The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LAGG-3 was an important fighter aircraft for the Soviet Air Force at the time of the German "Barbarossa" invasion in 1941, and a technological parallel to the British Hawker Hurricane, French Dewoitine D.520, and the American Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk of the time. With a mostly wooden construction and a relatively powerful engine and adequate firepower, it held the line while giving the Russians time to develop more advanced combat machines to fight the Luftwaffe.

This model kit is part of Zvezda's "Art of Tactic" wargame model series, which also includes ground vehicles and figures as game pieces. In that role, this kit is engineered more for ease of assembly and sturdiness than surface detail, although it does quite well in that regard for the size and scale.

Wingnut Wings has released yet another decal set with multiple marking options for their Albatros D.Va kit. Oh…so many Albatros schemes…so little time!

There are two sheets in this set. These decals, like all of the others from Wingnut Wings, are packaged in zip-lock sleeves along with a comprehensive full-color 4-page instruction booklet that includes application instructions, aircraft profiles, top and bottom wing plan views, historical information, and a number of period photos of each of the aircraft covered by the decal sheets. This set exhibits the same high level of quality as all of the other products marketed by Wingnut Wings.

Format

This publication is offered in an 8” by 9 ½” size soft cover, with full color images on almost all pages, with a few black-and-white images interspersed. All of the images are of fine, clear quality. There are 84 pages in all, each filled with informational narrative or images of the Crusader. The text has been translated from French which has resulted In a few interesting misspellings.

All new from Osprey comes number 89 in their Combat Aircraft Series, authored jointly by Peter E. Davies and well known “Hun” expert Dave Menard. As in the past, this book comes in soft cover with 96 pages, including a plethora of color photos, black and white shots and several pages that include 27 profiles in full color of a collection of F-100s. In all, very nicely presented.



The text begins with “Hun” development, goes on to describe the aircraft as a warhorse, and continues with mission identification. It also covers not only the Wild Weasel Huns but also the Misty FACs as well. I found this to be a most interesting read and a welcome addition to my aviation library. Many thanks to Sara Batkie for the review sample. For more information, contact her by phone at 718-433-4402 or email sara.batkie@ospreypublishing.com.

The Centennial celebration of Naval Aviation has brought about some really colorful modern aircraft, emulating their predecessors from the yellow wing days, and, in particular, the distinctive unit markings of World War Two aircraft. They have made for some truly one-of-a-kind aircraft, and Bob Sanchez has managed to capture them for us enthusiasts. This particular sheet takes us back to the early days of aircraft experimentation and weaponry tests. When you first look at the colorful instruction sheet, you see a red, grey and white F/A-18C of VX-31 at China Lake. This aircraft hauls around a lot of weapons and weapon sensors under its wings, doing a lot of experiments. The second is an F/A-18A of VFA-204 out of NAS JRB New Orleans as it was painted during an air show tour at Ft. Worth in February, 2011. This one is Navy blue with orange ID bands. What a neat-looking airplane. When you unfold the sheet and look to see what’s inside, there’s the teaser.