A Brief Introduction of this Book

This book contains 86 pages, including 130 black & white photographs, 34 color pages of colored profile drawings and eight maps. The color drawings illustrate several vehicles (primarily those of the PVAN (People’s Army of Vietnam) with a few US tanks and aircraft). Almost all of the photographs serve to illustrate the futility of the war in Southeast Asia.

This is a new scribing tool that was added to UMM-USA’s line of modeling tools this fall. The fine chisel point allows the tool to be used either to clean out or sharpen existing panel lines or create new ones. The hook point has a nice sharp triangular point that easily cuts through plastic and allows you to adjust the depth and cutting angle by moving your hand.

The textured handle helps you keep a good grip on the scriber and find the position that is most comfortable for you.

I used the scriber to re-scribe the panel lines on an old Airfix Vulcan (the original kit, not the new one) as sanding and filling the joints on the upper and lower wing had pretty much obliterated the original raised panel lines. Using the scriber and a small plastic ruler I had no trouble creating new panel lines on the flat body of the Vulcan and using a thin flexible metal straight-edge I was able to scribe new panel lines over the curved spine and nose of my Vulcan.

The book is part of the After the Battle series and was written by Jean Paul Pallud. The Desert War covers the North Africa campaigns of WWII from June 1940 till the allied victory in May 1943, and the German Infantry and Artillery from 1939 to the end of the war. The book covers all the action and has pictures of the locations during WWII and present day as a comparison.

I really wanted to review this book as my Father served in the Royal Tank Corp in North Africa from 1942 till the end of the North Africa campaign, then shipped to Italy. This subject was close to my heart and my passion for this era.

Picking it up, the book is big and impressive. The detail in the book is incredible and covers the whole period in concise and organized fashion. The photos from the actual time of the events compared to the present really draw you into this book, and I could not put it down!

Hauler is a Czech Republic company produces high quality photo-etched sets for AFVs, airplanes, cars, railway vehicles, resin accessories for dioramas and resin kits. Their provides are available online or in the US from UMM-USA or from Stevens International through your local hobby shop.

This diorama accessory set includes an interior potbelly-type stove, two exterior barrel stoves, a wood stump chopping block, and two piles of split firewood in different sizes. The parts are all crisply molded but do have some minor flash that will need to be removed. The wood piles come on a thin casting block that may need to be removed depending upon its application. All the other parts are also attached to casting blocks.

The Astro Vertical Frameless Display Cases are versatile display cases which come in a range of sizes and which are suitable for many model display applications.

The cases are constructed of a seamless molded acrylic cover minimally framed in Cherry hardwood. The design features built-in handles, a cover which is easily removed with no special tools, the ability to be outfitted with lighting (provided as an accessory) as well as the ability to be hung on a wall or displayed on a shelf or mantle.

The Cherry hardwood grain is beautiful, and the care to the overall finish—the smoothed edges, the gentle curves—gives it an elegant appearance which only compliments any fine model in your collection.