With the recent release of yet another Battle of Midway film, it seems appropriate for Academy to release this version of the venerable Douglas Dauntless in Marine colors. This package starts off with Accurate Miniatures excellent kit of the Dauntless. In addition, we get a photoetch fret of seat belts and pre-cut masks for the extensive canopy framing. The marking options include a USMC SBD-1 based in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 and another Marine SBD-1 based at MCAS Quantico, Virginia around the same time.

I’ve always been a fan of the Accurate Miniatures line and this kit is no exception. Fantastic surface and interior details are hallmarks of the brand. The cockpit is packed with detail but I used some online reference photos to make sure I was putting parts in the right locations. The instrument panel is cast in clear plastic but the dial faces have raised detail on them so I used the decal provided and settled it in with some Solvaset.

Synopsis per back cover: Hitler’s Wehrmacht led the way in armoured warfare as the successful blitzkriegs in Poland and North West Europe in 1940 so convincingly proved. The contribution of light tanks such as Panzers I, II and 35(t) was critical.

As the war spread to the Balkans, north Africa, and the invasion of Russia, German engineers worked tirelessly modifying existing light tanks and developing new models. The growing Soviet armoured threat, in particular, spawned tank destroyers such as the Marder III Panzerjäger, SdKfz 138/1 and 139. Anti-aircraft variants included the Flakpanzer 38(t), the SdKfz 140/1 reconnaissance tank armed with a 20mm turret-mounted gun developed from the SdKfz 22 armoured car, whereas the Aufklarungerspanzer 38(t) carried a 7.5cm gun in the support reconnaissance role.

In the final stages of the war light tanks were phased out and the Marder and 38 (t) were up-gunned; the Wespe was adapted from the Panzer II chassis.

The USS Forrest Sherman was the lead ship in the US Navy Destroyer program instituted in 1953. Constructed at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine beginning in October 1953, launched on February 5, 1955 and commissioned November 9, 1955. After a long and distinguished career, she was decommissioned on November 5, 1982, and stricken from Naval logs on July 27, 1990. An effort to maintain the ship as a Museum ship failed with a few artifacts having been saved for exhibit.