The MiG-27 is a dedicated ground attack variant of the MiG-23 that was built for the Soviet Air Forces. Unlike the MiG-23BN ground attack variant, which still carries the GSh-23L two-barreled 23mm cannon, the MiG-27 instead is fitted with a six-barreled GSh-6-30 Gatling-type 30 millimeter cannon. Unlike the 23mm gun, the 30mm is not shrouded by a cover and so the barrels are fully exposed. The only 1/48 scale kit of this aircraft is the former ESCI kit now made by ITALERI and it does come with a 30mm Gatling gun. It is molded in two halves and the seams must be cleaned up. The detail is rather simplistic and the barrels a little large. Given its visible position, it really needs greater detail.

This is the 3rd book in MMP’s Maritime Series (# 3103), entitled Austro-Hungarian Submarines in WWI. It is published in an A4 format (8.25 x 11.75) soft cover book; containing 152 pages packed with black and white photographs, submarine line drawings and tables of technical data. This is a much needed book on the subject of WWI. Whenever I hear of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, I’m reminded of their biplanes, which are represented better in scale modeling. Submarine warfare at that time was largely the domain of Germany, with Austria having more of a supportive role. This book covers their submarines from their beginnings to the collapse of the monarchy and the relationship they had with the German navy.

This is my second encounter with an Aoshima kit. The first was many years ago with a 1/24 Nissan Skyline. This latest offering from Aoshima is a nice change of pace, as it’s an American subject in the form of a traditional chopper motorcycle. Though MRC Academy is listed as the distributor, I was unable to find anything on their site regarding Aoshima products. I did, however, find two of the upcoming Aoshima motorcycle releases on the Dragon Models USA website, as they are listed as the US distributor on Aoshima’s site. (Review Administrator’s Note – distribution of Aoshima models changed from MRC/Academy to Dragon Models USA while Mike was building the model.)