If you know me, you know that one of my all-time favorite aircraft is the P-38 Lightning. Flown by America’s top two scoring aces and used in the famous mission to get Yamamoto (also a good book) the Fork-tailed Devil has always been high on my list and I have built numerous kits over the years.

This Legends of Warfare book continues the formula of a 9” by 9” hardback book with 112 pages with photos big enough to show details.

The Legends format is used with an introductory chapter followed by a chapter on each version. These cover the XP-38, YP-38, P-38, P-322 an export version, D, E, the F-4 photo reconnaissance version, F, G, F-5A and H. The later models will be covered in Volume 2.

The LEGENDS OF WARFARE series of books are very nice. They are 9" by 9" hardback books that cover aircraft, armored vehicles and ships in 112 pages filled mainly with good sized photos.

While the B-52 was named the Stratofortress pretty much everyone calls it the BUFF or Big Ugly Fat Fellow (cough). Ok, maybe that last F stands for something else but this is going on a family friendly website.

This book follows the normal Legends format with an introductory chapter followed by a chapter on each version. They are the XB-52. YB-52, B-52A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. A couple of the A models and a B model were modified and used by NASA to drop different projects with the most famous probably being the X-15. While developed for the Cold War the B-52 thankfully never dropped an atomic bomb in anger. Instead it was used to drop iron bombs during the Vietnam War and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The German Panzer V Panther, next to the Tiger, is probably one of the most popular and recognizable tanks of World War II. Academy has released the G version of this iconic tank in an all new tooled kit. This version is from very late in the war, about January to April 1945 timeframe. Inside the large box is five bags of sprues, two instruction sheets and a small bag of decals and photo etched sheet. The F sprue is attached to the C sprue. There are four sprues of link and length tracks and four of the D sprues which is mainly road wheels. I like that the sprue letters are molded as cut outs, not the raised letters as usually. This makes it much easier to find and read these letters. Eight clear poly caps are included, but only two used. The decals sheet is three turret number options and four German crosses. The photo etched is engine screens and bolt heads. The instruction sheets are quad folding, with 16 assembly steps and eight painting/decal options.