This is a big book! At 591 pages and weighing in at five pounds, in this corner we have volume two of Leibstandarte, the SS Division that was formed from Hitler’s SS body guards. I have not seen the first volume, but the set is a re-release of a previously published book. One of the challenges of this book, is that it comes from a French publishing house, so the text, captions, etc. are all in French. I have a rudimentary reading knowledge of French, so I can get the gist of the text, but probably not full comprehension.

The origin of Pen and Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers – established in 1858 – and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following a series of articles published in the newspaper. Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of Dark Peak Wrecks and Barnsley Pals books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guide books. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful and as more and more titles were produced the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group.

The Fuji T-1A was the first Japanese-designed aircraft produced after World War II. Designed by Fuji Heavy Industries and powered by a Bristol Siddeley Orpheus turbojet engine, the prototype took to the air for the first time on January 1, 1958. 46 T-1As were built before the T-1B superseded it on the assembly line. They served as training aircraft until they were retired, with the final flight occurring on March 3, 2006.

This finely molded kit comes with 62 parts on three sprues, and two clear parts on a separate sprue. All the panel lines are engraved, and the fit is excellent. The kit comes with a photoetched (PE) painted fret for detailing the cockpit and the landing gear. While the instructions are in Japanese with only a descriptive paragraph in English, they are easy to follow.