History

With Allied Forces getting closer and closer to the homeland of Japan during World War II the Japanese military turned to various methods of self-sacrifice to combat the Allied forces. The MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was one of those weapons.

Essentially this weapon was a human guided cruise missile in which it would be carried aloft by a mothership, typically a G4M Betty Bomber, and then released within sight of the enemy naval fleet. The rocket powered craft would hurdle towards its target with a 2,600lb warhead and a pilot behind the stick with the hopes of hitting a target.

Being late in the war Japan was losing its skilled pilots rapidly, and with this particular one use aircraft, Japan would need to be able to train new unskilled recruits in the art of flying very quickly. It was hoped to give the inexperienced pilots some basic knowledge of the craft in which they were going to fly in, so they created the MXY7-K1 2 seat trainer.

The AMMO by Mig Jimenez series of The Weathering Magazine issues address all modeling genres and focus on painting and weathering techniques for scale models and figures centered on their products. Including great photos accompanied by thorough step-by-step processes in each article, they give builders of any skill level the chance to recreate these effects and build their skills in doing so. Each issue focuses on a specific theme and this time around we look at the effects of fire and explosive forces on the pieces.

After an introduction by editor Sergiusz Pęczek , the articles open with "Ukrainian Rebel" by Kreangkrai Paoiinda. He takes the Trumpeter 1/72 T-72B Mod 1990 MBT and with some aftermarket parts and AMMO´s products recreates anti-tank explosive side hull damage. The descriptions are expansive as he modifies parts to show the damage and the extensive use of pigments and washes to show the ash and soot left over after the road wheels have burned off.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

The Summer 2021 journal of Cross & Cockade International features a nice sharp colorized photograph of a Nieuport VIH, N.3, at Monaco in April 1914. The rear cover displays three black and white photographs of Bentley Camels of 204 Squadron, immediately after the end of the war. You can see that all three are fitted with bomb carriers. The center section, The Gazetteer, consists of seven black and white photos, and thirteen black and white maps. Also included is a separate folded color 1/100,000 map consisting of eight pages when folded up.