Being primarily an armor modeler, I was interested in this kit after seeing a fellow modeler’s build on the web. After all, it has tracks, doesn’t it?

The kit is, in a word, miniscule…really. I was a little surprised that, for a 1/32 kit, it was so small. Don’t let size fool you though, Fujimi has provided a little gem here. The kit features only three small sprues; two molded in bright yellow styrene that make up the excavator itself, and one molded in white styrene containing 13 parts that provide some general construction site supplies – wheelbarrow, cones, etc. No decals or markings of any kind are included in the kit, an unfortunate drawback in my opinion.

The mere 60 parts are crisply molded and required little, if any, clean up. A few parts may require a quick pass from a #11 blade to remove some minor mold seam, but that’s it.

Concord Publishing has continued its series of illustrated campaign histories. This volume focuses on the siege of Sevastopol from 1941-42. Dimitry Zgonnik has four full color illustrations that highlight the uniforms of German soldiers during this campaign.

Beginning in the fall of 1941, the 11th Army, under the command of Erich von Manstein, was given the objective of capturing the Crimean Peninsula, which, by default, meant neutralizing the Soviet fortress of Sevastopol. After several attempts in the fall of 1941, the Germans failed to capture Sevastopol. In the spring of 1942, Manstein was able to eject the Soviets from the Crimea and besiege Sevastopol. Many buffs remember the Crimean campaign because of the Germans use of the Super gun Gustav which was used to reduce the Soviet fortifications. After a bloody siege, the city fell. The book does not include a map of the campaign, so you will have to look elsewhere to follow along.

The October publication of Model Art Modeling Magazine focuses on 1/35 scale German World War II armored reconnaissance vehicles. The magazine also includes new kit reviews, modeling tips, and new kit and item releases. As is typical for Model Art, the magazine measures 182mm by 258mm (about 7 and 1/8 by 10 and 1/8 inches), and is printed on thick, glossy paper. The production quality is high with these magazines, and just over half of it is printed in color with black and white pages interspersed throughout of the issue. Just in case this is the first review of a Model Art magazine that you are reading, understand that the entire magazine is printed in Japanese with only an occasional English subtitle for those of us who are monolingual, or are just unable to read Japanese text.

Saturday morning cartoons once again meet the modeling bench in Round2’s resurrection of classic kits featuring Warner Brothers’ beloved Road Runner and his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote. Of the three newly re-released kits, this review focuses on the hapless Wile E. Coyote and the Wile E. Willys – a loony dragster embodying a skateboard culture theme.

The MPC-branded kit consists of 4 sprues of colored parts (including 1 chrome-plated), a set of peel-and-stick decals, and a pre-painted vinyl Wile E. Coyote figure. Construction is touted as snap-together, but we found it necessary to apply either superglue or Tamiya liquid cement for virtually every step.

This thick book gives one a close up look at the life of the fighting infantryman! Each of the 10 chapters covers a specific battle and the experiences of those who fought there. From the Pacific theatre to the European, from Vietnam to Iraq, you are there on the beaches, in the foxholes, the rice paddies and through the streets of Fallujah.

This book gives you a very good sense of the up close and personal war that is fought by each and every combat infantryman be they Marine or US Army. Harrowing accounts of night fighting and Banzai charges, fighting the elements and the Germans at the Bulge in this book you are there. Each chapter puts you in the heart of the action and gives you as close as any book can a sense of what it was like to be there.