Welcome to mondo 72

A personal site dedicated to 1/72 1/76 scale miniature modeling

June 11 2008
Added the Fujimi King Tiger Porsche turret to the previews page.

June 10, 2008
Added the Fujimi JS-2m to the previews page.

June 9, 2008
Added the Matchbox M7 Priest, MMS M3A3 light tank and Panzer IV D to the previews page.

June 8, 2008
Actually the Morris is not completely finished. I noticed that the base needs more work. The sides are rough and the texture too smooth and shiny.
Added the Cromwell Belgian T15 light tank and SMA 4MilMod Opel Admiral to the previews page.

June 7, 2008
Actually finished a model, which is a rare event. The Airfix Morris CDSW from the Bofors set is in the Desert gallery.

May 29 2008
Added the MMS Fiat SPA AS37, Milicast Valentine III, more pictures of the Cromwell T-34 1940 to the previews page.
I also built a version of the armor preview page sorted by kit manufacturer and material (plastic, resin, white metal).

May 28 2008
Added the MMS Citroen type 23, Fujimi Panzer 38(t) A/D and MMS M4A2 Mid Production to the previews page.

May 17 2008
Added the MMS Panzer IV G, Fujimi/Nitto Panzer IV J and Cromwell SU-122 to the previews page.

May 15 2008
Added the MMS A13MkII Cruiser MkIVA to the previews page.

May 14 2008
Added the SHQ M4A1 to the the previews page. This is a kit that exceeded expectations. It really looks like a decent early M4A1 with direct vision blocks can be built out of it.

May 13 2008
My first update to this site in 3 months. I have a backlog of about 30 kits for the previews section.
My day job has been really keeping me busy but I have managed to achieve some progress on several projects.

The Morris CDSW from the Airfix Bofors set is almost complete, needing only side mirrors. The CCR Grant needs to green camo to liven up the sand base.

The MMS A9 and the Dorchester need their gray and green caunter shades.

I have received nifty tow cables from Eureka XXL. The CCR King Tiger is waiting for his three. The Fujimi Tiger I late has received a coat of wax zimmerit on the hull. The turret is next. The technique is actually simple using a soft wax (Babybel cheese wrapper) and a razor saw for the pattern. The resulting work is given a coat of thin CA for hardening. I will document the process in a web article.

I have also embarked on a T-34 project. The preview page has the kits, 8 T-34s plus a SU-122. As of today, the Vacucast T-34 1941 uparmored rebuild is complete save a coat of paint on the gun (which was sanded when the seam was found to be still visible).
The Fujimi T-34 model 1944 is almost ready for painting. The cylindrical fuel tanks need a lot of work to be acceptable.
The Matchbox T-34/76 1942 has the roadwheels assembled using the steel wheels from the Fujimi T-34/76 1941. I glued them too close to the hull so they have to be cut off, receive a piano wire implant and reinserted with a 2mm gap.

I bought the set of Bradford scale dawings from Amazon (published by Stackpole). I reduced all the drawings for models I owned to 1/76 and compared them to my models. By and large most models are within an acceptable margin of error. The major differences that stood out are the Fujimi Matilda that is way undersize (too small in very dimension, must be 1/80 scale), and the Milicast Crusader that is too short in the nose (by 3mm).

The Cromwell Combat Ready T-34 1940, MMS T-34/76 1943 Flamethrower and Fujimi T-35/85 1944 have been added to the previews page

Feb. 17 2008
Added work in progress (WIP) pics and comments for the Vacucast 1941 model uparmored T-34.
Cromwell Renault D2 preview added to the previews page

Feb. 16 2008
Added 1940 French to the French gallery. The figure is from the Matchbox/Revell B1bis-FT17 kit.

Feb. 4 2008
Added Milicast Crusader to the desert gallery

Jan. 18 2008
I revised the Cromwell Tiger II review in the previews page.
I just bought the Fujimi Tiger II and they are pretty much the same size. Looking at multiple drawings more carefully I have concluded that it is not as undersized as I originally thought.

Dec. 26 2007
5 previews added to the previews page

Milicast Pak 38 5cm AT Gun, Pak 97/38 7.5cm AT Gun, Pak 50 7.5cm AT Gun

Nov. 26 2007
Last 2 Nassau infantry finally added to Waterloo gallery.



Picture quality is not great. There is a lot of noise (random white pixels) due to insufficient lighting. I will probably reshoot them when the 2 orange Nassau guys are completed.

Nov. 24 2007
More previews added to the previews page

Matador Ford FC60L 3 ton truck

+ Nov. 17, 2007
Matador Australian Ford Gun Tractor added to the previews page
Italeri Macchi 202 with Mike Grant smoke ring decals. The decals have a bad case of silvering. The plane almost flew out of the garage by itself...


Nov. 16, 2007
Nassau infantry finally added to Waterloo gallery.



Scalelink Citroen Traction added to the previews page

Nov. 2, 2007
Hanoverian Bremen Field Battalion man added to Waterloo gallery. Interesting mix : a British red coat with black rifleman webbing, blue trousers and a red piped yellow Landwehr cap.


Oct. 20, 2007
SdKfz 222 finally completed (it took about 7 years)



MMS Panzer IIIH completed (this one took about a year)


Oct. 17, 2007
More previews added to the previews page

JB Light Tank Mk VI A,B or C


It's been over a year: the Macchi 202 is fully assembled and painted, ready for a dark wash, final coat of matt varnish, and light pastel/pigment exhaust trails.

Oct. 12, 2007
MMS A9 CS and Marmon Herrington Mk2 A/C previews added to the previews page

Oct. 11, 2007
SMA 1937/38 Ford V8 Convertible preview added to the previews page

Oct. 10, 2007
13 previews added to the previews page:
Matchbox 243/2 and 232,
MMS Panzer IVE, SdKfz 253, Tatra T57K, Mercedes 170VK, Unic P107, Zis3 76.2mm Gun, Morris CS8, CS8 Wireless, C4 Mk1 and Mk2
CCR Tiger II Porsche turret.

Oct. 8, 2007
Nitto JagdPanther preview added to the previews page

Oct. 1, 2007
6 additional previews on the previews page: Nitto Panzer IB, KuebelWagen and BMW R75, Matchbox JagdPanzer IV L/70(V), and two rarities, the Cromwell "UnReady" Bedford OYD and ModelTransport (now Convoy) Henschel 33DI telephone truck and office trailer.

Sep. 30, 2007
The armor preview page has been reorganized by nationality and type of vehicle. We are approaching 50 reviews and this format scales better.
Two more previews on the previews page: Milicast SturmTiger and Marder III 76.2(r).

Sep. 10, 2007
Two more previews on the previews page: Milicast SdKfz 222 and 263.
Here are a couple pics of the Airfix 222, a very old project that got a new lease on life with parts from Milicast (including the long sought after mesh screen).


Sep. 5, 2007
I finally got around to snapping pictures of the kits I bought at Christmas. I have added previews of:

• Vacucast Panzer IV A
• Vacucast late Panzer IV D with applique armor
• Vacucast early Panzer IV
• Vacucast Panzer IV converted to G model (a late war stopgap conversion)
• Vacucast StuG IV
• Vacucast early JagdPanzer IV with L/48 gun
• Vacucast Panther G
• Milicast Panther G with Zimmerit

Click here to go to the previews page.

Sep. 3rd, 2007
1918 US and British infantry added to the WW1 gallery. The Hat WW1 US and Canadian infantry are made of a very bendy material and not very well sculpted, not too mention the oversize helmets. I stiffened them with a coat of liquid CA before painting. Heads and bayonets were sourced elsewhere.

I also received some resin accessories from Quickboost. The gunsights are very detailed and come with a small sheet of printed acetate for the glass part of the sights. Scroll through the linked page and you will find US, UK , German and Japanese models. In a closed canopy 1/72 airplane, the gunsight is the only detail you will see!
The .30 caliber MG barrels for US bombers are vey fine and include ventilation holes. They will be useful for armor and figures as well, maybe even for MG34s (if you replace the tip which should be flared). QB07255 brings the most value with 15 barrels. Click on the picture to go to their 1/72 catalog.

Aug. 29, 2007
Clearing up the workbench continued: Afrika Korps figures for Kubelwagen and PzIIF. The MMS officer sitting in the back of the Kubel has unbuttoned his collar and lit up a cigarette. The AB tank commander is stock. His deep eye sockets are actually very hard to shade. If you overdo it he looks blind or with a couple black eyes.

My Napoleonic Nassauers are coming along, having accumulated dust for several years. They are being joined by a Hanoverian regular. For some reason I have miscounted the Hanoverian figures and need one more for my 1 figure per 1000 men project. For Waterloo uniform references and color plates, nothing beats www.mont-saint-jean.com.

The obligatory new project distraction is a set of late war Germans. The MG42 LMG SS team is from the Revell set. The ammo box and belt are from Pegasus. The rounds look more like 20mm shells but it had to do. (By the way have you noticed that the Hat MG team set does not have any figure actually manning the guns?) The gunner is wearing a fall pattern oak leaf parka, the assistant, a pea dot smock and fall oak leaf pants. The helmet covers are plane tree pattern. The lesson learned is that if you don't exagerate the contrast mucho, the camo doesn't stand out at all. The MG42 fired with a rate of 1200 rounds per minute so there must have been piles of spent brass casings near any gun position. A couple hundred 1mm lengths of 10thou brass wire do the job.

Aug. 19, 2007
Clearing up the workbench: Thracian light cavalry and musketeer, two figures that were started at least 18 months ago.

Aug. 14, 2007
After a 7 month break from modeling here is a French para in Indochina based on an Imex Korean war GI. The M1 helmets are misshapen in this set so we'll pretend this figure wears a French model 1951 helmet.

Jan. 8, 2007
A BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!
I bought 20 resin kits over the holidays including oldies from ModelTransport, Milicast, Cromwell, and some nice Vacucasts. I'll post them as previews. I also acquired 100+ 1/72 diecast cars. If you're interested and live in the US run to your nearest WalMart where they sell Yat Ming 1/72 cars at $1.44 a piece!
As for modeling, I am finishing up the decals on the Macchi 202 with Mike Grant smoke rings, the decal job from hell. The ink rubs off very easily on these decals and it is best to coat them with Future before using them. I did not and had to touch up the wing leading edges.

Dec. 5th, 2006
Added Milicast SAS Desert Jeep and Crusader I/II in the Armor previews section.

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