The origin of Pen & Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers, established in 1858, and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following of a series of articles published in the newspaper: Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of those books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guidebooks. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful, and the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group.
Welcome to the IPMS/USA Reviews site!
Introduction: The primary organization of the IPMS/USA Review website is by IPMS/USA National Contest Class. Within each Class there are sub-menus by kits, decals, books, etc. The Miscellaneous Class is for items that are not class specific or that cross two or more classes.
IPMS/USA Members: We encourage you to submit reviews, both here and to the Journal. To volunteer for membership in the IPMS/USA "Reviewers Corps" and submit your own reviews, please read the Guidelines For Submitting Product Reviews.
Manufacturers, publishers, and other industry members: IPMS/USA is pleased to offer your company the opportunity for product reviews. All product reviews are performed by IPMS/USA members, and are posted in the publicly-accessible section of our website. With very few exceptions, we perform full build reviews of new kit releases, aftermarket products, and supplies. If you would care to provide product samples for review, please contact John Noack, IPMS/USA 1st VP.
To learn more about IPMS/USA, please see our About Us page.
OKB Grigorov is a Bulgarian company producing resin after-market bits, full kits, and accessory items. Some of their most recent releases are some 1/35th scale weapons sets. These include The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle (35037), the M79 Grenade launcher (35005), a 30K Panzerfaust (35009), and the M16A1 assault rifle with M203 grenade launcher ( 35035).
The weapons sets appear to be 3D printed and are made from dark grey resin. The detail is excellent, with a plethora of detail for each specific weapon. They are packaged in clear, poly-vinyl zip bags, with eight examples for both the Garand and the M16A1. The 30K Panzerfaust has fourteen weapons, and the M79 grenade launcher has ten weapons in the bag.
At dawn on 22 June 1941, German forces launched an attack along a vast front stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains against their ‘best ally’ – Stalinist Russia. The element of surprise, combined with the concentration of powerful formations, primarily consisting of armored and motorized units supported by the air force, allowed the Germans to penetrate deep into Soviet territory.
Barbarossa Victims, Luftwaffe Kills in the East, Vol. 1 is No.34 in the MMP Books/Stratus “Camera On” series of photo albums from the German perspective, typically focusing on weapon systems and vehicles. The beauty of these books are the photos taken by German soldiers during their wartime service. Typically, the “Camera On” series is written by Alan Ranger. This is the first by Tomasz J. Kopański, and he carries the series well.
From ICM
The 2 cm Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun began entering service with the Wehrmacht in the second half of 1940. With its reliable design and high rate of fire (up to 480 rounds per minute), it was an effective means of close-range air defense in the Wehrmacht, and its production continued until the end of World War II. In addition to targeting aircraft, the gun could also be used against lightly armored targets. To increase mobility, anti-aircraft guns were often mounted on various vehicles, both wheeled and semi-tracked. One such vehicle was the semi-tracked version of the widely used Wehrmacht truck, the V3000S, which was designated as Sd.Kfz.3b (also known as the V3000S/SSM). The anti-aircraft guns were mounted in the vehicle’s bed and could be placed either on special platforms or without them. For firing, the sides of the vehicle’s body were either folded down or completely removed.
First, the usual “thank you greatly” to SAC for providing this set to IPMS USA. We appreciate the continual, long-term support from this manufacturer, and it’s always a good day when a package arrives from SAC HQ.
This metal gear is exactly what SAC says it is; an improved version of the kit gear. From their website: “The Trumpeter main gear is too long. Our set corrects this problem. Also, we recommend the modeler purchase a set of ResKit wheels because they have much better detail and they lower the model by an additional 1 mm”.
Out of the box, the kit has two different landing gear options; Plastic gear parts for a standard build, incorporating brake lines and other details, (which will begin to fail over time), and a cast- steel copy of the plastic gear without the brake lines. These lines are provided for by black vinyl add-ons in a bag containing the vinyl/rubber tires for the basic kit.