Tag Archives: kit

U.S. Air Force photo by Captain Katie Mueller, Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, 13FEB2021.

Kawasaki C-2 makes a humanitarian drop on Angaur, Palau. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Ryan Brooks, 10FEB2021.

The Kawasaki C-2 was designed to replace the older and intentionally limited (by Constitutional law, which has since been amended) C-1.

It was also designed to exceed the abilities of the C-130J Super Hercules, which the Japanese Self Defense Forces determined to be too limited for what they had in mind.

C-2 over Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, 14FEB2020. USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Curt Beach.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Melanie A. Hutto, Misawa Air Base, Japan, September 2019.

2019 Paris Air show video walk-around:

Kawasaki C-2, Iruma Air Base, Japan, 10JUL2019.

A U.S. Air Force C-130J Loadmaster gets to ride a C-2.

The C-2 can be equipped with an automated loading system.

The spacious loadmaster station (compared to C-130J).

USAF photo by Yasuo Osakabe, 17SEP2018.

Size comparison to four engined Boeing C-17, Yokota Air Base, Japan, September 2018. USAF photo by Yasuo Osakabe, 17SEP2018.

USAF photo by Yasuo Osakabe, 17SEP2018.

EC-2 version.

Video, C-2 ELINT (EC-2) , Gifu Air Base, Japan, 2018:

General Electric CF6-80C2K1F turbofans are used.

XC-2 prototype, first flight 2010. Design project began in 2001.

Video, C-1 vs XC-2:

Video, XC-2 first flight:

Aoshima makes a 1:144 scale plastic model kit, retailing in Japan for about U.S.$43. However, I’ve seen U.S. sellers asking as much as U.S.$71 for it!

With interior.

VEHICLE I-D: MITSUBISHI F-2, SURE LOOKS LIKE AN F-16

International, Kit Bashing

U.S. taxpayers send Aussie Prime Minister a model boat!

January 7, 2020 Hutchins AAron

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison is now the modern day ‘Nero that fiddled while Rome burned’, regarding his slow response to the unprecedented wildfires (even being on vacation!) during the Gregorian month of December, 2019.

Three months prior, in September 2019, the U.S. Secretary of Defense ordered the Office of the Curator of Ship Models at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division to build PM Morrison a model of the USS Canberra, as a gift!

Apparently the USS (United States Ship) Canberra-LCS-30 (not to be confused with USS Canberra-CA-70) is named after the HMAS (His/Her Majesty’s Australian Ship) Canberra, which was sunk by the Japanese during World War Two.

The Office of the Curator of Ship Models at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division was given short notice of the taxpayer funded build, only a few days, so they had to modify an existing model of the USS Independence-LCS-2.

Hope the Aussie PM is enjoying his U.S. taxpayer funded model boat.

Australia is part of the British empire, commonly known as The Commonwealth of Nations, or more simply The Commonwealth. This includes many countries that have falsely been reported as ‘gaining independence’. The current Queen of England is the boss.

M777 : PROOF THE UNITED STATES IS THE TOOL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

U.S. ARMY now COMMANDED BY RED COATS?

OBAMA TURNS BENEDICT ARNOLD, IS TOOL OF PRINCE OF EVIL BRITISH EMPIRE

U.S. Air Force REMINDS YOU THAT OUR MORTAL ENEMY IS THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

Iran sends hot pink model of captured U.S. stealth drone to President Obama!

Kit Bashing, Reviews

New looks for the old Monogram Beer Wagon

Video December 29, 2019 Hutchins AAron

http://thepastpresented.com/index.php/tag/monogram-models/

The classic Tom Daniel’s Monogram Beer Wagon (also issued as a Cola Wagon under the Revell-Monogram brand) was first issued in 1967. Apparently, it was last issued in 2016.

Photo by me.

I built two Monogram Beer Wagons as xmas gifts for two guys who love their specific brands of beer; Pabst and Iron Horse Brewery’s Irish Death.

Photo by me.

I used aftermarket Pabst decals meant for a 1970s gasser/drag racer. Alcohol based chrome paint was used on the headers, works good but is expensive.

Photo by me.

The markings for the Irish Death were cut from Iron Horse Brewery’s 36 square-root package, thinned down and pasted with clear setting glue. Then I covered with lots of clear paint.

Photo by me.

I tried using different brands of gold spray paints, all claiming to look like gold chrome. None of them lived up to their promise.

Photo by me.

Video, the real 1:1 scale Beer Wagon:

Photo by me.

Notice that the front axle doesn’t sit properly on both kits.

Photo by me.

These old kits have a lot of fragile parts. Besides the plastic chains being prone to breakage, the rear light posts also like to break. On the Pabst Wagon I had to make new posts out of skinny plastic sprues. I drilled holes in the chassis to fix them in place, they turned out to be sturdier.

Photo by me.

I got this cool stretch version from a builder in Canada.

The kool thing about these old kits is that they’re great starting points for kool kustoms.

VEHICLE I-D with kit review: MODEL T & WHITE MOTOR WARRIORS

DEUTSCHLAND ÜBER ALLES!: REVELL USA IS DEAD, LONG LIVE REVELL GERMANY!

BLACKLIGHT REVELL DEAL’S WHEELS

Cool looking kit, but fiddly construction with instructions that don’t help.

REVELL 1937 FORD PICKUP OR WHY MODEL ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE WRONG!

The hood got a clear coat of Plaid acrylic matte. The inner lip of the front fender wells had to be sanded slightly thinner so the Bullet Mustang tires would fit inside. I think the problem was caused by the way I mounted the disc breaks on the front suspension.

REVELL’S CHEVY COPO NOVA

MORE PROOF INSTRUCTIONS ARE WRONG:

Woooo, it’s the ghost of Willys’ van!

AMT WILLYS VAN RETRO ISSUE

An old MPC custom Corvette and an AMT 1995 Corvette, missing parts, broken or unusable parts, combined to make a unique kit.

SALVAGING TWO DIFFERENT JUNK KITS INTO ONE UNIQUE CORVETTE

Open wide! In hindsight I should have used a wider/stronger chassis as the modified 2006 Mustang body is very heavy.

2006 Revell-Monogram MUSTANG FUNNY CAR DRAGSTER conversion

Kit Bashing

Retired USN craftsman recalls days of being paid to build giant model planes!

Image July 25, 2019 Hutchins AAron

Visitors to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum might not realize what looks like giant almost six feet long plastic-looking models of an A-6 Intruder and an F-14 Tomcat, are made out of Sugar-Pine wood (with a fiberglass coating), like the old fashioned way model kits used to be made.

This will end up being an A-6 Intruder.

The man who made them, not so way back in 1993, is William Corbell.

This will end up being an F-14 Tomcat.

Corbell was lucky enough to go to work at the the now decommissioned Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk (NADEP), as a wood crafter in 1980. He was commissioned to build the model A-6 and F-14, but continued helping to repair real aircraft at the same time: “Basically, if it was something that couldn’t be fixed at the squadron; they sent it to us.”

Told you!

When Corbell visited his models in January 2019, he revealed he had placed a time capsule inside the F-14. It contains a leave request that he hopes someone in the distant future would humorously approve. The models were transferred to different locations before finally finding a home at the Naval Museum in 2008.

The photos come from William Corbell’s collection.

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:72 F-100 Super Saber kit klash, or more reasons why you can’t trust scale drawings

Image January 21, 2019 Hutchins AAron

As far as I’m aware I’ve collected every North American F-100 Super Saber (I prefer the U.S. English spelling versus the Queen’s English spelling Sabre [for some unknown reason preferred by North American]) kit in 1/72 scale, I feel confident I can honestly direct you as to which F-100 kit to spend your hard earned cash on (please don’t make the Too Big to Jail banks rich by using credit).

I also have several books with scale drawings, and once again the ‘authoritative’ drawings themselves don’t match-up.

Detail & Scale Number 4 (1980) uses drawings by Rockwell/Ed Moore/Terry Smith. Detail & Scale Volume 33 (1989) uses drawings by Dana Bell and Terry Smith. Bunrin Do’s Famous Airplanes of the World Number 22 (May 1990) uses drawings that look like 1:72 but no scale is given.

Revell: According to Detail & Scale, this kit first came out in the 1950s and is a piece-o-crap (photos confirm this), it’s much larger than 1:72 scale. It’s supposed to represent a ‘A/C’ version of the F-100. According to Detail & Scale-33 it was last issued in 1987.

Detail & Scale-33 also talks about other ‘1:72’ scale F-100 kits issued by different companies in the 1960s-70s, apparently all actually being scales that are not 1:72.

IMC/Lindberg: According to Scalemates, the IMC kit was the first 1:72 scale Super Saber, out in 1965. Lindberg currently issues it. IMC marketed it as a ‘D’ version yet it has the wing of a ‘A/C’ version (Lindberg wisely dropped the reference to the ‘D’ version). The surface detailing is spurious. Detail & Scale-4 doesn’t mention it, and Detail & Scale-33 simply calls the kit a “gimmick with battle damaged parts”. I was surprised to find the wing, elevators and canopy matched dimension and shape of the Ed Moore and Terry Smith drawings! The vertical tail is too skinny, tall, and set too far back on the fuselage. The fuselage is a little long at the ass-end. The extra long external fuel tanks are too fat and the fins are grossly over-sized. You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole (this is the part that makes the fuselage too long). No weapons come with the kit. Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the fuselage and wing measures out the same as the previous drawings, but the elevators are narrower in span. The same can be said about the Bunrin Do drawings.

Hasegawa/Frog: According to Scalemates, the Hasegawa kit was issued first by Frog in 1970, then Hasegawa in 1971. According to the reviewers in Detail & Scale, it’s accurate shape-wise, but represents the F-100D before all the field mods were applied by the USAF, so it can’t accurately represent a service aircraft. Never-the-less Hasegawa continues to re-issue the thing, and people continue paying too much for it. Compared to the Ed Moore/Terry Smith drawings the fuselage, wing and elevators are a close match. The one piece canopy/windshield is smaller than in the drawings. Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the wing/elevators have too great a sweep-back. You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole, but the fuselage is too long at the air intake and afterburner. The canopy is even smaller compared to Dana Bell drawings. According to the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is very slightly narrower in chord, but good in span. The elevators have too great a sweep-back. The fuselage is too short and too skinny, the canopy is still small. The old kit comes with two styles of external fuel tanks, but not the extra long ones, plus what looks like napalm bombs and Bullpup missiles.

ESCI/AMT-Ertl: Scalemates says this kit first came out in 1982. Reviewers in Detail & Scale-33 praise the kit for being the most accurate F-100D at that time (yes, better than Hasegawa). ESCI was also the first to release a two seat ‘F’ version. It has detailed landing gear, extra long external fuel tanks, separately molded intake mouth, two styles of IFR probes and two styles of after burners. The only weapons are Bullpup and Sidewinder missiles. The wing is a close match to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are too narrow in span. The fuselage is slightly long at the mouth, the vertical tail is too tall. The canopy/windshield (molded as one) is the closest to matching these drawings. The wing is also a close match to the Bell drawings, but the elevator is not only too short in span, the sweep-back is too great. The fuselage is even longer, yet the tail is only slightly taller. The canopy looks good, but the windshield area looks small. Going by the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is just slightly narrower in span, the elevators match the shape and sweep but are slightly undersized in overall dimension. The fuselage is shorter and narrower, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing. The canopy/windshield looks like a good match.

Click the pics to make bigger:

: Can you see the extra frame on the Italeri canopy from 1998?

Pioneer-PM: This monstrosity was unleashed in the early 1990s by British empire company Pioneer. It’s made by a company called PM, based in the NATO country of Turkey. The air intake mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves. It’s marketed as a ‘C’ version but has the wing of the ‘D’ version. It comes with extra long fuel tanks, Bullpup missiles, blobs with fins that’re supposed to be bombs and an IFR probe that’s missing the receptacle end. Oddly the wing and elevators are a close match with the Detail & Scale drawings, yet the fuselage is too small in overall size (as is the canopy/windshield). Bunrin Do drawings show the wing to be slightly smaller in overall dimension, the elevators having too great a sweep-back, and the fuselage is even smaller, so small you’d think it was a different scale.

Italeri/Revell Germany/Tamiya/Academy: Time to set things straight. This kit is not a re-box of the ESCI kit, it is a re-tooled/so-called improved version of the ESCI kit, first coming out in 1998. The surface details, and the wheel well/air brake well details, are exactly the same. The sprue layout is different. The external fuel tanks are much shorter than the ESCI tanks. You get optional IFR probes and afterburners. For weapons you get two ‘dumb’ iron bombs and two rocket pods. For some odd reason Italeri added a spurious frame to the canopy, about two thirds of the way back on the canopy, rendering it useless. The most noticeable change (besides the canopy guffaw) Italeri made was to the length of the fuselage, which now matches the Moore/Smith drawings. The tail is still too tall. The wing is slightly shorter in span to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are a close match (the opposite of the ESCI kit). Compared to the Bell drawings the wing is a better match, still slightly short in span. The elevators match the shape but are also slightly short in span. Interestingly the fuselage is too long for the Bell drawings, at the mouth, and the tail is still slightly too tall. For the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is too short in span, slightly narrow in chord. The elevators match. The fuselage is too short, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing. Revell AG (Germany) re-boxed the kit at the same time Italeri first issued it. Beware, Tamiya re-boxed the kit starting in 2001, and I’ve seen it command prices over $20 U.S. (just because it has Tamiya’s name on the box), Academy re-boxed the kit in 2017 also commanding a high price for it, don’t do it!

Trumpeter: And the winner is! Starting in 2009 Trumpeter issued what every Super Saber builder wanted; super detailed kits in the ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘F’ variants. The kit comes with separate flaps and slats for the wing. Optional IFR probes. Detailed exhaust/afterburner section (only the early non-f-102 style of afterburner). Air intake trunking (but the mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves and is narrower than the other kits). Optional factory air brake or field modified air brake. Optional extended or folded nose pitot. Boarding ladder. Highly detailed interior parts. The instructions make it look like the canopy suffers from the now ubiquitous ‘parting line’ syndrome that most Asian kits are infected with, but the canopies that came with my kits (the ‘C’ and ‘F’ versions) were free of this parting line. For the ‘C’ version the instructions want you to attach the tail hook which, according to my references, the ‘C’ version did not have a tail hook. The weapons load is extremely limited (as is with all the kits reviewed); Sidewinders and ECM pods depending on the kit version. The external tanks are about the size of the Italeri kit’s. Detail & Scale-4’s drawings show the wing to be much too short in span, the elevators are a match. The fuselage is almost a direct hit with the tail being slightly too tall. The canopy and separately molded windshield both look slightly small. Compared to the Bell drawings, in Detail & Scale-33, the fuselage is almost a direct hit with the nose being too long. The canopy looks good, but the windshield still looks small. The wing is too short in span and slightly narrow in chord. The elevators look like a match. With the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is good span-wise but way too narrow in chord. The elevators are too long in span. The fuselage and tail are too short. The canopy is slightly small, but the windshield looks good.

Conclusion: Avoid the odd Pioneer F-100, with its 1:72 scale wings and 1:80(?) scale fuselage. If you want something cheap that you can assemble and paint in less than a day, then hang from the ceiling, then Lindberg’s re-issue of the ancient IMC kit is for you (sometimes you can find the Hasegawa kit for less cost than the IMC/Lindberg kit so go for that then). The old ESCI kit is still good-to-go for building something you want to proudly display on the shelf, but don’t waste your time and money on aftermarket detailing sets. If you want the most detailed F-100 kit available (and you were thinking of buying an ESCI kit plus detailing sets) then it’s the Trumpeter kit hands down, no need to buy aftermarket detail sets (but you can if you’re obsessive and rich ). Even with its flaws the Trumpeter kit is still better than all the other older kits available.

P.S. The most needed aftermarket item for these kits is a good variety weapons set.

Gate Guards: F-100 Super Sabre

1/600 MOSKVA: AURORA VS AIRFIX

BLACKLIGHT REVELL DEAL’S WHEELS

HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

GEORGIA’S MUSEUM OF AVIATION MODEL SHOW, 2017

RED DEVIL AWARDS 2017, ARE THEY REAL OR ARE THEY MODELS?

GROCERY STORE USES MODEL PLANES TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS!

IDAHO CAT CAUGHT INSTRUCTING HUMAN HOW TO BUILD CORVETTE!

1:48 F-105G WILD WEASEL SHOWDOWN, HOBBYBOSS VS MONOGRAM

1:72 SHOCK & AWE LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER, OR, WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS!

FUJIMI, ESCI, AIRFIX, HASEGAWA, MATCHBOX, REVELL & HOBBY BOSS. MORE REASON NOT TO TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS?

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:600 Moskva: Aurora vs Airfix

Image November 28, 2018 Hutchins AAron

One of the first ship kits I built was the 1:600 scale Aurora Moscow helicopter anti-submarine ship (not to be confused with the Moskva of the Atlant class of missile cruisers, aka Project 1164). I also built the Airfix version, and there are differences.

Back then it was the final two decades of the Cold War (unbeknownst to both NATO and Warsaw Pact) and we average kit builders in the United States didn’t have access to reliable information on Warsaw Pact vehicles. Most publications in English would only say that what we now know was Project 1123 Kondor couldn’t handle rough seas, and that production was halted after only two ships were launched. I always doubted such NATO propaganda because if the ships were so bad why were they in use until the mid-1990s?

Today we do have access to reliable info (including Kagero Top Drawings #55 book, with detailed scale drawings of things like missile launchers, for those of us who read English), and we have at least one aftermarket detailing set for the 1:600 scale Moskva. I spent a lot of money on a Russian magazine supplement before learning about the Kagero book. I also got a hold of the photo etched set #618 by White Ensign.

The Aurora Moscow was first issued in 1969, and for some reason last issued in 1972. Airfix issued their Moskva in 1973, and as far as I know last issued it in the late 1990s. In the early 1980s it was issued in the U.S. under the MPC brand.

The Aurora and Airfix hulls are just short of 13 inches (33cm) long, the Aurora being slightly shorter than Airfix. The Aurora hull is also taller and skinnier than the Airfix hull. The anchors are molded onto the Aurora hull and both kits have different shaped hull openings and portholes.

Both kits have chunky plastic for the radar antennae. Both kits do not come with missiles for the missile launchers. Both kits do not have the massive retractable sonar dome located towards the front of the bottom of the hull. It was this massive dome that was probably the reason the tall ship reportedly nose dived into the water during rough seas. Apparently NATO was unaware of this dome during the Cold War, or for some reason it was never mentioned in publications made available to the general public.

The Airfix Kamov helicopters are molded in two halves and don’t look good. The Aurora helicopters are molded in one piece, they look good but not quite like Kamovs (more like Kamovs than Airfix). The plus with the Aurora kit is you get optional retracted/folded rotor blades. The Aurora deck is one piece with more detailing than Airfix, and even has optional position hanger doors and space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in two pieces) area. The Airfix deck is in three pieces, it has optional position hanger doors but the space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in three pieces) is blanked off. The Airfix helicopter deck has recessed spaces to represent elevators.

The big open ass, I mean aft end, I mean stern of the ship is plane Jane in the Aurora kit, with two life boats. There’s some kind of blocky details in the Airfix kit. Aurora gives you davits to hang the life boats on, while Airfix gives you upside down ‘U’s to set them on. The propellers, I mean screws are different in shape and size between the two kits.

The ship has two large cranes, Aurora uses chunks of plastic to represent them while Airfix gives you a better looking multi-part system.

Click on the pics to make them bigger:

: You get a big name plate with Aurora, Airfix gives you several hull numbers and netting for landing pads.

: Aurora is slightly shorter than Airfix. The angle the pic was taken makes it look like the Aurora has the longer hull, but it’s the other way round.

: Airfix is wider than Aurora.

: Aurora is taller than Airfix.

: Aurora’s one piece, Airfix’s three piece.

: Aurora two piece, a little longer than Airfix’s three piece.

: Aurora has retracted rotary wings.

: Better looking, but still not correct.

: Airfix has the better looking multi-part cranes.

: Airfix on the left, Aurora on the right.

: Airfix

: Aurora

The White Ensign photo etched set has thin brass parts for the radars, railings, davits, cranes, hanger doors, missile launcher detailing, much better details for the ass end, ship name plates (Moscow & Leningrad) and parts for the Airfix helicopters (including tini-tiny landing gear parts which’l probably bend under the weight of the plastic). A major problem with White Ensign’s instructions is that they leave out where to use the differently shaped hand rails. Also, you get PE rotor blades in the extended position, but not retracted.

If you love 1:600 scale ships the best way to get a good looking and close to accurate Moskva/Leningrád is to kit bash the Airfix and Aurora kits, use the White Ensign Models PE set, and scratch build missiles, as well as the sonar domes under the hull.

Note: Research is also key to making as accurate a Project 1123 as you can. The ships had numerous different hull numbers and even different ‘paint jobs’ over the decades. You’ll need to find color photographs of a specific hull number, especially overhead views which’l reveal what color/colors the decks were painted.

MOSKVA CLASS SUBMARINE HUNTERS, STOP CALLING THEM AIRCRAFT CARRIERS!

1:600 USS IOWA CLASS KITS: AURORA, MONOGRAM, OTAKI, REVELL. AN APPEAL TO AIRFIX!

1:72 HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1/600 USS Iowa Class Kits: Aurora, Monogram, Otaki, Revell. An appeal to Airfix!

Image March 3, 2018 Hutchins AAron

I am disappointed with Ship Craft 17 Iowa Class Battleships, while it is still a good overview for somebody just getting into building the iconic battleships it doesn’t pack the information that the excellent Ship Craft 16 Hipper Class Ships does, and in the same number of pages.

Ship Craft 17 (copyright 2012 Seaforth Publishing) fails in, among other areas, the kit review section, primarily in the 1:500 through 1:600 range. It also fails to mention the 1:350 scale Revell kit so I’ll mention it here; stay away from that kit as it is a revised version of the inaccurate Otaki-Life Like Hobbies kit first issued as a World War-2 Missouri in 1971 (revised in 1983 to look like a modernized ship, before being sold to Revell who’s been revising-reissuing it ever since, it was even issued under the Monogram label in the 1990s). Recently Revell-Germany re-issued it with a mass of aftermarket parts to make it look better, but the result is that you have to spend a crap-load of money and end up doing even more work on a kit to make it resemble a ‘modern’ Iowa Class ship.

I’m a fan of 1:600 scale battleships because they’re small enough you can display a lot of them on a single bookshelf and are still big enough that your guests don’t go blind looking at your handy-work. Plus, they were basically the only battleship kits I could get my hands on as a kid in the 1970s. Because the highly praised Ship Craft series failed to discuss these kits, and because I’m amazed at the high prices kit sellers on the internet are demanding for them, I feel compelled to do my own review of these now ancient, and unfortunately crappy kits.

Iowa Class=Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, Wisconsin

The first offender is Revell’s 1:535 offering. First released in 1953, terrible, inaccurate, does not come with water-screws (propellers) but has one rudder (the real ship has two rudders). Hull bow incorrectly angled, aft end of hull shaped like a step-pyramid. Wood planks on deck represented by continuous raised lines. Anti-aircraft .50 cal guns represented by molded-on crucifixes. Molded on life boats in the upside down position. Blocky looking Seahawk float-planes. The decals for the ship’s hull number are the large ‘shadowed’ post World War-2 type, yet the kit is supposed to be the World War-2 version. Amazingly Revell repeatedly re-issues the crappy kit, and for some odd reason people are willing to pay high prices for it. To make things more confusing, in the mid-1990s Revell began using the original artwork for Monogram’s 1:665 (16 inch) Missouri for its 1:535 Missouri.

Aurora’s 1:600 offering was first released in 1957 (Ship Craft 17 says “in the early 1960’s”), it looks like a scaled down version of Revell’s 1:535 kit. The hull bow has the same angle and the stern has the same stepped pyramid shape, except Aurora gives you four propellers. The propellers are incorrect as they have three blades per screw, the real ship has four bladed screws outboard and five bladed screws inboard. You get one big ugly rudder. The deck detailing is similar to Revell’s except for recessed wood plank lines (which are also continuous/unbroken) and molded on solid railing. The life boats are molded separate, the Seahawks look better than Revell’s. The main gun turrets look like scaled down Revell turrets. Interestingly the Aurora kits are the only ones in this review that provide boarding ladders, but there is no mention of them in the instructions.

From the mid-1960s to mid-1970s Aurora used some excellent artwork on their boxes. For the Iowa Class ships the artist actually did a better job representing the ships than the kit itself. The Missouri is painted in its post World War-2/Korean War guise, still bristling with anti-aircraft guns but minus its Seahawk float-planes. The Iowa also looks to be depicted as post World War-2/Korea, and the New Jersey (the best artwork of the bunch in my opinion) is in its Vietnam War livery with the big rectangular ECM box on its forward tower, and a helicopter pad on its aft deck (unfortunately the artist failed to mount the big antenna on the bow). Regardless of the box artwork each kit is the same World War-2 version, yet the decals for the ship’s hull numbers are the large ‘shadowed’ post World War-2 type (World War-2 hull numbers were small with no ‘shadowing’).

Monogram (not mentioned in Ship Craft 17) entered the Iowa Class race in 1976 with issues of Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin (in that order). THEY ARE NOT RE-ISSUES OF AURORA KITS, OR REVELL KITS! Also, I’ve seen them listed as 1:600 scale, they are a smaller 1:665 scale. The odd scale is the result of Monogram deciding to issue battleship kits based on a standard 16-inch (40cm) hull (as stated on the box), rather than a ‘constant scale’. The hull has the best looking bow of the bunch, even has the three ‘eyes’ for anchors and cables, however, there are mysterious vertical lines along the hull sides (the real ships have noticeable horizontal lines down the length of the hull), and the stern is still incorrectly shaped. You get four propellers but they’re all four bladed. The most accurate looking parts of this kit are the two rudders and the excellent looking secondary gun turrets-guns (which are the same size as 1:600 scale Aurora/Otaki). Amazingly for a late 1970s issued kit the deck looks like it came right outta the 1950s (which might explain why some people think its a revised issue of the Revell or Aurora kits), it even has the raised wood deck lines and crucifix .50 caliber machine guns similar to Revell’s. There are two Kingfisher float-planes and the hull number decals are the small WW-2 type, yet the main mast looks like the type fitted after WW-2.

In 1984 Japan’s Otaki issued a 1:600 scale motorized version of a modern Iowa Class ship (not mentioned in Ship Craft 17). In the mid-1980s Otaki became Arii and it was issued under that label. It has been ripped-off and issued by Korea’s Kangnam and China’s Lee (aka C.C. Lee, aka Shanghai C.C.Lee Model Company). It is currently issued by Japan’s MicroAce (the new Arii). From here on out I’ll refer to this kit as The Asian Kit. The kit is totally lacking in detail, and even though the hull and deck size is similar to Aurora’s 1:600 hull/deck the main gun turrets are as big as the bigger Revell kit’s turrets. The helicopters are crappy, the Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers are a bad joke, the secondary gun turrets are chunks with stubs for guns, the Phalanx gatling gun systems are fat and missing the barrels. The life boats are huge. The stern of the hull is close to being accurate, but the propellers are all four bladed, you get two rudders. The kit is not worth the full U.S. MSRP (Manufacture’s Suggested Retail Price) that the majority of internet sellers demand.

Here’s more depressing news; Main Gun Turrets-Guns: Aurora’s turrets are the smallest yet resemble Revell’s, also the guns are as big as The Asian Kit’s. The Asian Kit’s turrets are almost as big in diameter as Revell’s, they are devoid of detailing, except for recessed ladders. Revell’s main gun tubes will not fit into Revell’s turrets. Monogram’s turrets are slightly bigger than Aurora’s, the guns look the most accurate, are the same diameter as the 1:600 scale kits, but shorter in length, the anti-aircraft gun enclosures on the top of the turrets are the wrong shape.

Superstructure: All kits lack detailing. The Asian Kit is the worst offender completely devoid of details, it is molded separately and look like that ancient underwater ‘structure’ known as Yonaguni Submarine Ruins.

Here’s some pictorial evidence to back up accusations against the offenders (click each pic to view more in the full-sized image):

: Ignore the red paint on the Monogram kit, it doesn’t come that way.

: The Asian Kit is best without being accurate.

: The ‘eyes’ have it for Monogram.

: From top to bottom: Monogram, Revell, Aurora, The Asian Kit.

: Back to Front: Monogram, Revell, Aurora, The Asian Kit.

: From right to left: Monogram, Aurora, The Asian Kit, Revell.

: From left to right: Monogram, Aurora, The Asian Kit, Revell.

: Floatplanes, rudder, crane, anchors.

: Floatplane, crane, catapults, life boat.

: Floatplanes, floats, crane, anchors.

: Rudders

: Water screws

: Main mast

: Helicopters

: Water screws

: Phalanx

: Tomahawk cruise missile launcher boxes

: Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers

: The small one is Aurora’s, the big one is The Asian Kit’s.

: Boarding ladders included but not talked about.

There’s no excuse for Revell’s continuous re-issuing of their crappy kit (in fact they’ve just re-issued it again). You’d think with the merging of Revell and Monogram, in the 1990s, they’d issue the better Monogram kit. It should be noted that Monogram’s 16 inch Iowa kits were rarely issued (for some unknown reason), along with Monogram’s 16 inch Bismarck/Tirpitz (which works out to about 1:615/17 scale, a 1:600 scale Bismarck hull is approximately 16 & 3/8th inches long). I remember reading an article, many years ago, that was talking about a train derailment and fire that destroyed many of the Aurora molds that had just been purchased by Monogram. I believe it happened in 1979, the Monogram 16 inch battleship kits were originally issued between 1976 and 1978. It would make sense that they were never issued again if their molds were also destroyed in that train fire, and it would explain why both the Monogram and Aurora kits command high prices on the internet, however, I’ve seen issues of the Monogram 1:665 (16 inch) Iowa kits in 1990s style boxes, and even the original late 1970s boxes but with 1990s style Skill Level 2 stickers on the shrink-wrap (you can’t trust the copyright date on boxes as being indicative of when that particular kit was issued).

Regarding Ship Craft 17, it’s still a great starting point for learning about the ship and has enough information in the text that you’d realize there isn’t, as yet, a model kit in any scale of the Iowa Class that doesn’t have some discrepancy (which is amazing considering the historical importance of the world’s last and best battleships).

It would take a lot of work to correct the old American kits. The Asian Kit’s near total lack of detail has an advantage; it makes it easier to detail-up with aftermarket parts and scratch building, you could even back date it to Vietnam, Korea or WW-2. There are plenty of aftermarket photo etched sets for 1:600 Fast U.S. Battleships, and a company called Model Monkey is producing 1:600 scale 3D printed ‘correction’ parts, including an early WW2 rounded bridge for the New Jersey.

I end this review by appealing to Hornby-Airfix to produce a new line of 1:600 scale Iowa Class ships, including options for World War-2, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm.

ITALERI 1:720 DEUTSCHLAND, LUTZOW, SCHEER & GRAF SPEE

Kit Bashing

Falling Down: U.S. model kit/railroad hobby demise, 2016-17

March 1, 2018 Hutchins AAron

Incomplete list of U.S. model kit/hobby shop, retail/wholesale industry shutdowns from 2016 through 2017:

“The local hobby shop was closed up….No big deal, I thought….I can always go to another. Wrong. When I looked, every hobby shop within 50 miles of my house had been closed.”

California: After 45 years brick-n-mortar chain store, as well as mail order and online retailer, Hobby People (formerly Hobby Shack) suddenly shutdown, possibly in connection to the founder’s death although many fans say quality of service had been in decline, and the company ‘lost’ some of its in-house brands. In Palm Desert, the owner of popular Uncle Don’s Hobbies was found laying on the side of a road, dead. His hobby shop had been robbed of merchandise, including RC (drone) electronics, months earlier. In Goleta (Santa Barbara), California Hobbies was robbed of RC (drone) monster trucks, it was caught on video. News reports out of Long Beach report that local hobby shops are being repeatedly robbed, the burglars are targeting RC (drone) electronics.

Colorado: In Denver, Guinness Book certified as the world’s largest model train store in 2014, Caboose Hobbies shutdown after 65 years because the owner wants to retire. At one time the model train store employed 60 people!

Idaho:

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, November 2014.

After first going up for sale at the end of 2014, then making one last attempt to stay alive in 2015 (by moving to a much smaller location), Southeast Idaho’s once iconic Dapco Hobbies finally died, and nobody noticed. More details in Model-Land Deaths; 2013-15.

Illinois: In Bloomington, after 63 years Hobbyland shutdown after a failed attempt to sell the store.

Indiana: Granger Hobby Stop shutdown after 18 years, the owner says he never recovered from the 2008 recession.

Massachusetts: In Brocktown, after six years Hogie’s Hobbies shutdown, but continues to run its model railroad museum. The owner blames customers for his hobby shop shutdown saying for the month of December he had a measly $5-hundred USD in sales: “There’s a lot of people downtown, but they don’t spend their money downtown. The whole atmosphere for people actually shopping here is not here.”-Bill Hogan

Michigan: In Detroit, after 70 years iconic Doll Hospital & Toy Soldier Shop shutdown, the owners admitting that even though they beat-out the ‘big-box’ competition they just couldn’t “adapt” to online competition. In Bridgeport, after 23 years hobby shop Junction Valley Railroad announced on Facebook “Due to declining sales, we are being forced to close the Hobby Shop Doors!
Our final day open will be October 31, 2017!”

Montana: In Great Falls, after more than 25 years Hobby Land shutdown, the owner said she was ready to retire.

New Hampshire: In West Lebanon, Hobbies ’N’ Stuff/Valley Art Suppliers evicted by the the Grafton County Sheriff at the request of the landlord. The owner of the hobby shop told customers he had to shutdown due to health problems, but the landlord’s civil complaint said the owner hadn’t paid the rent for months (more than $10-thousand USD worth).

New Jersey: After 48 years Jackson Hobby Shop put up for sale due to the owner’s health problems. If it doesn’t sell it’ll be shutdown. Shadow Hobbies was robbed of thousands of dollars worth of stuff, including RC (drone) electronics, it was caught on video.

New York: After 31 years Niagara Hobby & Craft Mart shutdown due to crashing sales: “We can’t compete on price with the national chains or an internet-only site. But you can’t stand inside the internet and ask to open a package or put a locomotive on a test track and see it run.”-John S. Kavulich

North Carolina: In business since 1968 the owners of the two story The Antique Barn and Hobby Shop blame declining sales caused by internet competition, plus Mother Earth’s climate change, for their demise: “We were making money, but it’s going down. Ten years ago it was thriving and 18 years ago we were a victim of Floyd and we had 7 feet of water in here for a couple of weeks. So we started from scratch again and of course, we had two more 500-year floods this past year, Matthew and in April this one that didn’t even have a name…”

Ohio: After 40 years John’s Hobby Shop shutdown so the owner could retire.

Oklahoma: Christian Evangelical Hobby Lobby caught illegally importing more than 5-thousand artifacts from The Middle East. The top illegal artifact dealer in The Middle East is Islamic State (DAIISH). Hobby Lobby admits most of those illegally acquired artifacts were meant to be displayed in their massive Biblical Museum in Washington DC.

Pennsylvania: After 33 years J&C Hobbies shutdown so the owners could take a “proper vacation”.

Rhode Island: AA Hobby Shop was hit by burglars who apparently didn’t steal anything, it was caught on video.

Texas: A San Antonio Hobby Town was robbed by a man armed with brass knuckles. Police say the man seemed obsessed with RC vehicles (drones).

Utah: Police captured burglars when they tried to sell the stolen goods, including RC (drone) kits burgaled from a hobby shop in Sandy, on the OfferUp app.

In Canada: R.I.P. Niagara Central Hobbies

MODEL-LAND ‘DEATHS’, 2013-15!

Car and Driver: Where Have All the Hobby Stores Gone?

MARTIAL LAW U.S.A.: RC MODEL PLANES NOW CONSIDERED ‘DRONES’ MUST BE REGISTERED WITH OBAMA REGIME!

Kit Bashing

C-17 Nose Art

Image February 12, 2018 Hutchins AAron

“Keep ‘em Flying” C-17 Globemaster-3 nose art, 21MAR2018

The unveiling ceremony was ridiculously long and a fine example of wasted taxpayer funding, all due to Women’s History Month (there’s video but it would drive you mad if you watched it)