Mushroom Model Publication has released the second volume of the Hungarian Fighter Color series. You can find a review of volume 1 at http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/hungarian-fighter-colours-1930-1945-vol…

The second volume continues the saga of authors Denes Bernad and Gyorgy Punka for what might become the definite reference books on the Hungarian Fighter Force during World War II.

This volume covers the Re.2000, Bf-109G, Fw-190F in extensive detail (each one of their chapters is over 40 pages long). Plus it has other shorter, but still well detailed chapters on the Me-110, Me-210, He-112, captured examples of PZL.11c, Avia B.534 IV and an indigenous design, the WM-23, which did not see combat but had exceptional performance for their time.

The wonderful folks at Minicraft Models deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new and unusual subjects to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published.

The Martin PBM-5A Mariner was a gull wing, twin-engine flying boat operated primarily by the U. S. Navy during WWII. The Mariner operated alongside its better known sister flying boat, the PBY Catalina. The PBM-5A was a tricycle amphibian, with prominent nose, dorsal and tail gun turrets, fixed wing floats, and twin tails. The Mariner had bomb bays nestled in the engine nacelles on the high wing and a distinctive dorsal radome just aft of the cockpit.

The Following Text is a Historical Perspective from the Publisher.

As the Battle of Britain came to a close, the Luftwaffe began arming its single-engine fighters with bombs, using them in preference to twin-engine bombers against many daylight targets. Two units were designated for these Jagdbomber (literally fighter-bomber) attacks – 10/JG 26. Their targets included shipping and coastal installations, railways, gas holders and selected military and civilian objectives. The detrimental effect on British morale caused by these ‘Tip and Run’ attacks was devastating.

How could the British military combat the raids effectively? How could the local populations cope? Questions were asked in Parliament but no effective answer was supplied. The locals lived in fear of where and when the next attack would occur.

The Build (Continued)

The assembled engine dropped in place with little drama…but, because of the rather complex way the engine, engine bay framing and multi-part cowling align with the fuselage, I first carefully dry-fitted everything (and temporarily taped parts in place) to make sure there were no gaps between panel lines. Doing this also ensured that the front of the engine was centered in the opening in the cowl front. I cemented the engine in place and removed the engine panels to make the necessary adjustments as called out in the instructions.

This product is a prepainted photoetched flight deck section from a US carrier between 1942 and 1944. It is made of a fairly heavy gauge brass. It partly includes one of the hangar deck lifts in the full up position. It has good texture showing the planking on the deck, the tiedown strips and the metal areas surrounding the lift, as well as some of the deck markings for the carrier. The painting gives a realistic replication of the wood grain on the deck planks and is of the early war natural wood coloring. The surface has a slight sheen, and to be more realistic, it should have a light coat of flat clear sprayed on. The deck section is big enough for a small naval aircraft, and would probably be okay with a Hellcat or a Corsair. It measures 4 3/8 x 5 1/4 inches or approximately 111 x 133 millimeters. It will make a very effective display that can be completed quickly by simply gluing it to an appropriately sized base. Highly recommended.