Background

The air war in Vietnam was a departure from what the United States had experienced in prior conflicts. The over-dependence on air-to-air missiles, micromanagement of operations from the White House, and countless constraints and rules of engagement put American aircrews at a distinct disadvantage against North Vietnamese adversaries. Despite those limitations, the US forces adapted to circumstances, exercised some good old American ingenuity, and managed to generate several aces and some legendary missions based on unorthodox tactics. A common thread in the making of these aces and employment of these tactics was the F-4 Phantom II.

This is Angus Konstam’s follow-up volume to his earlier work on Pre-war Royal Navy destroyers. As he explains, the real division between “pre-war” and “war-built” destroyers came in 1938, when the new “Tribal” class destroyers came into service. Between the First and Second World War, the Royal Navy operated many destroyers, but by the mid-1930s it was obvious that the Admiralty’s older destroyers were being outclassed by those of foreign navies. Thus, a new series of destroyers was designed to compete directly with potential foreign adversaries, the first being the 8-gunned Tribals, built directly in response to the Japanese Fubiki class. Follow on classes were more balanced designs, with fewer guns and more torpedoes and ASW weapons, and finally, the War Emergency Program classes specialized in simplicity of design for quicker mass production, with lighter surface weapons and more depth charges for escort work.

I have heard for the last several years that we live in a golden age of modeling due to the huge array of subjects now hitting the shelves of hobby shops. Academy continues this trend with the release of the Main Battle Tank of the South Korean Army. An indigenous design that is an evolution of the K1. Both vehicles bear a passing resemblance to the American M1 Abrams, though they are smaller. The K2 entered production in 2013 and was fielded in 2014. As you can see by the box art, it has reactive armor, a 120 mm gun, and a host of other defensive features to defeat anti-tank missiles. It has a crew of three. The loader was eliminated with an auto-loading system. It is a welcome addition to the plethora of modern vehicles that have entered the market in the last several years.

Jakub Fojtik attended the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, achieving his Bachelor degree in Management of Security Forces, Security, and Law Studies. He followed up with a Master Degree in Management of Security Forces and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Business Law. To top it off he achieved a Doctorate (JUDr.) in Security studies at the Academy of the Slovak Police in Bratislava and a Ph.D. in Management of Security Forces from the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague. Jakub Fojtik is currently a University Lecturer at the Police Academy of the Czech Republic, the Vice President of Military Sales for Aero Vodochody Aerospace a.s. (Aero L-39, L-159, etc.) and an independent aviation journalist who is regularly published in aviation related journals and aviation magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Defence Helicopter, Fly Past, Flying Revue, Hobby Historie, Letectvi a Kosmonautika, 4 Rotors, and many others.

This set is designed for Trumpeter’s new MiG-29 Model 9.51 Fulcrum B trainer and provides masks for the main canopy, the windscreen, and the wheels/hubs. I started with the wheels, and as I prefer to paint the hubs first and then the tires, I did the opposite of what is shown on the instructions. I painted the hubs using an old tin of Xtracolor Russian hub green, then I peeled off the center disks from the masking set and used them to cover the hubs while I sprayed NATO Black on the tires. Eduard instructs you to spray the tires first and then use the masks and masking fluid to cover the tires while you paint the hubs. I like to avoid masking fluid on acrylic paints, so I just reverse the order of painting.