Bobe's Hobby House
5719 North "W" Street, Pensacola, FL 32505


New Plastic Model Announcements for 2003-4!!!


While there are (of course) many items announced last year that are still not out yet, there are more great new announcements this year! I'll try to break this down by scale to make it a little easier to follow.

First, 1/48 Scale. Let's start with Academy. They had one of the most exciting new announcements of the show, but because it's still a ways off, didn't make a very big deal of it. Academy will be producing a 1/48 CH-46 next year (finally), probably towards the end of the year. Pacific Coast has some new Italian aircraft coming out, This time they are doing a Macchi MC200, and a Fiat CR-42. These will not be limited run kits, but will include resin details. Accurate Miniatures is back, and will be releasing new tools along with reworks of older kits. Their next new aircraft will be the SB2U Vindicator! This should be out in the spring. The first release will be in markings from Midway, and they will also be retooling the SBD to a SBD-2 to release in the same squadron markings from Midway. Other retools include corrections to the Mustangs, along with photo-recon and air racer versions. The B-25 will see some corrections along with the Fairfax Window conversion. It also sounds like they will be doing later variants of the Avenger like the Guppy versions. They also have 2 other new aircraft tools in the works, but declined to name them. Strong rumour has it that one of them is a jet! Sword has announced a 1/48 XF5U Flapjack! That should be fun! Hasegawa displayed box art for their new Harrier, which should prove very popular.

Next, 1/72 Scale. Italeri had buit-ups displayed of the new SM79, which should be out soon. They did not announce anything beyond September, so I'm sure there will be more news on them later. Zvezda had their new 1/72 Scale Castle w/Keep on display. Hasegawa had a builtup of their new F-18F, the first one in this scale! Testors will is re-releasing some nostalgic favorites. The old Hawk SBD, Bf 109G, A6M Zero, and Spitfire Mk 22 are coming back in the EasyBuilder series.

In 1/32 Scale aircraft, Trumpeter showed box art for the upcoming P-40 and MiG 3, as well as builtups of the newly tooled Wildcat F4F, and their F4U Corsair. These last 2 just came into the store this week! Also on display was early work on their Avenger, which I must say looks fantastic!!! They really didn't announce anything new in aircraft, but their upcoming list is still amazing with the F-100, Su-27 and others.

And in Small Scale Aircraft, Minicraft displayed test shots of their 727-200 and the C-54. These should be out soon. They also have a new boxed set commemmorating 100yrs of flight which includes significant airliners. The decals for this set are fantastic! .

Now, 1/35 Scale. AFV Club was showing their YPR-765 which should be arriving this week, but did not have any display on the rumored SdKfz 251. A new company called Carter & Crowley has announced a series of 1/35 Scale Tank riders, both German and Soviet. They look pretty good, and will be priced well. They will also produce a line of 54mm Collector Series figures. Trumpeter's SAM Missiles were on display, are now in stock. Dragon actually had the best announcements in 1/35, with their SdKfz 251C, more T-34's and a new tooled Firefly Vc. Tamiya displayed their upgraded kits released for the Desert War, along with more re-releases with multi-media parts. Like the SdKfz 223 with Eduard Photo-etched. On the subject of the Desert War, Hobbycraft is issuing a number of Trumpeter and other kits with Iraqi Freedom markings.

In Small scale armor, there is a variety of news. Dragon will release several new kits which are a combination of Die Cast Metal and Plastic. Included are the Elefant, M1 Abrams, Ferdinand Tiger, BergeTiger, and SturmTiger. Later releases will see Panther variants. Pegasus Hobbies will release newly tooled soft plastic German Infantry that look really good. They are also planning a Maus kit that is built like a 1/35 scale kit, but is 1/72!

How about Cars and automotive, in any Scale. Accurate Miniatures is going to re-release their Corvette series, with new sponsors. They also plan a new tool in 1/24, and one in 1/20, but would not divulge the subject matter. Trumpeter was showing boxes and kits of some of their upcoming cars, which are still in the process of licensing. Announced are 1960 Pontiac Bonneville's, 1963 Chevy Nova's, and a 1978 Chevy Monte Carlo Landau. These kits will include approximately 200+ pieces each! They look good! Tamiya really didn't announce much new, but did show their new Rally Crew set of figures. Revell-Monogram has several new NASCAR releases, including newly tooled Monte Carlo's. Apparently they are making a new Tom Daniels car as well. AMT/Ertl continues to re-release interesting old kits, along with some new ones. This year we should see the Beverly Hillbillies car, more Monster Trucks, and some other neat kits.

And now ships in any Scale. Dragon has announced a new USS Arizona which will include metal turrets, and in the initial release, brass barrels! They will also be releasing several modern Soviet ships.

In books, the only real news from the show was the new Squadron Signal releases for the fall. Those include 3 volumes of US Destroyers, the F4F Wildcat, and the Ilyushin IL-4 in the "In Action" series. In the "Walkaround" series, they will release the P-47 (In stock now), the SBD Dauntless, and the Bf 109E. In the Detail & Scale line, we'll see the FJ Fury (In stock now), and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. There will also be specials on Air War Iraq (In stock now), US Navy Aircraft Camo & Markings 40-45, Aces volume 3, and Italian Armor in WWII. Another neat release will be a book based on translations from Euro Modelismo of how to articles into a large single volume. Looks like a really good book. Reissues include the A-26, F-8, OV-1, and M24 in action. Also, the SR-71 and F4F Wildcat (for which I did the color artwork!) Walkarounds.

And finally, miscellaneous other subjects and info! Polar Lights will be continuing the Star Trek line. They have announced the Klingon D7 and the Scorpion from the Nemesis movie. And the NX-01 Enterprise should be shipping soon!



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