IPMS Number
16

Reviews By Author

Box Art

French Infantry Sedan 1940

Published: December 18, 2021
Company: Dragon Models

In less than two months, France lost 290,000 men killed or wounded and 1,900,000 taken prisoner in its massive defeat that heavily relied upon a strategy based on solid defensive fortifications. Germany’s leaders were not going to fight the First World War again, in spite of all appearances. After their successful Blitzkrieg through Poland in September 1939, they seemed to have run out of… more

Cover

Mark IV vs. A7V Villers-Bretonneux 1918

Published: March 23, 2013
Book Author(s): David R. Higgins
Company: Osprey Publishing

This volume of the Osprey Duel series follows the series format, comparing two combatant tanks against each other, and in this case focusing on the occasion of the first tank vs. tank battle in history that occurred on April 24, 1918. True to the format, rather than simply describe that historic battle, the author describes and compares both vehicles and the events that both led up to… more

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Diamond T 4-Ton Truck Walk Around

Published: February 18, 2013
Book Author(s): David Doyle
Company: Squadron Signal Publications

At first glance, the Diamond T 4-ton Truck looks like the “Deuce and a Half” (2½ CCKW GMC series) on steroids. The U.S. Quartermaster Corps and Corps of Engineers needed a truck that could do everything the “Deuce and a Half” could do – and much, much more. The Diamond T 4-ton truck filled the bill, serving throughout WWII in all theatres. But the Diamond T had one major problem: it… more

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A-6 Intruder Units of the Vietnam War

Published: February 14, 2013
Book Author(s): Rick Morgan
Company: Osprey Publishing

Vietnam was called “The Helicopter War,” which suited me just fine, having served as a UH-1H “Huey” doorgunner. But as a modeler, a Long Islander (home to Grumman and Republic), and an armchair historian, I have to concede that quite a number of other aircraft types served heroically, if not stoically, and are owed much, much more appreciation for the extraordinary tasks they accomplished… more

Parts Package

P-40B/C Replacement Parts

Published: January 4, 2013
Company: Quickboost

  • Kit No. QB 72 374 Exhaust & Damper Cooler, $5.50
  • Kit No. QB 72 375 Gun Barrels, $5.50
  • Kit No. QB 72 376 Undercarriage Covers, $5.50

These are simple but clean sets of precisely cast resin replacement parts that quickly and easily improve already good 1/72 scale early P-40 kits. Each set consists of one gray resin block with easily removed molded parts… more

Cover

Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft

Published: November 9, 2012
Book Author(s): John Brennan
Company: Stackpole Books

Most modelers prefer that the camouflage and markings on their models be historically accurate, but we rely on someone else to do the grunt research work. Before I went to Vietnam, I was already a modeler and IPMS member. I had a WWII modeler friend and mentor, Joe Lynch, who advised me to take lots of photos of anything I might want to build a model of when I came home. He said there was no… more

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U.S. Army Helicopter Names in Vietnam

Published: November 8, 2012
Book Author(s): John Brennan
Company: Hellgate Press

The most visited site in Washington DC continues to be the Vietnam Wall, listing the almost 59,000 young American men and women who died as a result of serving there. The interest in that War continues unabated for many reasons. For modelers, the many aircraft, military vehicles and ships that served offer many interesting subjects to model. The abundance of excellent 35mm cameras and color… more

Decal Packaging

Seversky P-35 Decals, 1937-38

Published: February 10, 2020
Company: Yellow-Wings Decals

Major Alexander de Seversky, a Russian ace with 13 kills during WWI, defected to the U.S. in 1918, founding the Seversky Aviation Corp. in 1931 on Long Island, NY. Alexander Kartveli emigrated in 1928, joining Seversky as his Chief Engineer. The Seversky/Kartveli team would become the Republic Aviation Corp. which would gain fame with the P-47 Thunderbolt whose lineage was directly traced back… more

Box Art

SB2C-4 Helldiver

Published: August 8, 2021
Company: Cyber-Hobby

First, I owe an apology to you and to Dragon for my delay in building and reviewing the “…best dive bomber the Navy ever flew but also the last.” That final assessment came after a difficult start in replacing the Dauntless, “one of the most popular aircraft ever to fly.” In fact, when the first squadrons conducted trials aboard the Essex CV-9, “…the ship departed for the war zone with SBD… more

Box Art

British 25-Pdr. Field Gun Mk.II w/Limber & Crew

Published: February 10, 2020
Company: Dragon Models

First, I owe an apology to you and to Dragon for my delay in building and reviewing this long-overdue British 25-Pdr. QF Field Gun Mk.II w/Limber & Crew - Smart Kit. Long overdue in that this fine kit finally replaces the venerable 35+ year old Tamiya 25-Pdr. Tamiya’s kit is comparatively toy-like and its figures scale rather short, 5’2” scale troops. Its big advantage was that either… more