Shocking in the stark realism of perfected three dimensions...out of the muck and mystery of a hundred million years ago...up from the depths of unknown horror comes an abomination to confound science and terrorize the world. It''s ' Dawn of Drone ' !

While that might be a bit melodramatic and with apologies to the producers of 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' this release from Platz Hobby does illustrate beautifully (in scale model form) the beginnings of the use of drone aircraft in the early 1950's. Platz Hobby's 1/144th scale F6F-3K Hellcat depicts F6F-3K Hellcats used during the atomic weapon tests at Bikini atoll in the early fifties.

For a more detailed description I encourage you to click the link to an article by Dan Gettinger about those events and the early use of drone aircraft (Hellcats/B-17's) as research platforms. [The Drones of the Atomic Age (bard.edu)]

MMP Books continues its Orange Series, this time with the 3rd Edition of the “Macchi C.202 Folgore” book by Przemysław Skulski.

The C.202 Folgore was probably the most significant aircraft of Italian design during WW2, given that is was one of the best performers of the bunch -maybe not the best, but among the best- and certainly the one produced in the larger numbers among those airframes competing for the “best of” title of Italian design.

The book describes the XVI series (or “Marks”) of this airframe, although some of the series were similar to each other, it only referred to which company manufactured the airplane. Some series were not built due to the armistice or other issues, meaning that only about 1200 airframes were ever completed.

Aires Models from Czech Republic specializes on aftermarket details; for the most part releasing “drop-in” resin replacement parts.

This set is intended to replace the wheels of the 1/48 Trumpeter L39Z0. The parts are molded in grey resin, free of bubbles or imperfections and with great surface detail, down to the manufacturer of the tires molded with enough raised detail that will take dry-brushing fantastically!

The attachment points of the wheels to the casting blocks are miniscule and removal and clean up should be an easy task. The resin wheels are of the “non-weighted” variety.

In addition to the resin parts, they include painting masks which are super-handy to have and use. The masks are pre-cut so it is as simple as peeling, placing and you are ready to airbrush.

Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Aires Models and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

I discovered HMH Publications and Duke Hawkins Series recently and they are quickly becoming favorites of mine. The quality of the content that is covered (i.e level of detail) and the printing are fantastic. The paper quality is super, with a satin finish. All pictures are in color, with proper exposure and very sharp focus, so all details are crisp.

The pictorial book is split in the following sections: Types, Forward Fuselage, Fuselage, Air Intakes, Wings, Cockpit, Front Landing Gear, Main Landing Gear, Vertical Tail, Maintenance, Engine, Pylons, Action and then an extra 20 pages on the Mirage 5 and Mirage 50.

As you can see, the pictures have very descriptive and relevant captions, helping you understand what detail is being highlighted in each image. Not only you are getting all the walk-around images you need for your build, you are also learning details of the aircraft as you read along.

The Ryan Firebee is a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and remains one of the most widely used target drones ever built.

The Firebee I was the result of a 1948 U.S. Air Force request and contract to Ryan for a jet-powered gunnery target. The first flight of the XQ-2 Firebee prototype took place in early 1951. The drone featured swept flight surfaces and a circular nose inlet. The initial models had distinctive "arrowhead" shaped end plates on the tailplane. The Firebee could be air-launched from a specially modified launch aircraft (Douglas A-26 Invader was first to be used for this), or ground-launched with a single RATO booster.