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.
I enjoy taking older kits and finding ways to spruce them up – sand off the raised lines and engrave them, add rivets, make corrections or add missing parts, etc. When I saw these Yahu Models instrument panels, I had to give them a try!
I secured instrument panels for three different subjects – an F4F-4, a P-51 B/C, and a P-40 (N-20/N-40 Late). The F4F and P-51 panels were designed for Arma Hobby kits, and the P-40 for the Special Hobby kit. My experience with Arma Hobby kits led me to believe they probably wouldn’t be needed, especially if you are going to build with a closed canopy, and Special Hobby kits often include upgrades for items like this. My habit is to find items like these to spruce up older, less detailed kits. So, I pulled two Hasegawa kits (P-51 B and P-40 N) out… more
Published: Book Author(s): Dariusz Karnas, Karolina Holda Company: Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
I’m a big fan of the Bf 109, and have about 50 kits in my stash and a handful already built, and am always on the lookout for a useful resource, especially for color schemes and markings. This book consists of 16 pages and features detailed scale plans in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales. Those plans show panel line and rivet detail profiles for the F-4, F-2/B, F-4/B, F-4 /R/Trop, F-4/R-1, and the F-6/U-1 in 1/72 scale, and all but the F-6 in 1/48 scale. There is also a plan view of one each in1/72 and 1/48 scale. I’m a huge fan of good, clear rivet detail plans, as I build only 1/72 scale and add rivets to most of the models I build.
The book includes port-side color profiles for 8 different subjects and two-sided profiles and a plan view for two additional subjects, all of which are… more
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.
