I was excited to review a Pen & Sword book on allied forces during the Blitzkrieg, thinking it would be part of the amazing Images of War series.

When I received "Allied Forces in Blitzkrieg Europe, 1939–1940; British, French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish Forces", I was a little surprised to find out that it is part of their Painting Wargaming Figures series. Author Andy Singleton gives a brief overview of the allied forces, then delves into painting the figures of the five major allied armies facing the German blitzkrieg. Since I want to become a (much) better figure painter, this book really spoke to me.

This is a PDF book that describes how to build a scratchbuilt a 1/64 scale Five Bay Vehicle shed. The book is divided into 18 sections and starts with an Introduction, followed by a detailed way of building the shed. The author shows the builder how to get started, basic tools and then follows a detailed description of how to build the structure. He starts at the foundation of the building followed with cutting the pipes, adding substance to the floor of the building and step by step how to cut and install te beams and walls. In addition he talks about the vehicles he added to the building and ends with the construction of the structure and how to install the rafters and roof, as well as the finishing touches. The last four sections are divided by a small history and benefits of joining IPMS/USA, as well as a short bio of the author. The author ends the book with a roster of the guides he has created, as well as a small request for the "wants and needs" that the reader may want.

"Scale Aircraft Modelling", or SAM as it is affectionately known, is well known to aircraft modelers around the world. I had not seen a copy since our local Barnes and Noble closed. The magazine has really done well under Gary Hatcher’s leadership. This issue is packed full of useful information and interesting articles. Aside from the usual sections of new kits, accessories and books coming out, the reader is presented with then articles.

One article that stood out to me is about Jon Tabinour’s AMX in a commemorative WWII Italian scheme. This aircraft has a truly intricate paint scheme and his technique for replicating it, while exhaustively time consuming, has yielded outstanding results! To replicate the intricate and dense squiggle pattern, he used Winsor Newton ‘Promarker’ brush pens to individually lay down each squiggle!