Marc K. Blackburn
Reviews By Author
|
M26 Dragon Wagon Walk AroundPublished:
Squadron Signal has produced another of their walk around publications that features a detailed look at a piece of military equipment, in this case the M26 Dragon Wagon. Recently, Squadron has begun to produce a softback and hardback edition of these works; this happens to be the softback version. A review of the hardback version can also be found on this website. The book features two vehicles, an M26 paired with the M15 tank recovery trailer and the M26A1 paired with the M15A2 trailer. As the photographs illustrate, the chief difference between the two versions is the cab. As battlefield recovery appeared to be less likely, the massive armored cab was replaced with a sheet metal version during the production run. The cover, featuring an illustration by Don Greer of a M26… more |
|
IJN Heavy Cruiser Tone in 3D DrawingsPublished:
Fans of the Imperial Japanese Navy have something new to put on their wish lists – a new, beautifully illustrated reference book! Kagero, based in Lublin, Poland, has published a new addition to their illustrated 3D series of historic warships. They have previously published 3D books on the Heavy Cruisers Takao and Aoba. Using computerized graphics, the authors have created detailed 3-D illustrations of the Tone’s exterior from stem to stern from nearly every possible angle, in what appears to be her appearance after her last refit in the summer of 1944. It also comes with a bonus foldout that provides a profile of the ship rendered in black and white and some additional illustrations. The book provides a brief historical overview of the cruiser, in what appears to be… more |
|
BTR-50PK Armored Personnel CarrierPublished:
Short History From the side of the box, Trumpeter provides the following history of the BTR: “The Russian BTR-50 is a Soviet amphibious armoured personnel carrier based on the PT-76 amphibious light tank chassis. The BTR-50 was tracked, unlike most members of the BTR series, which were wheeled. Like the PT-76, the BTR-50 has a flat, boat-shaped hull. Unlike the PT-76 it has a new superstructure added to the front of the vehicle. The engine used in the BTR-50 is the V-6 6-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine developing 240 hp (179 kW) at 1800 rpm gives it a road speed of 44 km/h with a cruising range of 400 km. BTR-50PK is armed with a pintle-mounted 7.62 mm SGMB machine gun. This variant has an NBC production system.” What’s in the box?… more |
|
The Siege of Sevastopol and the Crimea Campaign, 1941-42Published:
Concord Publishing has continued its series of illustrated campaign histories. This volume focuses on the siege of Sevastopol from 1941-42. Dimitry Zgonnik has four full color illustrations that highlight the uniforms of German soldiers during this campaign. Beginning in the fall of 1941, the 11th Army, under the command of Erich von Manstein, was given the objective of capturing the Crimean Peninsula, which, by default, meant neutralizing the Soviet fortress of Sevastopol. After several attempts in the fall of 1941, the Germans failed to capture Sevastopol. In the spring of 1942, Manstein was able to eject the Soviets from the Crimea and besiege Sevastopol. Many buffs remember the Crimean campaign because of the Germans use of the Super gun Gustav which was used to reduce the… more |
|
AFV Modeller, #59 July/August 2011Published:
The summer issue of AFV Modeler lives up to its pedigree as a world-class modeling magazine. The cover article is a riff on Luftwaffe ’46. Using what I believe is the Dragon Panther II kit, Miguel Jimenez (MIG products founder) describes his flight of fancy – the Americans and Germans unite at the end of the war to battle the Communist menace using German equipment. The bulk of the article is devoted to giving the tank its marvelous finish. Using color modulation and the hairspray technique, the author gets a fantastic result using advanced finishing techniques. The next article features Denes Benedick’s diorama. Set in the last days of the 1940 French campaign, the Bronco A13 Mk. II and Adler Kfz. armored car builds a very nice diorama depicting the British First Armored… more |
|
Battle Ground - The Greatest Tank Duels in HistoryPublished:
One of the newer series of Osprey Publishing is the “Duel” series. As the name suggests, it provides an in-depth look at two pieces of equipment and compares and contrasts their capabilities in the context of a particular battle. To date, there are forty separate titles. Many of these concentrate on armor. Osprey has packaged five of these titles into one book:
Each title reviews the developmental history, capabilities, technical details, crew, and a particular campaign that they participated in. Each volume is illustrated with black and white/color… more |
|
King Tiger vs IS-2, Operation Solstice 1945Published:
Osprey’s series “Duel” is adding another title - King Tiger vs. IS-2. As with previous publications, the book focuses on the design, development, and capabilities of these two well-known vehicles that debuted in the last eighteen months of the war in Europe. While the book does not offer much in terms of reference material for building the penultimate King Tiger or IS-2, it provides the necessary context for understanding the origins and development of these vehicles and how they performed on the field of battle. Without going into great detail, the author provides a concise summary of the origins of these tanks and their subsequent development. Both vehicles came into production and service in the last 18 months of the war, meeting a need for a heavy tank. As with other… more |
|
Neubau-Fahrzeug: Rheinmetall-Fahrgestell und Krupp Turm Geänderte MG-TürmePublished:
Short History In the interwar years the Germans experimented with large, multi-turreted Medium tanks. The Neubau-Fahrzeug is the result of those experiments. Beginning in 1934, Rheinmetall-Borsig produced five vehicles, two prototypes and three ‘production’ vehicles. The prototypes were used for training and the production models eventually took part in the Norwegian campaign where one was destroyed. What’s in the box The kit includes five sprues of parts, four sprues of clear parts, seven sprues of individual track links, two frets of photoetch, and a small decal sheet of Balkankreuz. The instructions are typical of Dragon and its subsidiaries. Each step includes an exploded diagram. Painting instructions are for either the Norwegian… more |
|
1940 Le Soldat Francais Vol 2 - France 1940 Army Catalog Uniforms, Equipments, Weapons, and InsigniaPublished:
Seventy-one years after the French capitulated to the Wehrmacht in the summer of 1940 the French Army still seems to the butt of jokes. Regardless, the campaign still generates a great deal of interest in the academic and hobby community. With Tamiya’s release of the Char B1bis and the UE Armored Carrier, there is still a tremendous amount of interest in the modeling community for French subjects. There are a fair number of French language reference materials if you know where to look. It just so happens that Casemate Publishers has increased this number by one with the recent release of 1940, the French Soldier Equipment, Weapons, and Material. Casemate Publishers carries a variety of publications from the French Company Historie & Collections. The subject… more |
|
German sWs with 2 cm FlakvierlingPublished:
BackgroundThe Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper (SWS) was a heavy half track manufactured by Bussing-NAG and Tatra from December, 1943 to March, 1945. To streamline production, the SWS was simple to produce when compared to the Sdkfz 251 series. Approximately 825 were built. Beginning in mid-1944, an armored cab version was introduced and utilized for mobile flak guns. While this vehicle may not qualify as a paper panzer, it’s pretty close. I found one very fuzzy photograph on line, so it did exist; however there are no production figures for the variant depicted in this kit and so one can only assume that the numbers were low. The KitGreat Wall Hobby has already produced a number of variants of the SWS, so it’s only fair that they continue this trend and add yet… more |