Junkers Ju 87 Stuka is number 15 in Osprey’s Air Vanguard series. What this book is not is a technical reference manual for model builders, with an abundance of drawings, walkaround photographs and full-color profiles. Rather, it is a general overview of the Stuka with a reasonable amount of period photos, artwork and a few color profiles that add to the story of how the aircraft came about and its roll as the Luftwaffe’s primary operational dive bomber. It should be of interest to those who don’t know a great deal about the aircraft or would like to have a quick study of the subject in a single publication. But, modeler builders who already have a number of good Stuka reference books in their library may not find this book a necessary acquisition.

Furball (Geoff Martin) has been producing some awesome decals and with this latest release, he addresses a venerable kit, Revell's EA-6A Electric Intruder. As a quick background, before the four seat EA-6B came into service to jam all those enemy radars, the Marines ordered 27 of the EA-6A Electric Intruders. They look like Intruders with Prowler tails! Revell's kit has been out a while but still can be built into a beauty and Furball has given us 11 superb schemes to dress the kit up.

As with most Furball sets, you get five large color pages- a cover sheet, side profile sheets of all 11 jets, a sheet of wing marking locations and one sheet showing the stencils provided. All sheets have color call outs with the needed FS numbers. There is one large decal sheet with markings and stencils and one small sheet with wing walks and color for the arrestor hook. The decals have perfect register and are printed by Cartograf.

All jokes aside, the Handley Page V/1500 was proof that in some situations size does matter. At the time when military aviation was still somewhat in its adolescence, the controversial idea of dropping a significant bomb load on an enemy target 500 miles away (and flying over a substantial body of water in the process) meant finding an appropriately large and powerful aerial vehicle to carry out the mission. The Germans had used huge zeppelins to bomb London, but some in Britain believed it a better strategy to use an aeroplane to return the favor. Thus was born a scheme to build a ‘Super’ bomber…actually a ‘Super’ Handley Page bomber, capable of carrying up to 30 250-lb. bombs.

MMP’s latest volume in their “Orange Series” covers the Henschel Hs 123. The book is published on high quality smooth paper, in-between glossy stiff stock covers. On first inspection this appears to be of the same high production quality I have found in all other MMP productions. Lots of clear photos and nicely-done color plates appear throughout the book.

In a similar manner to other titles in this series, this book starts with several chapters covering the design and development of the Hs 123 (about 30 pages in ll). Throughout each of the chapters in this section there are numerous 1/72^nd scale drawings depicting either the entire aircraft, or a particular feature thereof. This is followed by a chapter titled “Technical Description.” Here, as one might expect, the technical specifics of the design are laid out (ie, single-seat sesquiplane of metal construction….), and the text is accompanied by drawings from the actual Technical Manual of the aircraft.

When the fledgling United States Air Force sought a jet-powered interceptor to replace the piston-powered P-61 Black Widow and P-82 Twin Mustang, they selected the Curtiss-Wright XF-82 Blackhawk. When the prototype didn't live up to expectations, the USAF turned to the one company that had an effective jet-powered fighter in service - Lockheed. As with the piston-powered interceptors, the new turbine-powered machines would have to have a two-man crew… one to fly the aircraft, the other to operate the intercept radar. Having developed the successful T-33A, a two-seat trainer variant of the F-80 Shooting Star, Lockheed was given the green light to create an interceptor out of the T-33A in an accelerated development program.