Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Fred Bachofner
Published on
Company
Aztec Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$21.00

Following a long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of the Malvinas / Falkland Islands, war officially broke out 42 years ago on 2nd April 1982 when Argentine forces invaded the Islands. In response the British sent a task force to counter the invasion and fight to recapture the territory. The battle that followed was a challenge for both sides. For the British, the challenge was deploying a force so far from home with limited land platforms to supply the effort. For the Argentineans, despite occupying the Islands, only one airfield out of the three (Stanley) was paved but it still wasn't long enough to operate the fast jets from, so they had to carry out their attacks from the Argentine mainland

Book Author(s)
John Kim
Review Author
Tomasz Menert
Published on
Company
KLP Publishing
MSRP
$15.00

The ebook “Building the Zoukei-Mura Ta-152H in 1/32 Scale” is a part of the Scale Modelling Guide Books from KLP Publishing in Australia. This is an impressive publication with 167 pages full of pictures and great modeling ideas. The Ta-152H model from Zoukei-Mura in 1/32 scale is the subject of this publication and was built, painted, and finished by John Kim. He backdated the H1 (Super Wing Series No. SP2) kit to the earlier H0 version. Although Zoukei-Mura released the H0 model later, John did not have access to that model at that time.

The book consists of seven chapters:

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.00

New decals for two aircraft of the VF-201 Hunters stationed out of NAS Fort Worth, TX. One is of an F-4N Phantom (BuNo 152244) during August, 1977. The other is of an F-14A Tomcat (BuNo 160396) during November 1998.

In the Package

There are two (2) decal sheets provided. The main sheet provides the colorful tail markings, insignias, and stencils. The second sheet is smaller for the F-4N Phantom fuselage “Navy” & “AF” wing markings. They are printed by Cartograf and have minimal excess clear film around the edges. The colors are vibrant and the registry is perfect.The fold-out color marking guide (11” X 17”) will help you locate the decals for each airplane. This also includes vendor paint guides for AK, Hataka, Mr. Color, and Mr. Paint.

Recommended kits for this decal set are:

Book Author(s)
Historical narrative by Patrick Branly
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Valiant Wings Publishing
MSRP
$18.95

Valiant Wings has released the 11th installment on its series “Airframe Extra” and it is fully devoted to the Falkland’s conflict of 1982. The book starts with a historical section covering the events leading to the Argentinean invasion in April 1982 and later military events.

I should point out that the book almost exclusively includes historical pictures of British equipment and the historical claims for the islands are narrated from the British perspective only. It would have been nice to see more period pictures of Argentinean equipment and to have included the history of Argentinean claims to the islands as well, as to enrich the historical research.

Book Author(s)
David Nicolle and Air Vice Marshal Gabr Ali Gabr
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

The catchily-titled Air Power and the Arab World, 1909–1955 Volume 10 THE FIRST ARAB-ISRAELI WAR BEGINS 15-31 MAY 1948 continues the story of the men and machines of the first half-century of military aviation in the Arab world. This volume tells the story of the first two weeks of the first of the Arab-Israeli Wars in May 1948. While part of an ongoing series, this volume also stands alone as a history of the period covered.

Book Author(s)
Károly Magó
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
KLP Publishing
MSRP
$25.00

KLP Publishing is based in Australia producing digital guidebooks aimed specifically at the modeler. This is #4 in the “Modellers Monograph Series” and covers the camouflage painting/schemes of the Royal Hungarian Air Force from inception (post WW1) to 1945.

The e-book consists of 417 pages, with a color “cover” and loads of photos of aircraft, source documents and aircraft relics. In addition to the 200+ photos, there are 46 color profiles with very detailed explanations of the individual paint schemes.The author,Károly Magó, served with the Helicopter Defense Forces in Hungary and currently works at the Szolnok Aviation Museum doing restoration and research.He is also involved in search and recovery of aircraft wrecks within Hungary. Finally, it is worth noting that he is a modeler, and is Head Judge of the Moson Model show.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$12.99

This is a paint set primarily meant for Civil Aviation on the 1930-50’s. I decided to use a 1/450 scala Heller DC-10 paint mule I had on my bench to use the paints on. Then I used each paint to see its finish and application. All the painting I did was with the Airbrush. These paints would also need to be thinned if brush painting.

The paints are best thinned with the ICM thinner, which I did not have, so I tried the following –

Book Author(s)
Nicolas Deboeck
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
HMH Publications
MSRP
$42.00

From the Back Cover

The A-10 was specifically developed as a close air support aircraft, and a replacement for the A1 Skyraider. The intended mission of the A-10 decided the looks of the aircraft: the forward fuselage was built around the avenger gun, while the cockpit was placed in a titanium armored tub. The engines were placed high on top of the fuselage and the wings equipped with a lot of pylons in order to take a huge weapons load. Some have suggested several times to retire the almost 50 year old jet, but soldiers on the ground have repeated that it is a lifesaver.

This is the 30th book in the Duke Hawkins series of aircraft Photobooks from HMH publications. The book includes very high-quality photos of almost every detail of the May 10. Unfortunately, few photos are included of the GAU-8 Avenger gun.

Book Author(s)
Various
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Cross & Cockade International
MSRP
$50.00

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. Issues are available as printed as well as digital copies (or both).They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

Book Author(s)
Andy Evans
Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$25.00

This is the latest release in the Warpaint series of aircraft books from Guideline Publishers. The format follows the other titles in this series and includes 156 pages of color and B/W photos, color side views and line drawings in 1/72 scale. Although this volume is dominated by pictures, there is a history of the F-1s development and operational history of all the operators who used this aircraft. The book is current including a description of an F-1 flying for Draken International that crashed earlier this year right here in Las Vegas.