iHobby Expo 2006 By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Last month saw the iHobby Expo invade the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Your dutiful publisher decided to brave the skies over the northern United States and attend the show. Everything was scheduled in advance and all systems were go right up until the day before the trip, when I managed to catch a rather nasty head cold. Rather than give up on the trip, I thought “air travel with sinus congestion couldn’t be as bad as everyone says,” and promptly boarded my Alaska flight from Seattle to Chicago. Going up, not bad. Coming down, oh, boy. Thankfully, we had a rather healthy tailwind and arrived over Chicago about 35 minutes early, which meant that we descended a bit, circled for half an hour, then descended the rest of the way. That undoubtedly helped, but I still didn’t get my hearing back until midday the following day. With that handicap, though, I still managed to gather quite a bit of information, and even got to see a bit of the city, as it was my first time in Chicago. So, without further delay, here’s the highlights.

Accurate Miniatures

Accurate Miniatures is still going strong and they are expanding in some interesting directions. The eye-catching models in their display were the 1/48 P-39 racers. These are the Eduard plastic with new decals and a resin ventral scoop. This will allow you to build either Cobra I or Cobra II as they appeared in the ’47/’48 air races. Expanding on the air racer concept further, there was artwork for a couple of Mustang air racers, which will be based on Accurate Miniatures’ own P-51 kits. Speaking of which, they are re-tooling the wing of that kit, which will feature separate landing flaps. Finally, continuing the line started with the 1/48 SB2C Helldiver, Accurate Miniatures is releasing the Monogram 1/48 Messerschmitt Me 410.

Another angle that Accurate Miniatures is taking is with the small, pre-painted kits. These are scaled to 1/100 and require some assembly, but are pre-painted, and done quite well. This seems to be a growing market, and it is likely that we will see Accurate Miniatures expand this line in the future.

Donegan Optical

For those who are not familiar with Donegan Optical, these are the fine folks behind the OptiVisor line of products. If you have not used a Donegan OptiVisor, I strongly recommend trying one out. While there are other companies out there marketing similar products, the original remains the best. There are two versions of the OptiVisor available: the original OptiVisor and the OptiVisor LX. The main difference between the two deals with the optics. The LX version uses optical grade acrylic lenses, while the original uses Crown ophthalmic glass. The difference in weight is noticeable, but not by much. The slight weight advantage is offset by the potential problems of the LX version in our hobby, as the acrylic lenses are susceptible to solvents. The fully adjustable headband will make the extra weight of the glass lenses negligible at best, so why risk damaging the lenses?

That said, both versions come with the ability to change out the lenses, with several different lens strengths available. Additionally, there are attachable loupes for both versions, adding that extra level of magnification when needed and swinging out of the way for regular use. An add-on VisorLight provides high-powered (6000 candlepower) illumination that is directed and hands-free, clipping right onto the visor. With all the accessories in place, the Donegan OptiVisor becomes a powerful tool for the modeler.

Elmer’s

Elmer’s? Aren’t they the white glue people? Yes, they are, but they have expanded beyond just adhesives, and one tool caught my eye. This is the Magnetic Cutting System, whose primary use is aimed at the scrapbooker. However, upon closer examination, this tool could also be used by the plastic modeler, especially the scratchbuilder. The basic concept of the system is a magnetic board measuring 12”x12” that has a slide rail cutter. This slide rail cutter can easily cut through 5 thou plastic card, and probably 10 or 15 thou. Larger sizes can be scored with this tool, then snapped apart. Alternatively, if you need a scored surface, this tool can do just that, making constant straight lines with little effort.

But that’s not all. There is also a Magnetic Circle Cutter, capable of cutting circles from 3” to 12” in diameter. As someone who recently needed to cut a set of 3.25” circles for a project, this would have come in very handy. Instead, I ended up cutting a set of 3” circles using a circle template, then adding the extra edge by gluing strips around the outer edge. This tool would have eliminated that extra step. A hand-held cutter is also available, providing a method to cut free-form shapes. For the scratchbuilder, this could really be handy for cutting out fuselage cross sections, for example. If that is something you might be thinking of expanding into, check out these tools, as they just might make your work a bit easier.

FAS Products

FAS Products produces a broad range of general modelling tools that are both inexpensive and durable. To start with, they produce a very complete set of miniature drill bits. What is nice about these bits is that they provide not only the usual numbered series (from #51 to #80), but also fractional sizes (1/64 to 1/8). Their display carries cross-size references on the numbered bits, making it very easy to determine just which drill to use for that 30 thou plastic rod you have. They also have a 20-piece drill set, containing bits from #61 through to #80, all contained in a plastic case, protecting and sorting the bits.

While FAS Products has a standard pin vise for hand-held drilling, they also have a variable speed flex shaft. Now when I say variable speed, I don’t mean variable like the current batch of Dremel tools, which start out at a speed too high for plastic modeling. No, this tool runs from basically zero RPMs on up, all controlled by a foot pedal. The flex-shaft provides easy control for delicate operations, and the slow variable speed means you could chuck a #80 drill bit in there and work it carefully enough to not break the bit or melt plastic. To go along with this tool, FAS Products produces their own line of rotary tool accessories.

FAS Products is a wholesaler, so check with your local hobby shop for these items. If they don’t carry them, suggest they look into the line, as they have a wide range of quality tools.

Hawk/Lindberg

This was a huge surprise for me. For those that have been in the hobby for a while, we all knew that Hawk was absorbed by Testors Corporation. Well, they’ve come back, and with a vengeance. All the old Hawk molds are back, including some great classics like the 1/48 Snark. In addition to the old molds, Hawk is coming out with some new tools, including a new injection-molded 1/245 Graf Zeppelin. For you automotive nuts we will see new tool 1/25 kits of the Dodge Super Bee (the new one, not the classic) and the Dodge Raminator. If you are more into ‘seeing’ things, there is an impressive lineup of Visible models, including a Man, Woman, Horse, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and, um, an Alien. Don’t ask where they got the information on that one; if they told you, they’d probably have to kill you.

Hawk is not just Hawk, though, as they picked up more than just the original molds from Testor. Other tools brought in include kits from Lindberg, IMC, and Pyro. There are probably others, but those are the molds I recognized off the top of my head. In addition to the tooling, they also got the Lindberg name, and they are hot to release all those great 1/48 scale classics like the F-94C, F-86D, F-100C, F11F, and XF-88. As this new company grows, I am sure we will see some great new tools along with all those old classics that we remember so well.

Hawkeye’s Hobbies

On the subject of paints, the new word on the street is the return of SnJ Spray Metal. Hawkeye’s Hobbies has taken over this line of spray metals and is expanding the range. For those not familiar with the SnJ Spray Metal concept, it uses a two-part system made up of an airbrushed spray metal and a polishing powder. Once the base coat is sprayed on, you go back with the polishing powder to buff up the shine to the level you want. The result is quite striking. The original product line contained aluminum, gold, bronze and copper, and Hawkeye’s Hobbies has added some new additions: pewter, platinum, and gun metal. Each color comes with its own polishing powder, and by mixing the powders with different base colors, an incredibly wide range of tones will result. With the reintroduction of SnJ Spray Metal, the choices for modelers for good looking natural metal finishes are growing rapidly.

Hobbycraft

Yes, Hobbycraft is still working on their Panthers, and guess what? They’re almost done! Test shots were there, and in talking with the nice folks at Hobbycraft, I got quite an earful on just how much work there is to get from these test shots to a final product. For those who think that test shots mean the product is basically done, guess again. The process is long and involved, and the bottom line is that Hobbycraft wants these kits to be as close to perfect as possible. Their hard work has paid off and the Panthers (F9F-2 and -2P) should be hitting the market very soon. Be ready for some outstanding work here. Detailed cockpit, folded wings, full stores, great decals, the works. Oh, and build ‘em fast, because the Cougars will be following the Panthers very closely, within months, possibly weeks. There you’ll have the F9F-6 and -8 Cougars.

Bigger is better, right? Hobbycraft has not been resting on their big-scale stuff, either, and the 1/32 P-51 sans suffix (i.e. with the Allison engine) is also close to being done. Look for all the early P-51 variants here, including the A-36. Detail is petite and extensive. Good cockpit interior, detailed wheel wells, excellent surface detail, about what you’d expect from a top-tier kit company. The 1/32 Sea Fury is also well on its way to being done, and boy, does that look impressive. The test shot was sitting in the case, all in gray plastic, but all I could see was black and white Korean stripes and big rockets under the wing. I believe that this one has a bit more work needed before release than the Panthers and Mustangs, but we will undoubtedly see it before too much of 2007 passes by.

Hobbycraft’s primary focus is to get these kits finished and out in the market, so while they are discussing future releases, nothing has been decided yet. Given what they’re doing now, though, look for some impressive subjects in the future.

Iwata Medea

There are few airbrushes that can touch the quality of Iwata airbrushes. Iwata still produces an excellent line of airbrushes, from the intro level Revolution through the Custom Micron line. As we have examined these in the past, I skipped over these at the show and instead looked at what other tools and accessories Iwata had at hand. The most noticeable tool that I saw was the Table-Top Cleaning Station. This handy little tool is something every airbrush station needs to have. It incorporates a jar and lid, with a handle to hold your airbrush. You fit the tip of your brush into the opening at one end (a rubber gasket forms a tight seal), and then spray away with your cleaners. The cleaners go into the jar, and a filter on the opposite end of the lid allows the air to escape while trapping the solvent inside. The result is a clean airbrush without lots of messy overspray. This is a great way to keep your airbrushing station clean.

For the model car buff, another item under the Artool name are some freehand airbrushing templates. These include pinup girls, flames, and much more. While these are aimed at larger scales (1/8 through 1/16), they could be adapted to smaller scales as well. With some practice, these could result in some incredible freehand airbrush art on your latest custom car.

Kustom Kolor

When it comes to custom car colors, the new line of Kustom Kolor paints opens up a whole new range of options. Using the same pigments found in the world famous House of Kolor line, these paints, formulated for plastic modeling, will present the modeler with a dizzying array of custom colors that will match the originals. Currently there are 59 colors offered, including seven Color-Shift pigments and six Transparent Colors, the latter providing the closest match to the original House of Kolor Kandies. These come in 1oz glass bottles, with a smaller range of 4oz aerosol cans providing some of the more popular colors. Use these paints and your next car will definitely stand apart from the rest.

The popularity of the original Kustom Kolor line has the powers that be talking about expanding the line, including possibly moving into factory paints. Given the quality of the current paints, if they make that move, be ready to toss all your other paints out the window.

Merit International

I know, I know, you’re wondering just WHO Merit International is. They are primarily in the market for 1/18 and 1/6 pre-made stuff, and it is generally pretty well done. I didn’t see any of that, though, because their booth was dominated by Dora. The German Dora 80cm Super Heavy Railway Gun is the largest gun ever built. Designed to smash the Maginot Line in France, it actually saw operational service for a grand total of 13 days in 1942, during which 48 rounds were fired on fortifications far from France, around Sebastopol in the Crimea. Building up to those 13 days required 25 trainloads of equipment, 2000 men, and roughly six weeks to assemble and prepare the gun. In operation, the gun crew numbered 500. Talk about massive overhead!

The Merit kit is to 1/35 scale, so it’ll fit in with the rest of your German armor. Fit in, he says with tongue firmly in cheek. This kit weights in at over 2500 parts and is over 53 inches long, eight wide and 13 tall. The barrel all by itself is over 26 inches long, so the height of this can change dramatically with the gun elevated. It is molded in ABS plastic, rather than styrene, most likely for its strength properties. This is going to be a heavy model (although not nearly as heavy as a resin kit). The detailing is quite good in spite of its size, and it should make for a very impressive centerpiece to any German armor collection. The price has not been set, but look for it to be under $1000.

Minicraft

Minicraft has quite a few interesting new releases coming up. The 1/72 Mariner is still in the works, and we will see that out in 2007 (no firm date yet, but I’d guess mid-year). Their 1/48 Cessna kits are doing quite well, which has the heads of Minicraft looking at that market closely. Nothing has been decided yet on what the next subject might be, but Mr. Huff suggested that we might think along the lines of twin engines. Whether he was alluding to their long-announced Gulfstream or another, smaller aircraft, I don’t know, but whichever way you slice it, the result is a great sign for general aviation modelers.

I also got a chance to inspect the new Minicraft 1/144 C-130 kit quite closely. The second day they had test shots of the final sprues, and I can honestly say that this is going to be one outstanding model kit. You get early 3-bladed props as well as the usual four-bladed ones, there is a separate Roman nose, there will be two gunship variants (Vietnam era and modern), two types of beaver tails, two styles of wing tanks, a basic cabin interior (stick some of those 1/144 armor kits in there to fill that space), the usual Minicraft one-piece canopy that includes a good chunk of the fuselage, and even landing lights for the gear doors. For those familiar with the recent Minicraft DC-8, the C-130 kit has the same kind of wing attachment: a large plug that slides into a matching recess on the fuselage. This is incredibly sturdy and with care, will result in a seamless fit. Tailplanes are equally sturdy, and it looks like a lot of thought has gone into making this kit fit together well. First release will be the Vietnam-era gunship, followed by the Coast Guard version. Not sure which one will follow that, but we will probably see four releases before the end of 2007. The AC-130 should be hitting the streets within weeks. Be ready to drool.

Also listed in the catalog is the new tool 1/144 E-3A AWACS, but no release date on that. New markings for old kits in 1/144 include a Thunderbirds C-54, 1/144 R5D Antarctic High Visibility, C-97 Shrimp Boat, and a Southern Air Transport DC-8-73. In 1/48 we will see two issues of the H-60 kit, one as Marine One and the other as a Medivac, and a Photo Recon F-5 (P-38). Adding to Minicraft’s 1/350 ship line (roughly) is a new-tool Noah’s Ark. It’s actually listed as ‘cubit scale,’ but it appears that it will be very close to 1/350 so it will fit in with other ships of that scale.

Another interesting new release from Minicraft is their MultiCals decal packs. They are taking their leftover decals from past kits that they had lying around and packaging them together in a grab bag assortment. These will be separated into military aviation, civil aviation, and classic automotive. As the Minicraft decals are nicely printed, this could be a great way for modelers to get a good selection of spare decals. Military modelers can easily find a use for all those extra national insignias, while airliner modelers will no longer have to rob a kit for extra cheatline material or titles.

On the automotive end of things, there is nothing new in the way of fresh tooling, but there is some new packaging for the impressive 1/16 car kits. The Hard Times Highways & Ministreets presents three car kits: the 1931 Gang Getaway Sedan, the 1931 Acme Distillery “Hooch Mobile,” and the 1933 Metropolitan Police Town Car. These all come with die-cut figures and utilize Minicraft’s ChromaCals for the decals, which provide vibrant metallic colors that work beautifully for the car logos. As these are “Hard Times,” these decals also include bullet hole decals, in case you don’t want that getaway sedan to, well, get away. Complementing these are the paperboard Ministreets, scaled to match the vehicles. They feature interconnecting sidewalks to build into a complete streetfront. These include the Acme Distillery, a Diner, a Florist Shop, a Movie Theater, the Gray Bar Inn (police station & jail), and the Courthouse.

Overall, I’d say that Minicraft is running quite strong, and expanding their product lines in positive directions. 2007 should be a great year for them.

MRC/Academy/Italeri

The MRC display was quite large, which is understandable as they now handle both Academy and Italeri. On the Academy end, the big display for aviation is the 1/48 Vietnam-era CH-46A/D. It was only a matter of time before we’d see this, as they did all the other variants of the Sea Knight. Still, the build-up looked nice, as did the cutaway. Test shots of the new 1/48 F-14 Bombcat were there, showing the bomb parts. In the armor realm, Academy is coming out with an M4A3 Sherman with a 105mm gun and a M1 dozer blade. Test shots of that were also on display and it will surely be a pleaser. Also announced is a 1/72 M3 half track & 1/4 ton Amphibian Vehicle. Given their quality on their other 1/72 armor, these will be a great model at a great price.

...

Moving on to the Italeri end, the big item there was the 1/35 Elco PT Boat. This is coming VERY soon, and it is big. The display had a partially assembled and painted hull looking quite impressive. The one-piece hull is nearly 28” long, and the kit will have over 300 parts. Additionally, there will be a photoetch fret with 86 parts to it. Truly an impressive bit of tooling. Also at the show was the much anticipated (at least by me) 1/72 A-26C Invader. Done as a glass nose, this was an expected release, given that Italeri has already done the A-26K. As this was a built-up example, I don’t know what will come in the box, such as a separate gun nose.

...

Also present was the new 1/48 A-10 kit. Note that this is a new tool, not a repop of the ESCI kit as some might have wondered. The detailing is exquisite, with recessed panel lines, separate aileron/speed brakes, detailed access hatches, and much more. The kit does not represent a current A-10, though, but rather one from the 1980s. It does not have the various sensors put on the airframe in 1990 for the Low Altitude Safety and Targeting Enhancements (LASTE) System. As these are generally external surface sensors, perhaps we will see these as an additional sprue in a future release.

With the dual product lines of Academy and Italeri, MRC will be doing quite well in the coming year.

Revell

Revell has been a big name in the news lately, with the split between Revell USA and Revell Germany. The big question I had to ask is, what does this mean for those out here on the receiving end? The answer was, absolutely nothing. While Revell Germany is now its own entity completely separate from everyone else, Revell USA and Revell Germany will continue the popular trend of sharing releases. This means that we will continue to see Revell USA release Revell Germany subjects here in the States for many years to come, and vice versa. Basically, it’s business as usual.

The big eyecatcher at the Revell booth, of course, was the 1/72 Gato submarine. This is due out any day now, and boy, is it impressive. The build up at the stand was well worth looking at, and the detail looks outstanding. Be ready for a lot of shelf space, though.

For upcoming releases, Revell is working on quite a few different items. Building on the success of the new Battlestar Galactica series, Revell has resurrected the old molds based off of the original television series. Rather than just releasing them as they were back then, though, Revell has gone to great lengths to update those old kits to be far more accurate. Set for a September 2007 release, we will see the Colonial Viper, now with a clear canopy, cockpit interior, bigger and better decals, and a more detailed exterior. The following month will have the Cylon Basestar, again with quite a few added external details that will bring this up to studio accuracy. Finally, in November 2007 we will see the Cylon Raider, with new tooled engine vanes being among the many updated parts. If these do well enough, I am sure that we will see Revell continue and release models of the current series vehicles.

In the way of aircraft, there does not appear to be any new tooling from Revell, but we will see some notable reissues. In their Historic Aircraft collection we will see a reissue of the 1/48 F4U-4 Corsair, SBD Dauntless, and Bf 110C-4/B “Jabo.” In the Jet Aircraft Series, the 1/72 A-10 Warthog will make an appearance, along with the 1/48 F-101B Voodoo. The latter is nice to see, as the Monogram Voodoo was quite nice for its day, and still holds itself well today. Moving beyond the realm of reality, Revell is also re-releasing that old classic, the Baron and his Funfdecker Fokker. You remember this one, right? It has five wings and what appears to be a supercharged V8 assisting the rotary engine. It’s in the Old School Series, and in a similar vein, Revell is releasing the ZZZZZZZZZ-28 car kit.

Another collection of new releases for Revell is dinosaur kits. These are all Snaptite kits that have been around for a while now, but it is nice to see them released again. Using the Dawn of Time series name, these include the Dimetrodon, the Pteranodon, the Ankylosaurus, the Allosaurus, the Styracosaurus, the Triceratops, and the Giant Wooly Mammoth. All of these are scaled to 1/13.

Revell’s main bread and butter, though, is with cars, and here we see quite a few new and reissue kits. In their Street Burner Series we will see a ’55 Chevy Pro Sportsman, a ’69 Camaro SS 427 L-72 Baldwin Motion, and a ’64 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt. The Muscle Series has a ’69 GTO, a ’70 Buick GSX, and a ’69 Ford Talladega. Performance Series brings us a Ferrari Superamerica and a Porsche Slant Nose. The California Wheels Series has the ’66 El Camino 2 ‘n 1 and the ’65 Chevelle SS 396 Z-16 2 ‘n 1. The Good Guys Series has quite a few new items listed, including the ’48 Ford Convertible, the ’30 Ford Woody Street Rod, the ’55 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop, the ’37 Ford Coupe Street Rod, and the ’29 Ford Pickup Street Rod 3 ‘n 1. Motor City Series: ’91 Pontiac Firebird 2 ‘n 1 and a Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda; Lowrider Series: ’58 Chevy Impala 2 ‘n 1. I did say that Revell has quite a few 2007 releases, right?

Page two: Trucks Series. Here we see the ’99 Chevy Silverado Custom pickup, the Ford SVT F-150 Lightning pickup, the ’41 Chevy 2 ‘n 1 pickup, the Chevy SSR pickup, the ’99 Chevy Silverado pickup, and the ’77 Jeep CJ-7 Renegade 2 ‘n 1. For the Corvette Series we see the ’67 Corvette Coupe 2 ‘n 1 and the Corvette Aerovette. Snaptites are not forgotten here, with the ’34 Ford Street Rod and the Chevy Camaro Concept Car. For the Snaptite Circuit Series we will see a Pontiac GTO, a ’78 Corvette Sport Coupe, ’70 Mustang Mach 1, and a ’69 Camaro Z/28. All of those are in 1/32 scale. Moving to the Uptown Series, two new releases show up: the Cadillac STS-V and the Dodge Charger SRT8. The Special Edition Series has the ’49 Mercury Custom Coupe, while the Donks line has an ’87 Buick Grand National, ’63 Chevy Impala SS 2 ‘n 1, ’70 Chevelle 2 ‘n 1, and an ’86 Chevy Monte Carlo SS 2 ‘n 1. Finally, there are two new 1/6 Metal Body Engines, the Plymouth 426 Hemi Cuda and the Ford 427 Wedge. That’s enough to keep even the fastest builder happy for quite some time.

Now, to make car modeling even more interesting, Revell is coming out with a completely new and different line called RPMz. So, just what is this? Well, it is a hobby-class R/C racing system that is fully customizable. It has an independent front suspension, adjustable toe-in, a torsion pendulum rear suspension, a rear mounted engine with changeable pinion gear on the differential, and four optional frequency crystals. The real plus, though, is that it is scaled to 1/24. Oh, yeah, you can adapt 1/24 car bodies to this R/C chassis. In fact, once it gets established, Revell plans on marketing their regular car kits that fit this chassis as being RPMz-compatible. This will initially be released in a NASCAR set, with concept cars hopefully following soon. Given the popularity of the scale in static modeling, I think this will be a great crossover for the scale modeler.

Squadron/MMD

Squadron/MMD has undergone some changes over the last year, most notably a change at the top. The iconic Jerry Campbell retired, and Michael McMahon has stepped in at the helm. It’s taken a bit of time to get used to all this, but he has done quite a bit with the company and is prepared to move forward at full speed. The In Action books have several new releases, including US Navy Floatplanes of WW2, Early MiG Fighters, and the Gato Submarine. The latter has been moved up in the queue to coincide with the release of the Revell kit. Also in the list is the Walk Around on the A-7 Corsair.

The other product lines, such as True Details, Czech Model, etc., are all going to continue. Examples of the True Details 1/48 B-17 sets were present, looking quite good. For all you Goose fanatics out there, I asked about the possibility of a re-release of the 1/48 Czech Model Grumman Goose, and that is under consideration. I am sure that once the new boss has settled in we will see these product lines expand with some great subjects. The staff was excited about the changes already undertaken and is equally excited about the future, which bodes well for us on the receiving end.

Trumpeter/Stevens International

When it comes to shows like this, what everyone wants to know is what Trumpeter is doing. Well, quite simply, they’re doing a lot. Starting with the big stuff, there was a build-up display model of the upcoming 1/16 M16 halftrack. This looked quite impressive (although not quite as big as their 1/16 T34s) and should make for quite a show piece. For those not wanting to reserve the shelf space for a 1/16 M16, Trumpeter is also coming out with the vehicle in 1/35, along with an M3A1, M3A2, and an M21 81mm Mortar Carrier. Other 1/35 armor includes a Grille with the 17cm cannon, a BMP-3, a Maz-537 Soviet tank transporter, a M1126 Stryker, and several new Red Army figure sets.

Not much was shown in the way of 1/72 armor, but a quick look through the catalog and release list shows quite a long list of new 1/72 armor. Items listed as TBA include two King Tigers (one with the Porsche turret), two T34s (one 76, one 85), a KV1C, two Brummbar tanks (mid and late production), a Challenger II MBT, a M4A3 76(W) Sherman, a M4A3E8 Sherman, a KV2, a KV1, a M113ACAV, a M113A1, three Tiger I Ausf. E tanks (early, mid, and late production), a Panther D, and a Panther Ausf. A. A few of these might have already been released by the time this goes to press, but the list is no less impressive for that. It’s a great time to be building 1/72 armor, that’s for sure!

Trumpeter is best known for doing things BIG, and with their upcoming aviation releases, big is what we’re getting. The 1/24 lineup is expanding, with a new Hurricane Mk.I (and eventually a Mk. IIc) and a new P-51B/C. No word on the release date on those, but I believe the Hurricane is close. Also due up is a Messerschmitt Bf 109K-4 (logical, as it will be based on their 109G-10 kit) and a Focke Wulf Fw 190A-6/8 (a bit more work, but also likely to include much from their 190D-9 kit).

...

In 1/32, the list is quite long. There were examples of the 1/32 A-6 and F-100 on display, and they looked very impressive. The A-6 is due out mid-2007 and the F-100 a bit earlier, in early spring of 2007. That gives you enough time to buy up those Trumpeter weapon sets and start building your Intruder warload. Also on display is the two-seat Me 262B-1a, due out in late spring 2007. For those familiar with the single seater, you know this was coming. There were sprue test shots of the upcoming F4F-3 Wildcat as well. Other 1/32 aircraft announced included two Hellcat variants, two P-40 variants, three P-47 variants (razorback, bubbletop, and P-47N), the AV-8B, the Devastator, and the two-seat Su-27UB/Su-30 Flanker.

In 1/48 scale, the Trumpeter powerhouse is surprisingly quiet. With such impressive past releases such as the Fw 200 Condor, Wellington, and Wyvern, I was hoping to see more here. Perhaps they are keeping their cards a bit closer to the chest in this scale, though. There was another Wellington variant announced, though, the Mk. III, and announced at another show in Tokyo was a 1/48 Su-24 Fencer. Although in their catalog, there is no word on when we’ll see the Beriev Be-6 Madge.

For us small scale nuts, Trumpeter has not forgotten about us. Since they have already done up the masters for the big guys, it is simple for them to scale subjects down, and we will see 1/72 Chinooks (both the CH-47A and the CH-47D) and 1/72 Thuds (F-105D and F-105G). Also at the show was the boxart for the 1/72 Fairey Gannet, reviewed in this issue. This particular kit opens up some contemplating, as Trumpeter did both a 1/72 and 1/48 Wyvern. Does this mean we might see a 1/48 Gannet?

Getting our feet wet, Trumpeter continues to wow us with naval subjects. There was a build-up of the late-war 1/144 Gato, which is a logical follow-on to the earlier 1941 release. This should be out soon, if not already. In 1/350, battleships were the main sight, with both the Massachusetts and Alabama announced, while 1/700 gives us the USS Stennis (another expected release, with the 1/700 Lincoln reviewed in this issue), the CV-3 Saratoga (think scaled down 1/350 kit), and the North Carolina & Washington battleships. We should see the 1/144 late war Gato any time now, and for those interested in Chinese ships, a 1/200 Destroyer 136 Hangzhou is announced. In the way of aircraft, 1/700 Kingfishers, SC1 Seahawks, British Walruses and Fairey IIIF seaplanes are all announced. The Kingfishers and Seahawks are undoubtedly linked to US warships, which indicates that we will see some British warships capable of carrying the Walrus and Fairey IIIF before too long. All of these are welcome additions to the naval world.

Stevens themselves are getting into the game quite nicely, with some reissues of old AMT kits. For the automotive nut, these are some great subjects that haven’t been released in quite some time. The first two, I believe, have not been seen since their original release, making them quite exciting. These are the Li’l Mixer and Li’l Yeller. The other two subjects are a bit more common, but not by much, and include the Mount-n-Goat Jeep Commando and the ’37 Chevy coupe. What you get here is the original AMT plastic (and the molds look to have held up quite well) with new boxes with original artwork. As Stevens progresses with this concept, I am sure we will see many more of these older kits come out again, which is always a welcome thing.

UMM-USA

This is a fairly new name to the modeling world, but they’ve got some impressive items. First off, UMM-USA is the US distributor for Griffon model accessories. These are some very impressive resin and photoetch aftermarket sets, ranging from 1/144 to 1/32, with a heavy focus on 1/48 scale items. Also carried by UMM-USA are several lines of Czech resin kit companies, including Master X and A+V Models. I looked at a handful of the Master X kits, and they are a bit basic, but quite nice.

In addition to model accessories and kits, UMM-USA handles several very useful tools. The most notable is the JLC Saw. This has been reviewed in the past here at Internet Modeler, and I will just reiterate what Matt Bittner has said about this tool. It quite simply is one of those precision tools that every modeler must have. With the two sides of the blade providing a fine and ‘coarse’ (coarse only in comparison to the fine; they’re both very fine in reality) cut, this tool is perfect for precision cutting where you don’t want to remove any extra material. As an example, I tried it out on a control surface, and the cut was so fine that it left material on either side of the recessed panel line. Yes, it was a narrower cut than the scribed line! Truly a remarkable tool.

Xuron Corporation

On the subject of precision tools, there are few better than those produced by Xuron. The Xuron flush cutting shears are simply the best for cutting sprues, due to their patented bypass cutters. Compared to traditional compression cutters, the Xuron shears will require less pressure and result in a far cleaner cut, removing parts from sprues with far less cleanup than other sprue cutters. For cutting tougher materials like photoetch, Xuron has a high precision scissor that will cut flush and flat, requiring minimal cleanup afterwards. While on the subject of photoetch, the Xuron flat nosed pliers are perfect for bending 90-degree angles in photoetch, or just holding the pieces for painting. Xuron also has a line of precision tweezers that are ideal for placing those small parts in place during assembly.

The quality of Xuron products is quite high and it is clear that they take great effort to produce a quality product that is unmatched in the marketplace. Having used the imitators in the past, I know just how good these tools are. Check them out if you haven’t already.

And that just about sums it up. The trip overall was quite enjoyable, and I hope to show some of these new items in future issues of Internet Modeler. It looks like 2007 is going to be a good year for the scale modeler.