Gino Dykstra
Reviews By Author
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The Winter War 1939-40Published:
Before World War 1, Finland had been part of Russia. However, during the Russian Civil War that followed, Finland was largely dominated by the non-Soviet White Russians, who successfully broke away from Russian to become their own independent country. This situation was to rankle Stalin, who still regarded the territories of Finland as belonging to his country. Three months after the outbreak of World War 2, The Soviet Union invaded Finland. Having already made territorial demands of Finland and emboldened by their participation in Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, 600,000 Soviet troops crossed the common border with Finland on November 30, 1939, probably assuming such an invasion would be a cakewalk against such a comparatively weak opponent. Some argue that their aim was the… more |
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Fierce Battle: American Civil WarPublished:
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Civil War era, as this is the period in history that my father taught at the university. ICM has really delivered in this area, offering no less than four different infantry figure sets, each with a superb sprue of associated equipment, making it very easy to convert these figures as you choose. ICM has now taken this a step further in introducing a full set of all four kits along with their associated gear for a total of sixteen figures and four equipment sprues. As you might guess, this is a real boon for figure modelers and certainly guarantees a good number of modeling nights in the garage for this particular enthusiast. Molding is top-notch, with terrific facial expressions and dramatic poses, some of which will be a… more |
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Journalists in WarPublished:
No one can argue that being a war correspondent is anything but dangerous work. Journalists who choose this branch of their profession face death, kidnapping, torture and more on a regular basis, as well as dealing with the repercussions this activity can have on their family lives back home. All of this is especially true in this age, where the “Press” label affords far less protection than it has in the past. ICM is no stranger to controversial or challenging subjects, and this package offers a selection of figures that can be utilized in a wide variety of contemporary settings, not just the Ukrainian conflict. This set includes a camerawoman, a video cameraman, an interviewer with microphone and a standing Ukrainian soldier. I believe the journalists are supposed to… more |
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Normadie-Niemen: Plane of Roland de la PoypePublished:
The story of the Normandie (later, Normandie-Niemen) Escadrilles makes for fascinating reading. Originally recruited by DeGaulle himself, these French pilots flew for the Soviets in Soviet-made aircraft at more than typical risk to themselves. The Germans saw this development as a breach of the French Vichy government’s surrender agreement and made it a policy to execute any French pilots downed in their territory. In addition, family and relatives of the downed pilots were arrested back in France and sent to concentration camps, where few survived. Despite this threat, the small French unit would wind up with over 30 confirmed aces and a total of 273 enemy aircraft downed by war’s end, making them the second highest scoring aerial unit in the Soviet Union. In addition, no… more |
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The Crew of "Stugna-P" Anti-Tank ComplexPublished:
Listed as the first in their “Brave Ukraine” series, this is a small diorama set with four figures servicing an indigenous Stugna-P antitank missile system. The Stugna-P is essentially the equivalent of the U.S. TOW missile system and was developed around 2010 and is effective against most forms of armor (including reactive) up to about 160 feet. It can fire two different calibers of missile – 130mm and 152mm, both of which can also be supplied in high explosive or fragmentation format for use against infantry. It’s also effective during night operations, which must make it a major headache for Russian forces, who normally are not well equipped for night combat. The version supplied in the kit appears to be the 130mm version, although I could be mistaken. As said, there are four… more |
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Yak-9K WWII Soviet FighterPublished:
The Yak-9 was a development of the successful Yak-7, which was itself a development of an advanced trainer in use by the Soviet Air Force. Fast and robust, it came into fighter regiments on the Eastern Front in late 1942 and directly challenged the best the Luftwaffe was able to throw at them, although it suffered at first due to poor training. The Yak9K was certainly the most heavily armed version of this aircraft, featuring a 45mm cannon firing through the spinner along with the standard rifle-caliber machine gun in the upper nose. It proved extremely affective at destroying enemy armor or bombers, although not without cost. The cannon’s recoil was notoriously powerful, and could cause the unwary pilot to lose control, especially at low speeds. It also shook the airframe… more |
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P-40E Quick Set 3D Acrylic Instrument PanelsPublished:
I don’t think I’m alone in the feeling that when building an airplane kit, the most challenging aspect (at least in terms of painting) is inevitably the cockpit. And within the cockpit, the most challenging aspect is almost always the instrument panels. Over the years I’ve developed a pretty steady hand at this kind of work, but that doesn’t mean I actually enjoy it. It’s usually with a sigh of relief when I can set down an instrument panel with a full paint job on it. Red Fox Studios, a company out of Hungary, has come up with a product line that I am now head over heels in love with. They are releasing a series of detail sets which include not only full-color instrument sets for various aircraft, but fully three-dimensional instrument panels at that, with every instrument and… more |
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Hawker HunterPublished:
It’s always been my opinion that the well-known and well-liked Hawker Hunter is one of the most elegant jet aircraft to ever take to the skies. I’ve built dozens of models of this lovely aircraft over the years, from the 1/72nd scale offering by Airfix when I was a kid up to several iterations of the impressive 1/32nd scale Revell offering. There’s just no beating that look! Tony Buttler’s 95-page book is not intended to be a definitive examination of this aircraft. In fact, the back cover states the intent clearly; “A general appreciation of one of Britain’s most popular aircraft.” This intention is well-met by the author, who starts us off with a basic history of the development of this machine shortly after the end of World War Two, then leads us into operational variants in… more |
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Victory: 100-Gun First Rate 1765Published:
If you’re even just a passing fan of classic sailing ships, you should be familiar with the unforgettable H.M.S. Victory, the famous ship-of-the-line that Lord Nelson commanded at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. More readily recognizable by the novice than even the U.S.S. Constitution, this ship has been a subject for virtually every major model maker in the last century, manufactured in metal, wood or plastic. With her keel laid down in1759 and ultimately launched in 1765, she served actively in the Royal Navy until 1824, when she was relegated to serving as a harbor (cargo storage) ship and even briefly as a prison ship. In 1922 she was moved to a drydock in Portsmouth where she was refurbished as a museum ship. She is still commissioned with the Royal Navy to this day and… more |
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Laffley V15T with Hotchkiss Machine GunPublished:
In my last review concerning this interesting French vehicle, I described how the prototype was developed in 1938 with some of the most advanced mechanical technology of the day. The distinctive look of the machine is based on a double set of “bumper” wheels placed both in the center and the front of the chassis, designed to make the vehicle far more capable in an off-road capacity. Overall, only about 200 of these vehicles were manufactured before the fall of France, with most of them never seeing combat. Those that survived were largely converted by the occupying German forces into utility and radio cars for the Wehrmacht. The original kit consisted of 6 sprues of well-detailed parts as well as vinyl main wheels. This iteration includes an additional small sprue which… more |