Air Force 1’s 1:72 scale USAAF Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber – “Swamp Fire”, 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, Kimbolton, England, 1944-45
Seems as if everything is rolling in two-by-two these days. A pair of Air Force 1 B-17 bombers, a duet of Forces of Valor T-34/85 tanks and well, a lonesome Air Commander F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that makes me look like a liar from a literary standpoint. More importantly, these and other new items have been trickling in days before Thanksgiving Day weekend, making them ideal gifts for the holidays even if some of them may not fit in your favorite Christmas stocking.
Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale Soviet T-34/85 Model 1944 Medium Tank – 55th Guards Tank Brigade, 7th Guards Tank Corps, Berlin, 1945 [Bonus Model V-2 Diesel-Fueled 12-Cylinder Engine]
Lots of additional new products are still expected to come out for the holidays, so make sure you peruse our newsletter, visit our blog and check out our web site on a daily basis to see what just arrived from the North Pole.
Air Commander’s 1:72 scale USN McDonnell F-4J Phantom II Fighter-Bomber – 155532, CAG Bird VF-33 “Starfighters”, USS Dwight Eisenhower (CVN-69)
Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale German Sd. Kfz. 173 Jagdpanther Ausf. G1 Tank Destroyer with Zimmerit – “234”, schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 654, Normandy, August 1944 [Bonus Maybach HL230 P30 Engine]
Some times a message can get lost within another message, especially when it gets stuck in the crevices of a castaway’s bottle. That’s the case with Forces of Valor when they recently discussed their upcoming 1:32 scale Tiger and Sherman tank variants last week. While reading through some of the ensuing comments and their own remarks it appears as if the Company is finally getting set to discuss their military aircraft line, which was hinted at well over two years ago but has seemingly laid dormant ever since. This December, Waltersons plans on discussing how they will re-purpose some of their existing aircraft tooling, which was never truly a hit with the aviation community. They’ve listened to the community, done their due diligence by researching the competition and believe they are now ready to discuss their plans in detail now that they are competing in a space long dominated by others.
In other news, the Company is hard at work touching up some of their existing tank toolings, particularly the M24 Chaffee light tank, which, according to consumer sentiment, was one of their fan favorites and required little work to bring up to date. New molds are in the offing too, including their first ever Leopard 2A5 and 2A6 main battle tanks, likely offered in German markings and paint schemes. We are hoping that the Stryker, which was cancelled by Unimax before its release, will be drawn out of storage while other tanks, such as the Abrams, gets a face lift to bring it up to today’s standards.
Lastly, pictures have finally posted for their upcoming Jagpanther tank destroyer, which models the earlier G1 variant complete with zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste. Reading between the lines we’re willing to bet a G2 version will eventually be made, which featured, among other things, a two-piece gun barrel and the omission of any zimmerit. Finally, a pair of 1:32 scale T-34/85 tanks are finally en route, and should be ready for immediate shipment right before Thanksgiving. Gobble gobble!
