Heroics and Ros Navwar Part One : American Aircraft
We finally got our pictures back from the photographer. After realizing that our poor digital camera was not getting us the detail we wanted, we were able to
swing a deal with an aircraft enthusiast who agreed to take our miniature pics for us. They turned out great, and what a nice collection to start using our
new 'photographer' with.
Here is the the American line of World War 2 aircraft from the Heroics and Ros Navwar line that we have available. There are about double this many aircraft in their
collection, but we felt these were going to be the most common ones that you were likely to encounter. We have a ton, and my goal is to add a new one a day until they are done.
USA-101 $3.00 P-40E Kittyhawk
Overall this is a decent aircraft sculpt. The design is nice, it was easy to clean up and mount hte set screw, and with the exception of wings a little too pointy, it is a
historically accurate version of the P-40 that should serve you well. I have used this model in a flying tigers and med campaigns, as well as a nice little Pearl Harbor scenario.
I was able to use this model for almost all versions of the P40 wothout anyone really noticing.
I have to give it a 4.5. A generally good model aircraft.
USA-102 $3.00 P-47D Thunderbolt
This is one of my favorite Navwar miniature airplanes in their 1/300 line. The detail on it is very nive, and it is about as close to histoprically accurate as you are going to get. I had a great time working with it.
The wings could stand just to be a hair bigger, and the cockpit a little larger, but other than that, this is a good one fore your collection.
The cleanup on this fig was really minor, the mold is a good one. The detail was great, and the set screw mounting procedure for my AireStands was painless, as there is a nice amount of
metal to this miniature.
A 4.5 in my book. A nice, clean sculpt, easy to work with that look sgreat painted up.
USA-103 $3.00 P-51D Mustang
This is a great reproduction of the P-51D, and one of my favorites in this line of 1:300 Navwar aircraft by Heroics and Ros. There is a nice amount of detail, the lines and angles
on the wings look great, I even had a fun time mounting my set screw and painting it up.
The cleanup was relatively easy, not a whole lot of mold lines to get rid of. I didn't ding any detail out during cleanup, which sometimes happens during model cleanup. Of course I have to say that painting
the American Aircraft in later-war straight metallic silver is pretty easy.
A 5, and there is not much more needed to say about this one: a solid model with nice detail and historical accuracy.
USA-104 $3.00 F-4F Wildcat
While the overall structure is solid on this aircraft, and the detail is just right, I thought the wings on this aircraft and the tail planes were just slightly out of balance. Mine had a small pit in one wing,
but it was nothing major to worry about that a little bit of putty couldn't fix.
This model is plenty thick, so mounting the set screw was an easy task. There was a little bit of flashing on it that I had to carve out, but again, no big deal.
A solid 4.0, could be higher, but for the flashing and small pit in the wing.
USA-105 $3.00 F-4U1 Corsair
This is a nice, clean sculpt, plenty of detail, and I rather enjoyed putting it together. The wings were ever so slightly out of balance, and there was a slight bit of
flashing on the tail planes I needed to tend to, but otherwise a fine sculpt and cast.
Like the F4F, this one had a lot of meat on it, so attaching the mounting apparatus wasn't too difficult, and it looks nice painted.
4.5 is my rating for this one. a nice aircraft for miniature gaming.
USA-107 $3.00 Airacobra
This has got to be one of the more difficult airplanes to sculpt and cast but this version is a very good one. with the exception of a little defect on the left wing,
this is an excellent aircraft. While the defect is a minor one, it took a bit to flesh out the wingtip. Otherwise, this is a great model aircraft.
The cleanup was easy, a little tricky on mounting the set screw, but that has more to do with the center of gravity on this aircraft being a little more to the rear of the plane than most others.
It cleaned up nicely and will be a good addition to your collection.
4.5 is all I can give it, but it really is a good sculpt.
USA-109 $3.00 Hellcat
This one has gotta be close to the top of my list of aircraft in this line. IF the tail were just s littl more historical, I would have this at the very top of my H&R Navwar list.
This was a nice cast, very little to clean up, and easy to paint. Good detail to it, and it has just enough metal to make set screw mounting effortless.
This aircraft will be a good addition for you if you are going to do mid-late war pacific theater, and is a good representation of the Hellcats different models.
I give it a 5. Good sculpt and cast. A great model with nice detail.
USA-110 $3.00 Mustang P-51B Razorback
This is a nice rendition of the P-51 Razorback. The lines are pretty accurate and with the exception of a little flashing, was very easy to clean up. Most folks are not familiar with this model
of the Mustang, and prefer to use the P-51 D with the nice bubble canopy. After reading several historical accounts, I feel this would ba a good addition to your selection, especially if you are playing mid-war
battles over occupied France.
This is a decent miniature, setup for mounting was fairly easy, and it painted up rather nicely.
A 4.5 on my scale, due only to the flashing that I needed to clean up.
USA-111 $3.00 Thunderbolt P-47C
One of my favorite aircraft of World War II. This is a decent sculpt with just a little flashing that needed to be trimmed away on the port wing. It is a good, historical rendition of the
aircraft and a decent addition to your miniature Airforce. If you are doing mid-war ground strike campaigns this will be a good aircraft to have.
The miniature cleaned up nicely, was historically accurate, and had enough meat on it to add a mounting piece easily enough. One thing about the aircraft to note (and the reason for the 4 score is that the cockpit seems to be
slightly off center to the top of the fuselage. Other than that minor flaw and the flashing, it is a nice plane.
4 is the rating I give to this aircraft, a couple of minor flaws, but otherwise very usable.
USA-112 $3.00 Douglas TBD Devastator
This is a rather nice rendition of the TBD Devastator from Douglas. The scale is very close and the detail and accuracy is acceptable. There was a little flashing that needed to be trimmed from the wing
and nose area, and some slight pitting on the port wing. Other than those minor defects it is a very nive sculpt. Flight stand mounting procedures were easy enough, as the aircraft has just the right amount
of metal composing its fuselage.
If you are going to run any early pacific campaigns or scenarios that include American horizontal/torpedo bombers, you are going to want to keep a flight of these nice aircraft handy.
I score it a 4.5, minor flaws, very workable and a niely detailed aircraft.
USA-113 $3.00 Douglas SBD Dauntless
Another excellent sculpt. The Navar version of the SBD Dauntless is an excellent sculpt. Mine had very little flashing, but it did have some minor pitting on the wing which was easily taken care of by a small amount
of modelling putty and glue. The detail on the model is very nicely done, and it is a close approximation of the historical aircraft. The fuselage seems a little too thick, but makes flight stand mounting procedures
easier.
As for the TBD or TBF models: if you are going to run any pacific campaigns or scenarios that include American bombers, you are going to want to keep a flight of these nice aircraft handy. This model you can pretty much use through
the entire war without anyone noticing.
I score it a 4.5, a good sculpt with very little flaws.
USA-201 $4.00 P-38J Lighting
Of all the P-39 Models I have seen this has got to be close to the top of my list of the best. Knowing a little about molding, I understand that when modelling this aircraft, with the irregular fuselage and general lack of any
overall bulk, it is easy for the sculpts to come out looking dumpy, misshapen, etc. Heroics and Ros did a great job on the sculpt. I found it to have very little flashing, was easy to clean up,
and the historical accuracy was pretty darn good. You could use this model for almost any model of the P-39.
The problem with the P-39, especially in smaller scales is mounting it to a flight stand, but with a careful hand that worled out fairly well. I am using the new mounts from Aerie Games, so there is no drilling involved, just
attaching a magnet to the bottom of the aircraft. A little putty and glue was all it took. The aircraft even balances out nicely on the flight stands.
I score it a 4.5, nicely done for this difficult aircraft.
USA-202 $4.00 TBF-1 Avenger
An Excellent portrayal of the Avenger. I liked this model so much I would have given it a 5 had there been a little less flashing on it. It is a good historical representation of the aircraft, and
I especially like the details in the wing. You can actually see the wing fold-up points for storage on the carriers.
The sculpt is a good one, and has plenty of mounting surface for you to put a set screw or magnet. The aircraft is a little thicker than most, so you dont have to worry as much when mounting a screw for the AireStands if you
are using the older mounting methods.
4.5 is well deserved. A good clean sculpt.
USA-311 $5.00 Havoc A20-G
This is a wonderful sculpt. There is excellent detail, and to be honest I just couldnt find enough to nitpick about on it. The lines are nice, not too much flash to clean, and the
set screw mounting procedure I do was very easy to perform. While 1:300 aircraft usually are a hassle to mount the screw, this model had enough metal that it was not a problem.
This is a good representation of the model, and will serve you well as either the Havoc or Boston. I used it for both roles, and it served us just fine when playing a med campaign.
I have to give it a 5. It is a well done sculpt. Clean, and fun to paint.
USA-401 $6.00 Mitchell B-25J
The B-25J Mitchell is one of my favorite aircraft of world war 2. The model I received was acceptable, but a little dissapointing in a couple of areas. While a little bit of putty, a file
and some glue took car of them, it still took time to fix the difficiencies in this sculpt.
There was a good amount of flashing on the model I received, and I had to do a little carving on the tail section to get it to flesh out correctly.
The wings also needed just a little bit of putty to make them right. Now, all that being said, the detail was acceptable, and the accuracy of the model itself wasn't too bad. (They might want to
consider remolding this one though.) The fig was easy to attach to the flight stand mount.
3.5 is what I give this model. While it turned out alright in the end, there was a good amount of tidying up on the scuplt to get it to my standards.
USA-501 $8.00 Liberator B-24J
This model is a great representation of its historical counterpart, and is quite the hunk of lead (or pewter - I didn't check). It comes in two-pieces (as indicated in the image), but is easy to assemble needing only a single blob of glue.
The ball turret, nose and dorsal turrets are nicely modelled, but slightly large than historical (I decided that this was okay, as when the aircraft was painted up, they really stuck out.)
As this model is a large one, there is very little to clean up as far as flashing goes - there is a single flash line around the fuselage and one around the wing assembly. The only minor detail that gave me trouble was the prop shafts that stick out slightly from the engines,
but a little TLC took care of those spots.
When you paint one up and put it on the table next to your axis interceptors, you truly get a feel for how massiv ethis aircraft really was. Well molded, very little trimming needed, but definitely needs to be mounted on a heavy-weight base.
The Heroics and Ros B-24J Liberator is a great model - I give it a 4.5 ranking.
USA-601 $10.00 B-17G Flying Fortress
This is a three piece model that requires a little bit of putty or very steady hands to hold the massive tail structure in place as the glue dries. There was a little bit of clean up on the tree main parts and a bit of flashing removal around the
turrets and gun positions. Other than the gluing and flash removal, this is a wonderfully big piece of metal. The cost seems prohibitive at first, but once the model was sitting on my table next to my P-51s, I wanted another.
Like the B24J in this series this model dwarfs the escprts and intercepters that you will place beside it on the table. Being an early-war and Battle fo Britain buff, I had not assembled models this big until I put the B-24 and B-17 together.
These larger models are quite a bit easier to paint however and I founf that aspect of the B-17G a joy.
Another great model by Heroics and Ros Navwar - 4.5 rating.
Heroics and Ros Navwar Overall Rating
The H&R (Heroics and Ros) line is a good collection of models. It has darned near everything I have ever looked for, as well as some aircraft I never thought I would ever see sculpted. Some of the
molds need some rework or touch ups, but other than that, this is a great line. The Aircraft in 1:300 aren't cost prohibitive, nor are they space-consuming. They do paint up very nicely and in my
opinion are the best line for 1/300 aircraft oout there.
Johann