Reviews of books or magazines relating to scale modeling.

Book Author(s)
P Skulski
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$35.00

MMP Books continues to produce high-quality references that are specifically aimed at the modeler. The latest in their “Orange” Series is this volume on the Reggiane 2001 and 2005 (as well as some further developments in the series).

This book consists of 176 pages, including black and white period photos, scale line drawings, color profiles, original manual pages and more.

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas, Richard Kent
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.99

New from MMP’s Tank Plans series is this set of scale plans for the British Main Battle Tank, the Challenger I. To 1/35, 1/48 and 1/72 scale, these cover both the standard Challenger I Mk.3 and the modified Desert Version as used in the Gulf War. Each vehicle is covered in four views – each side, top and front. The plans are drawn by Dariusz Karnas and are spread across fold-out pages, some 24 in total.

This is the ideal companion volume to the recent MMP book about the Challenger I, which was reviewed here although that book does contain the basic 1/35 plans inside.

This booklet will be very useful for those who have any of the many 1/35 or 1/72 kits of the type or the Tamiya kit in 1/48. Recommended.

My thanks to the good folks at MMP and Casemate for the review sample.

Book Author(s)
Alan Durkota
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Aeronaut Books
MSRP
$44.99

From Wikipedia: The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States (the commander in chief of the armed forces) and is presented "in the name of the United States Congress." It is often, but incorrectly, referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Book Author(s)
David Heading
Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$34.95

Publishers’ description: This practitioner's guide to solo wargaming offers comprehensive coverage of the subject, showing how it can be a fascinating complement to social gaming or an entire hobby in its own right. This book integrates ideas from across the hobby to discuss various aspects of gaming alone across all manner of conflicts, whether land, sea or air and in any historical period or imagined setting.

Book Author(s)
Vladimir Kotelnikov with Gennady Sloutskiy;
Illustrators: Andrey Yurgenson
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

The author begins the book with the following introduction,

While other great powers were in search of colonies across the oceans, Russia was gradually expanding its territorial borders.Starting from the middle of the nineteenth century the country began annexing territories in Central Asia, its northern part had already been controlled by the Russians.

The people who stood in the way of Russia’s expansion included the nomadic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs (until 1822 they were known as Kyrgyz-Kaisaks), and three major states further south: the Kokand and the Khiva khanates and the Emirate of Bukhara. The areas included present-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Chinese Xinjiang, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

Book Author(s)
Alan Durkota
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Aeronaut Books
MSRP
$49.99

Author Alan Durkota succinctly explains this book in his Introduction:

The Army Air Force has 36 aviation-related Medal of Honor recipients in World War Two. One mission to attack oil refineries located at Ploesti, Romania, resulted in five Medals of Honor being awarded. making it the most highly decorated mission of the war. Two of the five will be presented in this volume.

James Doolittle’s raid on 18, April,1942 (sic), shocked the Japanese military and at the same time filled Americans with hope. History would show this mission caused the Japanese military to prioritize their effort to eliminate the American carriers which escaped the attack at Pearl Harbor, thereby setting into motion a series of events, including the Battle of Midway.

Book Author(s)
Darius Karnas and Artur Juszczak
Review Author
Michael Furry
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.00

The Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21 is probably one of the best known Soviet aircraft. Operated by nations all over the world, the Mig-21 holds the distinction of being the most produced warplane since WWII. The subject of MMP’s newest monograph is the reconnaissance variant Mig-21R.

The 24-page book is composed of line drawings, photographs, captions, and a color profile of a single aircraft. All of the aircraft featured are Polish Air Force. Close in-detail photos of the fuselage, wing, tail, undercarriage, armament, cockpit and canopy are provided.

Two pages are dedicated to the interior of the vertical fin providing details of the spars, ribs, hydraulic lines, fuel lines, and components not normally seen. Other photographs are of operational Polish Air Force aircraft.

Book Author(s)
Bartlomiej Belcarz
Franciszek Strzelezyk
Review Author
Brett W Scholten
Published on
Company
Stratus
MSRP
$25.00

This was a fun book for me (as a history nerd). The introduction was interesting as it explained why Poland had to choose a European built aircraft vs an American built aircraft (American aircraft needed a higher-octane fuel which was not available in Poland).

The first part of the book is a bit dry. I wish the authors had tied events in Poland (i.e. the German invasion and defeat of the Polish Military) into events listed in the book. We learn that the Polish Pilots operated from various French aerodromes, but no real discussion is made of how the French integrated the Polish Pilots/Units into their order of battle. The combat narratives are short, and I wish they had been expanded too.

Book Author(s)
Andy Evans
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Phoenix Scale Publications
MSRP
$41.00

Phoenix Scale Publications, based in Great Britain, is a partnership of four people whose combined experience equals over 100 years working in both the aviation and modelling press. After so many years working for others, they came together as equal partners in this new venture, with each partner bringing their own unique talents. On the editorial side we have Andy Evans, who, during his 40-year career has been at the helm of five aviation and modelling magazines, as well as a contributor to many more. He is also a published author with over 60 aviation and modelling books to his name. David Francis is an IPMS UK and Belgium Nationals Gold winning modeler and he has edited one of the world’s best-selling magazines for six years. His work has featured in numerous aviation and modelling books and magazines for the last 35 years.