This publication can be purchased in one of three formats. The paperback edition (9781472827678) retails at $20.00. Both the eBook (ePub) (9781472827661) and eBook (PDF) (9781472827654) can be purchased for $16.00.

Written by David Greentree, Illustrated by Peter Dennis and Mark Stacy.

David Greentree graduated in History at York before taking an MA in War Studies from King's College London and qualifying as a lecturer in Further Education. In 1995 he accepted a commission in the Royal Air Force and has served in a variety of locations, including Afghanistan and Oman. He has written several books for Osprey, focusing on British military history and World War II. He lives in Southsea, UK.

Mark Stacey was born in Manchester in 1964 and has been a freelance illustrator since 1987. He has a lifelong interest in all periods of history, particularly military history, and has specialized in this area throughout his career. He now lives and works in Cornwall, UK.

The Aircraft

The B-52 has been in service since 1955. Which means that in about 2 years they should start sending them Social Security checks. Because there are still 58 B-52s in service, the type may still participate in combat again. It’s expected the BUFF will still be in service in 2050.

The aircraft in this kit are the types used in the 1960s and 70s in Vietnam, for Operation Rolling Thunder, Operation Arc Light and Operation Linebacker II. 31 B-52s were lost in the war, 17 shot down, one written off due to combat damage, 11 lost to accidents, one burned at the airport and one ran off the end of the runway and ran into a minefield.

This set is designed to fit Trumpeter’s new Su-34 kit. The set consists of 9 parts, a nose gear with a separate lower axle, two main gear legs, two part scissors links for each main gear, and retraction struts for each leg. The castings are nicely done and require just a little clean up on the casting seams. I cleaned the seams up using a Xacto knife and sandpaper. I then used a brass wire wheel in my battery operated Dremel tool at slow speed to polish up the struts and finish smoothing out the casting seams.

In order to assemble the nose strut I had to drill out the end of the axle part as it was partially filled in during the casting process. Before assembling the two parts, double check their orientation with the kit instructions to ensure they are correctly oriented.