Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642)Published:
The Ben Franklin class was composed of twelve submarines, SSBN-640 to SSBN-645 and SSBN-654-659. The class was an evolutionary development from the earlier Lafayette-class of fleet ballistic missile submarines. This class can easily be identified by the fairwater planes' location halfway up the sail; the Lafayettes and James Madisons had the fairwater planes in the upper front portion of the sail. In 1993, Kamehameha was converted to a Dry Deck Shelter/swimmer delivery platform, reclassified as an attack submarine, and given hull number SSN-642; her ballistic missile capability was removed and thereafter she carried only torpedoes as armament. Following conversion, she was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for the remainder of her operational career. She holds the record for the… more |
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Polish Legions 1914–19Published:
Dr. Nigel Thomas graduated from Tiffin Boy’s School, Kingston-Upon-Thames in 1964 and proceeded to attend Manchester University, earning a BA in Modern Languages. He attended Durham University and Newcastle University where he obtained his MA in German History and Literature. He was awarded a PhD on the Eastern enlargement of NATO. Nigel is an accomplished linguist and military historian and formerly a Principal Lecturer in French and German Languages and Politics at Northumbria University, He is now a freelance military author, translator and military uniform consultant. His interests are 20th century military and civil uniformed organizations, with a special interest in Germany, Central, and Eastern Europe. He has written more than 20 books on military history and uniforms, many of… more |
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Armstrong Whitworth AlbemarlePublished:
Tony Buttler was born in 1956 and joined High Duty Alloys in Redditch in 1974 as a metallurgist. For nearly 20 years he was closely involved in the testing of aluminum and titanium airframe and engine components for many of the world's most important airplanes. It was during this timeframe that his interest in military aircraft grew into a passion. Since 1995, Tony has been a freelance aviation historian, and is well known for his Secret Projects series of hardbound books with Crecy Publishing. He has also written many titles for the Warpaint series of monographs as well as many articles for most of the popular historical aviation magazines. Mark Rolfe is a freelance military and automotive technical artist, author and photographer. Mark studied graphic design at the Salisbury… more |
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Parabellum LMG 14/17 WWI Aircraft Machine GunPublished:
Quickboost has released two Parabellum WWI aircraft gun resin details sets, 48 813 (LMG-14) and 48 814 (LMG-14/17). The Parabellum 7.9mm caliber LMG 14/17 was an upgrade of the LMG-14, which itself was a redesign of the MG 08 (The MG 08 was an adaptation of the Maxim machine gun). The LMG 14 was used primarily in German bombers (i.e.: Gotha G.IV), reconnaissance aircraft (i.e.: Halberstadt CL.II), and zeppelins, although it did see some limited use early on with the Fokker Eindecker E.I prototypes. The LMG-14/17 featured a thinner air-cooling jacket, redesigned controls, and an added mounting rail for a telescopic sight. I have included a photograph comparison below of the LMG 14 vs the LMG 14/17 out of the Wingnut Wings 1/32 Junkers J.I kit for reference. The parts are… more |
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Vought SB2U VindicatorPublished:
Author Steve Ginter is a noted military historian who publishes the Naval Fighter series that was founded in 1980. After graduating from California State University-Northridge, Ginter became a US Navy pilot, serving from 1966 to 1972. Upon leaving the US Navy, Ginter held a series of management positions within the Thrifty Drug chain for the next twenty-one years. In 1996 he became the CEO of Sentai Distributors where he directed company operations until 2011. The Air Force Legends series was initiated in 1998 with the publication of ‘The Martin XB-51’. Co-Author Joe Weathers, Jr. attended a military college prep school, New Orleans Academy, before attending Louisiana State – Baton Rouge for mechanical engineering. Joe was accepted into the USN NAVCAD program and reported to… more |
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British 500lb Bombs SetPublished:
This set is the latest in Eduard’s “Brassin” line. The set comes in a resealable clamshell package with a cardboard insert to separate the decals, etched parts, and instructions from the sixteen resin parts. The instructions comprise one sheet representing the cover sheet with the decal application guide along with painting instructions. The inner spread provides the assembly guide, with the back sheet showing the parts list and the color codes for Gunze paint (Aqueous and MrColor). I will note that the resin parts on my set had lots of room in the blister to move and as a consequence, I had the rear fins broken off (R33) on two of the four bombs. This set will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with… more |
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Soviet Submarine Project 628Published:
Project 628 was a design study, circa 1952-1953, to fit a Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei (Влади́мир Никола́евич Челоме́й) sub-sonic cruise missile to the 1,500-ton diesel-electric Soviet XIV series K-Class sub. The Russian Project 628 proposal is similar to what the US Navy did with a ‘Loon’ launching from a Gato Class submarine, the USS Cusk SSG-348. The original K-Class design was approved in 1936 as a long range "cruiser submarine" with a heavy torpedo and gun armament. The boats could operate as a "fleet submarine" working with the battle fleet or as long range commerce raiders. The double hull was divided into seven compartments. It was originally planned to carry a small floatplane for scouting but this concept was abandoned when the planned aircraft proved too flimsy. Twelve… more |
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The "Trapdoor" Springfield: From the Little Bighorn to San Juan HillPublished:
John P. Langellier grew up in Tucson, Arizona and spent 12 years in the US Army. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in History from the University of San Diego, and his PhD in Military History from Kansas State University. John helped found the Autry Museum of the American West in California and has served as the director for the Wyoming State Museum. He is the author of numerous books and monographs that include: The War in Europe: From the Kasserine Pass to Berlin, 1942-1945 (1995, Greenhill); Fix Bayonets: The U.S. Infantry from the American Civil War to the Surrender of Japan (1999, Chelsea); Second Manassas 1862: Robert E Lee’s Greatest Victory (2002, Osprey); Union Infantrymen of the Civil War (2003, Osprey); Fighting for Uncle… more |
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Bachem Ba 349 NatterPublished:
Robert Forsyth, born in Berkshire, England, has studied the history and operations of the Luftwaffe since his school days. Based in East Sussex with his wife, he runs an aviation and military publishing business full-time. He has written articles for the magazines Aeroplane , Aviation News, FlyPast, and The Aviation Historian, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the latter publication. He is the author of several hard bound books, including: JV 44 – The Galland Circus (1996), Battle over Bavaria – The B-26 versus the German Jets (Classic, 1998), Mistel – German Composite Aircraft and Operations 1942-1945 (Classic, 2001), Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerikabomber (Classic, 2006, with Eddie Creek); He 162 Volksjäger (Classic, 2009, with Eddie Creek); Heinkel He 111 (Crecy, 2014); Junkers… more |
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Finnish Bomber Colours 1939-1945Published:
Kari Stenman has authored, or co-authored, aviation books for the past 49 years. He ran his own publishing company in Finland, focusing on Finnish Aviation History. Many of them were in his Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia series that were originally in Finnish only, but later re-released with Finnish and English text. including:
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