Tamiya offers a trio of “panel line accent colors”, Black (# 87131) Brown (#87132) and Gray (#87133). Two of these colors were provided to IPMS for review, those two colors being black and gray. All three colors are enamel based and that means that one will need to be aware that plastic and enamel have a love-hate relationship. While the accent paints will really pop out the detail on a model, if applied too generously it can damage the plastic. Tamiya understands this issue and provides reminders of this issue to the user.

For test purposes I used the F-14 Tomcat that is currently sitting on my work bench. I picked an area that had not yet previously been highlighted or “accented” and then gave it a coat of Future to seal the acrylic and provide a barrier upon which the Tamiya accent paints could be applied.

Tamiya has long offered a wide range of acrylic paints and acrylic thinners. Recently I experimented with Tamiya’s Lacquer Thinner, item # 87077. As a rule, I tend to use the paint thinner produced by the same company that produced the paint being used.

I found that the Tamiya lacquer thinner worked very well, indeed, although its use is different than the acrylic thinner I’m used to using. Do not let the fact that it is a Lacquer thinner dissuade you from using it with your standard Tamiya acrylics. It works just fine.

The lacquer thinner is noticeably “stronger” than the acrylic thinner, both in how it interacts with Tamiya acrylics and how it smells. And it should be said here that if you can smell the paint you are airbrushing then you should wear a mask. Also, users are strongly advised not to have an open flame nearby as lacquer is combustible.

Thank you to Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak for updating and enhancing an excellent historical recounting of the Pearl Harbor attack, coinciding with the 75^th anniversary year. Thank you to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review this updated volume. I truly appreciate the improved format, increased content, and the effective methods for researching new details and history of this world-altering event.

Osprey Publishing is well known for its softbound, mid-length book (80 to 100 pages) covering a specific topic. This book stands on its own category, with over 300 pages and hardbound. It speaks quality all around, down to its dust cover.

And the quality does not stop at the book binding, this is a carefully and thoughtfully researched book on a military operation that never was: Sea Lion, the invasion of Great Britain.

While the Battle of Britain has been covered in multiple books and encyclopedias, the number of books on the Operation Sea Lion is limited, in comparison. If you only want to read one book on this topic this is the one.

“The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered” is a revision of a book written twenty four years ago by Peter Liddle, which benefits from more recently acquired research and information. It is a high quality, hard cover book. Peter Liddle is an historian of the First and Second World Wars, who has concentrated on personal experience of the men and women who took part in these conflicts.

The book was of great interest to me, as my grandfather fought in the “Great War”, and indeed was involved in trench fighting on the Somme. He was a very proper, jolly English gentleman, and held the rank of Sergeant. After the war, he emigrated to Australia. He had a fabulous life, and passed away at the age of 92.