are;

• 2 x ALARM Missiles,
• 2 x Laser-guided bombs,
• 4 x 1000 lb bombs,
• 2 x 2250 Ltr auxiliary tanks
• 2 x 1500 Ltr auxiliary tanks
• Sky SHADOW pod
• BOZ pod
• 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinder

And on the sprue and not for use with this kit is an ECM pod

Decals

The instruction sheet is folded out and inside you find the colourful decal sheet. The decals are all in register with good colours, will be interesting to see though how the wing and fin decals hold up over camouflage. The instruction sheet breaks everything down into 27 logical steps and on the back page the colour and markings section for the Anniversary Tornado

Overall

Another nice kit from Revell in this scale and I am looking forward to building this one to go with my Revell F-104’s, Highly Recommended.

Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample.

Initial Assessment

There are several reviews of Revell maritime kits in your Here Now area and the pace of releases (or re-releases) shows no sign of abating – good news for all! 1:700 is quite popular in maritime modelling circles, I guess because it enables you to build up quite a collection, easily and cheaply.

The Kit

This isn’t a new kit but a welcome addition to the Revell range.

A full hull option is included but the hull is split so that you can display your model as a waterline project. Main deck is quite well moulded and should be able to be painted well.

In addition, there are many aircraft supplied like the Curtiss Helldiver and Grumman Hellcat. They are certainly recognisable types and, with careful painting, should look ok.

The deck superstructure, tower and crane details are necessarily simple and straightforward, with slightly soft moulding but it’s what you’d expect in 1:700 scale.

With a little work, you can refine parts even more to make some items like the ship’s fittings more authentic. There’s likely to be etched brass available, so I would recommend a visit to the White Ensign Models website when you get a moment.

Click on the Thumbnails to enlarge the images below and explore the contents for yourself!

Instructions

These comprise of a fold-out sheet with exploded diagrams showing where the small number of parts go – clear enough. The model is hardly complex so a build will present few, if any problems to modellers at any level.

Decals

Revell include a small decal sheet with appropriate deck markings and they look good enough to use – just remember to apply them onto a high gloss finish and then matt down as appropriate to reduce any chance of decal silvering.

Signal flags are supplied on coloured paper for use as you choose.

What you’d be building…

A few preview shots from Revell of what you could build if you take-on this kit…

In Conclusion…

Not bad at all really for the money and size of model.

Lots of people buy and make models in this scale and, were you to build this kit, you’d have a fleet to add to your collection that’s a sight easier to store and display than Les’s 1:200 USS Arizona!

FEATURE	STAR RATING (out of five)
Quality of moulding	***
Accuracy	***
Instructions	***
Decals	****
Subject choice	****
Overall	***

Geoff C.