This subject needs no introduction or prolonged history so I’ll skip it. The kit has been around for a few years in various versions, this time as the short nosed F-4J of the U.S. Navy’s VF 102 aka the “Diamondbacks”. Having read a lot of great things about this kit I had high expectations and they were all realized when I opened the box. There’s a whole lot of plastic in there and it’s done to the highest standards. Most important is the one piece upper fuselage that eliminates the tricky gap you’d have otherwise. In fact a closer examination shows that most of the major joint lines fall in places that exist on the real thing making the builders job one of aligning the parts and gluing them. You get a full complement of missiles, iron bombs and drop tanks. The only negative out of the box are some faint mold seams on the canopy parts. Add to that a massive decal sheet with every (and I mean every!) stencil carried on this Navy bird, and you have a complete package.

Here is another great addition to Pen & Sword’s Images of War series. In the past, the series had focused on specific battles and campaigns. The shift to specific vehicles is a welcome shift and this book does not let down one’s expectations.

The book starts out by pointing out the evolution from the M113, the original evolution from the M113, the original armored personnel carrier to the Bradley, named after the famous and well-loved general from WWII, Omar Bradley. The manufacturer of the M113, FMC, developed two vehicles- the XM765 and the XM763 which would eventually morph into the M2/M3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. The new vehicle began its service in 1981 and variants continue to serve to this day. A total of 2,300 M2s and M3s were eventually produced. Text is in English and there are over 300 color photos in the book, many of which are previously unpublished, as well as tables with, as well as tables with general data and engine data.