Squadron has done it again. They have provided us with another volume included in their outstanding Walk Around series. This particular one deals with the F9F Cougar and all its variants. It is written and laid out in the typical Squadron Walk Around fashion.

The book introduction starts with a brief but comprehensive history of the development and deployment of the Cougar. There are tables that show the differences between each version and a section on the different nose and canopy variations. The rest of the book is high quality black & white and color photos with captions. The majority of pictures are color. All photos have a very comprehensive caption that explains what you are looking at. I would say that half the photos are from display aircraft and the other half from archive photos.

Archer Fine Transfers has and always had the best and largest variety of transfers than any other company. I would venture to say over 90% of us in the scale modeling hobby have used an Archer product in one way or another. Some modelers I have met only use transfers and will use decals only when it is absolutely necessary.

Archer’s transfers are always of the highest quality and detail, and so simple to apply. However, there should be a high degree of concentration when applying them to the model because any movement while burnishing the transfer will ruin it. Whenever possible, I always cut out the particular transfer that I am going to apply from the sheet because it is very possible that another transfer, too close to the one that is being applied, can accidently adhere itself to the model. This is one of the downfalls, but very easy to avoid. Also, with transfers there are no do-overs, so proper placement of these transfers is of utmost importance.

This kit from Dragon features four German Waffen SS infantrymen as they would appear in the early years on the Russian Front. The term “elite infantry” is used as a euphemism for the SS, and while some of the SS divisions could fit into the elite category, some could not, such as the 4th SS Polizei Division, represented by one of the figures on the box art. These figures do not have to be painted as SS soldiers; you could do them in markings of army troops, and the sniper could be painted as a member of the Luftwaffe’s Hermann Goering Division, which used SS camouflage clothing.

The figures include a sniper in camouflage smock, an NCO with MP 40 machine pistol in winter dress, a machine gunner with MG 34 from the 4th SS Division, and an infantryman loading his rifle.