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Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.75

The North American B-25 Mitchell was one of the best Allied twin-engine medium bombers of WW II. It was dependable, simple to service and easy to fly. It was more angular looking than many of its contemporaries, but the Mitchell’s advantages made it preferable in most theatres.

Many of the B-25 crews in Italy, Africa and the Far East showed their love for their planes by decorating them with great markings. The noses of the solid-nose Mitchells were painted to resemble dragons, bats, tigers, sharks etc. The glass-nose Mitchells seemed to collect lots of pin-ups.

Lifelike Decals of Japan have recently issued four sheets of decals covering various B-25s. I chose to review part 3 of this group because I had a Hasegawa B-25J in my stash that I wanted to add to my collection.

This sheet contains markings for four interesting B-25s. They are;

Book Author(s)
William J. Simone
Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Ginter Books
MSRP
$39.95

The years following WW II were an era of great advancement in the aircraft industry. Lessons learned from the war, information obtained from the Germans and the advent of the jet engine combined to greatly accelerate development of the industry. During this time, the US Air Material Command issued requests for proposals related to a Penetration Fighter, an All-Weather Fighter and an Interceptor Fighter. Lockheed worked to develop a submission for the Penetration Fighter contract. Their aircraft from the Skunk Works at Lockheed was designated the XF-90.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Zoukei-Mura
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$140.00

In Part 2 of my build of Zoukei-Mura’s HS-129B-2, we got the wings and horizontal stabs on and prepped the kit for paint. I primed the plane and checked for flaws and (not surprisingly) there were several. I had to work on the cannon doors and a little bottom seam work. A quick sanding another round of primer and I wanted to give the instructions a last go over. Reviewing the detailed instructions, I see a few parts I needed to add- the flaps and ailerons. I added those and moved on to paint.

For the color scheme, there are markings provided for one plane:

Book Author(s)
David Francois Illustrators: David Bocquelet; Tom Cooper; Anderson Subtil
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

David Francois, from France, earned his PhD in Contemporary History at the University of Burgundy and specialized in studying militant communism, its military history and relationship between politics and violence in contemporary history. In 2009, he co-authored the Guide des archives de l’Internationale communiste published by the French National Archives and the Maison des sciences de l’Homme in Dijon. He is regularly contributing articles for various French military history magazines and regular contributor to the French history website L’autre côté de la colline.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Mission Models
MSRP
$5.75

Mission Models Paint (MMP) has released some new metallic colors to add to their acrylic paint range. The colors reviewed with this release include.

MMP paints include the following:

  • Gun Metal MMM-010
  • Brass MMC-002
  • Gold MMC-003

Mission Models also provided Gloss White Base MMGWB-002, Grey Primer MMS-003, and MMS-007 Clear Primer. The Gloss White Base can be used as an alternative to Gloss Black Base under metallic colors to provide a lighter shade of the finish paint. Mission Models Clear is an interesting primer that can be tinted to match finish paints for a more uniform color coat. Blaine Singleton has provided a nice review of MMP’s clear primer.