A couple of weeks ago, I received the Amodel 1/72 Yak-9P from NKR. In general, the kit holds no surprises for anyone who's familiar with Amodel's "short run" technology (i.e., needs lots of dryfitting, although the small parts, like landing gear, l/g doors, prop, cockpit, etc., are very neat and have lots of detail). What struck me as interesting, though, was the way Amodel have handled the representation of the metal panels on this aircraft. Instead of the usual recessed (or raised) panel lines, this time they've gone much further to try to simulate the *real* appearance of rivetted metal. Each panel is molded with slight variations in its edge height relative to the panel next to it, either very slightly higher or lower, creating what looks, to my eye, to be a much more realistic appearance than the usual dead-flat panels on other kits. I don't think I've ever seen this on an injection-molded kit before, although many of the old Rareplanes vacuforms have a somewhat similar effect. Also, Amodel have reproduced a very slight "buckled" or concave bowed effect along the rivet lines on the aircraft, very much like that amazing metal finish A-20 that was featured on HyperScale a few months ago (I apologize for not remembering the name of the brilliant modeller who built it!). I'm hoping that other manufacturers will note the techniques Amodel has used, and incorporate the same features on future releases.
John Thompson