PDGibson

The difference in size between 1/32 and 1/35 AH-1's will be considerable. I was surprised when I compared a Tristar Storch to my Hasegawa Storch. For the rather small fractional difference, the physical size difference between the models was surprising.

The Hasegawa P-40 comes with both open-spoke and (larger diameter) disc wheels/tires. I don't recall if the tires for the open-spoke wheels have diamond tread. I'll check the kit tonight. It appears (from both period photos and pics of restored a/c -- and yes, I know that details of restored a/c should not necessarily be taken as gospel) that P-47N's used at least two types of eight-spoke wheels. Jerry's wheels are nice replicas of one of these types. The other wheel type looks very similar to the wheels fitted to the Grumman Avenger. Contact Resine's TBF/TBM wheels/tires are very close in outside diameter to the tires of the Trumpeter P-47N. Wheel back detail of the kit wheels is woefully wrong. I don't think the Avenger's wheel back and brake details are a perfect match for those of the P-47, but it looks much better than what's in the kit and can be modified. Hope this helps. Paul

If you follow TyphoonAttack's link to Model Aircraft Magazine, you can check out their 2010 news. It shows the Trumpie TBD third on the 2010 1/32nd release list, following two P-40's (M & N). Don't know if this is significant; don't know if it's gonna happen. I hope so and hope the kit, if it appears, is done to the standard of their SBD and TBF/TBM kits. Paul

My own opinion is that the Tri-Star is a somewhat better kit. But the Tri-Star kit SHOULD be better -- it is almost 30 years newer than Hasegawa's version. However, the Storch is one of Hasegawa's best early 1/32nd scale efforts and the Tri-Star kit is better primarily in its small details. There are no great inaccuracies in the Hasegawa kit and it builds up very nicely. There are photos of some very nicely done Hasegawa Storch models posted on various sites. As I recall, the Hase kit includes an option for a ski undercarriage. Balancing this, the Tri-Star kit has the greenhouse framing pre-painted and has metal reinforced landing gear struts. Another difference is that the Hasegawa kit represents the armed version, while the current Tri-Star kit can only be built (out of the box) as the unarmed version. I don't remember the Hase kit having alternate glazing for the unarmed version. Tri-Star includes the gun-mount portion of the glazing for the armed version and may include the remainder in a future release. Neither kit includes the under-fuselage drop tank nor the racks for light bombs that were designed for under-wing and under-fuselage mounting. The Tri-Star kit offers five markings and decal options, versus three in the Hasegawa kit. Although the latter does include markings for (one of?) the Storch involved in Skorzeny's rescue of Mussolini. Eduard does a basic P/E set for Hasegawa's Storch. I don't think there is any P/E available for the Tri-Star kit (could be wrong about this, though). There are several on-line reviews of the Tri-Star kit, but the only Hasegawa review I've seen is at Cybermodeler. I really think the decision is not so much a matter of the best-detailed kit, but whether you prefer 1/32nd scale or want to build the armed version. Hope this is of some help, Paul

Release date is listed as December, '09, on Dragon USA website. Markings are listed as: 1) P-40M: U.S.A.A.F. 44th FS/18th FG 125: Gypsy Rose Lee Munda, New Georgia Island Aug.,1943 2) Kittyhawk Mk.III: RNZAF No.14 Sqn. Flg. Off. Geoffrey B. Fisken Code:19 Guadalcanal July 1943

Thanks for the replies gentlemen! I didn't know that about the use of "stolen Lewis guns". It seems like ammunition supply would have been problematic, unless the Germans went to the trouble of manufacturing their own .303 ammo. It does seem reasonable that the ground mount guns were used on early war aircraft -- there first had to be a demand for a dedicated aircraft gun before it could be designed. In any case, I think I can find a good use for the 'ground-mount' Lewis, as 1/32 is not that far away from 1/35th and the Lewis was used on several pre-WW II and early war British vehicles (I have in mind a photo showing HMAC 'Cerburus', a 1920- or 1924-pattern Rolls-Royce armored car, with a Lewis gun mounted to the rear of the turret). In the event anyone doesn't want the Lewis gun from their LVG kit, please let me know. I will give it (or them) a good home . Paul

With all the carryin' on about the Wingnut Wings kits, I'm surprised no one's mentioned this. On the fuselage parts sprue of the kit is a beautiful Lewis gun, and four magazines. Now this is NOT an aircraft Lewis gun, but the typical ground or naval version with the full stock and larger diameter barrel jacket. If you go to the WNW site and enlarge the parts drawing on the LVG instruction sheet, you can see both the gun and the magazines -- they're shaded in "not for use" blue (imagine that). I'm sure the Lewis gun is there for a reason (besides making me say "Huh?"), I just don't know the reason. A trophy perhaps? "Ja, ve ver so low dat Hans grabbed der Tommie's Lewis gun right from his hands!" The inclusion of late-pattern reinforced landing gear legs and exhaust flame shrouds in the S.E.5a kit is understandable. Although these are both marked as unused parts, both were used on some geared-engine S.E.5a's. In fact, the Steve Anderson box art of F/B'574 shows the aircraft with late gear legs, while the Ronnie Bar profile of the same aircraft shows the earlier style narrow legs. Paul

Thank you Doctor, I appreciate your help and your time, and am a bit awed by your encyclopaedic knowledge. My own efforts have scrounged up only two photos of Major Carpenter with "Rosie" and, as you've noted, neither are particularly helpful. I have contacted the Valiant Air Command Museum, where "Rosie" was on display, to see if they had more photos of the aircraft and the bazooka installation. Anything of use will be posted here (with the Museum's permission). Thanks again, and keep on truckin' (not to imply there's anything truck-like about a BMW!) Paul

Thanks Jack, Yes, I can certainly use that photo. I thought that pictures of "Rosie's" bazooka installation would be easy to find, either in one (or more) of the available ref's on liasion aircraft or on the 'net. WRONG! However, I am sure that as soon as I've fumbled my way through the rocket launcher mounting, a superb reference will appear showing the exact placement of each tiny part. That's modeling! Thanks again, Paul

I have Bronco's second release of it's L-4 Cub -- this one as "Rosie the Rocketeer". The instructions are extraordinarily vague on the bazooka installation and the associated parts. Does anyone know a source for good photos of the bazooka mounts on this aircraft, or a similar one? The real "Rosie" is in a Titusville, Florida museum, but the pic's of her that I've found on the 'net don't include close-ups of the rocket launcher installation. "Rosie" is my 'fill in the time 'til the RoG Ju-88 hits the States' build. Given the time from Revell's release of their Cub in Europe until its arrival at Sprue Bro's, I'm hoping we see the Ju-88 by Christmas. Thanks in advance for all help, Paul

Trumpeter’s 1/32nd P-47’s (all of ‘em, so far) have only one set of wheels: wheel fronts are covered and backs have eight-spokes. No brake or wheel backing plate detail is provided. I have read, in more than one review, that both spoked and covered wheels are included, but it ain’t so. Although covered wheels were seen on even late-model D’s, and Mushroom’s book on ‘bubble-top’ P-47’s has a photo of a purported ‘M’ with covered wheels, I’ve not seen a photo of a P-47N with wheel covers. So, what to do? The Trumpeter wheel backs have the eight spokes appropriate for the wheel front of P-47N’s. It seems quite possible to drill and counter-bore a stepped hole through the wheel front and turn the kit wheels back-to-front. The final thing would be to make a center cap to cover the axle hole. However, spoke shape and proportions will not really match the actual wheel. Detail can be added, and the modified kit wheels may be acceptable to some. There seem to have been two distinct patterns of eight-spoked wheels used on the N. On type has a relatively ‘plain’ rim – similar to the six-spoke wheel. The “Detail and Scale” volume on the P-47 has a good photo of this wheel. The other P-47N wheel has a series (32, I think) of short, radial ribs between two circumferential ribs, around the outer rim of the wheel. Alternate wheel spokes have raised circular bosses which were apparently drilled and tapped to attach a hold-down strap for the wheel center cap. The Mushroom book has a photo of a restored P-47 with this. This wheel type has the spokes and center noticeably ‘dished’ inward from the rim. It is the spittin’ image of a TBF/TBM wheel. There also seems to be a variation of this wheel pattern -- one that is more shallowly dished and lacks the raised bosses on the spokes. It is also pictured in the Mushroom book. The “Detail and Scale” P-47N wheel photo of the ‘plain’ wheel is from a walk-around of a P-47N-25. The WW II and post-war photos of in-service N’s that appear to have the “Grumman style” wheel are mostly of earlier variants. Out of the box, Trumpeter’s P-47N is an N-2 or N-5. With armrests for the pilot’s seat and cockpit detail changes, it could be an N-15 or N-20. This suggests that “Grumman style” wheels would be the most appropriate. If final pattern wingtip lights (mounted more or less at the center of the tip, rather than at the front corner as per earlier P-47’s) are made, it could be built as an N-25. This should probably have the “plain rim” wheels, as per the D & S N-25 photos. Hopefully a P-47 expert can weigh in here with more detailed information on cockpit changes. What about replacement wheels? Jerry Rutman makes eight-spoke N wheels of the ‘plain’ rim type. Contact Resine and Master Casters both offer TBF/TBM replacement wheels. However, the Master Casters wheels are designed to be used with wheel backs from the Trumpeter TBF/TBM kits. I don’t know if the wheels would be compatible with the P-47 wheel backs (and the kit wheel backs are inaccurate anyway). The weighted effect on the Contact Resine wheels seems a bit overdone – in my opinion. However, an N with a full load of ordnance and drop tanks was a very heavy aircraft, and remembering that N’s operated from relatively hard surface strips (where the ‘weighting’ would be most noticeable) maybe the Contact Resine wheels come close. Price-wise, Jerry’s wheels are a bargain and the Contact Resine wheels rather expensive. The Master Caster wheels fall in between, but there is the wheel back issue. I have sets of the Rutman eight-spoke P-47 wheels and C-R TBF/TBM wheels. The Rutman wheels require a bit more cleanup, but offer the advantage of separate wheel fronts -- giving a very realistic ‘hollow’ appearance to the finished wheels. Casting quality is very good. The Contact Resine wheels are excellently cast and require little cleanup, but are one piece. Now, if only someone would produce a clear resin replacement canopy for the Trumpeter bubble-top D and N... Paul

The Trumpeter 1/32nd P-47’s (all of ‘em, so far) have only one set of wheels. These have solid covers on the wheel front and eight-spoked rears. No brake or backing plate detail is provided. I have read that ‘both spoked and covered wheels’ are included, but it jist ain’t so. I’ve never seen a photo of a P-47N with wheel covers. So, what to do? The wheel backs do have eight spokes, which is appropriate for the wheel front for P-47N’s. It seems quite possible to drill and counter-bore a stepped hole through the wheel front and turn the kit wheels back-to-front. The final thing would be to make a center cap to cover the hole in the center of the spoked face. However, the kit part still doesn’t match photos of the actual wheel. Detail can be added, and the modified kit wheels may be acceptable to some. There seem to have been two distinct patterns of eight-spoked wheels used on the N. On type has a relatively ‘plain’ rim – similar to the six-spoke wheel. The “Detail and Scale” volume on the P-47 has a good photo of this wheel. The other P-47N wheel has a series (32, I think) of short, radial ribs between two circumferential ribs, around the outer rim of the wheel. Alternate spokes of the wheel have raised bosses which were apparently drilled and tapped to attach a hold-down strap for the wheel center cap – based on a photo of this installation on a restored N, in the Mushroom Models book on the P-47 bubble top. This wheel has the spokes and center noticeably ‘dished’ inward from the rim. There are several photos of this wheel in the Mushroom book. It is the spittin’ image of a TBF/TBM wheel. There also seems to be another minor variation of this second wheel. This one is more shallowly dished and lacks the raised bosses on the spokes, but it clearly has the short ribs around the outer rim. It is also pictured in the Mushroom book. The wheel detail photos are all of restored aircraft. Could it be that there are multiple P-47’s out there refitted (postwar) with Avenger wheels? In my modest collection of P-47 references, there are few period photos showing the N wheels clearly. However, there are a few that seem to show the “Grumman” pattern wheels and others that appear to show the plain rim type. Possibly there are better photos out there, and I just haven’t seen them. The “Detail and Scale” wheel photo of the ‘plain’ wheel is from a walk-around of a P-47N-25. The WW II and post-war photos of in-service N’s that seem to have the “Grumman” wheel are mostly of earlier variants. I don’t know if the P-47N and TBF/TBM really did use the same wheel (at least at first), but that certainly looks to be the case – but again, the detail photos are all of restored aircraft. Hopefully a P-47 expert can weigh in here with something more specific than my own speculation. Where does all this lead? The kit does not have correct wheels. Jerry Rutman makes eight-spoke N wheels that seem to be the ‘plain’ rim type. Contact Resine and Master Casters both offer TBF/TBM replacement wheels. However, the Master Casters wheels are designed to be used with wheel backs from the Trumpeter TBF/TBM kits. I don’t know if the wheels would be compatible with the P-47 wheel backs. Price-wise, Jerry’s wheels are a bargain and the Contact Resine wheels are rather expensive. The Master Caster wheels fall in between, but there is the wheel back issue to deal with. Any additional information and/or clarification on this subject would be most appreciated. Paul

I think I'm on a Trumpeter roll today. This time it's some notes on the 1/32nd P-47N. The lower wing-fuselage joint is done as per Jerry Rutman’s resin N: fillers for the wing root portion of the wheel wells are molded to the inboard edge of the lower wing. This matches the panel lines on the original aircraft. The compressibility flaps are (correctly) absent from the lower wings. Most of the rest of the kit – except decals – is simply a carry-over from the Trumpeter bubble-top D. The cockpit floor is corrugated and there are no armrests for the pilot’s seat (but I’ve read that these weren’t fitted until the -15 batch). Wheels are the most annoying error (for me). They are the early type with full wheel covers and absent any indication of brakes. I’ve never seen a photo of an N with full wheel covers. I recall some comments about incorrect windshield framing. This seems to have been corrected. The correct prop and crankcase front are included, but noted on the instructions as ‘options’ – rather than N-model specific. Trumpeter’s art department apparently has difficulty distinguishing an “O” from a “D”. “SHORT SNORTER” has been rendered as “SHDRT SNDRTER”. All of the munificent ordnance is included from previous Trump P-47’s. The kit, with a little massaging, will build up into a nice N, and the mistakes are minor, but hard to excuse on a kit of this price. Since the wheel backs have eight spokes, I suppose the wheel fronts could be drilled for axles and the wheels turned ‘round with the spoke side exposed and the axle hole covered with a scratch-built center cap – but how hard would it have been to tool new, correct wheels and include them on the new wing sprues? Jerry Rutman offers eight-spoke P-47 wheels for less than the cost of the aggravation to rework the kit items. The cockpit floor can be rebuilt, or (presumably) swapped with a Hasegawa floor. Zotz has correct decals for “Too Big and Too Heavy”, or you can do Oscar Perdomo’s bird using the other option in the kit decals. Does anyone know if there decals available for any Air National Guard P-47N’s? I like this one better than their F6F-3 . Paul

I think most in-box 'reviews' will do no more than let you know what's in the box, the general level of detail, and (perhaps) catch really obvious errors. In any case, the notorious fuselage bulges are gone from my F6F-3 (my copy of the F6F-5N does have a minor case of 'em, though). Whatever other errors the kit has, there are a couple of omissions (not errors) that I found irritating. The kit lacks the barrel shrouds, cowl exhaust bulges, and the lower cowl flaps of early -3's. I was really hoping for a kit that would build into an F6F-3 out of the box. As it stands, the kit will build only a late production F6F-3. It would have been so easy for Trumpeter to tool the extra bits... The marking options are disappointing, too, but after-market decals will address that. I can rob the exhaust bulges from a Hasegawa 'Cat and make the lower cowl flaps. The wing panel lines have not changed from the F6F-5 kit. Assuming the drawings in the Kagero Hellcat book are correct, the -3 had a different wing panel layout. I can live with this, but it just makes the kit that much more underwhelming. Paul

I am really looking forward to Hasegawa's 1/32nd P-40E, and hope the kit is engineered to allow many other variants to be offered in the future. I also hope (now) that Trumpeter's first P-40 is NOT an E model. It would sure be nice to see sprue photos of the Hasegawa kit. Does anyone else think the model in the Hasegawa photos must be a built-up test shot? In addition to the earlier remark about the riveting, some of the panel lines look a bit ragged (in the photo concentrating on the cockpit, check out that access panel next to the front sight post). I am sure that Hasegawa will have put this, and any other minor blemishes, in order by the time the production kits appear. Even at high magnification, a lot of the detail in the photos appears superb! And I don't mind that not too long ago I bought a Revell 1/32nd P-40E, along with a Hobbycraft boxing of the Trump 1/32nd B for detail bits. In fact, if it wasn't for that, maybe there wouldn't a new large-scale Hasegawa P-40E. Paul "I got my new Montex Fury and Gamecock, but they didn't send the decals!!"