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Book Author(s)
Bert Kinzey & Rock Roszak
Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
December 16, 2023
Company
Detail & Scale, Inc.
MSRP
$21.99

Detail & Scale’s original volume on the B-24 Liberator and its variants was published in 2000. Since the first volume was published, more information regarding the B-24 and its variants has become available and more photographs of the B-24 in service have surfaced. In addition, the authors were granted access to the interiors of the B-24D preserved at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and the PB4Y-2 Privateer preserved at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, to take reference photographs.

The book is primarily a visual reference book, so there is just a brief overview of the B-24 and its many users around the word. The history section includes a nice table explaining the two letter suffixes used to designate where a particular aircraft was built. As explained later in the book, the suffixes can be very useful in narrowing down some of the details of a particular aircraft due production differences between the various manufacturers/plants.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
December 15, 2023
Company
ICM
Scale
n/a
MSRP
$12.99

ICM is a hobby company based out of Ukraine. They have provided IPMS-USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review.

In the Box

The paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. The following colors are provided:

  • Gun Metal (1027)
  • Deep Brown (1008)
  • US Dark Green (1072)
  • Buff (1041)
  • Black (1002)
  • 4BO Green (1073)

Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint takes up about 70% of the bottle and has “room” to add thinner if so desired.

Book Author(s)
Susan Bulanda
Review Author
Tim Hortman
Published on
December 15, 2023
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$28.95

One of the newest titles in the Casemate Illustrated Series is Military Dogs of World War II by Susan Bulanda

The book starts with an introduction on dogs in the military and their military roles as Ambulance, Communication, Draft/Sled, Sentry, Mine-Detection, and Messenger Dogs.

The second chapter covers Dogs in the United States Military, and the third chapter covers Great Britain and the Commonwealth. Smaller chapters follow covering the USSR, and the Axis, and a chapter titled Going Home. A nice list of Sources gives the reader a place to look for more detailed information and further reading. The book concludes with a good Index to quickly find relevant information for reference.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
December 15, 2023
Company
ICM
Scale
n/a
MSRP
$10.99

Brief History - from Wikipedia

The first Kozak vehicle (also known as Kozak-1) first appeared on August 24, 2009 at the Independence Day of Ukraine military parade in Kyiv. Only two vehicles were manufactured prior to March 2014.

The third vehicle (also known as "Kozak-2014") was built in November 2014 and was intended to be a proof of concept to address a growing requirement for a mobile MRAP. In March 2015 the vehicle was armed with the NSV machine gun.

Another variant, the Kozak-2, was built in 2015 and armed with an anti-tank guided missile system. In May 2015 the vehicle appeared at the 169th Training Centre.

Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
December 14, 2023
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$71.99

The EA-18G Growler was designed to replace the US Navy’s outdated Grumman EA-6B Prowler. It was derived from the tandem seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. The Australian RAAF operates these aircraft and I chose to model A46-06, celebrating the 6th Squadron’s 100 year Anniversary, based at Amberly Airbase, in 2017.

This kit was packed in Italeri’s standard sized, sturdy box, with the grey parts sprues protected in clear plastic bags. An instruction booklet and decals by Cartograf were in the bottom of the box.

Construction started in the cockpit and ejection seats. The detail was quite basic and the instrument panels and side consoles were finished with decals provided on the decal sheet. I wanted to do the RAAF 100 Year Anniversary scheme and intended for the canopy to remain closed. My only addition to the cockpit was a set of Eduard photo etch seat belts for both seats.