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Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
October 22, 2016
Company
The Ampersand Publishing Group
MSRP
$20.00

The book, "M10/Achilles, A Visual History of the U.S. Army’s WWII Tank Destroyer" by David Doyle, starts with a short introduction that details the start of US Army WW II Tank Destroyer strategy and then a brief history from the early war period thru the end of the war.

The book is divided into 2 sections, the M10 and the Achilles.

Each section has both black and white photos from the war years, and color photos from the surviving museum examples. Most of the photos are well done and in good focus. Some of the wartime photos are little grainy, but give a good idea of the M10/Achilles in action.

The color photos are a mix of wide shots and detail close-ups. These close-ups are very well done and will help the modeler get the details done accurately.

The captions on the photos explain what you are seeing and give additional details about the subject.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
October 20, 2016
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

More metal gear from Ross at SAC. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review.

This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Kinetic’s F-16 series are most excellent, and easy to work with, but the landing gear, being part of the new plastic as well, tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has 11 parts; two main struts, three retraction links, two main gear extension rams, a nose gear and separate nose tire along with a torque link, and the set includes a replacement back bulkhead for the kit main gear well.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
October 19, 2016
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

More metal gear from Ross at SAC - another winner set. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review.

This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Airfix newest releases are just fantastic, and easy to work with, but the landing gear being part of the new plastic as well tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has seven parts; two main struts, two retraction links, two torque links, and a tail wheel and strut combo.

This was another “only takes five-minutes” installation once I got to the point of being ready to install the gear. The gear struts and drag link fit right into place, superglue and finished. Same for the retraction/extension arm; all were a direct replacement for the kit parts.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
October 19, 2016
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$29.99

Model Art Issue 61 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions. The Vessel Model Special is a quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. Each issue leads off with either short articles on a finished build or an in depth step-by-step ‘how to’ on the build and painting. The finished model photographs are of high quality in brightness, color, and depth of focus. Advertising comprises the inside covers (and back cover) along with another four pages showing what is available and new, always useful for building up that wish list. I counted nearly 600 photos (mostly in color) along with ten 1/700 scale drawings. You will find throughout this journal, period photographs of the real ships and aircraft involved in battle. Additionally there are a lot of color scrap drawings highlighting details in the Ship Construction series.