Friday, September 30

Review - Mantis Miniatures 35034 U.S AFV Crew


Mantis Miniatures from Poland bring us a combined pair of figures this month to make a paired kit - 35034 U.S AFV Crew  features two soldiers leaning against a wall ( a shipping container in the box art photo) in this kit however the figures could be standing in front of almost anything. The figures are the individual sets 35033 - U.S AFV Gunner + 35032 - U.S AFV Driver/Mechanic.
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Wednesday, September 28

EagleCals Decals – EC#140 P-51Ds Lets test them on the Tamiya kit!!


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Purveyors of decals that are full of quality, accuracy and fine details - EagleCals from the USA bring us three new sets of decals for the ever popular fighter from World War II the P-51 Mustang. The new sets produced of course are in all three major scales with the same attention to detail to each sheet – reviewed and tested on the kit here for you though is the 1/32 sheet for the new favourite kit of all people  it seems in larger scales the Tamiya 1/32 scale Mustang. 

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Sunday, September 25

Euro Militaire Part V – Last Gallery of amazing Figures and best in show



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Euro Militaire model figure and Military show in Folkestone finished a week ago now – and it seems fitting after a week of images from the show to give you the winner - Best of Show Euro Militaire 2011– was this figure of the, Napoleonic vignette by Antonio Zapatero and Gustavo Gil called “Valeur et Discipline”


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Seeing it with my own eyes I can confirm this was truly one of those figures that pictures cannot do justice - it was truly a deserved winner and congratulations to Antonio and Gustavo for their excellent work!

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I thought it was fitting as well to mention this rag-tag bunch of guys (above) I met in the flesh for the first time – led by Pietro Balloni (centre) who invites some of us lucky punters to a “Tuscan Summer” meeting on the Leas outside – anyone who was there pretty much knows it was an “English Summer” meeting instead – not to worry it was a great time to be had by all – When Pietro and his team weren’t doing this they were very very hard at work at their stand downstairs – they were really in vogue as you could see many Pegaso figures down on the judging tables – and judging by the finished products they are winners as well

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On to the last of the Photo Galleries of the event – this part encasing some of the most amazing figure work I have seen in the flesh – congratulations to all there – it was a lovely event I urge you all to see if you get a chance next time. Other parts of this gallery are to be found at the shortcuts below

Friday, September 23

Euro Militaire Part IV – A Special Winner and more Armour


 
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Euro Militaire model figure and Military show in Folkestone is nearly a week gone and we are down to our second last round of pictures, as well as the info on all the winners – but first I have a story about a special winner I met by chance on that Saturday.



I met a guy called Nick Lloyd from Shropshire near Telford. He was hanging around some of the models in the doorway and looking eager and quite happy with himself – when I enquired as to Nick’s disposition he informed me that I was standing in front of two of his model kits – in the regular section of models – These models were made by Nick – whom I forgot to mention is still a teenager – the two tanks – a German and a Japanese pair on display looked to me anything but coming from the hands of a sixteen year old.

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Wednesday, September 21

Euro Militaire Part III – mixed models and larger Dioramas

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Euro Militaire model figure and Military show in Folkestone this weekend had some amazing figure, military and even aircraft models on display – there were several other things of not mainstream model interest like flat sculpted models and vignettes made to look like pictures I found extremely impressive.
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Tuesday, September 20

Euro Militaire Picture Report 2011 Pt II - Smaller dioramas & introducing the Sharpe's Children Foundation..


Hi modellers! More pictures in this series of “foto” reports of the famous Euro Militaire model figure and Military show held in Folkestone this weekend just past. Most of the stands were selling something or other – but one stand drew my eye for a different reason – It was there to help some of the 200 million less well-off children in the world.
 

Euro Militaire had many interesting people on board manning the stands over the weekend – amongst them was actor Jason Salkey - you may know Jason through the hit television series about the fictional British soldier fighting in the Napoleonic wars called “Sharpe” – Jason played in the series as Rifleman Harris. As well as giving away a prize at the event he was there for a more personal reason.

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Monday, September 19

Euro Militaire Picture Report 2011 Pt I.

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Hi modellers! Euro Militaire has finished for the weekend and gee it was a fun event!
Rain could not even ruin a “Taste of Tuscany” ( Thanks Pietro) held by Pegaso outside on the outside seaside forecourt interrupted by typically British weather. Inside the halls were warm though with the combined heat of thousands of modellers and collectors, vendors, contestants and judges went about celebrating the most prestigious modelling event in the world.



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Euro Militaire was held this weekend just passed – for all of you who may have missed it we have some great pictures and some of the stories of the people behind the show and the models on parade – starting off today I aim to bring you a batch of pictures of the models in contest and the faces young and old of some of the people who attended.


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Osprey Publishing of course was of course represented with an excellent stand packed with some great titles and a few staffers ready for a chat on all things Osprey and model related (and some things off topic too!) It was really interesting to talk to the staff about their experiences at Osprey and the books they have worked on and to get some knowledge on the day to day operations and behind the scenes info on the Osprey world – if you are at a modelling show in the future please do pop in to have a chat to the guys there - and just maybe have a look at some of the books they have on sale as well!


There will be more galleries every day this week with figures, dioramas, people and oddities from the Euro Militaire on the Modelling News Click on the link below for part one of the figures pictures

Thursday, September 15

MXPression Airbrushing Camouflage Patterns Purely Acrylics DVD Presented by Mario Eens

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MXPression
Airbrushing Camouflage Patterns
Purely Acrylics
DVD Presented by Mario Eens

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A new DVD has arrived that aims to help us all better understand how to paint a great camouflage with the ever popular modelling medium of acrylic paint from new company MXPression. Let’s have a look at the DVD and see if it’s a good (– or as I found after seeing it) a really good investment!

Tuesday, September 13

MiniArt Russian Street 1/35– Kit no 36026 Review


MiniArt
 Russian Street
1/35– Kit no 36026

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Lets look in depth at the Russian Street diorama that landed on our desks this very day - hopefully it lives up to the pictures on the boxart!

Friday, September 9

Alpine Miniatures 1/16 Luftwaffe ace Werner Mölders Review

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New from Alpine Miniature this month is a new sculpture in 1/16th scale of the WWII fighter ace Werner Mölders. From the start i am not going to exaggerate here - i am impressed!

Thursday, September 8

Great Wall Hobby 1/48th FW-198A1 "Nachtjager" Build Pt.IV

1/48th Great Wall Hobby FW-189 A1 Build.
Part IV – Getting better every day… sealing the deal and ready to paint.
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When we left the Fw 189 kit last time we had the whole major structure together and the kit was looking pretty structurally sound. Next was the masking of the glass that surrounds the cockpit and fuselage  and to go to the undercoat and painting stages - but first to seal many of the seams that are created by a twin-boom multi-engined aircraft.

Tuesday, September 6

LZ Models 35502 1/35 US Army Radio Sets review

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Today we look at a small radio set to match your US vehicles and your American soldier kits of choice  – these resin kits from LZ Models look pretty nice – let’s have a look and see if they go together as well as they look in the pictures.
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