Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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Bloody Biscay: The History of V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40Published:
KG 40 was the only long range maritime unit of the Luftwaffe. V Gruppe was the only long range fighter Gruppe within the unit. That alone makes the study of their operations an interesting topic. As part of the Battle of the Atlantic, U-Boats transiting the Bay of Biscay became pray of RAF bombers. As a response measure, KG 40 activated a heavy fighter unit (Junkers 88 C-6) to intercept the bombers. As a response the RAF deployed the Beaufighter and later, Mosquitos into the bay. The Luftwaffe counter the move by deploying single engine Fw-190 fitted with long range tanks (from 8/JG2), but eventually, the sheer number of the Allied aircraft established air superiority over the bay. The book has the following chapters
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Adler Gegen England – Luftwaffe Air Campaign against British Isles 1941-1945Published:
ReviewThe Battle of Britain has been documented many times over. However there are not as many references related to the Luftwaffe air campaign after the peak of September 1940 battles. This book is devoted to fill that gap. The book is logically split in the following chapters
All the chapters are profusely illustrated with color profiles (and 4-view drawings in some cases) of the different German… more |
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Aces of Jagdgeschwader 3 'Udet' (Aircraft of the Aces)Published:
ReviewOsprey Publishing keeps providing modelers and aviation aficionados with plenty of reading and reference material. The latest installment of their “Aircraft of the Aces” is devoted to those that flew with JG3. I have to say that I like a lot the most recent books of this series, in which they cover both the history and aces of a single unit. JG 3 is a very relevant unit to both the modeler and historian, as it participated in all major Luftwaffe campaigns and some of the most significant battles of the war, including the Battle of Britain, Battle for Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, Ardennes and Berlin. Not only that, it also flew all the marks of the Bf-109 (from the early –Es to the late –Ks), plus the Fw-190, both radial and inline versions. In addition… more |
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Italian Light Civilian Car (Open Top)Published:
Bronco has released a civilian version of their Light Italian Car (known as “Topolino” or little mouse). Upon opening the box you find seven tan colored sprues, one clear sprue, the main car body (independently packed) plus the decal sheet and a small photoetch fret. This boxing also includes two figures, a woman and a dog, both molded in grey. Instructions are very clear and have a total of 17 steps. The overall surface detail is very good and shows fine detail. I was not able to find any obvious mold lines anywhere in the main body. The kit includes a full engine and suspension, and the doors have interior pockets. The fine detail of the grille will take a wash very nicely. Among the possible options, you can steer the front wheels as well as having… more |
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V3000S/SS M Maultier with 7,62 cm Pak 36(r)Published:
ICM has released a great value kit of a V3000S half-track with a Pak 36 anti-tank gun in the same box. Upon opening the box you find a total of six sprues (one of them clear). One sprue is devoted to the anti-tank gun, while the other five sprues relate to the vehicle. Actually, I am pretty sure you have all the parts in the box to build the vehicle as a typical 6-wheel truck or the half-track version. You can see from the pictures that the surface detail is very good, both fine and restrained. The connection points to the sprues are small and should be easy to clean up the parts with a sanding stick. The vehicle includes a full engine, suspension and transmission and the grille is hollowed. The cab is nicely detailed, with the instrument panel provided as a decal. The… more |
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European FarmyardPublished:
MiniArt has been releasing multiple building and diorama accessories. This release is a “European Farmyard”, which actually has sprues from other kits of their accessory line, making it be an excellent value. The sturdy box includes seven injection molded sprues and 11 vacuformed sheets with parts for 5 different structures, all of them molded in grey. The vacuformed sheets include parts a small building/shop, two sheds and two covered shelters with open sides. There is no interior wall detail, so when you look inside through the windows, you will see the back of the stone walls. Like with any other vacuform parts there are little ‘pimples’ in the surface but you can cut, fill and sand those spots and they won’t be visible in the finished model. The injection molded… more |
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Alpha Jet A/EPublished:
Kinetic has released an all new mold Alpha Jet in 48th scale, which is a welcome addition to the lineup of trainers/light attack airplane kits. Upon opening the box, you will find three sprues molded in light grey styrene, one clear part sprue, a small photo-etch fret, plus decals for three versions. The overall surface detail is very nice, with fine and clearly defined recessed panel lines and rivets. Small parts suffer of a bit of flash, but nothing that 30 seconds with a sanding stick won’t fix. The clear parts are very transparent. The overall kit breakdown indicates that several versions of the Alpha Jet are possible. The box lists A/E, but the instructions also list a B mark. Sadly, the instructions are confusing at times, making it difficult to… more |
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Liquid GravityPublished:
Deluxe Materials is a company I was not familiar with. Deluxe Materials is based out of the Great Britain and it certainly provides with quality supplies to the hobbyists in Great Britain and beyond. Liquid Gravity is a weighting system that can be used for different applications, from preventing a model airplane being a tail sitter, to balancing an RC airplane or even to providing weight to the rolling stock of your railroad layout. I am not sure what metal is used for the tiny little “BBs”, but it is not magnetic and after a few measurements I came up with a density of about 4.15 gr/cm3 (lead has a density of 11.3 gr/cm3 for comparison). Despite the lower density, “Liquid Gravity” it has a great advantage: it is nontoxic. The size of each… more |
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The Pucará StoryPublished:
Mushroom Model Publications released a new book in their “White Series”, devoted to the Argentinean designed and manufactured “Pucará” (“Stone Fortress” in the Quichua native-american language). The Pucara is an indigenous design of a twin ending light attack/COIN airplane. It has seen service in Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Sri Lanka and the UK (captured). The list of countries that explored –and even placed orders- for them is much larger, but for different reasons the export orders never materialized. The book breakdown is, as you can expect, based on the chronology of the airframe: It begins with “Origin and Development”, then moves into “Further Development”, it has a very detailed chapter of the “South Atlantic Conflict” (which includes multiple color profiles… more |
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Perfect Plastic PuttyPublished:
Deluxe Materials is a company I was not familiar with. It is based out of the Great Britain and it certainly provides quality supplies to the hobbyists in Great Britain and beyond. They have created a water washable, fast drying and low odor filler, that is easy to clean up and work with. I had a drop tank with some holes on it that I wanted to fill. I just applied a bit of the filler with a small spatula and after about one minute of drying time, I used a lightly damp piece of paper towel to clean up the excess filler. You can see yourself the great finish it delivered. There is an official video on different applications for this filler at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stLzShlnrEk It is interesting to notice… more |