26 HOBBY MERCHANDISER JUNE 2019

Keith Pruitt

MODEL KIT REPORT

Keith’s Picks for JuneAirfix 1/48 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11Airfix has released its 1/48 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 kit. The last piston-en-gine powered fighter aircraft to enter service with the British Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, the Hawker Sea Fury was developed after the evaluation of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw190 in 1942. Conceived as a lighter-weight replacement for the Hawker Tempest, the Sea Fury was introduced after the end of World War II. While the RAF canceled their order, the Royal Navy accepted the aircraft, which went on to serve as the primary fighter

with the Fleet Air Arm until 1953. During combat action against early jet fighters, the Sea Fury shot down one MiG-15 during the Korean War.

The kit contains 123 parts molded in gray and clear plastic. The cockpit features a tub floor with detailed side consoles, front and rear bulkheads, separately molded rudder pedals, control stick, instrument panel and seat. Optional parts are included for an open or closed canopy, raised landing gear for an inflight display, or lowered landing gear, as well as folded or extended wings for a shelf display. The control surfaces can be built in various positions for a more realistic appearance. Also included are a variety of underwing ordinance and stores including drop fuel tanks, bombs and rockets. The kit comes with illustrated instructions, painting and decal placement guides, and decals for two different aircraft, one from the 801st Squadron operating from the HMS Glory in 1952 and one from the 802nd Squadron operating from the RNAS Eglinton in 1948.

AMT 1/25 Autocar A64B Semi TractorAMT has rereleased its 1/25 Autocar A64B Semi Tractor kit. Founded in 1897, the Autocar Company is the oldest motor vehicle brand in the western hemisphere. Two years later, Autocar built the first truck and eventually became a specialty manufacturer of severe-duty work trucks. Over the years, Autocar revolutionized the trucking industry with a wide variety of makes and models. Introduced in 1970, the Autocar A64B semi-tractor featured an over-size radiator, internally mounted air con-ditioner, soundproof cab, computer-controlled brakes and an electronic speedometer and tachometer. Known as the “quiet, cool one,” the Auto-car A64B was an innovative vehicle for its time.

The AMT kit contains over 250 parts molded in white, transparent red and amber plastic, along with chrome-plated detail parts. Also included

A few examples of this post-war British fighter are flying today in air races and air shows. This model comes with decals for two fighter plane versions from the 1940s and 1950s.

Autocar trucks are built for severe-duty applications, and this tractor is no exception. Based on manufacturer’s drawings, this model is true to every detail.

are black vinyl tires, metal axles and black vinyl air tubing. The kit is scaled from the original manufacturer blueprints and has been refreshed by such features as an expanded decal sheet with new cab stripes and colorful vintage packaging. Also included are optional specialized parts for authen-ticity including a Frigiking air conditioner, grille guard option, Holland sliding fifth wheel, Kelsey-Hayes Gunite rear wheels and Rockwell rear axles. The chrome accessories include air horns, mirrors, air cleaner, bumper, radiator housing, front disc wheels, optional fog and driving lights, and exhausts with tip options. The opening hood reveals the highly detailed Cummins 250 horsepower six-cylinder diesel engine complete with a Fuller 15-speed transmission. The kit comes with illustrated instructions, a painting and de-cal placement guide, and decals that include custom striping, registration numbers, license plates and company logo graphics.

Flame Toys Optimus Prime & Nemesis Prime Trans-formersFlame Toys has released its Optimus Prime (Attack Mode) Transformers kit and its Flame Toys Nemesis Prime (Attack Mode) Transformers kit. Since 1984, the Transformers series has captivated fans with its epic storyline of the ongoing battle between the Decepticons and Autobots for dominance or eventual peace. The Transformers are a group of extraterrestrial robotic lifeforms that have arrived on earth from Cybertron that can transform into vehicles, electric items or weapons. Beginning with a line of toys, the franchise has expanded over the years to include an animated TV series, comic books, video games and movies.

Flame Toys kits are available in either the regular Optimus Prime Attack Mode kit or the exclusive variant Nemesis Optimus Prime Attack model kit. Both kits have the same outstanding features with different parts, colors and markings. Built to represent the Prime character in its figure form, these kits measure approximately 6.1 inches after assembly. The parts are molded in hard ABS plastic and are attached to fourteen sprues.

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JUNE 2019 HOBBY MERCHANDISER 27

The Optimus Prime model uses mostly blue, red, black and grey tone color injected parts while the Nemesis Prime uses a variety of black and grey tone color-injected parts. The kits include transparent molded pieces, which are used for the eyes and windows on the chest plate in transparent blue for Optimus Prime and transparent red for Nemesis Prime. Vinyl connectors are used to make up over 40 joints to obtain a dynamic range of stances and poses. Also included in the kit are a battle ax and gun for arming the figure in battle poses. Painting is not required, although professional modelers may paint their Prime character in their own coloring scheme or with weathering effects. The kit includes full color illustrated instructions with a markings placement guide, as well as a sheet of foil stickers containing crisply printed color markings.

Minicraft 1/144 F-16 FalconMinicraft has released its 1/144 F-16 Falcon kit. The F-16 was initially designed to be a low cost day-fighter to complement the high cost,

all-weather F-15. Since its first flight in January of 1974, the F-16 has evolved to become an all-weather, multi-role aircraft that has been used in virtually every role that a fighter type aircraft could serve. The F-16 initiated several innovative design features, a 30 degree-inclined seat to counter g-forces, full fly-by-wire avionics, side-mounted dual control sticks, and an airframe developed specifically for performing high-g maneuvers. A major first is the onboard computer, which provides constant control input since the aircraft would be inherently unstable in subsonic flight. This feature al-lows it to change attitude without having to overcome the inertia of normal stable flight. With over 4,600 F-16s built, the aircraft is still in U.S. service and being built for multiple international militaries.

The box contains four sprues of plastic parts molded in light gray and clear. It includes two canopies, one of which has the framing prepainted to match the paint schemes for the kit. Options include parts to depict the aircraft in flight with retracted landing gear and a clear display stand. The kit comes with illustrated instructions, with painting and decal placement guides, as well as Cartograf decals for two different aircraft, one USAF aircraft from the Persian Gulf War era and one Israeli aircraft from 1982.

Roden 1/32 O-2A SkymasterRoden has released its 1/32 O-2A Skymaster kit (620), the military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster. Needing a replacement for the aging O-1 Bird Dog, the US Air Force contracted with Cessna in 1966 to build a military version of their Skymaster civilian aircraft. The primary advantages of the push-pull configuration of the twin-engine aircraft was a high-mount-ed wing allowing greater downward visibility and easier control if one engine went out during flight. The O-2 served during the Vietnam War as a FAC (Forward Aircraft Controller), directing and controlling artillery and air strikes against enemy positions. While the Skymaster could be armed with machine gun pods, high explosive rockets and small bombs, the most commonly carried weapons were smoke rockets that could be used to mark enemy positions.

The kit contains 257 parts molded in gray and clear on ten plastic sprues, along with a metal wire antenna. The cockpit features detailed instrument panel, center console and radio rack. Optional underwing stores include a pair of gun pods and rocket launchers. Other options include retracted or deployed wing flaps, open or closed cockpit door, and positionable hatches and panels to display the details of the engines. The kit comes with illustrated instructions with painting and decal placement guides, as well as decals for three different aircraft, including an overall Aircraft Gray with Snoopy nose art on the cowl as well as a large “Don’t Shoot” panel for the upper wings, one in an overall Flat Black with Ghost nose art and “THE FAC” in large white letters for the upper wing, and one in the SEA (SouthEast Asia) camouflage with Tan, Dark Green, and Medi-um Green over Camouflage Gray undersides. HM

These kits use rare multi-colored sprues to create a colorful mod-el without painting, making them a great fit for younger modelers.

Known as the Flying Pushme PullYou, the twin-engine 337 was a popular civilian aircraft as well as serving with the Air Force as the 0-2A Skymaster for forward air control and ob-servation duties.

A key factor in America’s air superiority strategy, the F-16 has been a popular model kit since the aircraft debuted in 1974.

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