Howie Belkin
Reviews By Author
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PANZER VOR! Volume 5 GERMAN ARMOR AT WAR 1939-45Published:
The very popular Concord Armor at War Series has now released PANZER VOR! Volume 5continuing the excellent combination of modeler/author par excellance, Frank V. DeSisto, with parent company Dragon Models as publisher. This edition doesn’t include the author’s bio, but Mr. DeSisto is one of the original founders of AMPS, has been published elsewhere, is a font of knowledge that he readily shares in his books, and as an advanced modeler and professional photographer, chooses photos that will offer great interest to the modeler. Following the format of the previous four volumes, there are 16 color platesby Laurent Lecocq and 175 black and white photos, all with high quality, detailed captions written by a modeler, for modelers. A three page “… more |
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Dogfight: The Greatest Air Duels of World War IIPublished:
Osprey is a prolific publisher that has coupled excellent authors with fantastic artists that have combined their talents, mostly under Editor Tony Holmes’ direction, to produce hundreds of mostly soft cover “must have” books for serious modelers and history buffs. Any ‘good’ model show will have someone selling Osprey books and any modeler who has started his own reference library, owns Osprey books. Over the years, Osprey has divided them into several subcategories like ‘Aces,’ ‘Elite Units,’ and so on. One of the newest categories is the “Duel Series” where for example, one famous aircraft or tank is pitted against one of its contemporary enemies. I own many titles authored by IPMSer Steve Zaloga and every one written by Chris Bucholtz. I’m sure many more authors are IPMS members… more |
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Warpaint - Colours and Markings of British Army Vehicles 1903-2003 Volume 3Published:
This is the third of four volumes of perhaps the most exhaustive and comprehensive study of British amour color and markings of the 20thCentury ever published. It’s been researched and compiled by Dick Taylor, a serving British officer who knows his subject up close and personal, who is also a modeler of the highest standing on the other side of the pond (the Atlantic). This volume is heavily illustrated with drawings of insignia, color side views and photos throughout. The three major sections are:
First, I should… more |
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British Infantry Tank Mk. III Valentine II w/CrewPublished:
Britain's most produced tank during WWII was the Vickers Valentine, representing a full 25% of all tanks built. The Valentine made its combat debut in Operation Crusader in North Africa, 1941 and production ended in 1944 after 8,275 were built. All but 30 of the 1,420 vehicles built in Canada were Lend-Leased to Russia, along with 2,394 of the British built Valentines. It is said that when offered replacements, Russian crews asked to keep their dependable Valentines. No wonder then, that the Ukraine model company, MiniArt, was the first to provide a truly state of the art model kit of the Valentine, with one version kitted specifically as one of the Valentines that served on the Eastern Front. MiniArt has marketed a few variations of the Valentine to capture the subtle differences… more |
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Soviet DShK Machinegun with Crew WWIIPublished:
The DShK 1938 (Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, “Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Calibre”) became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun of WWII. It fired 12.7x108mm cartridges (the West’s M2 .50 cal fired 12.7x107mm) fed by belt or box magazine. It was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled cart and a single armor shield (similar to that used by the Maxim) as well as on a tripod for anti-aircraft. It was mounted on GAZ trucks, on late war tank cupolas (IS-2, ISU-152) in tank turrets (i.e. T-40), and other vehicles and ships. A modernized DShK 1938/46or DShKM version appeared post war, which looked much the same. The Soviet Union , Russia, People's Republic of China, Pakistan and Romania have manufactured the DShK which has appeared throughout the world. I recall in Vietnam it was… more |