The Allied Neutralization of Rabaul - Japan’s Major South Pacific Base

Published: January 20, 2025
Book Author(s): Jon Diamond
Company: Pen & Sword

I am an unabashed fan of the Images of War book series and enjoy author Jon Diamond’s writing style. Having read many of his books before, particularly his books on Burma Victory 1944-1945 and the Allied Victory Over Japan 1945, this book fills a huge void in the South Pacific War and its larger part in the Allied operations to defeat the Imperial Japanese… more

WW2 Vehicles - Through the Lens, Volume 4

Published: January 19, 2025
Book Author(s): Jon Feenstra
Company: Peko Publishing

This landscaped, hardback book is the fourth in a new series of books by renowned and prolific photograph collector and author Jon Feenstra, published through PeKo Publishing of Hungary. This volume continues its proven formula of amazing photographs, many previously unpublished, of armored and soft skin vehicles in depots, in the field and post combat. Each page reveals more surprises than the previous. Previous editions of this great series have been reviewed:

The first volume in this series was reviewed here at WW2 Vehicles Through the Lens Vol.… more

The Soviet Battle for Berlin, 1945

Published: January 19, 2025
Book Author(s): Ian Baxter
Company: Casemate Publishers

The Battle for Berlin was the cumulative battle in the European theater in World War II. Three massive Russian Fronts aligned from north to south (Second Belorussian, First Belorussian and First Ukrainian Fronts) had battered two German Army Groups (Vistula and Center) and the three armies (Third and Fourth Panzer Army and Ninth Army) westward from October 1944 to mid-April 1945 to set the stage for the final onslaught and bloody Battle for Berlin.

Author Ian Baxter has once again provided a succinct, well researched and presented book on a complicated and seminal campaign.Using period photographs, illustrated pages, tables and immaculate references, this book provides the reader with the harrowing and horrifying last months and days of the Third Reich.

The Soviet Battle… more

German 2 cm Flak 38 with Crew

Published: January 15, 2025
Company: ICM

From the ICM website

At the beginning of World War II, the German Army’s anti-aircraft defense relied on specialized motorized companies, each equipped with 12 automatic anti-aircraft guns. However, as the Luftwaffe lost air superiority, the need to protect units from enemy attack aircraft and fighter-bombers intensified. Many Wehrmacht combat formations began incorporating anti-aircraft units armed with heavy 88-mm guns, complemented by 20-mm automatic cannons—the 2 cm Flak 38. The 2 cm Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun entered service in the second half of 1940, deployed to both Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe ground units. Over time, these small-caliber anti-aircraft guns grew in number, becoming the… more

Model Dioramas Handbook

Published: January 8, 2025
Book Author(s): Mat Irvine
Company: Crecy Publishing, Ltd.

This is a good introduction book to the world of dioramas by author Mat Irvine. His English roots are evident throughout this amazing book, and it is great to see his perspective across multiple genres of modelling, and not just fixated on one sub-genre. While some want dioramas for a specific style, this book does a great job of covering dioramas from basic to movie sets and museum displays. I also appreciate the author’s Dedication page to Andrew Yanchus before the table of contents. Andy worked for Aurora, a “colorist” for Marvel Comics, and as an advisor for the newly formed Atlantis Model Company. He was a friend of author Mat Irvine for almost 50 years and was a “highly knowledgeable historian on all matters to do with model-making, and I still often think, when tackling a… more

Panzerwaffe Steel Cats - Panther and King Tiger Ausf B

Published: January 2, 2025
Company: ICM

ICM has done it again with a great combination kit with two iconic German tanks. This boxing Panzerwaffe Steel Cats - Panther and King Tiger Ausf B (DS3524) has two complete kits. From the ICM web-page for this boxed set:

Panzerwaffe Steel Cats

Before the start of World War II, the tank forces of the Third Reich (Panzerwaffe) were mainly equipped with light and medium tanks. The results of battles on the Eastern Front in 1941 showed that to successfully counter Soviet tanks, new types of armored vehicles with powerful guns and thick armor were needed. At the beginning of 1943, production of the PzKpfw V Panther tank with a 75-mm long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK42 L/70 gun began. The weight of this tank, depending on the modification, ranged from 43 to 45.5 tons. This… more

Cold War Berlin: An Island City, Volume 4: US Forces in Berlin - Preparing for War 1945-1994

Published: December 10, 2024
Book Author(s): Author: Andrew Long, Illustrators: Pablo Patricio Albornoz (cover), George Anderson (maps), David Boquelet (color profiles), Roland Brandauer (images), Luca Canossa (color profiles), Tom Cooper (color profiles), Renato Dalmaso (illustrations)
Company: Helion & Company

This is the fourth volume in the Cold War Berlin series. The previous three volumes previously reviewed are here (and are worth it for the reviewers personal ties to Berlin):

• Cold War Berlin: An Island City Volume 1: The Birth of the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift 1945 – 1950, review by Will Kuhrt
• … more

Into the Endless Mist, Volume 2 - The Aleutian Campaign, September 1942-March 1943

Published: December 5, 2024
Book Author(s): Michał A. Piegzik
Company: Helion & Company

This is the second volume of Into the Endless Mist, The Aleutian Campaign. The first volume, Into the Endless Mist Volume 1: The Aleutian Campaign, June-August 1942, was reviewed previously. This book picks up right where the first volume left off. While good, a map of the Aleutians theater of operations present in Volume 1, would have benefitted from being included in this volume. A good introduction to this book is summarized by a letter from General Marshall to Private Allen, dated 17 December… more

Infantry Weapons and Chevrons, Armed Forces of Ukraine

Published: November 24, 2024
Company: ICM

This kit comes with nine sprues of weapons (two each are duplicates):

• Three for the Maxim machine gun (Kit No. 35676 – Soviet Maxim Machine Gun (1941), Sprues A, B and C)
• Two duplicate sprues for the FPV Drones (Kit No. 35749 – “War Has No Gender”- Servicewomen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine). Previously reviewed here.
• A new release weapons sprue (W1 – not marked on the sprue containing two AK-74s, two FN FAL 50.61s, Sniper Rifle UAR-10, two UAR-15s, FIM-92 Stinger, RPG-7 with… more

US Air Power 1945-1990, Volume 1 - US Fighters and Fighter-Bombers, 1945-1949

Published: November 18, 2024
Book Author(s): David Baker
Company: Helion & Company

From author David Baker’s Preface,

This is the first in a series of 15 volumes covering the story of US land-based and naval air power during the Cold War between 1945 and 1990. The series is divided into five separate chronological periods, each with three dedicated volumes subjectively aligned with significant developments in the history of American combat aircraft and US air power.

The intention is to provide a broad, spectral analysis of the origin, design, development and evolution of US Air Force combat aircraft as well as the political, industrial, design and manufacturing base from which they, and their variants, were developed. The volumes provided for each period, covering fighters and bombers, together present a story of US military air power.

… more