Of Pixels & Plastic
February 10, 2021
My semi-weekly round up of cool stuff for 1/72 fans seen online and in the news over the last week or so.
Of Pixels & Plastic
February 10, 2021
My semi-weekly round up of cool stuff for 1/72 fans seen online and in the news over the last week or so.
New releases / I got the blues
The FineMolds Phantoms parade keeps rolling with the imminent release of 4 more kits in early 2021. Included are JASDF Phantom Forever Thank You commemorative scheme; an RF-4EJ Reconnaisance aircraft, a USAF F-4E (Early) Vietnam War aircraft in SEA camo, and my unicorn, the JASDF F4EJ Kai in the offshore blue scheme. Japanese vendors are starting to stock or take pre-orders now.
contest / BIG buff contest news from the scale model podcast
Just 5 days to enter Scale Model Podcast’s biggest contest giveaway ever — a Modelcollect B-52G Stratofortress in 1/72 scale! Much as it pains me to lessen my odds, hit up their website for details and to get your entry in.
New releases / Takom by any other name
Sabre Models, makers of 1/35 German WWII rolling stock, angry AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, and other sundries point themselves in yet another different direction and scale with their release of a US Army M1070 Tractor paired with a M1000 Trailer, along with a Cat D9R dozer, all in 1/72.
Sound familiar? It should as they are basically Takom kits under the Sabre banner. The D9R does now include an etched slat armour set for the cab, however, no clue whether the prime mover *looks* to be exactly as Takom kitted it.
aftermarket / pimp out your flanker
Eduard is a monolith when it comes to etch sets, but I’ll be honest, while there’s nothing wrong with their product, dig a little deeper and there’s better stuff out there… so long as it’s for the plane your keen on building, of course.
Microdesign was unknown to me until they popped on Scalemates with their upcoming etch set for the Zvezda Su-33 Flanker. The set looks pretty comprehensive, and while described as being in colour, the accompanying image shows both a colour illustration and natural brass. So, yet to be determined what’s going on there, but this could be a banger addition to your Flanker build.
reference / Joycraft brings me joy
Hangar No.1 is the initial volume from fledgling publisher Joycraft, a collaboration of two talented modellers who have never actually met in person.
Jarek Rydzyński and my fellow Canadian Réné Joyal present 6 modern combat aircraft builds in a mix of 1/32 and 1/48. I’ll have a more in-depth post on this in the near future, but if modern jets are your thing, you may prefer (read: I recommend) you get your own copy.
And yeah, while I know it’s not 1/72 the photos alone are worth it, and there should be no shortage of technique inspiration for our smaller-scale builds.
Podcasts / Round-up
The podcasts are going strong with great episodes coming fast and furious. Plastic Posse Podcast delivered a stellar interview with Michael Rinaldi, including some *really* cool info for fans of Star Wars/sci-fi ; On the Bench is back into their regular rotation following their mini-series celebrating episode 100; Dr. Strangebrush from Plastic Model Mojo is a great airbrush-focused episode; while newcomers the ModelGeeks tap into the process that leads us to build our favourite subjects while “sniffing glue and slinging paint”.
Follow the links above and give them a listen, leave a rating, send them a bit of financial support, or simply share their efforts on your own networks. I know they’ll all appreciate it.
