Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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War in Ukraine Volume 6: The Air War February-March 2022Published:
Casemate Publishing is distributing Helion & Company’s 6th installment of their series “War in Ukraine”. This series is part of their “Europe at War” collection. “War in Ukraine” covers all aspects of the current conflict in Ukraine, like air warfare, drone warfare, armored vehicles or specific battles. This book is focused on the opening moves of air warfare in Mar-April of 2022. Taking into consideration that the conflict is still underway, the authors disclose that several of their sources are video captures, online publications and other social media sources. It should be taken into consideration that some of those sources could be impacted by the “fog of war”, either by accident or intentionally (i.e., misinformation campaigns, counter-intelligence campaigns,… more |
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Messerschmitt Bf 109G – Finnish Air ForcePublished:
MMP Books continues to expand its Colour & Scale series, this time with an issue devoted to the Messerschmitt Bf 109G in Finnish Service. At 16 pages long, the book is brief (rather a booklet) but it is very useful and packed with information. The first seven pages include line drawings of the Bf109G in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. I am not completely sure, but I would say that all the drawings are for the “G-6”, one of the most popular “109”s, which was used by several air forces, making the drawings of value beyond the Finnish Air Force The next eight pages have ful- color profiles for selected airframes, including: MT-415, MT-435, MT-451, MT-445, MT-455, MT-423, MT-426, MT-456, MT-437, MT-458, MT-231 (the lone G-2 in the book), MT-449, MT-431 and MT-453. All the G-6… more |
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Caudron-Renault CR. 714 Cyclone - Single No. 50Published:
The Single Series from Mushroom Model Publications focuses on a specific airframe, sometimes even down to a specific modification or variant of an airframe. This booklet includes line drawings of the Caudron CR.714 in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale and includes some drawings (probably from a technical manual) of the engine mount, and a very complete walkaround set of pictures in black and white of the real airplane (probably in a museum while being restored). There is a selection of period (WW2-era) photographs, and there are also a handful of computer-generated full-color graphics showing the cockpit as well as a 3-view color profile that is very attractive. The Caudron CR.714 is a relatively obscure aircraft and this book was released just in time to support the recent release of the… more |
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P-51B BirdcagePublished:
Eduard continues to expand its P-51 Mustang line, this time releasing the P-51B “Birdcage” in the Profipack box. In the box you get 7 plastic sprues (one clear), canopy masks, PE fret and a set of decal sheets with 6 possible camouflages, three of them in natural metal finish and 3 on camouflage finish of Olive Drab and Neutral Grey. All the options are in American markings. Early in the construction phase you need to decide which version of the model you are going to build, as there are differences in the equipment located behind the pilot seat. To be honest, if you change your mind after you assembled the cockpit, it will be hard to tell you have the “wrong” equipment behind the pilot seat. The cockpit and radiator are two models on its own and what a gem they… more |
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Hurricane Mk IIb TropPublished:
Arma Hobby continues to expand its Hawker Hurricane line, this time releasing the MkIIb (Hurribomber) with Tropical filter. In the box you get 4 plastic sprues (one clear), canopy masks and a decal sheet with 3 possible camouflages: two on Temperate Land Scheme and one Desert Scheme. The Temperate Land Scheme aircraft were deployed in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the Soviet Union. The aircraft deployed in the Soviet Union, at some point served with a white distemper on the wings (I’ve found a YouTube video showing period footage of that aircraft in the Mursmank area with the camouflage as shown in the instructions). Construction starts with the wheel well and continues with the cockpit seat. Then you are guided to “sandwich” the wheel well between the upper and lower wing parts and to… more |
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Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb CollectionPublished:
The Hawker Hurricane saw combat in many theaters of operation, performing different roles (interceptor, ground attack, night fighter, etc.), and served with several different air forces. This allows the modeler to finish their model in different camouflage schemes, different markings, and with different under-wing stores. Euro Decals provides us with a sheet for a total of 8 airframes, two of them being night fighters (all-black), a recon bird (very dark blue), and the remaining 5 airframes provide a combination of Day Fighter schemes. These include European, Desert Schemes (North Africa), and a very unusual scheme of Dark Green/Mid-Stone/Azure blue used in Burma. Considering all the markings provided on the sheet, you can probably build 3 or 4 different models utilizing this… more |
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The Falklands WarPublished:
Valiant Wings has released the 11th installment on its series “Airframe Extra” and it is fully devoted to the Falkland’s conflict of 1982. The book starts with a historical section covering the events leading to the Argentinean invasion in April 1982 and later military events. I should point out that the book almost exclusively includes historical pictures of British equipment and the historical claims for the islands are narrated from the British perspective only. It would have been nice to see more period pictures of Argentinean equipment and to have included the history of Argentinean claims to the islands as well, as to enrich the historical research. The book has two sections of great color profiles -covering both British and Argentinean equipment. I want to… more |
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P-38 Lighting – Part 1: XP-38 to P-38H VariantsPublished:
Detail & Scale has already published two books on the P-38, back in the 1990’s. These books have been long out of print but this is not just a re-issue but rather a revision and update to the original books, including pictures never seen before of the restored P-38F “Glacier Girl” and the scale model section includes details and recommendations for the more modern P-38 kits that became available since the publication of the original edition. The P-38 traces its lineage to Clarence “Kelly” Johnson and it was a revolutionary aircraft from its time, given its size, speed, and climb rate. For each mark indicated below, there is a brief chapter explaining the details from previous marks, period pictures (some in color, most in B&W) and excellent line drawings. This… more |
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Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second World War – Volume 2Published:
Casemate Publishing is distributing a Helion & Company published book on the topic of Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second War World. The publication has two volumes. This review covers Volume 2. The book is broken down in the following sections
Plus three appendices:
While information on the Italian Navy, Italian Air Force and Italian Armored Units is not that difficult to come by, information on their soft-skinned/support/ancillary vehicles is harder to find. But… more |
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Royal Air Force Set 1Published:
Tru-Color Paint is a model paint manufacturer based in the US. They have an extensive line of railroad and car paints and they are continuously expanding their military line (aircraft, naval, armor). This set includes the following colors (all of them already available in their line).
The set includes the main colors used by the RAF in the early years of WWII in Europe (Dark Green, Dark Earth, Sky, Interior Green) and some of the colors used in the later years (Dark Green, Ocean Grey, Interior Green). Including Dark Sea Grey is perhaps a bit unusual as that color was rarely used.… more |