This latest title from Italian Aviation Series, AB 205 Huey in Italian Army Service, comes in a paperback book with high quality paper on 64 pages. There are plenty of pictures, over 140, and full color profiles that we’ll surely keep modelers entertained. The text is Italian and English and the English reads very well. The thing that really makes this book stand out is the color photos. All are crystal clear and show some great marking options.

FIRST THINGS: THANK YOU to Mig Jimenez and his team for supporting IPMS USA and the reviewer Corps. We collectively advance when we work with Manufacturers who have the dual goal of (1) customer satisfaction and (2) having a great product. Read more anon…

OK I have to confess, I have used some MIG products in the past, and was impressed (Metallics), but had not used “standard” coatings from Mig. Reason? I have too many bottles of paint, and every new manufacturer has to make a living.

More on MIG (from their website):

“With this set, you will be able to paint the complex schemes used by the former Soviet Union consisting of 4 to 5 different colors, a solution saving precious modelling time.

Historical Background

This is one of the first historical accounts of the Lend-Lease program designed to aid the Soviet Union in its war against Nazi Germany. The backgrounds are rather confused, because in the late thirties, the Soviets and the Nazis, along with the Italian Fascists, seemed to be working together to dominate nearly all of Eastern Europe. In 1939, The Germans invaded Poland, but they didn’t do it alone. They were aided by the Soviets, who attacked from the east. The Poles resisted, but the Germans and Russians were just too powerful, but for a while, it appeared that the Germans and Russians were allies.

This book comprises twenty-two segments each covering a different aircraft design. The heavy fighter concept was one that was tried out by many different nations. In theory these aircraft were to perform a variety of missions such as ground attack, bomber protection/escort as well as reconnaissance without the aid of single engine fighters. More often than not it was found that the heavy fighters needed their own single engine fighter escort for protection on missions.

Many of the aircraft covered in this book are by lesser-known designers and thus the aircraft themselves are lesser known as well. Many of these designers struggled within Stalin’s government where failure was almost certainly to catch the ire of the communists in charge. The communist government and Stalin’s purges lead to an exodus of many bright technicians and engineers. This in turned caused issues with the ability to design reliable engines thus requiring many to be imported.

Brengun brings us an improved version of the metal 75 gallon drop tanks used on all types of US fighter aircraft during WWII. You get two tanks cast in resin, a PE fret with caps and a small decal sheet with labels and stencils for the tanks. Casting blocks are attached to front of each part and come off easily. A little touch up was required since the attachment points from the blocks left minor dimples and there were a few pin holes to fill. I painted the tanks aluminum per the directions. The PE caps fit the provided recesses just right. Decaling proved easy as they went down with micro set. The only gripe here is the stencil blocks are just colored stripes without writing on them.