WELCOME TO AMW126 | MAY 2021
The May 2021 issue of Airfix Model World (AMW126) is here and you can read the full issue in page-turning PDF format or as individual features re-edited to suit the digital world. Indulge in the latest inspirational build features, browse new releases in the News and Reviews, discover the secrets of scale modelling through our step by step guides and much more.
AMW126, May 2021
EXCELSIOR UPGRADES
It’s the turn of AMT’s 1994-vintage Excelsior-class USS Enterprise-B to receive an aftermarket refit, courtesy of this comprehensive photo-etched brass and resin set.
RE-USEABLE COVERINGS
While kabuki-style tape masking is more popular than vinyl, the latter does have advantages when it comes to multiple usage, being far more robust.
FANFARE FOR A T-TAIL
Vickers’ VC10 is one of the most easily recognisable airliner types, with its distinctive engine and tail configuration and it has been well served by kit manufacturers compared with other similar types.
SPITFIRE REVISITED
While the first edition of this Airframe and Miniature guide was well-received by modellers, its expanded version, featuring revised and updated content makes for the perfect introduction to the Spitfire.
YUGOSLAVIA’S ’109
Although World War Two brought about huge advances in aviation, it also curtailed many promising designs, including the Yugoslavian Rogožarski IK-3, regarded as an equal to the Bf 109E when it entered service in 1940, and the subject of this exhaustive study.
LAND LEVIATHANS
Pen and Sword’s Tankcraft series’ 25th volume examines the German Tiger I and II heavy tanks, providing modellers with a combination of historical research, colour profiles, a round-up of available modelling products and a gallery of build projects.
THE MUD OFFENSIVE
This lavishly illustrated and well-written volume covers the Soviet conquest of south-eastern Europe between March and October 1944 and is packed with information.
TRACKED GENERALS
While there may have been other books on the M3 Lee and Grant tanks, none have delved into the same level of detail as David Doyle’s encyclopaedic volume.
POLES IN SPITS
There have been many reference books on the Supermarine Spitfire, but this MMP/Stratus offering takes a refreshingly different stance by focusing on the Mk.V variant and squadrons manned by Polish nationals during World War Two.
BATTLESHIP TARGET
Of all the German Kriegsmarine’s vessels, the Bismarck and its sister Tirpitz were the most feared by the British during World War Two, and the campaign to sink or otherwise cripple the latter is the subject of this Air Campaign volume.
BIRTH OF THE BUCHÓN
The Hispano Aviación HA-1112 may well be familiar to many readers from its appearances in films such as Battle of Britain, Memphis Belle, The Tuskegee Airmen and Dunkirk, where it acted as a stand-in for Bf 109s.
KAISERLICHE CAPITAL SHIPS
Opening a Super Drawings volume has a very familiar feel, as they all follow the same well-organised format of an introduction to the subject – in this case Germany’s Brandenburg-class battleships – covering design, armament and operational history, followed by masses of digital images.
INTERCONTINENTAL PIONEER
Many aircraft can be declared revolutionary, but if any type was more deserving of that sobriquet than others it is Boeing’s massive B-29 Superfortress, which ushered in truly intercontinental range and the atomic age.
ARMY FIGHTER COLOURS
The author has set himself a daunting challenge with this first of the Pacific Profiles series – to document the colours and markings of Japanese Army aircraft based in New Guinea.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Modellers needing figures for their ANZAC Model T LCP/Utility vehicles will find ICM’s driver set ideal.
‘RUPERT’ TANKER
Inspired by wartime artist WJP Jones’ satirical cartoons, White Whiskers No.1 is the first in a fourpiece series of caricature-type figures.
GERMAN GROUNDCREW
Builders of German airfield dioramas will find this three-piece resin mechanic figure very useful – it is posed as if walking to/from an aircraft while carrying an open-topped wooden toolbox.
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS
Czech kit and accessory manufacturer AB&K has released a neat instant vignette, in the form of a resin pit-type outhouse and a German soldier who is undertaking ‘essential business’ – both items are available separately (as 35002 and 35003 respectively), the latter with a rather colourful title!
AGEING RAIDER
The first of Master Box’s post-apocalypse Desert Battle Series figures portrays a long-lived member of the Skull Clan named Vadim.
MOVING TO POSITION
ICM’s third SWAT Team figure is posed as if moving forward with an M4 rifle in the ready position, alert to any potential threat.
AFRICAN RACER
Italeri has re-released ESCI’s 1/24 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC as raced in the 1979 Rallye Bandama, an event infamous for its arduous conditions.
SLEEK COUPÉ
Here’s the return of Airfix’s 1/32 Maserati Indy, first released in 1973, when the real vehicle (which was named for the company’s 1939 and 1940 Indy 500 wins) was still in production.
MAKING A SPLASH
With 11 styrene runners, separate bodyshell and floorpan, vinyl mesh and four hollow tyres, Hobby NuNu’s Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo makes a colourful splash in its Team Ralliart 1982 Rally of 1000 Lakes livery.
EUROPEAN HAULER
Italeri’s latest IVECO Hi-Way truck has an established pedigree, being based on the Stralis chassis/body.
BIRD OF PREY BONANZA
Sci-fi modellers are in for a real treat with Greenstrawberry’s latest Fruitpack release, as it combines two separate sets to upgrade AMT’s Klingon B’Relclass Bird of Prey.
ZOUKEI-MURA IN 2021/22
Following last month’s release round-up, the focus is on Japanese aircraft kit specialist Zoukei-Mura, which has announced a busy schedule for the year.
MORE FOR YOUR SPITFIRE
Aftermarket specialist Alleycat Models has just announced a series of resin accessories designed to upgrade Airfix’s newly tooled 1/72 Spitfire Mk.Vc.
NUNU RACERS
Japanese firm Hobby NuNu’s latest 1/24 auto releases include a return of its Volvo 240 Turbo and a new tooling in the shape of a BMW 320i (E46) tourer.
DECAL-FORM DETAIL
Modelling is one of those hobbies where new innovations are seized upon eagerly, and flexible 3D-printed decals are a logical step from the ways 3D-printed parts are created.
TRUCKS, BLADES AND BUGGIES
Hong Kong firm Gecko Models’ products are now available in the UK via Tiger Hobbies, with the three latest releases featuring British Army-related vehicles and figures.