US Marine versus Japanese Infantryman: Guadalcanal 1942–43 is the eighth volume in Osprey’s Combat series and the first dealing with an American fighting force in WWII. Fortunately, this volume deals with the US Marines. There are never enough references covering the USMC, so this volume is a welcome release.

This new book deals with the Marines fighting the Japanese infantry during the Guadalcanal campaign. However, it only deals with the first three months of the Marine’s involvement, concentrating on the three main battles that occurred during the three months: the Battle of the Tenaru in August, the Henderson Field attack in September and finally the Matanikau counteroffensive in October.

Aires Aerobonus line continues to pump out great add on sets for dioramas for kits and the latest release is a set of Compressed Gas cylinders in 1/32 and this time specifically acetylene tanks. The set has four casting blocks of materials. two of the blocks are the tanks with four bodies being provided. the remaining two block have the options for each tank. There are four closed tops and enough hardware to make the tops open and have gauges. the instructions show you both ways and the decision is the modelers.

Construction is simple. Cut the tank from the casting block and sand smooth. For the closed tank, cut the lid off and sand smooth and glue on the top of the tank. For one with the pressure regulator, cut the regulator and dial off and glue those on the tank as shown in the drawing.

The Douglas TBD-1A was a one-off aircraft built to compete for a Dutch requirement in 1939 for a float plane bomber, the Netherlands being blessed with a vast inland sea from which to operate. The Dutch were not interested and the aircraft was sold to the Navy for testing at Naval Air Test Center (later this center would outgrow NAS Anacostia and NAS Patuxent River would be built). The Navy had no need for a float plane version of it carrier aircraft, yet the Navy found the TBD-1A to be a stable torpedo and bombing platform, with the oversized floats only diminishing air speed by 20 knots. So theTBD-1A was reassigned to Experimental Squadron Two (VX-2) at NAS Quonset Point in Rhode Island (part of the 1st Naval District) where it would support the Newport Torpedo Station in the testing of aerial torpedoes. Since it was a float plane and could be closer to the action, the aircraft operated from an air facility at the south end of Gould Island in the Narragansett Bay off Newport, RI.