I find it hard to believe the MiG-21 design is almost as old as I am and is still serving as a front-line fighter in several air forces around the world. I’m still pretty active, but no longer a “front-line fighter” by any stretch of the imagination. Since the end of WWII, in almost any conflict involving Western air forces, the adversary has been a Mikoyan-Gurevich designed aircraft: in many instances, the MiG-21 Fishbed.

In Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, Alexander Mladenov thoroughly covers the MiG-21 from its early development to its role in several conflicts around the world. His descriptions are often technical, but very readable nonetheless. The chapter titles give a good idea what is discussed:

Introduction

On March 23, 1965, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom and John W. Young blasted off into space onboard the Gemini 3 capsule atop a Titan II Rocket. Gemini 3 was the first manned Gemini flight, and Grissom and Young made three orbits around the earth and returned to the surface after 4 hours and 52 minutes.

Revell originally captured the spirit of the Gemini program historic event in the 1970s with this great 1/24 scale kit. They rereleased the kit in the 1980s as part of their History Makers series of kits. Now they have rereleased the Gemini kit, with the original artwork on the box, in a Limited Production run.

I would like to thank Revell for returning this great old kit back into production.

Without a doubt, the Eduard 1/48 scale Bf 109G-6 has to be one of the most controversial kits released in the past year or two. Personally, I’ve had a good look at completed examples, as well as a good look at the plastic in the box, and I’m pretty happy with the kit.

For this review, I’ll be looking at the Eduard Brassin Bf 109G-6 wheels made for Eduard’s kit. Without diving into my stash to check, I see no problem with these wheels being used on Bf 109 G-6 kits from other manufacturers. Although, please note, your mileage may vary. The wheels are pre-molded to fit directly over the landing gear legs with just a slight bit of slop. Personally, I prefer this type of fit with resin parts, especially over the alternative: extremely snug fit.

First, I’d like to offer my thanks to Hauler-Brengun and the IPMS Reviewers’ Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory.

The modern full-scale shopping cart has a fairly long development history, which is well documented on Wikipedia and other internet sources. The 1/48 scale Brengun shopping cart (or trolley, in many European markets) represents one of the smaller, tactical carts, as opposed to the larger plastic behemoths that swallow impulse purchases without end. My personal experience with this type of cart has often occurred at manufacturing sites. There, I have witnessed impossible amounts of parts and tools being cheerfully wheeled about in similar carts. Certainly, this excellent cart from Brengun could add an eye-catching detail to many potential diorama scenes.

AK Interactive makes all sorts of very nice modeling materials from books to weathering items to paints. This review covers their Luftwaffe Camouflages from their Air Series. Inside you will find eight 17 ml eyedropper bottles of paint specifically matched to WWII Luftwaffe colors. The following colors are included:

• Interior Colors - RLM 02 and RLM 66
• Bottom and Base Colors - RLM 65 and RLM 76
• Top and Mottle Colors - RLM 70, 71, 74, and 75

These can be used on many Luftwaffe planes, for example, Bf 109s, Fw 190s, Me 410s and He 219s. Most of these are early war colors. The paints are acrylic and are made by Vallejo. They are very fine grained and result in a medium-flat finish. AK recommends their AK712 thinner. Not having this, I tried a few other brands. The best substitute I found was Createx thinner/airbrush cleaner.