First up we have the news of the month for aircraft modellers – the Tamiya announcement of their new 1/32 P-51. The news has been received like the news of the forthcoming messiah amongst Tamiya and Mustang fans alike. The kit is on Pre-order for a late july release and kit!
The decal options are all for 8th Air Force planes including the 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group; 487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group; 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group.
1- 334th FS, Lt. Marvin Arthur, "Blondie" (box art cover)
2- 487th FS, Lt. Col John C. Meyer, "Petie 2nd"
3 - 79th FS, Capt. Glenn M Webb,"Glengary Guy"
At the bottom of the news here we have a Japanese print showing its features, and if the drawing is like the kit we should be in for a great kit of hopefully the definitive P-51D in 32nd scale. Well let's see if Zoukei-Mura will go ahead with their new mustang to be released later this year (does this make it a two horse race?)
Main features of the kit which can be discerned from many online forums and sources are:
• full wing guns & ammo belts
• two tails (with & without filets) plus fabric & metal-covered elevators
• three canopy styles
• two instrument panel types
• two types of seat
• two types of exhaust
• Two types of drop tank are included (75 & 108 gallon)
• Full internal radiator details
• Seated pilot in flight-gear plus a standing figure in leather flight jacket
• Movable control-surfaces
• up/down landing gear
• PE details as per Spitfires
Micro-magnet fixed cowlings like the previous spitfire cowling covers are also included so it looks like we are all in for a treat this summer!
Detail looks good as does the shape of the kit. To me the engines are a little small but I won't judge it until it's in my hands and we can measure it on this site! When it hits, I’ll review and build it for you all to see. It is yet to be seen if they include bomb racks and seatbelts with this release. As soon as it is out we will look at it here and build it up over a few weeks. HLJ from Japan have a Pre-order going on this kit, which should “land” late July – I ordered our review sample from the pre-order page for this is HERE for £57 + P&P - so pretty good value really for such a feature-laden kit. We will first review than build the kit up for you here on the blog.”
RE35-051 KwK43/L71 Barrel with Canvas Cover for King Tiger (Porsche Turret)
Polish Aftermarket firm Panzer Art have some exciting new releases which should suit a number of 1/35 military builders, especially this spring for fans of some of the larger tanks of World War II.
RE35-053 Road Wheels for Sd.Kfz 231/232 8 Rad
Focusing on additions to well-known and popular kits, Panzer Art add individual touches like different mantlets, armour panel upgrades, wheel sets, and covered barrels. You should really check out their site to see some great products and different ways of looking at the same old kits you may have in your stash. Panzer Art makes all types of add-ons to vehicles and also dioramas from WWII though to modern scenarios, and looks to have a nice eye for detail and for a different skew on the regular kit.
RE35-049 Sturmpanzer IV “Brummbär” with Canvas Cover
RE35-030 Road Wheels for VW “Kubelwagen”
RE35-006 Road Wheels for Armoured Car "Staghound"
This newest set of releases focuses on Allied, Soviet, and German Armour of World War 2, covering the Tiger, Sherman, and JSU-152 to name a few. The detail on these looks excellent and would give some great point of difference to your new showpiece, which really is what a lot of modellers want, something to individualize their kit and make it more prominent over other peoples efforts, especially on the judging table. These kits and many, many more all are available on their website now
Third up we have from France a company that I have never heard about called Syh@rt (or Syhart) They do decals in all three major scales 72nd, 48th and 32nd of many really colourful versions of many aircraft from around the world. 
The difference and their speciality though lies in WHAT they do, many Anniversary schemes, final flight schemes, the colourful Tigermeet colours and many display and special one-off's that are vividly colourful and a good thing for us – made up on their site so we can see the actual kits have a look…
Finally we have a few great releases from Verlinden Productions. Just in time for the new Bf 109s are some excellent new (and much needed) pilot figures in 1/32. They come in two sets of two pilots each.
The first – 2650 "Jagdflieger 1 Tactics" shows two pilots next to their mount talking tactics, both with regulation flying gear and leather pilots jackets, one slightly older pilot and the younger pilot wearing a fur lined jacket.
2651 "Jagdflieger 2 Aces" shows two pilots presumably after a good day and a victory in the air. One pilot is climbing from his aircraft in victory in full flight gear while the other pilot is on the deck holding some wine bottles and one aloft in recognition of the first pilot's victory. The second pilot on the ground is wearing a peaked officer's cap and a tan flight jacket. Both look to be cast very well and we are lucky enough to be getting them to build and review in the next few weeks. Verlinden have as well some other interesting kits new this month including a French garage road stop and a very interesting modular section of the Siegfried Line which comes with "dragon's teeth" barricades and a removable roadblock amongst other goodies, their excellent site is well worth a look for new ideas and kits coming out every month.
Stay tuned for our weekly news and industry insider section, as well as our weekly kit review and build – right here!
Till next time have fun modelling!!
Adam Norenberg
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