Superscale continues its releases for Trumpeters 1/32nd scale A-6 with a marking set for the VA-95 Green Lizards. VA-95 has been active/inactive many times flying Skyhawks, Skyraiders and the Intruders. The decals here represent the Green Lizards during August 1974 aboard the USS Coral Sea. There are several great web sites dedicated to VA-95 and a quick Google search will find them with lots of photos.

Ultracast is one of those companies that we AMS modelers can’t live without… Thanks up front for this excellent set, and to IPMS USA for sending it my way…Now to figure out which Mossie I’m gonna build…

These, like the previous set reviewed a few weeks ago, are simple replacement items for the Tamiya wheel and tire sets in their Mosquito kits. As previously done, I have assembled one of each, the Tamiya kit item on the left, and the Ultracast wheel/tire on the right.

Again, small details matter. There are no wheel spokes on this set, but the tire radial lines and it’s excellent “Offset Z” tread stands out. No seam filling; just carefully removing the tire from the pour stub is required. The tire “weight” is simulated in a subtle way, not overdone like others.

Paratroopers have been regarded as elite group of soldiers since their inception. Generally the requirements and physical demands were higher and many of the missions that were assigned to them were high risk, thus the elite status. In this book the author takes a comparative look at the British Paratrooper vs. the German Fallschirmjager in the Mediterranean 1942-43.

The book starts off with a organizational look at the two units. The requirements for soldiers that wanted to join these units is explained along with the operational tactics used by each. There are three operations covered where these two units were engaged with each other. Two of the operations were in North Africa and one in Italy. There is an excellent narrative that describes each action along with period photographs and color maps that show the movements of the units during the operation. The book concludes with an analysis of the two units and the lessons learned by both.