Kit:   This 1/200 scale castle comes in booklet form that is slightly bigger than A4. All instructions in the booklet are in Polish but two and a half pages of very detailed diagrams which will allow those who do not understand the language to build the model. The model itself comes on eight sheets of card stock along with two sheets of formers to be glued to heavier stock. A base is provided onto which you will build the different parts of castle. Colors of the model are brick, concrete and stone. Printing on this model is outstanding, it is down to individual brick and the stones on the path around the castle.

Construction:   Start construction by building the entrance and guard towers. Now build the two long sides of the castle and when finished build the section that goes between the entrance and guard towers. Now build the rear section of the castle after which you can glue to the base all of the sections that you have built. Build the outside walls, the guard houses that go between them and then the arches that go between the guard house and main wall. Finish the model up by detailing the section between the entrance and main guard tower and the towers on the front next to the entrance tower.

First Impressions:   I am really impressed with the quality of printing on this model. GPM has done a great job with the detail. Model does not appear to require that you be an expert to build it. It will take a steady hand to cut some of the small openings and windows out.

Kit:   A card model kit of two electric trolleys that comes in an A4 booklet. All instructions are in Polish but there are about three pages of diagrams. The diagrams are quite detailed on the building of the wheels and there is a nice exploded view of the cart itself showing all the parts. There are also diagrams showing you how to build the electric poles and wires the cart runs on. The model comes on five sheets of card stock. The fifth page has the exploded diagrams on the other side so you will want to copy this before cutting. Rails and ties are provided in the kit which will allow you to build a very nice diorama to display the model.

Construction:   Start by cutting all the wheel parts out and construct the wheels. Then build the two suspension units and add axles and wheels to the suspension. Cut all the parts out needed to build the bottom of the cart and glue then to the bottom, then glue the suspension and wheels to the bottom. Build the operator's controls and mail compartment and glue to the top of the previous piece. Before attaching the roof to the mail compartment make the seats and glue them inside. Build the operator's compartment and glue over the controls that you previously built. Build the electric connector and glue to the top of the cart. Build your diorama by cutting and forming the rails and poles. Attach the light to one of the poles and use thread to make the wires that the electric connector runs on.

First Impressions:   Good looking kit, good paper and excellent printing. Not recommend for a beginner but you do not need to be an expert to build the model. Will make a great conversation piece.

Kit:   The model comes on four sheets of A3 paper. Included is a booklet with five pages of instructions and diagrams. These pages are printed on both sides. Instructions are in German but the diagrams are very detailed. The model includes a detailed cockpit, wheel wells and movable wings. There is no colored card canopy provided but there are templates for you to make the transparent part of the canopy. It appears that they had a problem with the printing of the grays in the model. All grays have a purplish tint to them. Other colors appear to very good with a slightly glossy tint to them.

Construction:   Start by constructing the central box of the fuselage. Build the frame where the landing gear will go and the attachment points for the wings. From here on all the fuselage sections will be built with a connecting strip and former in one end. As each section is completed it will be glued to the next section by the connecting strip. Starting from the central box, the next section will contain the cockpit, make sure you build it before attaching to the central box. In the next section you need to put some ballast if you want the model to sit on its landing gear. Now finish the remaining forward fuselage sections and proceed to the rear. Build the rear fuselage sections finishing off with building the engine exhaust. Finish the model by building the landing gear and canopy.

First Impressions:  A nice model that has not previously appeared in 1/50 scale. Not a model for a beginner, requires some card modeling experience. The only problem I have with this model is the poor registration on the gray coloring.

Kit:   This is one of the newer Fly Model kits where they have now started releasing their models in booklet format. The booklet is in A3 format with a nice cover sheet and a heavy cardboard back, good for reinforcing material. The booklet contains five pages of diagrams, four sheets of formers and parts on regular paper and five pages of colored card stock. Many movable parts, guns and hatches are included. Very detailed track and suspension system is included. Model is done in sand color with gray tracks. Instructions are in Polish but for those that do not understand Polish the detailed diagrams should be enough to successfully complete the model.

Construction:   Start construction by building the frame for the hull of the tank. Then apply the outer pieces around the frame to complete the hull. Build the frame for the turret and then as you did with the hull, glue the outer pieces to the frame. Build and attach all the hatches to the frame and turret. You can glue them shut or you can build them so that they open and close. Build the main gun and attach to the turret, you can glue the gun in one position or have it movable. Build the machine guns and rocket launchers and attach to the turret. Add details such as antennas and exhaust to the model at this point. Now start on the suspension and tracks, building all the bogies and attaching to the bottom of the tank. Then build the tracks and run them through the bogies.

First Impressions:   A very nice model that is up to the standards that Fly Model has established. Not a beginner's model but does not appear to require an expert to build it.

Kit:   This kit is delivered over the internet in PDF format. You will need a color printer and some card stock in order to print the model out. The PDF file I received printed out two sheets of card stock that contained the model and two sheets of instructions which I printed out on regular paper. There were no instructions but the diagrams should be clear enough for a successful completion of the model. The model contains the parts to build a detailed cockpit and wheel wells. A colored card stock canopy is provided if you do not want to detail the cockpit. Wheels and covers are printed on the bottom of the wing if you do not want to do the landing gear or wheel wells. Model is done in three shades of gray with yellow markings, coloring, printing and markings are nice and sharp.

Construction:   Fuselage is constructed using the former connecting strip method. A former and connecting strip in one end which is then used to connect to the next fuselage section. Start building by constructing the fuselage center section with the cockpit inside the section. Now glue the frames and connecting strips in the rest of the sections and assemble into the completed fuselage when finished. Now build the wings with wheel wells inside and glue to the bottom of the fuselage. Build the tail section and glue to the rear of the aircraft. Build the propeller, spinner and landing gear and glue to the appropriate position. Finish your model by detailing, adding exhaust, machine guns, etc.

First Impressions:   Another fine model from Gabriel. Not for a beginner but anyone with some card modeling experience should be able to complete this model.

Kit:   This lighthouse comes in an A4 booklet that contains four pages of card stock and one sheet of diagrams. The instructions are in Polish but the diagrams provided should provide enough directions to those who do not understand Polish. Printing on this model is very sharp and detailed. The base has green for grass and brown for the ground. The bricks are red and the printing sharp enough that you can see each brick. The light tower is yellow and the roofs are green. Doors and windows are printed and not recessed.

Construction:   Cut the base out and then cut the parts out to build the building at the base of the tower. Glue the parts of the building together and then glue the completed building to the base. Cut the base for the tower out, fold and glue them glue the base onto the along with the main part of the building. Start building the tower from the bottom up to the light. Finish the model by gluing the cap on the light tower, the chimneys on the building and the entrance to the front of the building.

First Impressions:   The printing on this model is outstanding. A good project for a beginner in card modeling and would make a great project for a youngster.

Kit:  This 1/50th kit comes on a CD with several other models. The models are in PDF format on the CD and you will need a color ink jet printer along with suitable card stock to print the model on. This model prints out on four sheets of card stock, the first contains the description and diagrams. The other sheets have the formers and parts needed to complete the model. No instructions are provided but the diagrams are very self explanatory and will be all you need to build this model. Parts are not provided to build the cockpit or wheel wells and the canopy is in colored card stock. Landing gear is provided and glued directly to the bottoms of the fuselage and wings. The engine is quite detailed done down to each cylinder and the carburetors.

Construction:  Before starting construction reinforce all parts marked in red with .5 to .8 mm cardboard. The fuselage is built using the "butt" method, each fuselage section is built with a former in each end and when all sections are finished they are "butt" glued together. The engine is built and glued to the front of the fuselage before the cowling is constructed. The cowling is then glued over the engine. In order to get the proper shape of the "inverted gull wing", the wing is built in four parts. Cut and glue the wing formers together. Now start from the inboard section of the outer wing covering and work out to the wing tips. When all four pieces of the wing skin is glued to the formers, glue the completed wing to the fuselage. Build and glue the tail section to the rear of the fuselage and then the landing gear to the bottom on the fuselage.

First Impressions:   Marek used some techniques on this model that he developed for his 1/33 scale models. In particular the detailed engine and the internal part for the cowling. Because of this and several other things he did, this is not one of his easiest models to build. I recommend that you start with one of his easier models before attempting this model.

Kit:   The kit comes with four sheets of regular paper containing the parts for the model. Included are four sheet of very detailed diagrams. All parts have colored circles next to them which indicates what type paper the parts should be backed with. The instruction sheet is in Czech but the kit I received has a small sheet with the translation for the colors. I found this very interesting, the kit is not on card stock but tells you what parts to back with card stock. The model can be built so that it turns and the gun elevates. The model seems to be computer generated, the detail is outstanding and coloring is nice and sharp.

Construction:   Construction starts with the base. After the base is finished you build the gun mount and glue it to the base. If you intend for the gun to rotate made sure that you do not glue the piece the mount is glued to into the base. Now build and attach the ammunition box, sights and elevating screws to the mount. Build the forward armor, seats and armor that protect the gunner and glue on to the mount. Finally build the gun itself and mount into the mount, remember if you intend the gun to be able to elevate do not glue it into the mount.

First Impressions:   A very detailed model and one that you will need to have card modeling skills to build. The big problem I see is to make sure you follow the color code to insure that you back each piece with the correct type of stock.

Kit:  This kit is available across the Internet directly from Fiddlers Green or in printed format from Paper Models International. The model comes on three sheets of card stock and one sheet of regular paper that contains the instructions. One sheet contains the Flyer, one contains the catapult and the final sheet contains the shed that was used to store the aircraft. If you purchase the model directly from FG it will be send electronically in PDF format. You will need 8 1/2 by 11 inch card stock and a color printer in order to print the model out on. Directions and pictures are given to show you how to make a workable catapult so you can launch your model.

Construction:  Start construction by cutting out both wings, shape and fold the wings, gluing them at the trailing edges. Cut out the two center pieces, called the fuselage in the kit, and glue them to the center of the bottom wing. Build the engine and propeller chains and glue to the bottom wing. Cut and form the wing struts, I recommend that you use toothpicks for strength, and glue to the bottom wing. Now glue the upper wing to the two center pieces and wing struts. Cut and glue the propeller struts to the chains that come off the engine, then cut and glue the propellers to the struts. Finish the model by cutting and forming the elevators and associated struts to the front of the model.

If you wish to build a diorama, proceed to building the catapult and shed. To build the catapult cut the two pieces of track and the catapult itself out. Cut the gray areas out from the inside of the catapult and again I suggest some toothpicks to give the catapult strength. When finished you can now mount the aircraft on the track. Finally you have the storage shed that the Wright brothers used. Cut out the two pieces that contain the front, back and two sides and glue these together. Now cut the roof out and glue to the two assembled pieces. Cut the supports out, fold and glue to their proper positions.

First Impressions:   A great history project to do with your kids or to be used in school as we approach the 100 year anniversary of the first flight. Not a difficult model to build but will take a steady hand to cut between the center pieces out on the center sections and struts.

This is a review of the 10-11/2002 issue of the magazine. Even though these magazines are written in Polish I ordered a few of them to see what they were all about. Each of the magazines have either card stock parts to enhance one of the published card models or a complete model of some kind. In the case of this particular magazine it contains parts to enhance the P-47. On two sheets of card are the parts to detail the inside of the wings of a 1/33 P-47. Parts are included to construct the machine guns themselves and the insides of the wing so you can leave the gun sections of the wings open. Included is a full sheet with detailed diagrams and pictures of the completed modification.

The magazine is full of ads by most of the popular Polish card modeling company with pictures of the completed models. There is an article that looks like a conference titled "Porabka 2002" with displays of card models from, I assume, the participants. There is a nine page column that appears to be of the same idea as the column that you are reading. It says new a has short descriptions of a bunch of Fly Model, JSC, GPM, WIR and Super Model. Finally there is an article, in Polish of course, about the Pro-Model Sdfk-250 with a picture of the completed model

Even though the magazine is in Polish and there are several articles that I could not read, I am not sorry I got the magazines. It is illustrated enough to give me an idea of what is going on in Poland which is one of the major players in the card modeling industry.

This column does not cover all the new card model aircraft and ships that have been released this month. It contains only those models that have been sent to me by dealers and designers for review or that have been purchased for review. Due to space restrictions, some models sent in for review may be held over until next month.

Thanks to the following for providing kits for inspection and review:

• Models by Marek (DeWayne Barnett) at http://www.teuton.org/~dbarnett (USA)
• Fiddler's Green (Chip Fyn) at http://www.fiddlersgreen.net (USA)
• Paper Models International (Lou Dausse) at http://www.papermodels.net (USA)
• Digital Card Models (Steve Bucher) at http://www.ww1cardmodels.bizland.com (USA)
• H&B Precision Card Models (Peter Heesch)H&B; Precision Card Models(USA)
• Spishop at Spishop (Czech Republic)
• Robert Marek's page Robert Marek (USA)
• The Card Modelers Online Magazine at Sale Page (USA)

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