You have to give the former Soviet Union credit – they didn’t waste time coming up with something new IF something available would do the trick. They did it with the U.S. B-29 bomber (Tupelov Tu-4) and they didn’t with this series of post-war sedans – making a carbon copy of Germany’s Opel Kadett from 1946 on.

ICM has previously made a closed-top four-door sedan version of this lovely little vehicle, and now offer the somewhat rarer convertible version. The kit offers a couple of options – open or closed convertible top and free spare tire or encased spare tire. It comes with a detailed engine and drive train and a truly exceptional level of detail in the interior. It also comes with all the parts to make the standard sedan if you desperately want to go in that direction. Being the kind of modeler I am, I chose to do mine with the open top so I could show off all the lovely inside workings.

Jon Diamond is an accomplished author with a number of published books to his credit. His previous works include “Stilwell and the Chindits”, War In the South Pacific, Invasion of Sicily, Invasion of the Italian Mainland, Anzio and Victory at Cassino, and now MacArthur’s Papua New Guinea Offensive 1942-1943. These and other books by Mr. Diamond are published by and available through Pen and Sword.

The Japanese strategy was to threaten northern Australia by capturing Port Moresby. In this publication Mr. Diamond lays out the strategy that MacArthur put forward to thwart this Japanese plan. The text that Mr. Diamond provides is comprehensive in its coverage of the theatre of operations, the impact of the geography in which the campaign took place, and a study of the commanders and combatants involved in the fighting.

Thank you to Phil and Bill for all that you do managing and providing review opportunities!

Recommended kit: Wingnut Wings

Reviewer’s Comments

I do not own any WW kits, and due to the high demand for the now defunct company, the prices have soared. A good friend was kind enough to loan me his Gotha G.1 kit for the purposes of comparing the SAC landing gear to the kit parts.

This landing gear set from SAC is a direct replacement for the kit parts. The white metal casting is superb as is usual for SAC, but a few parts did have a little bit of flash, which was very easy to remove. The kit consists of 12 parts. Three parts need to be removed from their pour rod (see photo).