FAC & BS Bomber Oscar Deuce USAF/VNAF O-2A/O-2B Skymaster in the Vietnam War

Published: July 26, 2023
Company: AOA Decals

We’ve had the Testors O-2A Skymaster for many years but with the release of the ICM O-2A we get a modern tooled version of this aircraft.

Inside of an 8.5 x 11 ziplock baggie are three pages of double-sided, high quality paper instructions printed in full color. The instructions are full of useful information including loadouts and color callouts. There are 11 USAF/VNAF O-2As and three O-2Bs. The colors range from all black, to grey and white to camouflaged O-2Bs. Included in the decals and instructions are markings for three O-2B aircraft, straight off the shelf Cessnas fitted with loudspeakers and leaflets. True there isn’t a kit or conversion yet but there are decals for those so inclined. I thought that was a nice touch plus they are colorful. That will be my next one.… more

Black Ponies, Shamrocks, & Jarheads - USN/USMC OV-10A Broncos in the Vietnam War Era

Published: July 22, 2023
Company: AOA Decals

With the release of the ICM OV-10A, the Bronco is brought into the modern age. And because of that it needs decals to keep up. Enter AOA. AOA Decals has produced some of the best researched Vietnam era aircraft markings and this sheet is no exception.

Inside of an 8.5 x 11 zip lock baggie are two pages of double sided, high quality paper printed in full color. There are instructions for 22 aircraft. TWENTY TWO!. Included are markings for the Navy’s VAL-4, the Black Ponies, and VS-41, the Shamrocks, along with VMO-2 and VMO-6 of the Marines. There are 15 markings for VAL-4, three for the Shamrocks, and two each for the VMOs. A little of something for everyone. Also included is a loadout chart for the weapons systems.

I have to mention that the instruction sheets are… more

B-17F Flying Fortress

Published: May 11, 2023
Company: HK Models Co.

The B-17 Flying Fortress. Is there a more iconic aircraft of WWII? I’ve always loved the aircraft, especially the B-17F. The beginning of the air war in Europe was spearheaded by the B-17F. The most famous is the ‘Memphis Belle’, but there were other B-17s that flew much longer than that. One of those was assigned to the 303rd Bomb Group, ‘Knockout Dropper’ was one of the first B-17s in the 303rd, it was also the first to finish 50 and 75 missions over Nazi occupied Europe.

Until recently you were only able to build a B-17F by using the old Revell kit. When HK Models announced the B-17F and after seeing it at Telford in 2019 I had to build one.

In a sturdy carboard box, comes a beautifully packaged model inside and out. The box art is very inspirational painting of the… more

The Fall of the Luftwaffe in Colour-Battle of Britain, 1940

Published: April 19, 2022
Book Author(s): Clive J. M. Ellis
Company: Key Publishing Ltd

The emergence of colorized photos has been controversial amongst historians and certainly modelers. The practice has come a long way and as the technology gets more advanced even better results will prove difficult for people to tell the difference.

The latest book from Key Books embraces the colorization process and I have to say the results are pretty good. Set in the Battle of Britain starting in July 1940 through the end of October, this paperback book brings to life the black and white photos from that era. Colorization was done by Ghermán Mihály, with the help of author Clive J. M. Ellis to ensure the colors were as accurate as possible based off of current color research. This colorization really gives you a feel for the actual events. A word of caution, this technology… more

AB 205 Huey in Italian Army Service

Published: March 15, 2022
Book Author(s): Federico Anselmino
Company: Aviation Collectibles

This latest title from Italian Aviation Series, AB 205 Huey in Italian Army Service, comes in a paperback book with high quality paper on 64 pages. There are plenty of pictures, over 140, and full color profiles that we’ll surely keep modelers entertained. The text is Italian and English and the English reads very well. The thing that really makes this book stand out is the color photos. All are crystal clear and show some great marking options.

The Huey started out in 1956 in the United States, however the Huey entered Italian service sometime in 1964. It was built under license from Bell Helicopter by Augusta thus called the AB 205. The Italian Army has used the Huey in multiple roles since its introduction into Italian service. It's sported some really colorful paint schemes… more

Warsaw Pact - Volume 1

Published: February 21, 2022
Book Author(s): Marcin Górecki
Company: Kagero Publishing

Kagero has always had some first-class books with plenty of great reference profiles. This is the seventh in the series of their new series, Camouflage & Decals. This softbound book contains 40 pages of A4 format on high quality paper with profiles and some plan views of numerous airframes. The book is wrapped in a resealable baggie that protects the book and the decals from damage.

The book reads like a who’s who of the MiG family from the MiG-15 up to the MiG-21. There are plenty of Russian aircraft and since this is a Polish company there are a lot of Polish variants as well. There are 38 color profiles included in the book painted by Marcin Górecki. Many of those include four views to aid the modeler in getting it right. Besides the normal natural metal aircraft there… more

US Pilots & Ground Personnel (Vietnam War)

Published: February 20, 2022
Company: ICM

Finding figures in 1/48th scale for Vietnam is a pretty hard chore. Whether you want to depict USAF or Army helicopter pilots your choices in the past have been pretty slim. Well thanks to ICM there is at least a new option.

Inside of the sturdy cardboard box is a single sprue of individually wrapped light grey plastic and a single page of full color instructions.

The plastic is blemish free with parts for five personnel. It has two pilots, two mechanics and one admin line chief. The poses are very good. The detail is very crisp, including the faces which is sometimes hard to get right in plastic, but ICM has nailed it. The relief of the clothing also appears very good. Each figure is assembled from anywhere from five to 11 pieces. This may sound like a lot, especially… more

US Aviation Armament

Published: February 20, 2022
Company: ICM

With the recent release of many Vietnam era aircraft such as the B-26K, OV-10A and the OV-2 it was inevitable that you would want a variety of armament slung underneath these aircraft, particularly the B-26K. Well, ICM is providing you with plenty of options.

Packaged in a very sturdy cardboard box with a cover, the box contains two of each of two sprues for a total of four sprues. My set was perfectly formed with no blemishes anywhere. The box also contains clear and concise instructions printed on high quality paper. They are printed on a large single sheet folded in half making up four A4 pages. An inventory is on the cover, the actual instructions on the inside two pages and finally the decal placement and painting instructions are on the back. Paint call outs are for ICM,… more

US Helicopter Pilots (Vietnam War)

Published: February 13, 2022
Company: ICM

Figures from the Vietnam War are few and far between, especially helicopter crew. With the ICM release of the 1/32nd scale AH-1G they have released a kit of THREE Vietnam helicopter crewmembers.

Packed inside a typical sturdy box are three plastic sprue of light grey plastic that features the parts for the three figures. Two of the sprues are the same with both APH-5 and SPH-4 helmets, mic booms and ear cups. This is a nice feature because the helmets can be used without the figures to spruce up any model. The plastic is very crisp and the figures, especially the faces, are very well done. The assembly and paint instructions are printed on high quality paper with color callouts in ICMs paint range, as well as, Revell and Tamiya.

Figure one is a crew chief sitting on the… more

Do-217N Wheels & Paint Masks-Early B

Published: February 6, 2022
Company: Aires Hobby Models

The Do-217N is a unique version of the venerable Do-217. Designed as a night fighter it was really just too slow to catch the bombers. It wasn’t useless but it did have its share of problems.

ICM released their kit of this airplane in 2020. It was a nice kit, but it was not without a few mistakes, as all models are. One of those mistakes was slightly undersized wheels. Also the wheels did not have a bulge or flat spot to indicate weight being on the landing gear. Another area that could use improvement was the tail wheel fork which is slightly anemic and mishappened. Well Aires has a solution.

Contained in a baggie with a… more