Ian White was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1947 and educated at secondary schools in Rotherham and later in Ilford, Essex. He joined the Post Office Engineering Department in August 1963 as an apprentice and later served as a technician in the City of London. In 1973, on promotion to engineer, he was appointed to the Post Office’s Air Defense Group in London to provide landline and ground to air communications for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the UK, Germany and Cyprus. In April 1984 he joined the Company’s Defense Sales Organization as a Senior Systems Engineer and later as an engineering manager. The final three years were spent as a liaison officer within the defense and law enforcement community. Ian retired in May 2000, following which he attended Anglia Polytechnic University (now Anglia Ruskin University), Cambridge, as an undergraduate history student. In 2003 he was awarded an honours degree in Modern European History.

Masterpiece Models has provided a useful tool – a 1/35 scale ruler. This is one of a series that also includes 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 scale. These cover all the major model kit scales. They are made from acrylic sheet, 6 inches long, 1/16^th thick, and laser engraved.

This is a very useful tool when modelling and can be used for checking part are too scale, for scratch building kit parts, and diorama parts.

The ruler is clear which also makes it easier to use and see what your measuring.

I will now source the other rulers in the series as I can see so many uses for these.

Thanks go to Masterpiece Models for providing this tool for review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.

This book is not your typical historical account toting statistics, data charts, and emotionally detached accounts of RAF Bomber Command operations. I admit there is nothing wrong with those types of books- they have their place, and I have enjoyed them in the past when researching and educating myself for a build or idea. This is a narrative that is based on letters between a young, hopeful RAF turret gunner named Joseph ‘Mac’ Thompson and his family- mainly letters home to his mum. The book is written by his niece, Helen Thompson.