The Modelling News: Preview: Four polar opposite kits from Hobbyboss on the way in August...

A great big Hog, a german fighting cat, a Chinese underwater killer and a heavily armed US Airforce...TRUCK? These are the subjects of Hobbyboss' August releases. We have box art, sprues, marking, decals and everything else inside the boxes of these kits in our new item preview.

Hobbyboss' new releases for August...

UH-1B Huey

Model: #81806

1/18th scale

Product Link on the Hobbybods Website

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, commonly known as the "Huey", is a multipurpose military helicopter, was developed from 1955 US Army trials with the Bell Model 204. The initial designation of HU-1 (helicopter utility) led to its nickname, Huey.

The (single) colour marking and decal choice included in this kit

It was first used by the military in 1959 and went into tri-service production in 1962 as the UH-1. The last were produced in 1976 with more than 16,000 made in total, of which about 7,000 saw use during the Vietnam War and famous for its use in the Vietnam War.

The parts of the kit

Model Length: 845mm Width: 220mm

Metal screws included

The kit consists of over 110 parts

Leopard 1A5 MBT

Model: #84501

1/35th scale

Product Link on the Hobbybods Website

The Leopard is a main battle tank designed and produced in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought to make conventional heavy armour of limited value, the Leopard focused on firepower in the form of the German-built version of the British L7 105-mm gun, and improved cross-country performance that was unmatched by other designs of the era.

The colour marking and decal choices of the kit

The design started as a collaborative project between Germany and France in the 1950s,[1] but the partnership ended and the final design was ordered by the Bundeswehr, production starting in 1965. In total 6,485 Leopard tanks have been built, of which 4,744 were battle tanks and 1741 were utility and anti-aircraft variants, not including eighty prototypes and pre-series vehicles.

The parts of the kit

Model Length: 430.7mm Width: 96.8mm

Total of 13 sprues, upper hull, lower hull and turret

Copper Cable & Photo Etched Parts included

The kit consists of over 570 parts

- Two-directional slide moulded lower hull & turret

- 160 individual tracks links

PLA Navy Type 039 Song Class

Model: #83518

1/350th scale

Product Link on the Hobbybods Website

The Type 039 (NATO reporting name: Song class) is the diesel-electric submarine designed by Wuhan Ship Development and Design Institute (701 Institute) for the PLA Navy (PLAN). Construction of the submarine was carried out by Wuhan Shipbuilding Industry Company (also known as Wuchang Shipyard or 438 Factory) in Wuhan, Hubei Province and Jiangnan Shipyard Group Corporation in Shanghai. At least 16 hulls have been delivered to the PLA Navy since 1994.

The colour marking and decal choices of the kit

The first-of-class of the Type 039 submarine No.320 was launched on 25 May 1994 at Wuchang Shipyard and started sea trials in August 1995. However, the submarine was not fully operational until 1999 due to serious design flaws, including unsatisfactory underwater performance and noise level. After some major redesign work, a modified Type 039G variant (No.321) entered the service in April 2001, followed by the second (No.322) in December 2001 and the third (No.323) in November 2003. In 2004, Wuchang Shipyard began to construct a further improved variant known as Type 039G1. At the same time, Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard also began to build the Type 039G1 submarine, indicating that the submarine design has been finalised and serial production began. Since then, a total of 12 boats (No.324~No.326, No.313~No.318, No.327~No.329) have been built.

The parts of the kit

Model Length: 280mm Beam: 30.7mm

1 sprue, upper hull, lower hull and stand

The kit consists of 20 parts

- Photo Etched parts included

- The kit also contains a display stand

USAF XM706E2 84536

Model:84536

1/35th scale

Product Link on the Hobbybods Website

The XM706E2 was supplied to the U.S. Air Force for base protection purposes, post-attack reconnaissance against munitions and EOD use. The XM706E2 featured no turret and an open-topped centre parapet. In practice, a variety of weapons were mounted on USAF XM706E2s, but the most common configuration was one .50 BMG-calibre M2HB machine gun and one 7.62mm NATO M60 machine gun.

The colour marking and decal choices of the kit

Other equipment included the XM174 40 mm grenade launcher and searchlights. The 3rd Security Police Group of the United States Air Force at the Clarke Air Base Republic of the Philippines was still operating the "Duck" as a Fire-Team vehicle until it received M1026 HMMWVs in the fall of 1988.

Masks for the clear parts of the vehicle are included