IPMS Number
39182

Reviews By Author

Box Art

Fiat CR 42 Falco

Published: April 22, 2021
Company: Italeri

The Battle of Britain (BOB) brings to mind Spitfires and Hurricanes in swirling dogfights with the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt's, Dornier's and Heinkel's in the summer skies over England in 1940. One of the lesser-known participants in the battle was the Regia Aeronautica (RA) or the Italian Air Force. In fact, the RA had participated in the invasion of France providing escort to bombing forces… more

Cover

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe, Heinkel He 162

Published: March 22, 2021
Book Author(s): Dan Sharp
Company: Tempest Books

This book takes an in-depth look at the development, selection, and early flight tests of the Volksjager (people's fighter) concept or what became known as the He 162. In the waning years of WWII, the Luftwaffe was desperate for a point defense fighter that could be produced in great numbers with a minimum of strategic materials. Although Germany had a jet fighter in the form of the Me 262, it… more

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Mercedes-Benz 600S

Published: March 7, 2021
Company: Italeri

The S class cars from Mercedes have always been the luxury flagships of the company's line and the 600S is the king among them. Although not particularly appealing, at least to my eye, these cars feature state of the art technology including self-driving capability and absolute luxury in every interior detail. Near as I can tell this model represents the 2000 model year but Mercedes have… more

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1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Published: March 4, 2021
Company: Round 2 Models

Named after an 18th century winning racehorse, the Mitsubishi Eclipse was a compact two door car with a design meant to appeal to younger buyers. When coupled with a four-cylinder engine capable of up to 210 hp, the car found success and its production ran from 1990 to 2014. During that time, over 900,000 units were produced and the power maxed out at 265hp. This history alone would… more

Product Picture

Avions De Combat De L’OTAN Depuis 1949 (Combat Aircraft of NATO since 1949)

Published: March 1, 2021
Book Author(s): Gerard Paloque
Company: Casemate UK

Ok, I know what you’re thinking this book is written in French so why would I be interested? Let me assure you any aircraft modeler interested in NATO aircraft from 1949 to the present is going to find this tome a veritable cornucopia of modeling inspiration! Inside you will find an incredible selection of every type of aircraft used by NATO. The author takes you through 21 countries in… more

Book Cover

Single No 23 NAA P-51B-1-NA Mustang

Published: January 25, 2021
Book Author(s): Dariusz Karnas, Zbigniew Kolacha
Company: Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books

Like many of us modelers, I simply never get tired of anything related to the iconic P-51 Mustang. In this volume of the MMP “Single” series, the authors focus on the Bravo model of the Mustang.

Having never seen an example of this book series, I was a bit surprised at first glance. Unlike other publications that cover the development of the type, this book launches right into the… more

Product

F-5F Tiger II Cockpit Set

Published: December 21, 2020
Company: Aires Hobby Models

This set was incorporated into my build of the AFV F5-F ROC Aggressor (Kit #AR48S07) presented in a separate review. While the base kit is nicely done, it is lacking a few details that need to be addressed to produce a finished model. Most notably, there are no seat harnesses on an aircraft with a lot of canopy to see them through. As it turns out, there are a few options, you can get resin… more

Box Art

F-5F ROC Aggressor

Published: December 21, 2020
Company: AFV Club

History

Built at a time when US fighter aircraft were getting more complex and expensive, the Northrop Grumman company decided to go against the grain and build a lightweight fighter based on their successful T-38 Talon design. The first F-5 Freedom Fighter flew on July 30, 1959. It proved to be a very nimble and adaptable aircraft but it was never widely adopted by the USAF. It did… more

Product Picture

P-51D Exhaust

Published: November 8, 2020
Company: Quickboost

By now many of us have delved into the Airfix new tool 1/48 P-51 Mustang series. In spite of what are awesome kits out of the box, Quickboost has found an area the kit could use an upgrade. This consists of a drop-in replacement for the kit exhaust parts. The Mustang came with two variations of the exhaust pipes. This detail set provides the unshrouded type that were visible back inside the… more

Product Picture

Miles M-65 Gemini

Published: May 23, 2020
Company: Croco Models

Yet another beautiful kit from Leonid Shilin and Konstantin Nikolaychuk aka, Croco models. This is the third kit I’ve reviewed from these gentlemen and they continue to produce subjects the big companies never will. This time around we get a fantastic replica of the Miles M-65 Gemini, a light twin with some novel design features I’ll get into later. The Miles aircraft company started in the… more