Hasegawa first released their 1/72 B-25J in 2003 and followed up thereafter with a

B-25H, both released in various boxing’s since. This welcomed kit is likely the most accurate in this scale and yet it benefits from aftermarket details. Quickboost manufacture a closed cooling flap and open cooling flap version of the cowlings. This review focuses on the open cooling flap version. Since Eduard chose to release some limited edition 1/72 B-25s with interesting decal options, precut masks and photo etch details, these replacement cowlings will fit their 1/72 Angel of Mercy, Guns Bunny and Strafer kits.

In the Box

Cowling parts in pairs, consisting of cowls, cooling flap rings, carb intake scoops and mounting lugs, all indexed to fit exactly with the kit engine nacelles.

The Westland Wessex HU.5 was a British commando/utility helicopter upgraded from the Sikorsky H-34. They were also used by the Royal Navy for SAR work and I was lucky enough to spend a week with our local SAR Flight at HMS Daedalus back in 1981 as part of a work experience programme. I was taken for a number of flights including one where I played the part of a ‘survivor’, being winched up and down from the cabin. Fun times!

Italeri released their 1/48 Wessex HU.5 in 2012 and it is a fine kit, though not without a few issues. Aires’ Quickboost brand has a number of improvement sets for the kit, including this new 3D printed one. The nose of the Wessex 5 has a large and very distinctive debris guard over the nose air intake. In the kit, this is represented by a two-part construct which traps a piece of provided plastic mesh. This looks OK when made, but cries out for a finer, better solution.

The origin of Pen & Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers, established in 1858, and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following of a series of articles published in the newspaper: Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of those books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guidebooks. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful, and the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group.

The non-profit UK based group known as the Great War Aviation Society publishes their journal, Cross & Cockade International, four times a year. Issues are available in English as printed [Softbound, A4 (8.27” x 11.69”), 80 pages plus a centerfold, as well as digital copies (or both). A new magazine, Contact!, is now available in both print and digital download. Society also provides a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph, which I reviewed earlier for the IPMS-USA. This UK Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front. The Great War Aviation Society also hosts a lecture series available through Zoom. If interested, you will need to register early as the call is limited in attendance. The Great War Aviation Society also is on Facebook and on X [Twitter].

This book contains 82 pages, 84 b/w photos, 32 color profiles, 1 color map, and 6 tables. It covers the USSR’s military aviation in the Baltics in 1941. It is number 63 in the Europe at War series and is Volume one of three.

After beating Finland in the Winter War, the Soviets had also taken over part of Poland as well as Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. The false sense of superiority this instilled would come to light when the Germans invaded the USSR in Operation Barbarossa! Through the author’s access to many heretofore restricted files, especially those from the former Soviet Union, he can give a thorough accounting of situation.