Eagle Editions has released a 1/32 scale sheet for the pending HK Models B-25 “Strafer” which represent the 345th Bomb Group, the Air Apaches. For those who don’t know, the Air Apaches were a Bomb Group based in New Guinea in WWII who flew the B-25J. They flew missions against shipping, ground emplacements, and flak positions using the B-25 bomber not only for its intended purpose but also for strafing almost anything. One thing they also had was very distinctively marked ships. The tails were marked with stylized Indians and the planes marked as bats, parrots, and many other things with great nose art. A modeler’s dream come true.

HK Models’ B-25J Strafer is reviewed here at http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/b-25j-strafer . The kit is now arriving in the US and these decals give the builder three markings for this kit:

Scale Aircraft Conversions continues their prolific run at supplying modelers well cast metal gear with this latest offering for the Hasegawa Hs-129 kit which has been freshly released in a winter camouflage screen. The Hs-129 was the WWII Luftwaffe equivalent of the A-10 Warthog. The Hs-129 was small for a 2-engine attack plane with a wingspan of slightly over 46 feet. Consider that a P-51 had a wingspan of 37 feet for only one engine – this was a small plane!

Guided rockets are nice when you need to place some hurt on a specific spot, but when the need is an overwhelming amount of firepower in a small area, nothing beats the classic unguided rocket. Most nations still have podded unguided rockets in their inventory, including the US and the former Eastern Bloc, as they are cheap and effective. The B8V20 is a podded launcher that holds 20 80mm S-8 Series rockets. They are commonly found on attack helicopters such as the Mi-25 Hind, Mi-28, and Ka-50 Hokum, but also have been fitted to the Mi-8 Hip and others. Other variants of the pod include more aerodynamic shaping with a cone on the front.

Fifty years ago, the world stood at the edge of the abyss and stared nuclear annihilation in the face. During a two-week standoff, there was a very real chance that the US and the USSR could initiate a nuclear World War III over missile sites placed in Cuba. For the most part, written accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962, are told from the diplomatic or political point of view. These usually involve President Kennedy and his advisors struggling to find a diplomatic solution to persuade the Soviets to remove the missiles that were being placed on the island nation of Cuba, just ninety miles from the southern coast of the United States. Blue Moon Over Cuba offers a different perspective…one from treetop level at high speed. It is the story of Operation Blue Moon, undertaken by the Photographic Reconnaissance pilots of VFP-62, also known as the Fightin’ Photos. It is based on the memoirs of US Navy Captain William B.

Another finely detailed aftermarket upgrade from Eduard on their Brassin product line, these 1/72 wheels are made of resin and are more detailed than the kit parts. They come packaged with an instruction sheet and wheel masks for easy painting. The wheels fit perfectly onto the landing gear of the new Eduard kit. All you need to so is detach the excess resin and, with a little cleanup, you’re all set. I would have liked to use these on the new kit but that would defeat an out-of-box review. The only thing I would have liked to see was tires supporting a load. But what the heck, these are pretty darn good as they are.

I would like to thank Eduard and Steve Collins of IPMS/USA for the chance to review this product, and thanks to you for reading this article.