[MoMo]

First, the report on die-casts in Kracow, or Crakov, or Cracow, depending on where you read it.

I did visit one hobby shop which had just about everything related to trains and models. It also had lots of 1.200 planes and, lurking in a corner, four or five Dragon AFVs. I bought a few bits and pieces for dioramas and left.

What I did find of interest to all of you were two part-works which covered 1.72 AFVs and 1.72 planes. You can buy these from just about any magazine/newspaper shop, but the big stores in the shopping malls had the widest choice.

I settled on a Macchi MC 202 Folgore from the part-work series " Samoloty ll Wojny Swiatowej ", published by DeAGOSTINI. This cost me 34.90 Zloties, which is about £6.00....not bad, I thought. It is numbered no. 9 in the series and comes with a little booklet and display stand. A very good piece of die-cast kit. It is finished in desert sand and green. Yellow nose-band and another yellow band behind the cockpit rear fairing. Also a yellow spinner. Reading through the Polish, I gather that it is a Folgore Mark Vlll belonging to a Squadron with the identification symbol of a Centaur firing a bow and arrow..couldn't make out any more details. I picked this one out because it is an unusual subject, and also because I thought that it was an excellent piece of die-cast modelling. 21 Gruppo Caccia.

I rejected a P40. I didn't think that the Chinese markings were very good, and i don't like the plane anyway, and can live without it. Also, the P47 offered in the series was overpainted and didn't appeal.

What did appeal, though, was a fabulous Messerchmitt ME 262A-1A. Numbered 5 in the Series, this plane was a must. It has green and brown top camo, with blue/grey under, pouncing leopard on shield with a black horzontal line on the body. Couldn't resist it. ( also £6.00 ) FUG 25A.

Also gleaned from the magazines : Model no. 10 in the series is a Mikoyan-Gurievitz Mig 3 in white with orange flashes and stars. No 16 is a P47D in Khaki green with black and yellow chequered tail, orange-brown nose with the number 17 on the body.

For all you AFV enthusiasts, I copped an AMX 30B, 1982. A decent little model in a display case. This too is one of a part-work currently published in Poland. Cost, wait for it.....19.95 Zloties ( about £3.50 ). Not a bad price for a magazine and a diecast tank! This is a good quality diecast with plastic parts. It is marked " Herbsheim " The no weathering would put it on par with some of the Matchbox reissues. I rejected the Merkova which comes from the same series. It resembled a blob of ugly yellow paint with a crude black plastic MG on the gun mantlet. I think that the next two models in the series are a Leopard and an M60.

MoMo