Punchers and Tigers, USN A-6E Intruders in the Cold War & Desert Storm

Published: September 15, 2020
Company: AOA Decals

AOA Decals is known for its well-researched and executed decals covering the Vietnam War and newer eras with an emphasis on USMC and USN subjects. Set 72-010 continues their growth in 1/72^nd scale with Punchers and Tigers, which covers two low visibility marking periods of two Navy A-6 Intruder squadrons - VA-65 Tigers and VA-75 Sunday Punchers, with coverage spanning from the 1980s… more

Hurricane Mk. I

Published: September 14, 2020
Company: Italeri

Italeri’s 1/48^th Hurricane Mk. I is a reissue and for a great reason, with new Battle of Britain decals to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of that event. The kit comes in 89 pieces of well molded gray styrene with minimal to no flash. Also included is a clear sprue of 12 pieces, a photoetch fret of 8 pieces, decal sheet with four options, and a instruction manual.… more

MQ-8B Fire Scout

Published: September 14, 2020
Company: Brengun

The Northrup Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout is an unmanned helicopter used by the US armed services for reconnaissance, fire support, and precision targeting. It is based on the Schweizer 333 helicopter and currently 23 of the MQ-8B’s are being used by the US Navy. Brengun has produced a resin kit of this helicopter based on Attack Squadron’s earlier release. The kit is multimedia consisting of 45… more

Intruder Sandbox

Published: September 9, 2020
Company: AOA Decals

AOA Decals has expanded to 1/72nd scale and their second release is a set of markings for the Fujimi A-6E TRAM covering all three Intruder squadrons involved in the strikes against Libya in March and April 1986 as part of Operation Prairie Fire and Operation El Dorado Canyon respectively; also covered are two squadrons in 1991 from Operation Desert Storm. Inside the package, there is one 5.5 x… more

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat - A Comprehensive Guide

Published: August 25, 2020
Book Author(s): Andy Evans
Company: Model Aircraft Magazine

I will tell you from the start that I love SAM Publications books. As a modeler, I am always on the lookout for books that have not only great information and pictures but modeling references too. What I’ll attempt to do is cover all the reasons in this review. This book covers the magnificent F-14 Tomcat in all its glory.

The first place I want to start is the table of contents. That… more

Raiders from New France

Published: August 9, 2020
Book Author(s): Rene Chartrand; Illustrated by Adam Hook
Company: Osprey Publishing

Osprey Publications latest in the Elite series is Raiders from New France which covers North American Forest Warfare in the 17^th and 18^th century. At the time, warfare was a formal affair with men in lines advancing other men’s lines or the like. This area of North America at the time was wilderness, Indians and stand alone forts so a new type of warfare was developed and… more

Armies of the Great Northern War 1700-1720

Published: August 2, 2020
Book Author(s): Gabriele Esposito
Company: Osprey Publishing

Osprey is renowned for their concise histories of the rarer conflicts around the globe. This edition covering “Armies of the Great northern War:1700-1720) is just such an edition, covering the Great Northern War which was fought in the Baltic region and ranged all the way from Norway to southern Ukraine. In the end, it led to the destruction of the Swedish Empire acquisitions in the war of… more

Q-Men F-35B Lightning II

Published: August 2, 2020
Company: Kitty Hawk

QMEN is part of the Kitty Hawk Panda family and specializes in egg planes - planes shaped like an egg. These have been around from many manufacturers and are simplified versions of the real plane. In this case the plane is 19 parts and the pilot is an additional 13 plus a resin head. And the pilot is a kitty cat! There is even a tail and ears sticking out of a nice rendition of the F-35’s… more

Olkhovskiy Torpedo (two seat)

Published: June 29, 2020
Company: Omega Models

When this first came up for review, I’ll admit I never heard of this plane or company which is intriguing. A little quick research and I found that this was one of the first Russian monoplanes and it had an interesting difference with many planes - no ailerons. The ends of the wing bias because of their tether tension control wiring. That was enough for me. Omega Models located in the Czech… more

Depth Charge Mk. 54

Published: June 29, 2020
Company: Brengun

One of the under recognized armaments for after market has been the depth charge. It is fairly simple to find missiles, bombs and other under wing things all very well done and in most scales but not so much depth charges. Brengun has issued a set (which looks like a rerelease of the Attack Hobby set) of the Mk. 54 Depth Charge in 1/72^nd scale.

Looking at the set, you get… more