The Volkswagen Beetle, officially called the Volkswagen Type 1 (or informally, the Volkswagen Bug), is an economy car produced by the German automaker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. The need for this kind of car, and its functional objectives, were formulated by Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, wishing for a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for the new road network of his country. He contracted Porsche in 1934 to design and build it to his exacting standards. Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalize the design; one of the first rear-engine cars. With over 21 million manufactured (21,529,464 exactly) in an air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform, worldwide.

As quoted from Squadron/Signal Publications, "In Action books, despite the title of the genre, are books that trace the development of a single type of aircraft, armored vehicle, or ship from the prototype to the final production variant. Experimental or "one-off" variants can also be included. Our first In Action book was printed in 1971.”

Author David Doyle has come through with another wonderfully written book. This time he takes on the Consolidated PBY "Catalina." This aircraft was not always known as the "Catalina," in fact it started off as Consolidated Model 28 in 1932. It wasn't until 1940 when the British received the PBY-5 that the name “Catalina” came about.

I love kits like this ‘Cuda. Everything fit together very nicely with no flash at all.

Engine

The Hemi engine is a gorgeous unit to work with. Every part fit together just the way it should. You get a couple of options about the air cleaner setup. Rather than have a hole in the hood (kit provided) I chose to go with a dual 4 bbl. air cleaner.

Chassis

The exhaust pipes, rear differential, and front torsion bar are separate assemblies, and fit together very well. You get a choice of stock wheels and larger diameter 5 spoke wheels and tires. I used the gorgeously detailed stock wheels and added valve stems.

Interior

The interior features a floor unit with separate side panels that are very well engraved. The separate seats and console are wonderful pieces. I added flocking to my build.

NOTE: The Concept Notes have MSRP of $22.00

Part 1: Overview

The fifth Super Wing Series kit from Zoukei-Mura (ZM) is the Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden (Allied code name ‘Jack’). I have the Hasegawa kit of the same aircraft in my stash, but when ZM kit arrived, I was very surprised at the size of the box. The kit box is substantially larger than the Hasegawa box, and it is full of plastic. Lots and lots of plastic. The lift-off box top is beautifully rendered in glossy artwork featuring the J2M3 of Lt. JG Yoshihiro Aoki, with views of the actual model on the sides.

Inside there are nine individually wrapped sprues of light gray plastic and two sprues of clear, with a total of 247 parts. There is a single decal sheet, a small sheet of paint masks, and the most comprehensive instruction manual I’ve ever seen (more on that in a minute). Also included with the review was the ZM Concept Notes.

Built on the principle of more is better, the Fokker E. IV was an attempt to improve on the legendary aircraft responsible for the “Fokker scourge” of 1915. First was the addition of a twin row 14 cylinder Oberursel engine which developed 160 hp. Then, at least in the prototype, three IMG machine guns were installed on the upper cowl firing through the propeller arc via an interrupter gear (which didn’t always work). These improvements seemed better in theory but combat revealed some shortcomings. The guns were reduced to two Spandaus since three machine guns which were prone to failures overloaded pilots. In addition, the weight of guns/ammo combined with a spinning mass of engine up front proved a handful. The allies by this time were producing very maneuverable aircraft that a wing warping design simply couldn’t match. The Fokker Einedeckers domination of the skies over the front was over by December of 1916.