If you build models you are probably very familiar with Micro-Mark. Not only do they carry a wide range of modeling tools but also offer several kits in different media.

When starting a model getting the parts off the sprue cleanly helps lower the amount of clean up you need to do so finding a good sprue cutter is a great start. This product is manufactured by Fujiya out of Japan.

I tried it out on a kit I am working on for a review and it did a great job. The 25-degree angle gives good control to get up next to the part no matter the placement on the sprue. The cut was clean, but you need to make sure you are even with the part edge or you will live a bit of the connection.

This title is from Osprey’s well received Men-at-Arms of books. It is number 512 in the series.

From the Cover

Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1)

Piedmont and the Two Sicilies

The creation of the modern nation of Italy was a complex and bloody process involving not only three wars between Italian and Austrian armies, but also bitter clashes between Italian regional forces and insurgents. This first of two books describes the two largest Italian armies, which at first briefly fought in alliance against Austria, but later confronted one another. It explains the evolving organization, uniforms and weapons of the armies of Piedmont (the Kingdom of Sardinia) and Naples (the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) and is illustrated with contemporary prints and new full-color uniform plates.

Review

These books are great reference materials for figure modelers! This book consists of:

This publication is another edition to Osprey’s “Men-at-Arms” series, and follows author Jowett previous Osprey books, Men-at-Arms 306: Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49; and his three-part sequence, “The Italian Army 1940-45 (Men-at-Arms 340, 349 and 353)”.

This book is illustrated by Stephen Walsh. Walsh has worked as a professional illustrator since 1988. His projects for Osprey include such diverse subjects as the battle of Otterburn, the Chinese army from 1937 to 1949, and the US Home Front in World War II.

The author lays out the primary goal of this publication as being, “to introduce the reader to the armies and wars of Mexico, Central America, and South America in this period.” He easily achieves that goal and much more. Mr. Walsh also provides an in-depth look at the root causes of these conflicts such as military influence, the power of oligarchies, and weak or divisive governments.

There’s a sort of strange fascination within modeling circles for World War 1, which is hardly surprising. Taking place a hundred years ago now, it was a transitional period for the world at large on a number of levels – monarchies and ancient empires were crumbling, most of Europe was evolving sluggishly from a agricultural to an industrial base, and militarily, generals were still fighting 18th century wars with 20th century weapons.

Dennis Showalter delves into one major aspect of this war with intense academic furvor – the actions of the German high command and the ways and means of their decisions that hammered a generation of Germans and paved the way for the following war with a certain grim inevitability. If you’re looking for a light skimming over the topic of the German war machine for the First World War, this ain’t it.

The grim conflicts that occurred along the edge of the Arctic Circle during World War Two are perhaps one of the least-publicized theaters in that sad war. It’s a fact that for someone like me who THINKS he knows history fairly well, virtually everything in this book by Osprey Publishing came as a surprise. Who knew that such struggles were suffered in this treeless, roadless, virtually empty region along the northern edges of Lapland, Finland and Norway?