Originally published in 2009 as a single volume, this book has now been republished as Volume 1 of a multi-volume set. The author has had access to previously unpublished information regarding Japanese Army and Navy aircraft designs during World War II and has put together a very interesting look at what could have been.

The book is a hardbound volume with a nice dust jacket cover that has color illustrations of several of the designs discussed in the book. The book is printed on glossy paper which helps the many illustrations and color photographs to stand out. It includes not only color illustrations of the each design, often in hypothetical squadron markings, based on squadrons that actually existed during the war, but also includes numerous color photographs of surviving airframes, many of which are in a sad state of repairs while awaiting restoration.

The MiG-19 and Chinese version of it, the J-6/F-6, are essentially the same aircraft. The Chinese version had an additional wing hard point on each wing. One thing about early MiGs is that they had long pitot tubes. In plastic they are fragile and easily bendable. The clean up of the plastic part is difficult to ensure that you keep a round cross section. Then if you are like me I ALWAYS break them off, either on the way to a show or just in handling the model.

Delta One has been producing some unique decals, especially for the Bf-109. So that means that I had to check them out. This particular sheet covers the Yugoslav Air Force Bf-109s in service from 1945-53.

This sheet comes in a ziplock baggie that contains an eight page booklet with history and line drawings for the subject aircraft. There is a little history on the 109 in Yugoslavia. There is also a brief description of each aircraft including the colors and historical use.

Decals are provided for six aircraft, four G-6 aircraft and two UMe-109, which is a version of the G-12. The profiles have both side views, top view and a partial bottom view. The aircraft are interesting with some unique paint schemes. The actual decals are on 3 x 3 inch sheet. They are printed in perfect register, thin and with good color saturation.

The Heller Mirage IV is a slightly older kit, but still the only option in town. The Mirage IV has its refueling boom off of the nose so it sits out there just waiting to be knocked off or bent. Enter Master from Poland.

Why do would you want to use the Master turned metal part? Well there are numerous reasons. The first, and most important, is that turned metal is stronger. Another reason is that you don’t have to worry about the mold line or keeping the round cross section all the time worried about losing detail. These reasons are enough for me to use the metal parts.

Packaged in a Ziploc bag, this set is a single piece of machined aluminum. The refueling boom is perfectly rendered and captures the shape of the tube and probe. This set is simply a replacement of the kit boom. You may not even have to drill the hole unless you accidentally filled it with slurry of plastic while gluing the nose.

Neil Robinson takes his second go around as interim editor and comes up with a second great issue. While the previous formats have been consistent, this interim issue is a collections of great articles and two aviation in profile and all the expected news on new releases and current in stock materials. There is also a really nice review of the Nuremberg Show Report.

The first article is an excellent upgrade of Revell's 1/72 Halifax built as a 6 group RCAF Halifax B.II Series IA built by Tony O'Toole. Changes include filling in some windows and reconfiguring others along with using a Freightdog set. The results are superb. Bonus real pictures and a history of the plane were included.

Andy Scott builds Revell's wonderful 1/48 Ventura as a Mark II. Alley Cats OOP blistered canopy was used to replicate this mark. Other changes include his method to fill the correct lines and Ultracast wheels were used.