Reviews of products for scale miscellaneous models.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
March 15, 2023
Company
Tru-Color Paint
MSRP
$42.95

Rick Galazzo and Scott Cohen started Tru-Color Paint in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2008, based on their experience in formulating paint for the commercial market. They reformulated the former Accupaint formulas and created this paint line. It is refreshing to see that in today’s day and age with model kits and supplies moving overseas, that these paints are made in the USA. They have five paint lines including automotive, aircraft, naval and military colors, including many sets to make a project easier by having all the colors in one box. Another huge bonus for me is that Scott Cohen wrote a personal letter explaining the paints for review, a request for new paint color suggestions, and genuinely supporting modelers and IPMS. Based on all this, I was eager to try these paints for myself.

Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
March 13, 2023
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$26.95

Ian Baxter is a prolific author and has an impressive collection of photographs, many unpublished previously. The book follows the familiar Images of War format with brief introductions for each chapter followed by a lot of photographs to tell the story. After reading Ian’s book on Heinrich Himmler, the Architect of the Holocaust, I wanted to read, and learn more, about the mass deportation of some 438,000 Hungarian Jews. Ian Baxter did not disappoint. He illustrated how the Nazi final solution had become even more efficient and brutal in 1944 after the Hungarian change in government at the behest of the Germans. The Hungarian Jews, who until that time, were temporarily protected, were now open to joining their Jewish neighbors throughout Europe. Operation Höss was named after Rudolph Höss, the longest serving commandant of the Auschwitz camp system from 4 May 1940 to November 1943.

Book Author(s)
Alan Ranger
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
March 7, 2023
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$25.00

Alan Ranger is a former British Royal Engineer, engineer, collector of World War II militaria and original period photographs, and prolific author. Alan started his publishing days with Model Art of Japan this is his 28th book in the Camera On series (he already has another four in production), typically focusing on weapon systems and vehicles. The beauty of this book is the photos were taken by German soldiers during their wartime service, not typically posed and polished propaganda shots.

Book Author(s)
Antonio Luis Sapienza Fracchia
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
February 14, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

“On Thursday, 15 June 1955, thousands of people as usual were on the streets of downtown Buenos Aires. Some curious citizens had heard something about an air parade, and they were in the Plaza de Mayo looking up at the sky. At around 12:40 p.m., some Naval Aviation North American AT-6, PBY-5A Catalina and Beechcraft AT-11 planes appeared on the horizon, But they were not there for a parade; they were there to simply bomb Government House in an attempted coup against Juan Domingo Perón. This raid left behind more than 300 dead, 600 wounded and dead everywhere. The Army units that should have been mobilized to support the uprising never did. The coup attempt was aborted within a few hours. But unlike the bombing of the city of Guernica in 1937, the planes that bombed and the pilots who flew them were national forces. Perón would be finally overthrown three months later by the so-called Liberating Revolution.”

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
February 14, 2023
Company
Bases by Bill

If you have won an award at an IPMS contest and it was an engraved wooden plaque, chances are it was made by Bases by Bill. Bill and Wes Wedeward have been supplying custom awards to shows for several years including the 2018 and 2019 IPMS National Conventions.

The awards are available in several sizes with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and special award options available. The bases are made out of the finest hardwoods and use laser engraving and can have hand painted color accents.

Bill supplied us with 2 examples. The first is a 4” x 3” rectangular award and the other one is 8.5” at the base and 6.25” tall with a rounded top. The engraving is perfect with all words easily readable.

He also sent me pictures of several other options they have done in the past.

Pricing varies by the size of award, details, type of wood, etc. and from what I can see on their site their prices are very competitive especially for the quality of their products.

Book Author(s)
Winton Ramsey, Editor
Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
February 11, 2023
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$89.95

After the Battle (ATB) publications is a long lived publishing company that was recently acquired by Pen and Sword. For many years ATB published the quarterly magazine called, After the Battle. It recently was discontinued, but their many books use the same format of comparing photographs contemporary to the Second World War with modern views, hence the then and now moniker. They consistently publish articles and books of a very high quality. The images are superb, both contemporary and modern. They will be missed.

Book Author(s)
Ken Conboy
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
February 7, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Tibet covers the size of the American Southwest, with an average elevation of 14,000ft (4,380m), surrounded by some of the highest mountain ranges in the world with the Himalayas to the south, the Karakoram to the west, and the Kunlun to the north. The terrain of north and western Tibet is barren mountain desert, the northeast province of Amdo resembles the Mongolian steppes, the southeast province of Kham drops slightly in altitude and the topography, according to the author,

“devolves into exaggerated slopes, impossibly narrow valleys, and gnarled conifers normally associated with Chinese watercolors. It is the central plateau, however, that has become synonymous with Tibet…it is a harsh, rocky land of hypnotic beauty where, because of the altitude, light seems to intensify colour and detail.”

Book Author(s)
Michał A. Piegzik
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
February 6, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

This is an amazingly detailed book authored by a Polish Ph.D. in Law, living in Japan, writing about Japanese advances in the eastern Indian Ocean. As if that isn’t intriguing enough, author Michał A. Piegzik covers a little known (at least to most Americans) subject in a much larger backdrop of Allied defeats in the early Pacific War, focusing on ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) forces as they reeled from Japanese attacks in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, Java, and Burma.

Book Author(s)
Cliff Lord and David Birtles
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
January 31, 2023
Company
Helion & Company

Cliff Lord served in Britain’s Royal Signals during the 1960s as a cipher operator in England, Germany and on active service in Aden and the East Aden Protectorate. After the Army, Cliff worked in Paris for the Washington Post and later moved to New Zealand working as a computer operator, a communications network controller for Air New Zealand, and Team Leader International Operations for the Southern Cross fiber optics trans-pacific cable before retiring. He is Honorary Historian for Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals. Cliff has written nine books on military history and insignia.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
January 25, 2023
Company
UMM-USA
MSRP
$16.95

This is a new riveting tool from UMM-USA and adds to its growing line of modeling tools. The single wheel tool allows you to emboss fine rivet lines on plastic, resin, soft wood, and thin metal sheets. The black handle, about the thickness of a Bic pen, fit well in my hand and was comfortable to use.

I experimented with the tool on several different types of styrene and an old plastic kit. I used a thin plastic ruler on the flat surfaces and found that it was easy to emboss a row of rivets.  On some pieces of pieces of styrene I had to put more pressure on the tool due to the hardness of the styrene.  On curves surfaces I used a thin metal straightedge from an old drafting class – labeling tape would also work well.

I found the tool easy to use and I was impressed by the rivet lines produced.  I look forward to using it on some of my older kits where there are no rivets.