This is another welcome release from Academy, the only current 1/72 injected kits being the Revell, Airfix and Heller kits. Of the latter, the Heller kit is by far the best, but slightly under scale. Unfortunately, even though it appears Academy have pantographed down the excellent 1/48 Dragon kit, their 1/72^nd offering scales out closer to 1/75^th, both the length and span being about 2mm under dimension. For perfectionists this could be a problem, but this is still a very nice kit, beautifully executed in parts breakdown and assembly.

The model allows you to build one of three aircraft, Yellow 26, White 11 and an unidentified Me 163S dual-place trainer. The first option is actually taken from a restored example, and apparently is not strictly accurate in markings. For a nice article on this model finished as Yellow 26, check Caz Dalton’s article at:

I added the extra bulkhead detail behind the pilot’s seat from plasticard, and removed and then rebuilt the skid mounting struts. I also substituted a resin seat from a True Details FW190 set for the kits seat (which is adequate, but lacking seatbelts). Fuselage breakdown made for simple construction and the rest of the kit pretty well fell together out of the box.

With the house move and trying to get work done on other kits, I have not had a chance to start painting the exterior yet, but I will conclude this article, hopefully with some pictures in the next month or so. For an excellent on-line Me-163 reference covering available models and decals including some excellent pictures of wartime aircraft visit Rob de Bie’s web site, the address of which is:

Thanks to Shin-Yeum Kang of Kang’s Hobby for the review sample. 

This is a subject that can be confusing so I have carried out a little research to sort things out. This will be part one of a two-part article if you indicate to Craig (or Keith) that you find it of use. The second part will cover All Weather Variants, the 'H' model, and Canadian and Australian versions. If you so indicate it will also cover the Navy Furies.

The F-86A had the original slatted wing.

The F-86E-1 thru E-5 were the same as the A but had the all-flying tail.

The F-86E-10 introduced the flat windscreen.

The F-86F-1 introduced the -27 engine but modelling wise was the same as the E-10.

The F-86F-5 had a strengthened wing to carry heavier stores such as a pair of 1000lb bombs or two drop tanks.

The F-86F-15 introduced the additional hard point. This was outboard of the original drop tank point and became the new drop tank point, an important modelling note. When the -15 was being built there was difficulty in the supply of the -27 engine, and so the -13 engine was reintroduced. Apart from the engine these aircraft were similar to the F-15 but were designated E-15; also an important modelling point (see "Modified Wings" below).

The F-86F-25 introduced the 6/3 hard wing. These greatly increased combat manoeuvring but degraded slow speed handling. A six-inch high vertical fence was added at 70% of the wingspan to smooth airflow over the ailerons.

The F-86F-40 was built for the Japanese who were moving into high-speed jets for the first time. The low speed handling promised to become a problem, so the slats were reintroduced. At the same time, in an attempt to retain combat maneuvering, the span was increased by 12 inches on each wing. This was very successful.

As an aside, a number of late E's and F's were modified to carry four T-160 20mm cannon in place of the six .5's. These were also fitted with the 6/3 wings, designated F-2 and used in Korea by the 4 FIW, 335 FIS. This is something that is often overlooked. This can be missed in photos as many of these aircraft had the extra gun bay painted on so that they looked the same as the .5 machines to a MiG pilot.

Modified Wings
The VERY important point is the way the later wings were retrofitted. This should cause you to look very carefully at your photos before embarking on a model. The reason this was carried out with such abandon was because new wings were NOT fitted. The 6/3 wings was a bolt on addition after removing the slats. Consequently most F's and many E-15's were so modified. It has often been written that the high scorers in Korea were supplied with -25's. My information is that this was not so, and that their early F's were modified as above. I do not think that any -25's made their way to the Korean conflict. RAF Sabres were modified in this way. In the same way the -40 wing could be created from a 6/3 by the provision of a kit consisting of bolt-on slats, extended wing tips and new ailerons, as these were no longer part of the wing tip. Many USAF F's were so modified.

I hope that I have explained a complicated situation, which I have not seen covered in modelling magazines, in an understandable manner. Any comment about errors is welcome.

The kit provides 6 basic sprues, a separate chassis and superstructure, 2 flexible tracks, and a sheet of waterslide decals with options for 4 vehicles. The quality of the mouldings is very good and there are many examples of very fine detail being reproduced. The quality looks to be as good as Tamiya, but only assembly can confirm this. The suspension components are provided on 2 identical sprues. The kit provides a number of options here. There is a choice of drive sprockets, a choice of skid styles for the top of the bogeys and a choice of spoked or pressed wheel types. The pressed wheel types are hollow but feature inserts to make up the rear of the pressed wheels. The pressed wheels also feature distinct grease nipples. Check your references before selecting the most appropriate combination of road wheels and idlers. There were even examples of mixed road wheel types on the same vehicle. All this on a type where only 75 vehicles were issued to combat units. The suspension arms are free to pivot at the centre as a unit. I.e. The arms do not pivot independently. Both the bogey main parts and arms have casting numbers on them. A pair of T-49 steel block tracks is provided but these do not appear in any of the photos I looked at. The most common track type seen on M-12’s would appear to be the plain rubber T51 track. This can be taken from an Italeri Sherman for those who do not like individual link tracks. There are a number of sources for more up market replacements. The track may be a tight fit as the box photos show the front bogey bent up at the front.

The lower hull appears to be well detailed. It is not appear to be a generic item as it includes the M-12’s distinctive exhaust outlets between the middle and rear bogeys. The final drive housing consists of a main casting plus the 2 distinctive bolted flanges and separate bulges to house the final drive internals. The final drive covers that mount the sprockets are separate parts. There is a nicely detailed driver’s compartment that includes the gearbox, driver‘s controls, seats, instruments and firewall. I was informed that Academy had intended to provide a motor but did not have sufficient information to go this far. No doubt some enterprising after market producer will come up with something appropriate.

The main upper hull casting is again nicely rendered. The engine grilles are separate but are represented by dot plate. They should in fact be a diamond-patterned mesh. Hopefully some PE manufacturer will provide more accurate replacements. The drivers hatches, visors and side door can be modelled closed up or open to show off the interior. The tools supplied come off a sprue that appears to be a generic item for Sherman based AFV’s. It includes .50cal and .30cal MG’s, tools and other items that are not required when building an M-12. The rear spade appears to be quite well done. The kit includes pulleys and thread to replicate the mechanism used to lower and raise the spade. The spade can be made movable and can be depicted raised or lowered. The tow cable is made by attaching plastic end pieces to the nylon thread supplied.

The gun and mount are made up of a number of nicely moulded parts, which include a reasonable amount of fine detail. I am not sure which of the 3 subtle variations of armament is depicted. One point I picked up is that the one-piece base for the gun mount has the strengthening ribs moulded integrally. These are solid as a result, whereas the original ribs featured a lightening hole in each one. The tight angles make adding these holes difficult and separate ribs would have been better here. A full complement of ten shells is provided. One item not provided is the shell cradle used to manhandle the heavy shells. This would have been nice as it should be present in any in action scene.

Colour schemes would appear limited to olive drab, olive drab and of course olive drab. I have seen no photos where any evidence of any other camouflage colours or even whitewash being applied. The markings provided represent vehicles that have appeared in one or more photographs in the list of publications below. This is not surprising given the small number of M-12's that actually saw combat. These photos will help in determining the correct sprocket, idler and road wheel combination to use on each example. The 2 variations from the Normandy campaign have a bit of colour to add interest to what may otherwise be a bland sort of a model.

I look forward to building the kit and will post a construction review when I have done this. I have no hesitation in recommending this kit. The subject fills a gap in the slowly increasing pool of U.S. WW II types and for this we should be grateful. If you wanted an M-12 in the past it was either a matter of scratch building or buying the expensive Azimut kit. The obvious companion to this model would be the M-30 cargo carrier based on the M-12 chassis, which was used to carry extra ammunition due to the limited capacity of the M-12.

1/72 C-97A STRATOFREIGHTER

1/72 F-84 E/G THUNDERJET

1/48 F-104J STARFIGHTER
New vertical tail wing, etc, for the Japanese model. Markings for JASDF 203rd Sqn - No.36-8552.

1/48 F-104C STARFIGHTER "USAF"
The most detailed and accurate 1/48 scale Starfighter yet available. Markings are for U.S.A.F. 479 TFW, George AFB.

1/72 U.S. WEAPONS SET VI "SMART BOMBS & TARGETING PODS"

1/72 F-14B TOMCAT "LANTIRN"
Newly tooled LANTIRN pod. Markings for U.S. Navy VF-102 "Diamondbacks".

1/72 HEINKEL He 51A/B
Kit can be built as either land or seaplane versions. Markings for JG132, summer 1935.

1/72 CURTISS SOC SEAGULL
Kit can be built as either land or seaplane versions. Markings for both Navy and Marines included.

1/72 F-16CJ BLOCK 50 FALCON
New, larger air intake and landing gear are included. Markings for USAF 20th FW/79th FS.

1/72 F-117A NIGHTHAWK with GBU-27 GUIDED BOMBS
Includes guided bombs and bomb bay parts.

1/72 JAGUAR GR. Mk.I "SPECIAL MARKING"
All-black aircraft sporting RAF 16th Squadron 75th Anniversary ‘Saint’ markings.

1/72 NP-3D ORION
Modern U.S. anti-submarine aircraft has new resin vertical tail and tail cone parts.

1/48 HENSCHEL Hs129B-1 "NORTH AFRICA"
Newly tooled engine cowling parts and features the markings of 4Pz/Sch. G2 1942-43 North Africa

1/48 P-51D MUSTANG "MISS AMERICA"
The first air racer from Hasegawa features new metal wingtips and propeller parts.

1/48 F-16DJ (BLOCK 50)
The Block 50 features a larger air intake and revised landing gear. Markings for USAF 57th F.W.

1/48 F-4J PHANTOM II "VX-4 VANDY 76"
U.S. Navy Vandy ‘76 Bicentennial markings.

1/72 SD.KFZ 251/9 "STUMMEL"
Hasegawa's neat little half-track sports a short barrel 75mm gun.