This book tells the story of the events leading up to, during, and after the battle of El Alamein from June to November 1942. Prior to this victory, the British had not been able to defeat the German army anywhere. The author uses a huge number of first-hand accounts to illustrate the viewpoints on both sides of the hardship faced by the common soldier, the decisions that had to be made by the commanders in the face of political pressure, the actions and the consequences of the battles leading up to the stand at El Alamein, and the abilities of some of the (for lack of a better term) ‘superstar’ generals in charge on both sides.

Signal was a propaganda publication by the German Wehrmacht stylized after Life magazine and published from 1940–1945. It was aimed at those in occupied, neutral, and allied countries, but it was never sold in Germany itself. Published in almost 30 languages, it was even available in the USA until December 1941! The magazine was kept under the control of the army and thus was independent of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. This did not prevent it from being a propaganda laden publication. While it chronicled the conditions faced in combat by Germany and her allies, it also had a strong political message advocating for a “united Europe” under the “New Order” and for supporting the fight against the communists—even highlighting those former enemy combatants that chose to fight for the Nazis!

This fascinating book tells how the Allies and Axis powers developed aerial reconnaissance systems to gather accurate aerial intelligence, primarily during World War II. The book combines history with photography and provides a unique and different perspective of World War II – from above! The photographs are excellent, with descriptive captions for each photo. The text provides good descriptions of the aircraft used for reconnaissance, and the maps & diagrams illustrate many of the actions.

The book is divided into five sections:

• Beginnings
• Blitzkrieg
• End of the Beginning
• Turning the Tide
• The End of the War

The book also includes a Bibliography/Further Reading, Index of Topics, and Photo Credits, all of which are handy for further research.

Part 2: Painting the Interior

This build has not completely stalled, despite the long hiatus since the last update.

I have been working on the painting of the interior and undercarriage and I have done some research as to what colors to use. The passenger cabin was left in natural wood color (mahogany maybe) with some varnish to protect the wood. The driver position was most likely painted wood, in different versions of tan and sand color, but perhaps it was natural wood color in some examples.

As the model features a full interior (which is very exposed due to the large windows), you will have to remove and prepare all the parts, ensuring proper dry fitting of them before you can paint and glue them.

The UMM Micro Mitre Box is a useful little tool if you’re scratchbuilding or adding detail to a model. Made of aluminum, it’s designed for cutting wood, metal, or plastic using their JLC razor saw. As an aside, it also works with other brands of razor saw, so long as they’re not over .12” thickness. This version of their box allows cuts at 45°, 60°, and 90°. They have recently released an updated version of the box (Micro Mitre Box II) which has a brass rule imbedded in the box that is marked in 1mm increments. There is an adjustable stop device that is screw-mounted in the bottom of the box. It has a flat end and a slanted end to be used to hold the material in place. There are several screw holes to allow the stop to be almost infinitely adjusted for length.