Being the son of a USAF fighter pilot, I grew up with a love of military aircraft and military history. I am a voracious reader, and wish I could get through more boxes of styrene than I currently do (oh retirement, where art thou?). I started building in grade school, took the typical hiatus from post-junior high through early marriage, then finally jumped back into the hobby with a vengeance. Building 1/72 military aircraft from post-WWII to the present is my focus, with a special affinity for the F-4 Phantom (my dad's Vietnam mount). I'm also the show coordinator for Tulsa Modelers' Forum, an IPMS chartered club, and I enjoy visiting other shows around the region and making friends in the modeling community.
Published: Book Author(s): Tom Cooper Company: Helion & Company
The David vs. Goliath nature of the inception and survival of Israel in the Middle East provides an element of fascination to those interested in military history, especially the air war component. Israel came into existence at a time when technology was taking giant leaps forward, but due to mixed support of the birth of the small nation, restrictions and embargoes played heavily into the Israeli Defense Force’s ability to build up its air arm. In this alone it battled great odds to piece together a hodge-podge of aircraft in their early years, but understanding the value that air warfare brought to them in their tenuous geographic and political situation, they continued to spend significant resources to develop a competent air force.
The modeling community waited for many years for an update to the Revell or MPM offerings of the Ki-21 Sally, and ICM has delivered in spades, creating several variants and boxings of the Japanese heavy bomber. Whereas I paid around $250 for a Revell boxing, and a bit less for the MPM boxing, the Sally is now available from ICM at affordable prices and with quality moldings.
Whereas the Revell offering contained raised panel lines and rivet detail, and built into a respectable kit, and the MPM offering contained somewhat updated molds but poor canopy fit, the ICM kit is in line with the latest high-quality injection molded expectations. There is plenty of interior details (more than will be clearly visible), the exterior has nicely engraved panel lines, the glass… more
Published: Book Author(s): Matthew M. Hurley & Jose Augusto Matos Company: Helion & Company
When it comes to the military history of Africa, it is a checkerboard of a multitude of generally smaller conflicts precipitated by a host of issues, from civil war to ethnic tensions to the demise of colonialism. Having an interest in military history, especially air warfare, I am intrigued by what lies hidden from my knowledge of the people, equipment, motivations, strategies, and the shaping of the history of this continent.
The Africa@War series divides this vast topic into bite-sized, localized fare that brings all of these nuances of the movement of history to light. This title brings to light the erosion of Portugal’s colonial hold on Portuguese Guinea, and the role of air warfare in the conflict.
These African conflicts offer glimpses into smaller military or… more
Published: Book Author(s): Sanjay Badri-Maharaj Company: Helion & Company
The Indian Air Force celebrates 90 years of existence in October 2022. As the fourth
largest air force in the world, and one of the few with nuclear capability, the subject is
interesting and important both historically and in the context of its future role on the
global stage. Its position in Asia, sharing a border with China, only serves to heighten the
significance of this air service.
In some ways the accumulation of aircraft for the IAF mirrored the growth of the Israeli
Air Force. As a former member of the British Empire, India inherited a great deal of
hand-me-downs, but then as global politics dictated, India sourced their aircraft from
both sides of the cold war battle lines, to where today they operate a mix of both
western and former soviet bloc types, as… more
This is my second Arma Hobby kit to build, and I continue to be impressed. The detail – from the cockpit to the panel lines and access hatches – is tremendous. In fact, for 1/72 scale, it is almost a case of over-engineering! It took me about as long to build the cockpit and close the fuselage as it did to finish, paint and weather the aircraft!
The box and instructions include colored art for four different aircraft, accompanied by nicely printed decals that performed well. Because of some of the differences between the aircraft depicted in the decals, and the fact that many of the sprues are evidently intended to allow the building of other P-39 versions, I would recommend after you select your aircraft, run through the instructions carefully and determine which parts to… more
Tru-Color paints are a solvent-based acrylic paint, so are a bit hot and need to be used in a well-ventilated area or spray booth. Unlike other paints I use (AK Real Colors, Tamiya, MRP), it is recommended that these be sprayed at between 28-35 psi, and I’ve seen others recommend 30-40 psi. Tru-Colors makes paints said to be airbrushable, and another range said to be brushable. This A-10 set is of the airbrushable variety.
The Tru-Colors aircraft paint sets seem to all come with 6 colors, and those in this set include the following:
The Fleet Air Arm drew from the backbone of the Royal Air Force to flesh out their ship-born fighter contingent, adding an arrestor hook and catapult spools to the venerable Hawker Hurricane to convert it into a naval fighter.
Arma Hobby are building a reputation for some great kits, especially in the underserved 1/72 scale. They have a growing line of Hurricanes among their recent releases, and the Sea Hurricane is a very welcome addition.
The box and instructions include colored art for 5 different aircraft, accompanied by nicely printed decals that performed well. Care must be taken to determine which aircraft you want to build, and then run through the instructions and mark which parts and markings are to be included on selected version.
Published: Book Author(s): Poitre Butowski Company: Key Publishing Ltd
The movie-going public got its first look at Russia’s newest multi-role combat aircraft with the release of Top Gun: Maverick, as the CGI generated adversaries of Mav and Rooster at climax of the movie. The Su-57 is claimed to have entered service with Russian in December of 2020, though reading between the lines of this book there seems to be a lot of teething problems yet to solve before it could be considered truly ready for prime time.
The author lays out very nicely the protracted development of the Su-57, starting with the MiG MFI program, through the PAK FA competition, concept development programs, and includes content on the MiG 1.44, the Su-47 Berkut, and short discussions of the upgraded Su-57M and the Su-70 unmanned aircraft.
The Tupolev Tu-2, along with the Petlyakov Pe-2, are arguably two of the most eye-pleasing twin-engine attack aircraft of World War II. In 1/72 scale, the Airfix Pe-2 has been available to modelers since the 60’s. An injection-molded Tu-2 kit in this scale was finally boxed by ICM in the late 90’s.
The “T” is the torpedo-toting version of the venerable attacker, and the sprues containing the torpedoes, pylons and support struts are clean and crisp – comparable I suspect to recent ICM releases. However, the remaining sprues have to be first-mold, and are heavily draped in flash. The plastic is also very soft – similar to new Airfix kits – and the sprues gates are thick and ill-placed, like a Trumpeter kit. My review deadline for this build came and went partially because I spent… more
Published: Book Author(s): Juan Alonso Company: AMMO by Mig Jimenez
Although I’ve used several products from this prolific manufacturer, I’ve not had the opportunity to read one of their publications. The apparent premise and structure of the book (and all books in the Solution series I imagine) is to take a specific subject and then using paint and weathering products from AMMO of Mig, obtain a somewhat advanced result, at least to the paint and weathering of the model.
The website description verifies this is intended as a “simple and basic guide,” and such it is, but there are some great tips for any level of modeler, both about basic techniques used to achieve a particular effect and about the uses of AMMO’s products.
I like to attempt to create a realistic finish on my models rather than a factory-fresh look, so I’m always looking… more
