Reviews of products for scale miscellaneous models.

Book Author(s)
David Francois
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
September 30, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

This is volume 34 of the Latin America at War Series and the second volume dealing with the conflagration in El Salvador. The book describes the conflagration between 1984 through 1992. The book is divided into 7 chapters, which in turn are divided into sections with an Introduction, conclusion, as well as two sections for abbreviations and selected bibliography.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
September 16, 2023
Company
Green Stuff World
MSRP
$21.25

Green Stuff World is a company based out of Spain. It specializes in the design and production of tools, paints, and other related products for modeling, crafts, and war games. Green Stuff World has provided IPMS-USA an eight (8) bottle acrylic paint set for review.

In the Box

The paint set contains eight (8) 17ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix the paint when shaking. The following colors are provided:

Book Author(s)
Jack Holroyd
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
September 16, 2023
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$34.95

Perhaps the best introduction for this book comes from the book’s online description,

“The Second World War Illustrated: 1944 follows the author's visual tour of the war by means of painstakingly researched and digitally restored pictures from the period of the key battlefields and events of the period from September 1943 to the late summer of 1944. This year marked a defining change in the balance of the war; by its end the Axis powers were in serious trouble on all their fronts.”

This is the fifth book in Jack Holroyd’s Second World War Illustrated series. The previous four books in the Second World War Illustrated series were previously competently and eloquently reviewed by three members of IPMS Review Corps:

Review Author
Peter Bucher
Published on
September 7, 2023
Company
Green Stuff World
Scale
n/a
MSRP
$3.95

I received four bottles ($3.95 each) of Rust Textures from Green Stuff World. Numbers 2776 thru 2779. They are formulated to simulate rust colors and have an added rust texture to them. The four colors represented the various stages of rust from a dark brown old rust color to a light orange fresh new rust color. Upon opening the paint, I found they were very thick and had a grainy texture. They and not a thin liquid like the average paint. No shaking or stirring was needed to prepare them. However, I do recommend tapping the bottom of the bottle in the palm of your hand to make sure that not too much paint is gathered in the lid.

Book Author(s)
Ian Spring and Anthony Tucker-Jones
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
August 16, 2023
Company
Greenhill Books
MSRP
$34.95

Anthony Tucker Jones really doesn’t need an introduction to military history readers with his impressive book pedigree, over 500 articles and his contributions to modelers through Pen & Sword and Casemate. His latest book builds on his impressive reputation, and his ability to tie in well-known history of a pivotal and influential German Field Marshall, along with amazing color photographs from Ian Spring’s digital archive, makes this a highly recommended book.

Rommel's Afrika Korps in Colour - Rare German Photographs from the Second World War, is composed of an introduction, five parts with 14 chapters, and an order of battle:

Book Author(s)
Dick Taylor, Andy Brend
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
August 15, 2023
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$55.00

Do modelers really need another book on weathering models? The authors defend their position in the opening paragraph of the book,

“This is a book about weathering and designed with one audience in mind – the military modeler. To be sure, there are many books concerned with weathering military models available, but they all concentrate on weathering techniques – pre-shading, washes, pin-washes, dry-brushing, hairspray, you name it, it has a name and technique. This book is different; it does not tell the modeler how to achieve a particular finish. Rather, it is a reference book showing a range of real military vehicles and their components in real military environments.”

Book Author(s)
John David Watson
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
August 15, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Chasing the Soft Underbelly - Turkey and the Second World War is an amazing, detailed and concise (for the breadth of history covered) book on Turkey’s involvement in World War II, its involvement in the Balkans, its neighboring countries, and the aftermath of World War I that saw the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. While this is not an easy book to digest if you don’t have any background with Turkey, the Balkans, or the principal players (especially the non- historically relatable Turkish leaders), it is well worth the time and money invested. It will fill in a lot of previously known factors of Turkey and its neighbors in the critical 20th Century.

Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
July 26, 2023
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$26.95

This book is part of The Images of War Series published by Pen & Sword Publishers and distributed by Casemate Publishers. The book is divided into an Introduction, Four Chapters and six Appendixes. Most of the book is dedicated to photos taken from wartime archives. The introduction gives us a short synopsis of the unit. The unit operated mostly behind the lines and is responsible for many atrocities to the civilian population. This is the unit that is responsible for the elimination of the Warsaw Ghetto. Of the 30,000 men of this unit only 300 reached the German lines after their defeat in Budapest.

Book Author(s)
Tom Cooper, Adrien Fontanellaz, Edward Crowther & Milos Sipos
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
July 26, 2023
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

The first chapter/section deals with a history of the Ukrainian armed forces from August, 1991. The history continues with the events of November, 2013. and during 2014, the authors begin to provide us with information about how the Ukrainians started rebuilding their forces. How Ukraine started to arm itself, as well as the overhauling of its forces is addressed. Such topics as defensive weapons, the Army Aviation, Territorial defense, National Guard and Air Power are touch upon. The chapter ends with a short review of the Ukrainian Navy.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
July 20, 2023
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.12

POL (Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant) containers are ubiquitous on military vehicles in the field. Now braille scale German WW II ground vehicle models can have 5 liter oil cans in their scale. This is a new release by Hauler that joins their 1/35 and 1/48 scale brethren.

These are tiny but very well-detailed. Manufactured by Jan Sobotka, this package comes with one pour block (1” long), this outstanding set comes with six oil cans beautifully cast in resin and six decals, one for each can. This oil can set will bring your German vehicle to the next level.

As you can see from the photos, the accessory set is well-detailed and should take very little cleanup to prepare the parts for your model. There is a simple instruction sheet included, that notes the color of the can and decal placement. If you have experience with small-scale and fiddly resin, this set will be perfect.