This fascinating book tells how the Allies and Axis powers developed aerial reconnaissance systems to gather accurate aerial intelligence, primarily during World War II. The book combines history with photography and provides a unique and different perspective of World War II – from above! The photographs are excellent, with descriptive captions for each photo. The text provides good descriptions of the aircraft used for reconnaissance, and the maps & diagrams illustrate many of the actions.

The book is divided into five sections:

• Beginnings
• Blitzkrieg
• End of the Beginning
• Turning the Tide
• The End of the War

The book also includes a Bibliography/Further Reading, Index of Topics, and Photo Credits, all of which are handy for further research.

The latest 1/48 scale decal set available from Iliad Design provides markings for seven different Korean War-era MiG-15s. The instruction sheet clearly shows six aircraft, but modelers do have the option of doing a seventh (I’ll explain below). Markings are included for four (or five) natural metal and two camouflaged aircraft flown by North Korean, Chinese and Russian pilots. Note that unlike some aftermarket decal companies that provide a variety of unique markings for different aircraft but only one set of national markings, Iliad includes enough national insignias to do all of the aircraft on this sheet. This makes Iliad Design’s modest retail price a real bargain.

The options are:

First off, thanks to MRC for providing us this review item… we in IPMS USA appreciate and value your support!

This review was a bit different for me; I tend toward aviation and naval subjects, and this particular series keeps cranking out interesting figures. I have a DR-1 that could use some company, so here we are… Comprised of 30 parts in gray plastic, with a red circular display stand, I dove in and had everything together in quick order.

My preferred method of figure construction is to assemble everything that can be painted or needs filling ahead of time. This kit is broken down into right and left leg halves, upper torso halves, and lower mid-rise coat tails. The arms are single-piece items, as is the head and boots.