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In-Box Review
135
M5 Power Unit
U.S. Power Unit M5
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by: Rick Cooper [ CLOVIS899 ]

Introduction

Plus Model has recently released the World War II U.S. Army portable M5 power unit. This generator is the type built by Hobart Brothers with a Hercules 4 cylinder 4 cycle engine that produced 11 horsepower. This particular unit was, as far as I can tell, primarily used to power the gun laying system of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun.

Contents

The kit is well packaged by Plus Model in a bubble wrap bag with separate bags for parts, wire, photo-etch, and decals. The box is the common small end opening style used for small accessories, figure sets, etc. The kit comes with a small set of instructions that are hand drawn, glue part here guide arrow type instructions. There are 22 resin pieces and another 16 photo-etch pieces so the instructions may provide a bit of a challenge if you have not had any prior experience with this type of kit.

Review

The resin parts are all cast in a medium dark gray resin. I didn’t find any air bubbles or pin holes that would need to be filled but there is a bit of flash that will need to be cleaned up before construction. The casting of the parts is superb, easily up to par with the standard that Plus Model has set in the past. The kit consists of a couple of main castings that look really nice. The 4 cylinder inline engine consists of one main casting and some smaller pieces to add such as cooling fan, carburettor, and exhaust.

The other main casting is the cabinet for the entire piece; it is a superb casting that really looks the part. Plus Model has achieved a very thin casting that gives a real sense of the real things sheet metal cover. To really bring that idea home the photo-etch sheet provided is truly top notch. It looks like it is an Eduard piece, it is not identified as such but it sure has all the earmarks of an Eduard product. It provides sheet metal hatch covers and doors as well as a pre-colored instrument panel for the unit that is clearly the highlight of the entire kit. The panel is one pre-colored piece, the gauges are another that fits behind to provide depth to the whole assembly, you are told to add a piece of clear film. Unfortunately, the sample that I have did not provide the clear film, I don’t know if that was an oversight or if that is how all of the kits will be packaged. Either way finding a piece of clear film shouldn’t be too daunting of a task but it would have been a nice touch to include it in the box. Plus Model does include two nicely cast US style 5 gallon fuel cans.

The kit also provides a length of heavy copper wire that is supposed to be straightened out to us as poles to manhandle the unit; it does mean you have to roll them out until they are extremely straight. My advice would be to throw the copper wire in the spares bin and use a couple of pieces of styrene rod in its place. Two small decals are provided, a small star and the ID plate for the end of the unit.

Conclusion

Highly recommended. This is a really nice little kit; if you have a Bofors in the stash you owe it to yourself to add this piece too. The resin castings are extremely well done and the photo-etch makes this a little gem that is well worth the price.

SUMMARY
Highs: Pre-colored photoetched sheet is exquisite and the castings are all first rate. I believe this is the first time this particular piece of equipment has been made available in resin or plastic.
Lows: I would like to have seen the clear film for the instrument panel included. The carrying poles made of copper would have been better as styrene rod.
Verdict: Highly recommended.
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 378
  Suggested Retail: $26.10
  PUBLISHED: Apr 23, 2013
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 88.60%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 85.93%

Our Thanks to Plus Model!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Rick Cooper (clovis899)
FROM: CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

I have been modeling for about 30 years now. Once upon a time in another century I owned my own hobby shop; way more work than it was worth. I tip my opti-visor to those who make a real living at it. Mainly build armor these days but I keep working at figures, planes and the occasional ship.

Copyright ©2021 text by Rick Cooper [ CLOVIS899 ]. All rights reserved.



   
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