Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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US Navy Escort Carriers 1942-45Published:
Osprey Publishing continues to expand its New Vanguard series, this time by adding a book on the US Navy Escort Carriers for the 1942-45 period, I topic I have always find fascinating. Escort Carrier were known as CVE (“Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable”) and despite that popular label, they contributed a big deal towards the Allied victory in WWII. The book has a very reasonable breakdown of the topic into the following chapters: Introduction, The Rise of the Escort Carrier, Evolution in the Escort Carrier Design, Escort Carrier Air Groups, Weapons and Radar, plus a chapter on Escort Carriers at War and finally a description of each CVE class: Long Island plus Charger (prototype CVEs), Bogue Class, Sangamon Class, Casablanca Class and Commencement Bay Class. These… more |
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Spitfire Mk.IXc Early VersionPublished:
Eduard has re-released its fantastic Spitfire Mk.IXc early version in the Profipack version. When I say fantastic I really mean it. You get 6 sprues (one clear), a set of masks for the clear parts, a fret of prepainted photoetch and decals to finish your airplane with 6 different options (2 in North Africa colors, 4 in European colors) and a small decal sheet with stencils. Like most airplane models, construction starts with the cockpit. Please note that I used the included Eduard photoetch fret to enhance the cockpit looks. The original cockpit is nicely detailed, with a combination of raised and recessed details, plus decals for the instrument panel, if you choose to go that route. Note: there are no decal seatbelts in this boxing. Actually the in-box decals for the IP –and… more |
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Spitfire Mk IX early cowlingPublished:
Eduard Models continue to expand its Brassin line, this time with a drop-in replacement part for their excellent Spitfire Mk IX line: the top cowling. The part itself is molded in resin and very small casting pours, making removal of the part trivial. The part itself shows no bubbles and exquisite fine detail, down to the rivets. The plastic parts are not bad at all, however, they have a seam line that needs to be puttied and sanded to make it disappear. The resin part does not have any seam line and it is ready to be installed. Note that the resin part fits excellently the width of the fuselage nose. However, when removed from the pouring stab it is slightly longer than the rest of the fuselage, perhaps by 1/32 of an inch. It was very simple to sand it… more |
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Stalingrad 1942-42 / German Soldier vs Soviet SoldierPublished:
Osprey Publishing continues to expand its “Combat” Series, this time with a book on what is possibly the largest urban battle in military history: Stalingrad. The book is organized as follows:
The Introduction section covers the overall strategic situation at the time of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Opposing Sides chapter describes the equipment and general tactics of both the German Pioneer (Assault Troops) and the Soviet Rifleman (Infantry). These two types of soldiers had different training, tactics, and weapons. The… more |
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Shot Down and on The RunPublished:
Osprey Publishing has recently released a very interesting book covering the history of RAF and Commonwealth aircrews shot down behind enemy lines and their escape stories. The book is neatly organized in the following chapters
The first chapter describes the whole organization (MI-9) being setup in the early years of the war charged with establishing escape routes and networks for any personal behind enemy lines (not only for aircrews). In addition of setting up escape routes, this organization was in charge to develop escape aides, tools and supplies, which were part of an ‘escape kit’ provided to armed personnel. Some of… more |
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Curtiss P-40 B/C British Version Browning .303 and Pitot TubePublished:
Master Model from Poland specializes in turned brass aftermarket details. In recent releases, they have added small resin pieces and also small photo-etch parts making them be a multi-media aftermarket supplier. This particular set is devoted to the 1/48 P-40 fans, which I know many of us are. The set provides you with PE sighting rings (4x), sighting bead, pitot tube and pitot tip (resin), .303 cal browning cooling jackets (x4) and blasting tubes (x2). The blasting tubes can be installed with either a straight edge or with a tapered edge at the business end of the tube. The pitot tube tip shape and the shape of the cooling jacket make this set appropriate for the P-40B/C in British service. As you can see from the pictures the detail of the parts is superb.… more |
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Curtiss P-40 B/C - US version - Browning .30 cal and US Type Pitot TubePublished:
Master Model from Poland specializes in turned brass aftermarket details. In recent releases, they have added small resin pieces and small photo-etch parts making them a multi-media aftermarket supplier. This particular set is devoted to the 1/48 P-40 fans, which many of us are. The set provides PE sighting rings (4x), sighting bead, pitot tube and pitot tip (resin), .30 cal browning cooling jackets (x4), and blasting tubes (x2). The blasting tubes can be installed with either a straight edge or with a tapered edge at the business end of the tube. The pitot tube tip shape and the cooling jackets make this set appropriate for the P-40B/C in US service. As you can see from the pictures the detail of the parts is superb. Well defined features and in scale. Please… more |
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Tornado IDS 60th Anniversary 311 GV RSV Special ColorsPublished:
In recent years Italeri has been re-releasing their models with decals for special camouflages or retirement schemes. And I kind of like that. It is a way to get access to kits that otherwise is difficult to get and also to find special decal sheets as part of a regular box. Italeri’s Tornado has been around for quite some time and the molds hold well. There is no flash anywhere to be found in the review copy and all the surface detail is very sharp and well defined. Panel lines are recessed and well defined. Cockpit detail is raised and will accept dry-brushing really well. Opening the box you find 3 main sprues, a clear one and a small sprue with a couple of special drop tanks. One of the sprues includes some weapons, which are not applicable to this version of the… more |
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F-4J Phantom "VF-84 Jolly Rogers" Super Detail Limited EditionPublished:
Hasegawa has re-released their -J Phantom II as a “Super Detail” edition with markings from VF-84 “Jolly Rogers”. That skull and bones sure look great on the rudder. And you are even provided with a skull and bones patch to add to your own jacket! The box has 8 grey sprues, one clear sprue (for a total of 132 pieces) and a photoetch fret, white metal parts and plastic rubber tires, plus one short run of a plastic rubber “hose”, for detailing. Assembly is pretty straightforward starting with the cockpit. Appropriate raised detail is provided in the side consoles and instrument panel to accept dry-brushing. Overall, the detail in the cockpit is simple, but acceptable under a closed canopy. Note that this being a Navy model it has the blanking plate on the right side of… more |
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Warship 2017Published:
The Battleship series is a yearly publication which includes historical research topics related to naval warfare. The Editor is John Jordan and each yearly edition has multiple authors. The 2017 edition includes
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