Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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Russo-Turkish Naval War 1877-1878Published:
This is Mushroom Model Publications’ seventh book in their Maritime series. A video trailer of the book can be seen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQq9l4pRwjk. I counted 183 black and white photos and woodcuts, two black and white line drawings, and 33 black and white line ship profiles. Additionally, there are 13 tables and twelve maps. The cover painting is by Grzegorz Nawrocki and is what I believe to be of the Russian armed steamer Vesta and her running battle with the Turkish ironclad Feth-i-Bulend near Constanca on July 22, 1877. Piotr Olender dives into the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, focusing primarily on the naval elements, although the land battles are included to provide… more |
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Wings Over Mesopotamia, Air War in Iraq 1914-18Published:
Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Lawrence of Arabia book I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front. This book is the expansion of a combination of four articles published by Mark Lax in the Australian Society of WW1 Aero Historians ’14-’18 Journal between 2005 and 2013. Additional text and the majority of photographs were from the Ray Vann / Mike O’Connor Mesopotamia collection. Mike O’Connor, Ray Vann, and Colin Waugh spent over forty years researching the RFC/… more |
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UH-1 Huey in ActionPublished:
David Doyle’s latest book continues to expand on Squadron Signal’s long standing In Action series that initiated back in 1971. This is a completely updated and expanded edition over Squadron’s earlier Aircraft In Action number 75, a 50-pager on the Bell UH-1 Huey by Wayne Mutza that was published in 1986. After many years of being published in enthusiast publications focused on military vehicle restorations, David Doyle ‘graduated’ to full-fledged books in 2003. His first book was a hefty 512 page history of US military vehicles. He has now had more than 100 books published in military vehicles, aviation and naval topics. David and his wife Denise have amassed a collection of ten Vietnam era military vehicles that still displays at shows. In June 2015, was honored with the… more |
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Tales from the Apocalypse - The BikerPublished:
The Biker is the last figure in Gecco’s second series and follows the three figures in series one in their Tales From the Apocalypse that I believe are sculpted by Shojiro Kasai. This second series creates Scene 2: Day 1, 1:27 pm at the Diner’ and goes with two other figures, a cook who was attempting to save his daughter, Cindy from the infected but who gets bitten and his daughter, Cindy, the diner’s waitress and the sister of the heroine in the first series. The Biker’s Tale From the Apocalypse: “The Biker was driving on the freeway when the outbreak started and the dead began walking the streets. |
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MiG-31B/BS FoxhoundPublished:
The KitThe AMK 88008 Mig-31 follows on their earlier MiG-31 BM/BSM (88003) Foxhound kit and comes in a large, solid, top-opening box that is packed solid. Similar to Wingnut Wings kits, it will take extreme care to repack the sprue packaging back into the box if you are not starting cutting sprues right away. Sprues are individually packaged in re-sealable packaging, with some parts (missiles, forward fuselage, and main upper fuselage) packed in their own boxes. Parts are molded in a medium gray styrene that is fairly hard and comparable to Tamiya sprues. Panel lines may be considered by some to be a little heavy, but I found no issues. The transparencies come molded in both clear and a transparent-smoke color and include separate open and closed options. The IRST lens,… more |
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World’s Fastest Single-Engine Jet FighterPublished:
Specialty Press’ biography : “Col. Doug Barbier grew up to the sound of F-106s flying out of Selfridge AFB, MI, where a visit on Armed Forces Day 1962 began a lifelong interest in the jet. A U.S. Air Force Command Pilot with more than 3,500 flight hours, he flew the Lockheed T-33, the supersonic Northrop T-38, and logged more than 1,000 hours in the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. Barbier finished his military career flying the F-16, spending many hours sitting Air Defense alert, and making three intercepts of Soviet Tu-95 Bears along the way. After retiring from the Air Force, he flew for a major airline for twenty years. Barbier has had over 200 photographs published worldwide, and this is his first full-length feature book.” You can find additional information on the F-106 at… more |
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Northrop Grumman F-5 TigerPublished:
Andy Evans is currently the Group Editor for the SAM magazines Scale Military Modeller International and Model Aircraft Monthly. Andy has authored at least 12 books, including Crowood’s Bae/McDonnell Douglas Harrier (1998), Crowood’s Panavia Tornado (1999), Cassell’s Combat Search & Rescue (1999)Warpaint Books’ Sepecat Jaguar (2006), SAM’s The British Aerospace Sea Harrier (2007), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 1 (2007), Dalrymple & Verdun’s The Nimrod (2007), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 2 (2008), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 3 (2008), SAM’s The Grumman F-14 Tomcat (2008), SAM’s The Bae (Hawker Siddeley) RAF Harrier (2010). This volume follows last year’s MDF (Modellers Datafiles) Scaled Down 4 on the Sea Fury. MDS… more |
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The SS Division Wiking in the Caucasus 1942-1943Published:
Massimiliano Afiero was born in Afragola (Naples Province) in 1969. Massimiliano is a computer programmer and teacher, but has long been a serious historian of World War II. He has been extremely active in writing articles for many history magazines in his native Italian, Spanish, and English. You can also find him as an active participant in many military history websites. Massimiliano has personally interviewed many Waffen-SS veterans and has published their experiences in World War II. He published his first book, ‘Hitler’s Foreign Volunteers’, in September 2001, and has now amassed 33 published books. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine SGM (Second World War), Ritterkreuz, The European Volunteer, Fronti Warning, and The Axis Forces. You can find his website at… more |
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Model Art All About Aviation Volume 1 USAF Modern Fighters and AttackersPublished:
Model Art Issue 63 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions. The All About Aviation is part of the Model Art Extra series. This issue leads off with either short articles on a finished build or an in depth step-by-step ‘how to’ on the build and painting. The finished model photographs are of high quality in brightness, color, and depth of focus. Advertising is limited to two pages, the inside covers. I counted 749 color photos, one black and white drawing, and 106 color drawings, many color profiles. You will find throughout this journal, color photographs of the real aircraft that are discussed. This issue focuses on USAF modern fighters and attackers, featuring… more |
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AH-64 Apache M230 Chain Gun, Pitot Tubes, and Tail AntennaPublished:
This Master Model set provides a huge leap over any of the injected molded parts available on any 1/48 kit. I based this review on the older Monogram kit from 1986, but it applies to any of the 1/48 kits on the market. This set includes a turned brass tail antenna (not included on the Monogram kit), two pitot tubes (again not present on the Monogram kit), and the forward part of the M230 Chain Gun. The M230 Chain Gun parts include eight parts, but one of the parts is a spare. You can easily see the crisper detail available in the comparisons in the attached pictures. Notable is the thin heat sealed pouches to separate the different machined brass parts that Master Model uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the re-sealable package securely. I simply… more |