Wow – this is such a great first release by new company Furball Designs and its chief cook and bottle washer, Geoff Martin. The decals are for the new Hobbyboss 1/48 F3H Demon and include markings for 9 (yup, NINE) planes:

• F3H-2M, 1957, VX-4 (with the Playboy bunny logo)
• F3H-2, 1963, VF-14
• F3H-2, 1962, VF-21
• F3H-2, 1963, VF-54
• F3H-2M, 1958, VF-61
• F3H-2, 1959, VF-101
• F3H-2M, 1958, VF-24
• F3H-2, 1961, VF-31
• F3H-2, 1959, VF-41

The decals come in two sheets – one is color and is 8" x 10" and the other is all black and is 7.5" x 8". Printing is by Cartograf and is superb, is in register, and is colorful. One thing that is excellent is the decals are separated for things like the speed brakes or the wing fences and there is no need for the modeler to cut.

This book is a photographic look at classic prop driven aircraft around the world. Some of the aircraft covered in volume one are the DC-3, DH Beaver, Twin Otter, Beech 18, Norseman, and Connie, as well as some of the early turbo-props.

Chapter one is a photo essay on the venerable DC-3, covering both restored examples and those still earning a living, as well as the turbo-prop variants. Over one third of the book is devoted to the DC-3.

Chapter two covers bush and floatplane operations, predominantly in Canada and Alaska. All the classics are here in photos – the Otter, Beaver, Goose, Albatross, and more.

Chapter three covers the preserved prop liners and pleasure flyers. Beautiful color photos of preserved Connies, DC-4, 6 & 7s, Convair 580s, Martin 4-0-4, as well as Ju-52s and many others are here.

This is a follow-up to Michael Novasad’s earlier review on the 1/48 sheet, but this time it’s the 1/72 sheet. Aviaeology provides well-researched decals on four RCAF Beaufighters covering the changing markings during the service careers of these aircraft. Each subject is complete with narratives on time period and painting suggestions. The instructions and diagrams are provided on four photocopied sheets, but an email request to Aviaeology will get you a promptly sent color PDF of the instructions which will prove helpful. The PDF can be printed or sent to your tablet for reference in your model workshop. You can magnify the profiles as recommended by Aviaeology to identify the subtle shades of extra dark sea grey to aid in weathering your Beaufighter. You also get a tutorial of the rocket projectiles and the rails used, with complete painting guides for them. Listed below is a breakdown of the subjects:

The A-6 Intruder is the twentieth model in Hasegawa’s Eggplane series. Several of my friends have finished these cute little models, so I jumped at the chance to try one myself. The box top showed a drawing of the model along with a typical manga character cheering the model. The kit consisted of thirty crisply molded parts plus a transparent canopy. A fairly extensive decal sheet was included covering markings for two aircraft: a Navy Intruder with VA-115 from the USS Midway and a Marine Intruder from VMA (AW) 242.

The instruction sheet shows two exploded view steps. This requires the modeler to plan the assembly steps and, more importantly, the painting steps in advance but is not a major problem. The basic egg consists of two parts for the front half and one part for the rear. Careful gluing is required but the parts fit well. Some minor filling was required between the intake scoops and the rear fuselage, but that was all.

In many ways, the development of Soviet tactical aviation, or Frontovaya Aviahtisya (FA), went through similar developmental phases as the Tactical Air Command of the USAF. Evolving out of the combat experiences of World War II, it made do with aircraft left over from the war. As technology advanced, the FA had access to the early jet fighter and then to purpose built fight-bomber aircraft. During the Cold War, the Soviet’s FA procured modern fighters and faced Western air forces in Europe and the Far East. As TAC learned lessons from fighting in Viet Nam, so did the FA learn from its combat in Afghanistan.

The chapter titles and some explanations are as follows: