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Book Author(s)
Chris Gibson
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Hikoki Publications
MSRP
$49.95

This book looks at the RAF and Britain’s air defense, post-World War II. More specifically, it looks at the defense of Britain from nuclear strikes.

This book is broken down into ten chapters, beginning at the end of WWII when the British defenses were set up to protect her from massive raids by piston-engined bomber aircraft and the post-war realization that the advent of the V-1 and V-2 missiles and the jet engine had rendered all of this obsolete. Add the atomic bomb to this, and the RAF was scrambling to devise new defenses.

The author does a good job of discussing the Soviet threat, as well as all of the various programs that were being devised to deal with it. Those that made it to reality, as well as those that never made it off paper, are all covered. All of the aircraft projects, as well as those involving missile defense, are discussed, with coverage even given to dealing with hijacked airliners.

Review Author
Roger Carrano
Published on
Company
Airscale Model Aircraft Enhancements
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.50

Airscale is relatively new to scale modeling and has come out with decals in popular scales to aid in detailing instrument panels, and which can also be used for dashboards along with placards, which is another added touch to instrument panels and dashboards. I’m sure that anyone who has bought these products has used them some way in every model that they have built since purchasing them.

Review Author
Franklyn Cook
Published on
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$53.99

About the BTR-70

The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier. BTR stands for Bronetransportyor (literally "armored transporter"), originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies. Introduced as a successor to the earlier BTR-60, it most closely resembles a BTR-60PB. Other improvements include heavier armor plating and tires less prone to puncture. In other respects, the vehicle is very similar to the BTR-60PB, with a more powerful petrol engine configuration and armament of a primary heavy machine gun and secondary PKT machine gun on a roof-mounted turret.

Review Author
Keenan Chittester
Published on
Company
Mirage Hobby
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$95.99

The kit comes in an attractive box with a profile of one of the marking options on the box top. This is a special limited edition and includes a very nice gold colored coin that is packed separately in a fancy red box similar to what you would get a piece of jewelry in. I am not sure what the parts count is, but I'm sure there are well over one hundred parts. The parts are molded in a medium blue-grey color and they have a slightly rough texture. The plastic is a little on the soft side, so care must be taken when sanding and cutting. There is a small photo etch fret with seatbelts and other detail parts. I did not use all of the PE parts because some of them were so thin that they came apart when I cut them from the fret. There is also a small bag of resin parts comprising oxygen bottles, various boxes, and some things that look like duffel bags. The molding on the resin parts is not up to the standards of Aires or CMK, but it is decent.

Review Author
Eric Christianson
Published on
Company
Xuron Corporation
MSRP
$23.99

Xuron has released another pair of high-quality clippers from their line of consumer products used by modelers. The extra-long, ultra-sharp tips cut through PE like butter without bending or twisting it. The ergonomically shaped handles offer superb control and stability, as well as comfort. A return spring brings the tool back to the open position after each cut.

First and foremost, these are scissors, not clippers. The shearing point comes mid-way between the two blades, just like a pair of scissors. What this means is that they are excellent at cutting PE parts off the sprues, but they do not cut them flush against one edge, as Xuron’s excellent sprue cutters do with plastic. I was hoping that the company had come up with a way for me to snip off PE parts without having to sand the edges where the tiny metal nubs might remain, but that's just personal preference on my part.