Despite the use of “tanks” in the First World War, and their use in the opening stages of the Second World War in Poland, September 1939, it was in the Battle of France in May 1940 that these weapons were used for the first time on any large scale. The battles around the French towns of Stonne, Hannant, and Gembloux for the first time in history saw massive clashes, involving hundreds of tanks on both the French and German sides. And it was during these battles that actual “armored divisions” from both sides were involved. This book covers the two major armored vehicles of the Battle of France, the Wehrmacht’s Panzer IV, and the French Army’s massive Char B1 Bis. The author, Steven Zaloga, is a well known military historian of the Second World War, and also a keen modeler. He is also a very good writer, and the prose of this book flows very well.

The Kit

When I got the new Zvezda 1/144 Il-2 Sturmovik and Ju-87B Stuka, I thought they’d be highly detailed standard kits like the Mi-26 I built a while back. Well, no, they’re not. Zvezda is not only a manufacturer of plastic models, but they also have a large assortment of board games, and recently they’ve gone into war games using miniatures.

This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There are other 1/144 aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Ju-87B Stuka, plus 1/72 ground units.

Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll ruin it while playing. So simplicity and low price are virtues for this kit.

The Sturmovik kit is a single dark green sprue with the single-piece canopy in the plastic bag with the decals. Also included is a reference card for the game.

Another beautifully mastered set, nicely cast in light tan resin without warps or pinholes. These are exceptional in that they go a long way to enhance an already extremely nice model and require a minimum of surgery to install. For me, they earn the “most highly approved” designation. Many thanks to Quickboost and to IPMS/USA for the review sample.

The Lavochkin La-7 was in many ways a Lavochkin La-5, strengthened internally and modified externally to improve performance. It was introduced into operational testing in late 1944 and then served with numerous Soviet fighter units as they contributed to the push into Germany in 1945. The La-7 was considered by many to be one of the very best fighters built during WW II. It equipped the elite Guards fighter Air Regiments and Divisions and was the fighter flown by many Soviet aces who achieved that status by downing some of the Luftwaffe’s best late-war aircraft. These included Colonel Vasiliy A. Zaitsev, Ivan N. Kozhedob and Major Vladimir D. Lavrinyenkov.

When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Eduard produced several new photo-etched sets for the TA-4J, a couple of which are applicable to other A-4 variants.

First we will look at the airbrake set. A single fret of etch is included along with one page of instructions in the usual Eduard style. The final assemblies completely replace the kits flaps, plus provide parts for the upper spoilers seen on the TA-4J, TA-4F, A-4F, and A-4M. Also one advantage the etched parts have is there is no ejector pin marks as seen on the kit parts.