Book Author(s)
Jan Forsgren
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
April 27, 2011
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$59.00

Hardback, 128 Pages, 8 ½ x 11”, Plus 8 16” x 23” poster sized double sides sheets showing profile drawings in 1/48 and 1/72 scale in separate packet, labeled “not to be sold separately”

This book answers a couple of often asked questions (1) what happened to the battled damaged USAAF B-17’s and crews that diverted to Sweden rather than accepting the hospitality of the Luftwaffe?, and (2) how were these planes acquired by the Swedes and used after the war? This is a fascinating story that answers a lot of questions, but still leaves a few open, such as “Why did the Swedes use B-17’s when the B-24 and C-87’s would have been a better choice for their purposes?”

Book Author(s)
Andrzej Morgała
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
April 27, 2011
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$23.00

The Book

It is refreshing to see a publication written on a topic that has never been treated in an historical context before, and this book certainly fits that description. After World War II, the United States Army Air Forces had thousands of airplanes in its custody throughout Western Europe, and while many were scrapped on the spot, or in the case of heavy bombers, flown back to the US, some were disposed of a surplus to various buyers.

Book Author(s)
Gerard Bousquet
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
April 27, 2011
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$23.00

This book is the first of a series on French aircraft, and follows the excellent format developed by this publisher’s Polish Wings series of books on Polish aircraft. Since Azur produces kit of the Latecoere 298 in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales, this book will serve as a good reference for these aircraft. An 8 ½ x 11” paperback consisting of 80 pages, this book tells the development and service history of the two major French Navy torpedo bombers of the 1930’s. Strangely, the Latecoere 298 is covered before its predecessor, the 290 is described, and to get things into perspective, I began reading about the earlier type, then progressing to its replacement at the beginning of the text, as I wanted to read the story in sequence.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
April 26, 2011
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$47.95

Layout of the Sprues:

  1. Sprue A - Cruciform base and extension legs
  2. Sprue A4 – Cruciform base top
  3. Sprue B – Parts for Travel carriages and bits for Cruciform base
  4. Sprue C x 2 – Parts for Travel carriages and bits for Cruciform base
  5. Sprue D – Shield and base parts of the Gun
  6. Sprue E – Plastic barrel and small parts of the gun
  7. Sprue WA – Shells and shell casings
  8. Photo Etch A – Shield
  9. Photo Etch B – More shield parts and ready round box
  10. Photo Etch C – Shell base
  11. Other Parts – Metal Barrel, metal tube, Rubber tires

Steps 1, 2, & 3 – Building of the Cruciform base

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
April 26, 2011
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$34.95

Sprues

  • A – This sprue contains the barrel, shield, and gun cradle
  • B – This sprue contains the ammo and ammo crates
  • C x 2 – Tires
  • E – This spure contains the tubular ammo cases
  • G – This sprue contains parts for the gun, shield, gun cradle and a lot of unused parts from Kit 35045
  • H x 2 – This has the wheel and hand wheels
  • N – This has the trails and associated bits
  • P – Photo Etched parts

This kit is a representation of the rebuild of a captured Soviet Divisional Gun. The anti-tank performance of the F-22 divisional gun was inferior to the 7.5cm PaK40. However, the Germans had captured over 500 of these guns and made use of them.