Allan Murrell
Reviews By Author
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The Hawker Typhoon - Including the Hawker TornadoPublished:
This is the third edition of the 2nd book in the Airframe and Miniature Series. This book covers the Hawker Typhoon and its predecessor the Hawker Tornado. This series of books covers the development of the Aircraft, detailed walk around pictures, profiles and covers model kits and accessories to build them. I found this book a fountain of information and rare pictures of the development of the Hawker Typhoon. The Profile pictures are a particular favorite and awesome source for modeling. The chapters on the different model builds and kits are of great interest and will provide a good resource when modeling these two tanks. I was impressed at the amount of information and history found in the pages of this extremely enjoyable book. The pictures along are worth… more |
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A Photographic History of Airborne Warfare 1939 - 1945Published:
The book is interesting and often ignore subject as to the history of Airborne troops in World War II. It delves into great detail of the development, service, full history from the formation to the Airborne units and battles with text and a great many photographs. The book's chapters are:
The book covers most of the Airborne operations and units for all sides on WWII. The photographs are great and cover a lot of areas and campaigns of the war.… more |
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Royal Marine OfficerPublished:
ICM has released kit of a British Royal Marine Office in their 1/16 figure series. The Royal Marine is in the standard parade uniform with sword. In the box is;
ConstructionThe construction of the figure is very easy, and they assemble very well. You do need to do a little filling here and there during the assembly. The base is a nice touch and has optional ground finishes to choose from. Painting was easy, although I did not use all the reference colors as shown on in the instructions. I did use all Tamiya paints on the figure. I really enjoyed building these and they look great as a team… more |
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Doodlebug TexacoPublished:
Hauler has provided another addition to the great small scale releases from Brengun with this Texaco Doodlebug (also known as Diamond T Doodlebug). This was a streamlined American tanker truck of the 1930’s. They were part of a project to modernize the Texaco brand at the time. The detail quality is great; there is a lot of easily removable flash and no other noticeable imperfections. The parts once removed from the mold base are ready to assembly. The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal while adding to the assembly. The Assembly is quick and easy. Please be careful cutting the parts. I did have a little damage to the truck interior with the steering column broken but that was a simple fix. The final part is painted as shown in the box and… more |
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Images of War – Schnellbootwaffe – Adolf Hitler’s Guerrilla War at sea: S-Boote 1939-45Published:
The book is another in the great Images of War series. This book covers the history and actions of the German SchnellbootWaffe units though out the second world war. The book really is about the development of the use of the SchnellerBootwaffe on its various forms and the operations it carried out. Also, the British forces actions and defenses against the units. The Chapters are
The images in the book are excellent… more |
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15 cm sIG 33 Schweres Infanteriegeschutz 33 – Camera OnPublished:
This is a thin book with only 72 pages but they are very high quality pictures of the German World War two Heavy Infantry Gun. This was the largest gun that as classified as an Infantry Gun. They were mainly horse drawn during the early part of the war. I found this book fascinating and will be return to this book just to review the awesome photos which cover the gun in operation, at rest and in motion. I recommend this book to everyone who likes artillery and military equipment. Thanks go to Casemate Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them |
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Russian Heavy Tank KV-2Published:
Tamiya has produced a new KV-2 kit based on the new tooled KV-1 from a couple of years ago with new tooled KV-2 Turret. In the box is:
The kit consists of 7 main sprues, the sprues are extremely well molded with great detail; the decals allow you to finish the tank with 2 markings to choose from. ConstructionFirst is the construction of the lower hull, suspension and road wheels etc. These are stages 1 through 10. The build, as with all Tamiya kits, is seamless and no issues. All the parts go together extremely well Stage 11 is… more |
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Kagero Top Drawing 1173 The Messerschmitt Me 163 KometPublished:
The book provides great detail drawings of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. This was the first Rocket powered fighter used by German Air Force in WWII. I found the drawings in this book to be fascinating and very detailed, ideal for any modeler as reference materials. Along with the many outline drawings (in 1/48 & 1/72 scales in the main pages) there is also very nice profile drawings. There are loose scale drawings in 1/32 scale. The drawings cover many versions of the aircraft. I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in the armor and a must for modelers. Thanks go to Casemate Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them |
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PACV Hovercraft (U.S. Army)Published:
Croco Models from Latvia produces some very interesting and unusual kits and this one is another great additional to their line up. The Kit is resin Included is:
The resin casing detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resin bases. Some arrived broken so I would suggest improving the packaging.The instructions need a lot of experience to work with to get a great model as they are not very clear. The assembly is good but needs a lot of patience, pre-fitting and time to the build going together correctly. There were a few gaps that needed filling. The PE sheet has some parts that are not… more |
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The Steam Engines of World War II in EuropePublished:
This book covers the steam trains used during World War II. The train was am very important tool during the war to move equipment, men, supplies critical to the war efforts on all sides bit Axis and Allied. The book shows the evolution of the different most popular trains used by Germany, Britain, and America. The book goes into incredible detail on the steam engines including where they were used. Also, it shows where examples are currently persevered. The images are a great reference for anyone interested trains. The chapter three about the development of the British steam engines was my personal favorite and the images are awesome. At the back of the book is a great series of tables with all the train reference numbers and details which a lot of information… more |