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Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$75.00

History – The GAZ Model 1943 Cargo Truck was based on the original GAZ-AA and, due to material shortages caused by the war, incorporated several metal and miscellaneous components changes. The vehicle was equipped with a more powerful 50 HP engine, simplified cab, the right headlamp was omitted, and brakes were fitted to the rear wheels only. Wood doors were added to the cab to improve driver comfort during the harsh winters.

Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ, aka Gorky Automobile Plant) manufactured 138,600 GAZ-MM trucks.

Book Author(s)
Andrew Thomas
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$23.95

This book from the series Aircraft of the Aces covers the exploits of Defiant, Blenheim, and Havocs in the RAF (with only one exception of the USAAF). It follows the chronological order of the type’s services in the RAF.

First, the book covers the day fighter role of the Defiant over Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, when it was quickly realized the airplane needed to be flying only against unescorted bombers and therefore converted to night fighter duties. Interestingly enough Defiants and Blenheims could hold their own their own against Bf-109s, but only if flown by well-trained pilots and if the whole flight would utilize proper tactics to coordinate protection for each other.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.99

Furball Designs fourth issue is a set of markings for Hasegawa's 1/48th series of F-4's including the RF-4B, F-4N, F-4J, F-4S versions. There looks to be enough markings for two kits and there are ten total available. If you add stencils, you could use the entire sheet. The markings include:

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.99

Furball Designs and Geoff Martin hit another high note with their second release, Fast Fords designed for the Tamiya 1/48 F4D kit. There are options for 11 planes with a largely varied set of markings. Printing is done by Cartograf and is superb with great opacity and registration.

The markings listed are:

Book Author(s)
David Greentree
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

In 1944 the Soviets were starting to take the offensive. The Wehrmacht was still in Byelorussia and the Ukraine, but after Kursk the Russians had taken back almost half of the territory the Germans had won in 1941-42. The Americans and British had invaded Italy, making things even more difficult for the Axis side.

Another pain in the Germans’ side was the continuing partisan activity in Yugoslavia. And someone at Headquarters decided that the way to neutralize this particular threat was to remove its leader, Josip Broz, known as Marshal Tito.

This book is about the special operation, undertaken by the 500th SS Parachute Batallion, which descended on Drvar in northwestern Bosnia, using glider-borne soldiers and paratroops. While much of the book covers the actual landings and subsequent combat, I have to say that as an aircraft modeler, I was intrigued with the use of the DFS 230 gliders, which were towed by Henschel 126s. Never heard of THAT use for the Henschels!