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Front cover

The Luftwaffe's Blitz, The Inside Story - November 1940 - May 1941
Book Author(s)
Chris Goss
Review Author
Perry Downen
Published on
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$36.95

This is the latest book from Chris Goss published by Crecy Publishing covering the air war between England and Germany. Gross has written several books on this subject some of which include: The Luftwaffe Bombers’ Battle of Britain, The Luftwaffe Fighters’ Battle of Britain, and Brothers in Arms.

The Luftwaffe’s Blitzis a hardback book measuring 6-1/4” X 9-1/2” and contains 264 pages. It comes in a high quality, semi-gloss paper cover. The book contains many never before published black and white periodphotographs. Each photograph is accompanied by a block of text explaining the action or activity seen.

Sample package

Focke Wulf 190 Wheels and Tires
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$5.95

Editor's note: This review is for four related products: Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Late Style Wheels 700 x 175 Treaded Tires, Stock #- 48231. Price is in Canadian Dollars which at current writing is almost par with U.S. Dollar.

The Focke Wulf 190 has been kitted by every major kit manufacturer. Often times the kit wheels leave a bit to be desired, whether they were anemic or lack detail on either the hub, tread or brake side. Ultracast has provided an answer for both early and late model FW-190s. Molded in light cream colored resin the wheels are perfectly molded with no blemishes or imperfections. This is the typical quality that I’ve come to expect from Ultracast.

Packaging and parts

SS Tiger Tank Commander 1944-45
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.95

With the new Dragon Tiger tanks on the market, more people than ever are building tanks. I’m one of them. Armor, more so than aircraft, lends itself to figures. Enter Ultracast with their line of resin figures.

Molded in light cream bubble free resin, this figure features two heads, one with a headset and one without. The headset head has a nice action pose of the commander yelling. The neck is nicely rounded so you can articulate the head as you want, up, down, and left or right, excellent flexibility.

You also get two left and three right arms so you can pick and choose how you want your figure to look. The arms are keyed with square pegs so you can alter the look of the parts easily. Amazingly the thumbs are not grouped with the others and articulated and perfectly molded.

Front cover

Battle of Britain, The Fight for Survival in 1940
Book Author(s)
Michael JF Bowyer
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$18.95

When we hear the words Battle of Britain, those of us who build aircraft models, especially those flown in WW II, immediately think of Spitfires and Hurricanes fending off what was, during that summer of 1940, the best air force in the world. They were the icons of that aerial struggle, but they were only part of the story. The Battle of Britain was also the story of young fighter pilots who flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as those who piloted lesser-known RAF aircraft and those pilots and gunners of Coastal Command who protected convoys in aircraft bearing names like Hudson, Skua, and Roc. On the ground, the Battle of Britain also was the Home Guard training for the expected invasion; the aerial spotters with tin hats and binoculars; neighbors sadly picking through their bomb scattered possessions, and children climbing over the rubble in the streets.

Box Art

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$20.95

History

Yet another classic design from Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed F-80 was America’s first practical, jet powered fighter. I say practical because the real “first U.S. jet was the Bell P-59 which was really a transition trainer for new jet pilots, not a viable combat aircraft. The first “Shooting Star,” was produced in 141 days and flew on Jan 8, 1944. Teething issues included fuel consumption levels higher than anticipated (a common problem of early jet engines) which required hanging extra tanks under the wings. Armed with 6x 50 cal. machine guns and a stable flight profile, the F-80 proved its worth in the Korean conflict primarily as a ground support aircraft.