The most visited site in Washington DC continues to be the Vietnam Wall, listing the almost 59,000 young American men and women who died as a result of serving there. The interest in that War continues unabated for many reasons. For modelers, the many aircraft, military vehicles and ships that served offer many interesting subjects to model. The abundance of excellent 35mm cameras and color film made that war’s camouflage and markings the best documented to that time. The predominance of helicopters earned it the moniker “The Helicopter War,” and indeed, it revolutionized warfare.

The July/August 2012 issue of WINDSOCK Worldwide continues to demonstrate why the periodical can be relied upon to deliver accurate reference material for model builders interested in World War I aviation. The cover features a Ronny Barr profile of SE5a F8983 of No. 85 Squadron, RAF in 1918 and a photo of Lance Krieg's 1/48 Roden RAF SE5a to hint at what’s inside. Before getting to the main articles, the issue kicks off with an extended Reader’s Gallery that features three outstanding models: a 1:4 scale AMC DH1, a 1:5 scale Bristol Boxkite and a 1/32 scale Fokker F.I. Next up is the FRONTLINE NEWS column, followed by LOGBOOK ENTRIES that presents reviews of five new WWI books/journals. Following that, Lance Krieg continues his ‘Modelling Master Class’ with Chapter Seven: Armament, Pt.

History

The Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship, for and by the U.S. Navy in the mid-1910’s. The ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of “super dreadnoughts” battleships. The Arizona had an overall length of 608 ft., beam 97 ft, and draft of 29 ft, 3 in. The ship had four direct-drive Parsons steam turbines, each of which drove four 12 ft. 5 in. diameter propellers. The Arizona’s designed speed was 21 knots. The Arizona carried 12 .45 caliber 14 in. guns in four triple gun turrets. The Arizona took part in several exercises, escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference, was regularly used for training exercises, assisted in the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 with disaster relief, and was featured in the Jimmy Cagney film Here Comes the Navy.