(Editor’s note: The reviewed publication, published in 2008, has been superseded by “Frequently Asked Questions about Techniques used for Painting Aircraft”. Published in 2010 under the same ISBN Number 978-84-96658-18-9. Despite the slight change in title there is little or no difference according to Casemate.)

Continuing with the now familiar and highly respected F.A.Q series of how-to modeling books from Andrea Press, comes JM. Villalba’s “Frequently Asked Questions about Techniques Used for Constructing & Painting Aircraft”. The 159 page book comes to us in a perfect-bound soft cover, printed in full color (except for the chapter cover pages) in an 11 3/4” x 8 1/4” format.

WOW! These figures are top-notch, high quality beauties. The set comes in a printed end-opening box. On the front side you see a scene of a young Soviet officer leading his stumbling squad across an open wheat field while under artillery fire, very inspiring to say the least. On the reverse side you’ll find the instructions, sprue charts and a Vallejo color guide. A. Karaschuk did the colorful illustrations.

Inside the box you will find 2 sprues in a light shade of brown. Each figure comes with a selection of equipment, and some of them offer alternate heads, arms and weapons choices. Sculptor A. Gagarin is a true master of his art. The high quality soft plastic makes separating the parts a breeze. The majority of the figure parts follow the part numbers in sequence, making it easier to keep building each figure in a next up order.

I don't know too much about the history of this vehicle, but being an avid model railroader, it looked like something fun and different to build. Now that the bug has bitten I want to collect the whole series of Armored Rail Cars and make a complete train. This is a typical Trumpeter kit: well packed, with each parts sprue in an individual bag. You get three sheets of photoetch and one sheet of decals. Also included is a section of track to place the finished model on.