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Cover

RMS Titanic Owner’s Workshop Manual

Book Author(s)
David F. Hutchings & Richard P. de Kerbrech
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Haynes Publishing
MSRP
$28.00

The story of Titanic is well known. Most are familiar with how the world’s most luxurious passenger liner struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank taking over 1500 of her passengers and crew with her to the bottom of the Atlantic. Less has been detailed about how she was built, fitted out and operated!

Haynes is a company well known the world over for their quality and in-depth automotive repair manuals. Lately; they have branched out to include manuals on the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster. Now they turn their attention to Titanic!

The book begins with a brief history of the ship, her maiden voyage and the tragedy that befell her. Included herein are many well known pictures of the ship and her passengers.

Kitset packaging

Canopy Frame Mask for Zvezda La-5

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.95

The “Parts”

Eduard is known for supplying kits and hobby supplies of superior quality and excellent engineering and the EX330 Canopy Mask for the La-5 is no exception. The mask is a 2x2 inch square, with the mask components pre-cut to fit the canopy of the Zvezda La-5, kit # 4803.

Assembly

The instructions that accompany the mask are easy to use and clearly identify the location where each of the individual masks will be used. The masks are easy to remove from the backing sheet. Simply insert the tip of a blade under each mask piece, gently pull it up and off the backing sheet, and then attach it as per the mask instructions. Once the mask piece is in the correct location applying gentle pressure will ensure a good seal between the mask and the kit part. Send a little extra time burnishing the mask edges down to prevent any paint-creep under the masking material.

Decal sets cover sheeets

Vital Storm Early Hurricanes Collection Part 1 and Part 2
Review Author
John Ratzenberger
Published on
Company
Aviaeology
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$23.69

Aviaeology did a series of 1/32 decals for Zotz -- they released under their own name the 1/24, 1/48, and 1/72 versions. Of the 16 total aircraft in the original super set for Zotz, 7 have been released in 1/24 scale in these two sets. More may be coming, depending on how these sell.

Box Art

PBY-5A Catalina
Review Author
John King
Published on
Company
Minicraft Model Kits
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$24.99

The PBY-5A Catalina is a well-known piece of US Naval aviation. The modeler has Catalina options in 1/48th, 1/72nd, and 1/144th. For the 1/144th modelers out there or those that do not have the shelf space for the 48th Monogram kit, the Minicraft kit will fit the bill nicely. This is Minicraft’s third boxing of the PBY-5. The box contains the same plastic but contains two decal options.

Upon opening the box, two light gray sprues, one clear sprue, decal sheet printed by Cartograf of Italy, and instructions greet the modeler. There is some flash on some of the parts but nothing too bad. The engraving on the parts is nicely done with the exception of the main wing. The engraving of the main wing is a little soft, especially compared to the rest of the kit. However, after painting, it does not look bad at all. The clear parts look well molded and clear.

Box Art

Type 63-1 (YW-531A) Armored Personnel Carrier (Early Production)
Review Author
John Lyons
Published on
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.95

Short History

The YW-531a was the first APC manufactured by Norinco for the PLA. It was designed in the early 1960’s and first appeared in 1964. It can carry a crew of 4 to 10 troops. The YW-531 was first used in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and was in action again in the Iran-Iraq War.

APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), or mortars. They are not usually designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry troops to the battlefield safe from shrapnel and ambush. Amor on APCs is usually composed of simple steel or aluminum, sufficient for protection against small fire arms and most shell fragments. Just about any type of anti-tank weapon can defeat the armor of an APC. Some APCs also come with NBC protection, which would protect its crew from radioactive fallout or the like.