Reviews of books or magazines relating to scale modeling.

Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$28.95

Ever since the German war machine occupied the Crimea in 1942, Hitler had been obsessed with the peninsula. In his eyes, the Crimea was the gateway to the Black Sea and the Romanian oilfields, on which his armies depended, and which were within distance of Crimean airbases. Hitler often referred to the Crimea as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” and for that reason, he said it was imperative to hold on to the peninsula at all costs

The Crimean Campaign was fought by German and Romanian forces as a part of Operation Barbarossa in late September 1941. While most Soviet forces were defeated, the Siege of Sevastopol lasted until early July 1942. The German 17th Army garrisoned Crimea with assistance from Romanian troops until the 4th Ukrainian Front recaptured Crimea beginning in November 1943 and ending in May 1944.

Book Author(s)
Daniel Kowalczuk
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$23.00

The Warpaint series should be remarkably familiar to most modelers. This is #147 in the series and covers the Nakajima Ki-43. The book covers the development of and the service history of the type. The most numerous and famous of the Japanese Army Air Force aircraft, it was comparable to the Japanese Navy’s A6M Zero. One of the interesting facts is that to Japanese people, the Ki-43 is more famous and revered than its counterpart, the Zero! So much so that it is often the aircraft of choice for anime producers.

The book is filled with many wartime and immediate postwar photographs. One of the best features is the substantial number of color profiles covering Japanese, Republic of China, Manchuko, US captured examples, Royal Thai, French, Communist China, and Indonesian examples. Nice color photos of the4 surviving examples are also included.

Book Author(s)
Martin Derry, Neil Robinson
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$34.95

The period between 1920 and 1939 saw a rapid evolution in flight technology, not least in the field of fighter aircraft. The RAF ended WWI with a mix of fighters but by 1920 had standardized on the two-gun rotary-engine Sopwith Snipe, one of the most advanced fighters of the War. In the Twenties, aircraft development hardly evolved – mainly due to Government parsimony, the period ending with the Hawker Woodcock and Gloster Gamecock, which were still two-gun, fabric-covered biplanes with top speeds barely in advance of the Snipe. In the Thirties, the purse strings opened as the realization that another war could be on the horizon, and the development of the Hawker Fury – still a biplane, but with many advanced features – opened the door for even more advanced types, and to the monoplane Hurricane and Spitfire that began to equip the RAF in the late Thirties.

Book Author(s)
Antonio Luis Sapienza
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

This book deals with what may be one of the most iconic figures of the 1960's, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who is considered by many as the ultimate hero of the struggle for "liberation" from the oppression of the Olicarguias of Latin America. He was a man of strong belief that communism was the answer to the solution of the Latin American problems, and as such he was willing to give his life for his ideals. Although his methods may have been wrong, nevertheless, you have to respect the man for his commitment to those ideals. The book deals with the last episode of his life.

Book Author(s)
Massimiliano Afiero
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$28.95

This book does a lot to dispel some of the myths of the “easy” German invasion of Poland. While it does so, it is also not the focus of the book, but rather the nascent Waffen-SS evolving into a military arm of the Nazi war machine. Author Massimiliano Afiero writes,

In September 1939, the Waffen-SS was effectively only three regiments plus several hodgepodge units. Poland would be its baptism of fire: during the campaign, SS combat units participated in operations attached to formations of the Heer. Still considered more parade troops than frontline soldiers, they did not prove a decisive factor in the fighting, but the campaign was important for their transformation into real fighting units.

Book Author(s)
Janos Besenyo
Andras Istvan Turke, Endre Szenasi
Review Author
Tomasz Menert
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

From the publisher’s website:

In the early 2010s, the Wagner Group, a notorious private military company under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, began to emerge onto the world stage. This organization first showed its hand in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and the civil war in Syria. It quickly became apparent that it had the blessing of the very highest levels of Putin’s government in Russia to act as an armed extension of the country’s foreign policy before a spectacular fall from grace following the mutiny in the summer of 2023.

Book Author(s)
Neil page
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mortons Books
MSRP
$25.99

Morton's Media Group was established in the 19th century and has been producing book-length publications since the early 2000s. The company established a dedicated book division in 2019, and Morton's Books has already earned a reputation for publishing high-quality titles by authors who are true experts in their field. For the best reads on rail, aviation, nostalgia and history, look no further. This book is part of their imprint: Tempest Books address all aspects of aviation history and are covered in authoritative detail. The aviators and aircraft of the Second World War are profiled by our titles alongside more modern fighters, bombers, reconnaissance, and transport aircraft. 'Secret projects' and experimental designs are also an important part of the Tempest Books portfolio. This English-language book, DFS 230 Combat Glider, is authored by Neil Page and was published in May 2025.

Book Author(s)
Dennis Olver
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$29.97

Tank Craft 45: Nashorn Self-Propelled Tank Destroyer, German Army, Eastern Front 1943-1945 outlines the history, development, and use of this dedicated self-propelled gun. Initially named the Hornisse (Hornet - also the name of the Me-410 heavy fighter/fast bomber), it was soon renamed the Nashorn (pronounced Nahz-horn – Rhinoceros). From the earliest days of Operation Barbarossa, it became apparent that the German anti-tank guns of the time were underpowered, and towing them into position was problematic. The 88mm flak guns were soon given the successful anti-tank gun role. In June 1942, the 8.8cm Flak 41 entered production, and it had superior range and performance to its predecessors. It was decided to produce both a towed and self-propelled version for testing. This is the story of the self-propelled tank destroyer, Nashorn.

Book Author(s)
Slawomir Zajaczkowski
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.99

MMP Books continues to expand its “Colour and Scale” series, this time with an installment on the Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II.

This booklet has 5 pages of line drawings for the Thunderbolt II in 1/72 scale, providing side views (both port and starboard) top view, bottom view and side-view without the wing or rudder obstructing the fuselage profile.

In addition to the scale drawings, there are 8 pages of full-color profiles and, in some cases, also top and bottom views.

Some of the camouflages are relatively well known as the two-gray early scheme or the “Flipper” scheme, but others are unique, like the “Jawa” one, which reminds me of Italian World War 2 camouflage schemes.

The book covers camouflage schemes from the late ‘70s (early production) to the ‘90s (Desert Storm). I am not sure if the book includes all and every type of camo scheme used by the Thunderbolt II, but it certainly has a significant selection.

Book Author(s)
Dennis Olver
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$29.99

TankCraft 44, StuG III Assault Gun – German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units, Eastern Front, 1944 breaks the StuG III’s (Sturmgeschütz, abbreviated as StuG, also known as the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 161) long service life into the closing struggles in the Eastern Front in 1944. Older and newer StuG IIIs and IVs fought side by side on all fronts as the Allied ring closed in on Germany. This book focuses on the StuG IIIs on the Eastern Front, which is fantastic as it complements an already published book of StuGs on the Western Front (TankCraft 19: StuG III & IV, German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe, Western Front 1944-1945) and hints at a StuG IV book.

This 64-page book is outlined in the familiar TankCraft format and is loaded with incredible black and white photographs, color illustrations, supporting text and detailed captions, modeling references and a bibliography in the following chapters: