Number 495 in Osprey’s Men-at-Arms series provides a concise, yet reasonably comprehensive description of the Spanish Civil War…explaining its causes, listing a chronology of events and describing those who fought on the side of the Nationalists. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (1) Nationalist Forces delivers a lot of information about a significant event in the history of 20th Century warfare within its modest 48-pages.

First: Thanks to Aires for providing IPMS USA this pitot tube to review! We appreciate your support, with the usual nod to IPMS USA leadership for allowing me to review this item.

A simple upgrade for the Kinetic KFIR; it is a direct replacement, complete with the forward part of the under-nose fairing tip. Superglue one of the three pitot tubes into place, paint it, and call it a day! This was literally a three-minute install.

I tested one of the spare pitot tubes for “twang” durability; I held the end in my hand, bent it back about ¼ inch, and it sprung back into shape. It will NOT bent back totally on itself; that results in a bent or broke tube. That said, unless you run the model off into a wall or stick it in your buddy, this should last a long time.

The Albatros, with its torpedo shaped fuselage is one of the more iconic German aircraft of WWI. Not without its shortcomings, it never the less gave the German air superiority mid-war and remained a mainstay of the German and Austrian air forces to the war’s end. To meet the demand for aircraft, production of the D.III was seconded out to three other companies: Johannisthal, OAW and Oeffag. This outsourcing allowed Albatros to focus on D.V production much like what happened with Grumman Corp. in World War Two – where General Motors took over production and development of the F4F-4 (FM1) and Grumman pursued the F6F Hellcat. Like in the case of the Wildcat and General Motors, Johnannistal, OAW and Oeffag continued to build and refine the D.III and turn it into a more effective and reliable aircraft. As a result the Albatros D.III never faded away when the Fokker D.VII entered service and soldiered on past the war’s end.