Book Author(s)
David Grummitt
Review Author
Joe Terry
Published on
January 20, 2024
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$29.95

In the thirteenth volume of Pen & Sword Books Land Craft series, Dr. David Grummitt provides an informative and detailed look US Self-Propelled Artillery from the post Korean War era to present. Having previously authored six other books for Pen & Sword, covering armored fighting vehicles and tanks, Dr. Grummitt now turns his attention to self-propelled artillery in his latest book: Kings of Battle, US Self-Propelled Artillery, 1963-2023. A professional Historian by trade, Dr. Grummitt is also an avid modeler and serves as the editor of Military Modelcraft International, which unique background combines to present a work that is both historically interesting and relevant to the scale modeler.

In this book the history of US Self-Propelled Artillery since 1963 is covered over sixty-four pages divided into twelve chapters outlined as follows

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
January 20, 2024
Company
Brengun
Scale
1:144
MSRP
$10.92

The Item

If you want to bring your Piper L4 Cub Grasshopper aircraft kit to the next level, this excellent detail set is just the thing for you. This extensive PE sheet set has most of the appliqués that can be added to the kit to provide a fully detailed rendering of the Piper L4 Cub aircraft. In addition, acetate window sections and resin cockpit and wheel sets are also included

PE parts generally require certain tools to bend/and manipulate the parts for a good fit. You’ll find those at online and local hobby shops. Adhesion can be done in a variety of ways including thin cements, paint, or even floor polish, depending on the part’s requirements. This set comes with instructions and the parts are correspondingly numbered on the fret tree. Resin parts require cleanup and C/A or epoxy adhesives.

All-in-all this set will definitely enhance the appearance of your Mark I Piper L4 Cub Grasshopper kit.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
January 20, 2024
Company
Brengun
Scale
1:144
MSRP
$5.73

The Item

If you want to bring your Mark I Hawker Tempest Mk.V aircraft kit to the next level, this excellent canopy set is just the thing for you. This crystal clear vacu-formed canopy provides an excellent viewing piece for the cockpit area

Adhesion can be done in a variety of ways including thin cements, paint, or even floor polish, depending on the part’s requirements.

All-in-all this set will definitely enhance the appearance of your Mark I Piper L4 Cub Grasshopper kit.

The Subject

The Hawker Tempest Mk.V was a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War.

It was developed from the Hawker Typhoon, and intended to address the Typhoon’s unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude by replacing its wing with a thinner laminar flow design.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
January 19, 2024
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$31.99

From the Trumpeter and MRC websites,

The successor to the Leopard 1, the Leopard 2, was first produced in 1979. A variety of upgrade programs and options are available for the Leopard 2. These include the Atlas Elektronik Vehicle Integrated Command and Information System (IFIS), a digital command and information system. The Leopard 2 has had technical improvements under Upgrading Level I and Level II programs. A new smoothbore gun, the 120 millimeter L55 Gun, has been developed by Rheinmetall GmbH of Ratingen, Germany to replace the shorter 120 millimeter L44 smoothbore tank gun on the Leopard 2. It permits effective use of a new APFSDS-T round, DM53 (LKE II), with a longer rod penetrator, which is under development.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
January 19, 2024
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$17.00

The King Tiger, Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B (Sdkfz. 182 (Sdkfz.267 and 268 for Command Variants)), often shortened to Tiger B, Tiger II, or Königstiger (German for Bengal Tiger or "King Tiger"). Allied forces usually called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger.

In early October 1942, plans for production of the VK 45.03 were issued for a successor to the Tiger I. Initially two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche. Both used a turret design from Krupp mounting the long barreled 88mm KwK 43 L/71; the main differences were in the hull design, transmission, and suspension. The Henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armor resembling the layout of the Panther tank. It had a rear mounted engine and used nine overlapping road wheels per side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the Tiger I.