INCOMING - HOT STUFF FROM ITALERI

There's a good variety of kits coming from Italeri this month, ranging from World War II AFVs to pan-Euro highway trucks.


First off is the German Sd.Kfz.251 Flammpanzerwagen flome-throwing half-track, a hold-in-your-hand sized model of this widely-used Wehrmacht AFV. The kit may well please aircraft modellers, as it's to 1:72 scale. Pleasingly, Italeri includes two figures.

To standard 1:35 military scale is the 'upgraded mould' Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger 1 tank, a mid-war version from 1943.   Components for two versions are supplied, as are detailed tracks, decals for four tanks, and a photo-etch sheet.

This brand-new tool model car kit is really interesting, featuring the Fiat 508 Balilla, a popular Italian car produced in the 1930s. This Italeri version is the military 508CM Coloniale model, used by Mussolini's forces as a staff car. Italeri includes original Italian markings, and a set of iron crosses, suitable for the period when German forces ran Italy.

For diorama fans, Italeri has two useful accessory set, both to 1:72 scale. The Urban Accessories set would fit perfectly in a 1930s-40s period model, while the PSP Pierced Steel Planking set suits virtually any temporary airstrip setting. Both kits are new moulds.

Coming into the jet age, Italeri has a 1:48 scale upgrade kit of the Nesher/Dagger, based on the Dassault Mirage fighter-bomber. Decals are included for six variants, from Argentina and Belgium to France and Israel.

Staying in the mid-jet age era, here's a 1:72 scale model of Ed Heinemann's classic naval design, the A-4 Skyhawk. This is the humpback OA-4M two-seater, in US Marine Corps markings. The real thing was tiny - it didn't need folding wings aboard an aircraft carrier - and so is the model, with a wingspan of just 116mm (4.4in).

Down to earth, but up in scale is the 1:24 scale Scania Streamline 143H 10-wheel medium truck. Just one minor complaint here - the supplied decals and colour scheme are not wildly exciting, so there's plenty of scope to research something with a bit more oomph.

  

Plenty of Italeri stuff here, including the excellent new 1:72 scale Short Sunderland flying boat.

  

ANOTHER BIG ONE FROM CHINA - TRUMPETER A-4E SKYHAWK

David Jefferis looks at a miniature masterpiece

The A-4 Skyhawk was designed by Douglas Aircraft’s Ed Heinemann to be a bantam-weight carrier aircraft. Simplicity ran through the whole design, from a tiny wing that needed no folding mechanism, to leading-edge slats that worked without complex actuators. In fact, the A-4's small and nimble design tipped the scales at just half the weight demanded by the US Navy specification.

Heinemann's hot-rod

The A-4 has been around a looong time - its first flight was in 1954, and a few air arms are still flying ‘Heinemann’s hot-rod’ even today. Many A-4 kits and diecasts have been released over the years, with no real bunny-boilers among them, so news of ‘another A-4’ wasn’t much of a showstopper. And yet this 1:32 scale A-4E kit from Trumpeter is different, in many ways raising the bar for models of this classic combat jet.

What’s in the box?

Like the Trumpeter GR7 Harrier we looked at earlier this week, the box is packed with parts, more than 470 of them, on 16 runners, plus photo-etch components, optional metal sections for the undercarriage, and a set of soft-feel tyres. Again like the Harrier, Trumpeter has chosen a multi-part breakdown for the fuselage, with separate fore and aft assemblies. The finished model measures 411 mm (16.2 in) long, with a wingspan of just 261 mm (10.3 in). 

Colour schemes

The A-4's longevity means that there is a wealth of markings to choose from. Trumpeter supplies full decals for US Navy machines (see pic above), but there is a galaxy of choice, though different versions may need suitable mods to the kit itself. Current A-4 operators include Singapore’s air arm, which uses them as advanced trainers. The picture (below) is an A-4SU, taken in 2002 by James Lotz, US Air Force, at which time Singapore’s Skyhawks were still front-line machines.

Flying the Brazilian flag

If you’d like to model an currently operational A-4, then try the Brazilian Navy. The pic (below) shows an A-4KU manoeuvring on deck, just before launch from the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo. Note the two-tone camouflage and small anchor symbol on the fin.

SMN score

As long-time fans of the A-4 we can’t wait to start building this one.

Trumpeter 1:32 scale A-4 is available here.

More Skyhawks here.

Pix courtesy Brazilian Navy, SMN Studio, Trumpeter.