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Book Author(s)
Michael John Claringbould
Review Author
Keith Gervasi
Published on
April 5, 2021
Company
Casemate UK
MSRP
$38.95

The Author: Michael Claringbould spent his formative years in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s, where he became fascinated by the many WWII aircraft wrecks which still lie around the country. He has served overseas as an Australian diplomat including South East Asia and throughout the South Pacific where he had the fortune to return to Papua New Guinea for 3 years starting in 2003. Mr. Claringbould has authored & illustrated various books (at least 15) on Pacific War aviation. His history of the Tainan Naval Air Group in New Guinea ‘Eagles of the Southern Sky’ received worldwide acclaim as the first English-language history of a Japanese fighter unit, which was also translated into Japanese.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
April 5, 2021
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$15.95

This set is designed to provide replacement parts for the landing gear on the Tarangus/Special Hobby SAAB Viggen kits. The set includes replacement parts for the nose gear and both main gear assemblies and as with most of SAC’s landing gear sets, the metal parts are intended to be one-for-one replacements for the kit parts.

The nose strut assembly includes the gear strut, the scissor link and the retraction/extension actuator. The parts in my set were very well cast and after just a little clean-up of the casting seam where the casting plugs attach, the parts will be ready to go.

Review Author
James Kelley
Published on
July 12, 2021
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$30.99

History

Colonel Thomas J.J. “Jack” Christian’s personal mount was an early P-51D-5-NA, serial number 44-13410, Code E2-C, with “LOU IV” painted on the port side of the engine cowling, forward of the cockpit and just rearward of the exhaust manifolds. The aircraft was named after his wife, Marjorie Lou Ashcroft Christian. The name “ATHELENE” was painted on the starboard side of the fuselage forward of the cockpit and below the exhaust manifolds. LOU IV was the most photographed P-51 Mustang of World War 2, and was an early P-51 D-5-NA (with the “bubble” canopy) without the stabilizing tail fin addition of the later definitive –D models. Additional photographs better indicate LOU IV’s colors and markings, including a yellow propeller spinner, a yellow engine cowling, a bare metal fuselage with a mottled camouflage pattern of dark green and /or black on the top surfaces, and “invasion stripes” beneath the fuselage roundel and on the bottom of the wings.

Book Author(s)
Alan Ranger
Review Author
Phillip Cavender
Published on
April 1, 2021
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$25.00

Staff Cars in Germany WW2 Vol. 2, is number 23 in the “Camera On” series published by MMPBooks/Stratus. The author, Alan Ranger, has written over 20 books in the Camera On Series dealing with German and Japanese armour specializing in soft skin and armoured vehicles. With Volume 1 Staff Cars in Germany WW2 # 9 published in 2019, the author presented photographs of passenger cars used by the German armed forces namely the line of Opel vehicles including the Admiral, Kadett, Kapitän and others. A lengthy article on the history of the Opel was presented in his first volume.