IPMS Number
45124

Reviews By Author

Cover

War & Conquest - Epic Battles in the Ancient and Medieval World

Published: February 2, 2013
Book Author(s): Rob Broom
Company: Scarab Miniatures

I started war gaming when I was in high school because I was always interested in military history. I’ve also wondered about the “what if” scenarios of different battles. My interest in the subject just stayed with me through college and even into the Navy. I remember while I was at the anti-submarine warfare base in San Diego, California, my barracks room mates and I used to push our bunks… more

Box Art

IJN Submarine I-20

Published: January 26, 2013
Company: Aoshima

The I-20 was a Type C-1 Class submarine, which was based on the Junsen-type, developed from the Type KD6. The C-1 Class was designed to carry the Ko-Hoteki midget submarine or Kaiten suicide torpedo. All 5 of the boats in this class took part in the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. All of them launched midget submarines near the harbor entrance and they were never expected to return to… more

Box Art

USS Los Angeles Class Flight I (688) Attack Submarine

Published: January 5, 2013
Company: Riich Models

I was a sonar technician on the USS Tecumseh, an SSBN, for 3 years while it was being overhauled at the Newport News, VA, shipyard. We were tied up at a pier during the refit, and the 688 class attack subs were docked at the next pier. As a result, I was able to walk all over LA class subs, visit them, and got pretty familiar with them. Most of the attack boats were being upgraded from Flight… more

Cover

Stealth Fighter – A Year in the Life of an F-117 Pilot

Published: September 15, 2012
Book Author(s): Lt. Col. William B. O’Connor, USAF (Ret.)
Company: Zenith Press

Zenith Press has just put out a book on the F-117 stealth fighter. It is written by Lt. Col. William B. O’Connor and is about a year in the life of an F-117 pilot. It starts out with the author’s flying career and then gets into the development of the F-117 and eventually the air war over Kosovo.

I really enjoyed reading this book because I like the first person, I-was-there type of… more

Cover

MARSOC: U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command

Published: September 1, 2012
Book Author(s): Fred Pushies
Company: Zenith Press

Fred Pushies has written a book on MARSOC (Marine Special Operations Command), which was formed in 2006 when the United States committed to build up the special forces after 911. It was made from Marine Force Recon companies and designed to take the war to al-Qaeda and the Taliban to stop terrorism.

The book is divided into 8 chapters:

  1. Origin of SOCOM
  2. History of… more

Decal Package

F-104G Starfighter Graffiti Decals

Published: September 1, 2012
Company: Dutch Decal

I received the Dutch Decal sheet for the F-104G Starfighter ‘Graffiti’ KLu/RNethAF and found that it was a supplemental sheet. It only came with the graffiti and code for # D-8337 and a second aircraft that isn’t covered by as much graffiti, D-8063. The instructions state that this sheet is a supplement to sheet #72069, or you can do like I did and piece the rest out from other decal sheets.… more

Cover

U.S. Navy SEALS

Published: September 1, 2012
Book Author(s): Hans Halberstadt
Company: Zenith Press

Hans Halbertstadt has updated his 2006 book titled U.S. Navy SEALS. It has all the great information of the original book, and now includes the operations in Afghanistan, the Osama bin Laden mission, SEALs at war, counter-piracy ops, and weapons and equipment.

The book is divided into 10 chapters:

  1. Let slip the frogs of war
  2. A short history lesson
  3. Earning… more

Parts Packaging

B-17 Flying Fortress Oxygen Cylinders

Published: June 6, 2012
Company: Quickboost

Once again, Quickboost comes out with another addition to its resin aircraft accessories in 1/72nd scale. This time it is the oxygen cylinders for the B-17 Flying Fortress. I tried to compare it to some of the different B-17 kits that I have and none of them came with that much interior detail. This also included the new Revell tooling that is very good. I did see some on the see-through kits… more

Cover

Austro-Hungarian Submarines in WWI

Published: April 20, 2012
Book Author(s): Jiri Novak
Company: Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books

This is the 3rd book in MMP’s Maritime Series (# 3103), entitled Austro-Hungarian Submarines in WWI. It is published in an A4 format (8.25 x 11.75) soft cover book; containing 152 pages packed with black and white photographs, submarine line drawings and tables of technical data. This is a much needed book on the subject of WWI. Whenever I hear of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, I’m… more

Part Packaging

Dassault Mirage 2000 Pitot Tube

Published: April 8, 2012
Company: Master Model

This is the second time that I’ve used one of the turned brass aftermarket pieces from Master Models Poland. The piece that I’m reviewing is the pitot tube for the Dassault Mirage 2000. As luck would have it, I’ve been working on a Heller Mirage 2000 and was really happy to receive this part.

The first thing I would like to point out is how good the packaging and instruction sheet is.… more