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Editions de Barbotin |
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Minitracks No 13 Small Scale Military Modeling - Bilingual Edition |
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Reviewed By Howie Belkin, #16 |
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72 pages in Full Color $69.95 subscription, $18 per issue postpaid Lucky 13 is another great issue for Braille scale armor modelers with a free decal featuring more than 320 individual water slide decals, the first in an upcoming series to fill a 1/72 thru 1/87 modelers need. This white German sheet has several variations, sizes, solids and outline Balkenkreuzes and turret numerals. The decals will sell individually for about $11 so as a free bonus with a subscription, it’s quite a deal! I hope future releases will be unique, like U.S. blue-grey serial numbers as they appeared on vehicles, not 1 thru 9 and you have to place each digit. The magazine, as always, is filled with excellent articles. It starts with a unique scratch built Armored Train that besieged Paris in 1870/71. Next is a vignette of a detailed Australian M3 Stuart using the Hasegawa kit as a start, then a conversion of the Revell Pz IV H to a Mobelwagon with a Hasegawa 3.7cm flak 43 complete with photos of the real thing at the Samur armor museum in France. Part I of “A Short History of Military Kits in Braille Scale” is a trip back in time, a reminder that plastic aircraft came first, and it wasn’t until the 1950’s that Aurora and Revell/Adams produced 1/48 and 1/40th scale armor to be followed by Roskopf and Roco with models getting down to 1/87 and 1/100 with wheels to appeal to a less demanding market. Did you know Airfix had a Bell SK.5 Air Cushion vehicle? There’s much more in this magazine – a 1/72 Marmon Herrington Armored Car super detailed, a photo tour of the military museum in Rome with vehicles dating back to WWI like the Fiat ambulance used in the film “Farewell to Arms,” an AB41, M13/40, Breda 61 Half Track and 4 pgs more! There’s a Tiger I feature section with history and actual photos, then articles detailing a Hasegawa kit with Part photo etch and barbed wire at Kursk, and a Dragon Tiger with zimmerit at Normandy. Some of the articles include modeling the scenic bases, and a 6 pg article shows you how to create your own realistic weathered buildings. The modeling articles conclude with two fine French AMX 30’s and photos of a real one. Minitracks concludes with photos of new releases, proof that mfrs have big plans for Braille scalers. Minitrack is an excellent magazine for small scale armor modelers. The text is both in English and French which works very well, but if that makes you hesitate, remember, all the photos and drawings are in English. Minitracks should be at your favorite hobby shop, otherwise contact them at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/Minitracks or phone (33)05-56-62-27-09. |
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