I would like to thank Specialty Press for submitting this book for review and thank IPMS/USA for allowing me to do the review.

In the 1950s and 1960s I grew up less than a mile from the end of Dobbin Air Reserve Base runway 11. Dobbins has always shared its runway, control tower, weather and rescue services with Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company. My younger days were filled with watching planes come and go. I was there in a manner of speaking when the C-130 first came to life. Years later I was employed by Lockheed and worked in the engineering department of several aircraft including the C-130. I was very pleased to receive this book for review.

The British developed and employed the first full-tracked armored fighting vehicle and continued to improve the design throughout the First World War. The result was the Mark V tank in 1918.

This book, number 178 in the New Vanguard series published by Osprey Publishing, describes the development of the Mark V and Mark V* tanks from the earlier Mark IV, crew duties, combat deployment, and further improvements at the Christchurch development center. The text provides a pretty inclusive discussion of the development of the Mark V and its larger siblings the Mark V* and V**. The discussion of combat operations is basic but does give an idea of the improvement of the faster Mark V over earlier models.

Trumpeter’s lastest 109 is the Bf-109F-4, it is nice but has some issues besides depicting a G-2 more than an F-4 version. One of those things that really needs to be addressed is the propeller. Quickboost offers three perfectly formed light grey resin propellers that are perfectly formed and blemish free. Replacement of the kit part is quite easy just remove these blades and substitute the kit ones.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hoddy Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.