Windsock Worldwide is a magazine dedicated to the fascinating and beautiful subject of WW1 aviation, published bi-monthly Windsock worldwide targets the hobbyist who's sole aim is to faithfully recreate these legendary fighting machines, volume 26 now, so a long established pedigree of providing an essential resource to the classic aviation modeller.




This particular edition features - and mostly concentrates on 4 new releases from Wingnut Wings' range of beautifully reproduced 1/32 fighter aircraft, 2 versions of my favorite WW1 warbird - the Albatross, and 2 versions of the Sopwith Pup.




At first glance the magazine seems a little 'thin', the price of this edition isn't on the cheaper side either, however don't forget this particular edition includes a seperate magazine devoted to a particular aircraft type, and closer examination of the contents one begins to discover that this is a meticulously composed publication. Refreshingly the reader isn't bombarded by a full page advertisment for the latest kit or modelling product on every other page - content is the key here and whilst the reader can find the usual round-ups, ads and stockists toward the end pages - the magazine sticks rigidly to the script.





This particular edition also comes with a fully dedicated feature magazine in this case Volume 1 concentrating on the lesser know DH9A by John Alcorn - page after page of stunning colour profiles, scale drawings and walkaround photos.





My verdict ? Well, it commands a premium, but in my view it is worth it. This really is a labour of love and a publication that has been clearly put together by a dedicated team. Speaking for myself I've always considered myself a strict jet modeller, however after absorbing myself for hours in this magazine I can honestly say the dim and distant prospect of assembling my first Great War biplane kit has come a heck of a lot closer.

Review sample courtesy of Windsock Worldwide

John Morrey

March 2010

Machbach HL42 TRKM and TUKRM Engines

These two kits will be a welcome release for anyone building German WWII half-tracks, as these power units were used to propel the majority of the more well known versions into combat. The two kits are available separately, as there are some significant differences to the sprues, the major difference being the radiator configuration.



The basic block and cylinder system, as well as a great number of the ancillary parts are common to both versions, but you should check your references carefully to establish which engine to buy for your project. The box tops helpfully provide guidance as well as line drawings of some of the more well known vehicles it was used on, which will save some rooting round your references.



Each box contains one sprue of styrene parts, crisply moulded in a pleasant grey plastic. In addition, taped to the outside of the parts bag is a small fret of Photo Etched brass components. The TRKM parts count is 43, while the TUKRM tops out at 49 - both have a small number of parts that are not used, which leads me to wonder whether these sprues will eventually turn up in some special edition kits from Great Wall Hobby, especially as 2 parts appear to be engine mounting brackets.



For the purposes of this review I have built up the TRKM engine, which I shall use in my forthcoming build of the sWS with Flak43. The parts are delicate in places, but everything fits together well, with only a few parts needing to be positioned before others in the same section of the build. Good practice would be to cut the set of parts for each step and do a dry fit, to avoid any confusion. A few of the parts are incredibly delicate, and can quite easily ping off into the void while you are tidying them up. One such part are the bolts on the top of the rocker cover, one of which I managed to lose during the build.

Once you get to the end of the build, you realise what a nicely detailed piece of engineering you have in your hand. The various hoses and wires fit well, and with a little care the radiator can be left separate for painting, allowing you to get in and put some detail in the radiator matrix that would otherwise be difficult to get at.

The kit box states that the engine is provided to build a stand-alone display model, but it should not be too difficult to add this model into the engine bay of any suitable kit, although reference pictures can be a little hard to find on the net - perhaps I'm just not using the correct search terms.

Conclusion

A pair of great little kits that will busy up the engine bay of any sWS, Sd Kfz. 250, 251, 11 or Demag (plus a few others that I don't yet know about!). It builds easily and looks the part once together. If you're planning on building the GWH sWS Cargo version with their PE update set, all those lovely etched cowlings will look great with a nicely painted HL42 inside.

Review sample courtesy of:

I received this item from our friends at the Airbrush Company, and it's a simple piece of kit that does its job. A simple two part 10" (25cm) turntable with a 3D moulded anti-slip surface top & bottom, separated by a gaggle of ball-bearings in receptacles on the inside, running on moulded tracks on the underside of the top part. It's all held together by a large flat-headed screw, which is how I know how it works



Out of the box it turns slowly & precisely with light finger pressure, which should be good enough for most people. I like to be able to get a little flamboyant with my turntable though, so I opened it up and added a little lithium grease to each ball bearing. The result was a smoother and faster turn - I can now spin the table quickly to get to the other side.

Of course it'll get covered with paint in due course, but with there being raised no edges, any paint dust just blows off the table, so gritty buildups should be avoided. I've tossed my old cake icing turntable in the bin now, and this is my new weapon of choice It is large enough to take an average 1:35 vehicle, or 1:48 aircraft without much overhang, and plenty of space to position your landing gear or supports so it doesn't topple over.




Conclusion

At only £5, it's bound to be a hit, and given that it does exactly what it is designed for, every modeller with an airbrush should have one.

Review sample courtesy of:

Paul kindly sent a sheet of his latest offering to me the other day, and as this is my first experience of decals that have not been produced by one of the major players, I was intrigued to have a play with them.

The set comprises a large A4 sheet of codes in both black and anti-flash blue. Each code is provided twice in three sizes, the largest of which are suitable for the underwing serials. From this sheet you can model 15 different airframes, WP220, WP381, WB210, WP204, WB215, WZ400, WZ403, WZ366, WZ393, XD826, XD816 and XD875 in black, WZ374, XD818 and XD823 in anti-flash.



Also included as anti-flash roundels and fin flashes, in the familiar pale blue and pink colors. Of course there is no need for the white parts of these roundels to be printed, so these sections are transparent. Finally, Paul provides you with a set of squadron emblems appropriate for the serials provided, which will doubtless have you checking your references for the correct one. While you have the books out, check to see whether the airframe you are modelling has the large underwing codes applied, as they were occasionally absent.



The decals are well printed and on continuous carrier film, so a little patience will be required to cut them out. It will repay your patience to trim them closely, as it minimises the appearance of carrier film. For application, Paul recommends Microscale MicroSol setting solution, followed by a coat of Klear once dry. I experimented with Gunze Mr Mark Softer out of sheer curiosity, and the decals settled down well, even over panel lines. I also experimented with dipping the decal into Klear before applying it, which wasn't so successful and left a noticable carrier film edge, so the sensible modeller will follow Paul's instructions.

Conclusion

At time of writing, 1:72 scale modellers are restricted to either the ancient Contrail vacform kit with its dubious wing "shoulders", or the awful Mach2 kit that I finally wrestled into submission in 2008, but following Airfix's announcement of a new tool Valiant for the 2010 Limited Edition release, these decals will have you up & running in no time, permitting you a little more variety of subjects than the ubiquitous XD818 and whatever offerings are included with the new kit, which are unknown at this time.

Modelling the camouflaged Valiants will have you reaching for some British post-war roundels to complete the decaling, while the Anti-flash modeller will be able to complete their project from this sheet. Of course, if you wish to complete multiple models, a ready source of anti-flash roundels will be required unless Paul offers extra sets of roundels for a small additional fee.

Whether you've had experience with limited production decals or not, this issue can be recommended.

Review sample courtesy of Paul at Parkes682Decals

Hasegawa announced that they would finally be releasing a Westland built example of their venerable SH-3 Seaking kit early in 2009.



In December it hit the shops in the Far east and I was lucky enough to find a copy in Hong Kong in early January. The Seaking is a reasonably well detailed moulding with recessed panel lines but lacks interior detail compared to their more modern releases. It has plenty of scope for any modeller, however it is let down by its lack of interior details, aft of the cockpit is bare.

Moulded in their usual grey plastic, the additional lumps and bumps are not provided as first announced in Resin and White metal but in injection moulded plastic on a number of new sprues, this should guarantee that Hasegawa will go through the various Westland built Marks and a HAR.3 has already been announced for release later in the year. The instruction leaflet is in Hasegawa's usual clear style and has two side views of the aircraft which clearly show which lumps and bumps have to be removed from the existing fuselages to make it correct for the Westland airframe. This is well thought out and makes life a lot easier for the modeller.


Image copyright of www.scale-rotors.com



Sprue S contains a new six bladed tail rotor and the lightly different tail assembly together with the correctly shortened stabilising tailplane. Sprue V contains the parts for the Thales searchwater radar and radome. A pertinent point is that the Radome is in fact inflatable on the real thing and is deflated to provide ground clearance. The plastic is moulded in its inflated state and is therefore not correct. The limitations of the plastic moulding process no doubt demanded this, hopefully one of the aftermarket companies will pick this up:



Sprue T provides the correct shorter Sponson's for the Westland model with a nicely moulded rendition of the emergency ditching floats housing moulded into the side together with the Searchwater radar radome that is mounted on top of the fuselage:



Sprue Y provides the main meat of the Westland differences including all of the lumps and bumps for the Orange Crop ECM system, various blade antenna, the strakes that are mounted on the upper port side of the tailboom and importantly the different port engine cover and APU bump which is a Westland built machine feature:



Other additions are a new sprue containing an extra 2 bubble type windows which is correct for type.

The decal sheet provides markings for:

"180", 849 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1988

"88", Royal Navy, 1982



Overall it is a welcome edition to the Hasegawa 1/48 Helicopter line, however with the original kit released in the late 80's it has taken a very, very long time for Hasegawa to grace us with a Westland built example. Unfortunately, Hasegawa's business model of getting the most out of moulds with multiple "Special Editions" with minor decal sheet changes is not particularly inspiring for the consumer, in this case various aftermarket accessories for Westland built machines have been available for years. With the recent price hikes and the lack of interior detail I would be reticent to pay UK prices for this limited edition kit and would in fact invest in a normal moulding which can be found reasonably cheaply and add either the Airwaves or Flightpath conversion sets to make a Westland built airframe. The Flightpath set also contains an etched brass interior for the cabin behind the cockpit which makes up for what is lacking in the kit.
Hasegawa should be applauded for finally producing a Westland built machine, but the special edition status and sheer time it has taken them for additional sprues to be added is disappointing.

Recommended if you really must have one in your collection, or if you only build out of the box.

Greg B