Reviews of books or magazines relating to scale modeling.

Book Author(s)
Rick Morgan
Review Author
Howie Belkin
Published on
February 14, 2013
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

Vietnam was called “The Helicopter War,” which suited me just fine, having served as a UH-1H “Huey” doorgunner. But as a modeler, a Long Islander (home to Grumman and Republic), and an armchair historian, I have to concede that quite a number of other aircraft types served heroically, if not stoically, and are owed much, much more appreciation for the extraordinary tasks they accomplished under some of the most suicidal “rules of engagement” ever self inflicted upon a combatant. The Grumman A-6 Intruder has starred in a couple of books and movies, with her pilots among the authors. Indeed, the author of this book, Rick Morgan,”is a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander with more than 2300 hours of flight time… principally in EA-6B Prowler, A-4 Skyhawk and A-3 Skywarrior type aircraft.” Though too young to have served in Vietnam, Morgan flew combat in Desert Storm.

Book Author(s)
Jay L. Sherlock
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
February 12, 2013
Company
Aero Research
MSRP
$19.95

Modelers’ Guide to the P-38 Lightning is the third in a series of books published by Aero Research to aid modelers who want to build accurate models of specific aircraft. According to the first sentence in the book’s introduction: “This book is a guide to building any military variant of the P-38 Lightning, using existing kits.” That is not an understatement. The book will be a very useful reference for anyone planning to build any P-38. All variants, from prototype to the M model (and all photo-recon versions) are included. Author Jay Sherlock has done a thorough job of researching and organizing pertinent information that modelers usually find they need sometime during a project. As a matter of fact, the book will come in handy before starting the project – when deciding which kit to purchase. The first chapter describes in detail all kits currently available in 1/44, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales, and each description includes a small color photo of the box top.

Book Author(s)
Rob Broom
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
February 2, 2013
Company
Scarab Miniatures
MSRP
$49.95

I started war gaming when I was in high school because I was always interested in military history. I’ve also wondered about the “what if” scenarios of different battles. My interest in the subject just stayed with me through college and even into the Navy. I remember while I was at the anti-submarine warfare base in San Diego, California, my barracks room mates and I used to push our bunks out of the way and play General Quarters, metal warships and all. So when they wanted someone to review the War and Conquest rules book, I just had to jump at the chance to do it.

Book Author(s)
Paolo Varriale
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
January 29, 2013
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

History

The Austro-Hungarian Army Air Service operated various types of aircraft during their combat operations against the Italians, Russians, Rumanians, and Albanians, and for the most part their equipment was not particularly state-of-the-art. On the Italian side, while some Italian designs were used, many of the aircraft they faced were the latest designs from France and Britain, some flown by British pilots. The Austrians never had adequate resources to prosecute the war in the first place as their aviation industry had been neglected before the war, resulting in only limited successes. They operated on a shoestring and did remarkably well, considering their limited resources.

Book Author(s)
Mikael Forslund and Thierry Vallet
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
January 27, 2013
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$48.00

This book looks at all of the piston engine fighter aircraft used by Sweden from 1925 to 1946 and their paint schemes. Each aircraft is covered with many period pictures, some even in color. There is a section on the operational history, a listing of production numbers, as well as a chart detailing the individual aircraft history of all aircraft of each type that served Sweden. Each aircraft section ends with color notes spelling out the colors used for each. While not in FS numbers, these callout will still prove useful to the modeler. The book is more of a history of these aircraft in Swedish service with color information included than it is an in-depth analysis of the colors used on these aircraft.

Book Author(s)
Peter E. Davies
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
January 25, 2013
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

OK, I am not a Phantom Phreak, but I am a Phantom Phan. I have only built about 20 F-4s in the last 10 years. I also drove about 80 miles from home to Springfield, IL, to watch a couple of F-4Ds take off.

The chapters are:

  • In the Beginning
  • To Battle
  • CAS, McCutcheon and Control
  • The Toughest Years
  • Golden Hawk Eyes
  • Appendices

Also included are 30 color side view profiles of USMC combat Phantom IIs.

I found this book to be a wealth of information about the Marines’ deployments to Vietnam from 1966 to 1973. The chapters cover a unit’s deployment and a history which hits the high points of operations.

Book Author(s)
Håkan Gustavsson & Ludovico Slongo
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
January 25, 2013
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

Osprey Publishing continues to expand the Duel Series with the 47th installment of this collection, Gladiator vs. CR.42 Falco. This book has the typical sections of the previous books in the series – i.e., Development, Strategic Situation, Combat, Statistics, and Analysis and Aftermath.

The book is well written and incredibly well researched. The main adversaries fought each other in what some historians would consider secondary theaters of war. However, those theaters expanded from sand dunes of North Africa and the Mediterranean to the green fields of Eastern Africa and into the Middle East and Iraq, certainly an area much larger of than the main theatre of operations of WWII.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
January 25, 2013
Company
Scale Aircraft Modelling
MSRP
$7.00

Scale Aircraft Modelling is an excellent monthly publication focusing on modeling scale aircraft. Averaging just under 100 pages, SAM is filled with build articles featuring some of the newer kits on the market, as well as projects based on old favorites. Printed on glossy paper in full color, this magazine is a treasure chest of information about modeling techniques as well as a great source of information on new products.

The cover article in this issue is entitled, “Kaleidoscope Cod” referring to the Kinetic C-2 Greyhound. Mike Williams does an absolutely stunning job on the C-2. The article includes a list of additional items used in the project, which paints produced the beautiful paint job, and those weathering agents which Mike used. The article is a great resource for anyone attempting the C-2.

Book Author(s)
Felippo Cappellano and Pier Paulo Battistelli
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
January 21, 2013
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$17.95

Osprey Publishing continues expanding its New Vanguard Collection. This is the issue 195 of this line and it is devoted to the Italian Medium Tank.

The book sections covers the characteristics of the Medium Tanks (M 11/39, M 13/40, and M 14/41), plus a brief section on the Heavy Tank (P 40). It also includes the self-propelled guns that were based on the above-listed chassis. Later in the book there are two sections devoted to Italian armor in combat (both with the Italian Army and under German service). It finalizes with a brief chapter devoted to camouflage and markings and a section on surviving vehicles at different museums.