Book Author(s)
Lon Nordeen; Illustrator: Jim Laurier
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
September 11, 2014
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.95

This book is the third in Osprey’s series on the Marine Corps’ Harriers in combat. It is of great interest to me, as I spent over 20 years involved in the Tactical Air Control System, as a radio repairman and comm. maintenance officer. The Marines bought the AV-8 knowing it would be used for CAS (Close Air Support), and very little else. But that’s what they want and need.

The Harrier IIs were involved in OEF from 2001 to 2013. There were only a few Harriers involved at any time, usually 8, either on an Amphibious Assault Ship (LHD) or ashore at Kandahar, Bagram or Camp Bastion. The STOVL (Short Takeoff Vertical Landing) ability of the Harrier IIs made it possible to operate off of runways that were in bad shape, often with crumbling paving and potholes.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
September 11, 2014
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

Yet again, extreme thanks to Ross at SAC for providing one more of his new metal gear for improving our kits; The IPMS USA reviewer corps appreciates your continuing to provide us review items… Thanks also to the IPMS leadership for sending it my way to review!

Once again, SAC improves an already great kit’s gear; it is essentially a “form/fit/function” replacement, with just a small tweak which shall improve the basic kit parts….Review switch on.

This set is for Trumpeter’s English Electric Lightning kit. The basic aircraft uses the same gear on all marks, F1 through F6, and all the “T” (trainers)… and this is where the SAC gear shines.

I have included a photo of the basic kit landing gear. Out of the box you get plastic gear for the whole aircraft, or you can opt to use metal struts for strength. This is one of Trumpeters’ best kits out of the box…. It can be improved on, but it’s a great kit.

Book Author(s)
Piotr Olender
Review Author
Mike Hanson
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$40.58

I enjoy looking at and reading about early military steam ships that participated in conflicts prior to WWII, such as the Spanish-American War or even the US Civil War. So when I saw this book up for review, I knew I had to read it.

Piotr Olender’s book on the Sino-Japanese Naval War qualifies as an eclectic subject. I’m not sure there are any model kits that feature ships from this war, though there are kits of ships from this general era. That’s where this book really shines. It covers, in detail, nearly all of the ships from both sides that took part in this war. Additionally, if features period photographs and has some excellent line drawings.

Where the text of some books of this type can be very dry and hard to read, this one is just the opposite. It’s very engaging, and even though the author does supply plenty of dry info in the form of tables and lists, he also tells a good story with the rest of his text.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$17.95

Ross MacMillan and Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) continue to put our sturdy white-metal landing gear for many, if not all, of the new releases. This set is for the Freedom Models X-47B, the USN's UAV that is currently undergoing testing. Freedom Models’ kit is awesome and builds into a great representation of the UAV. One thing that hits you when you open the box is its size. It has a 62-foot wingspan, almost double a P-51’s! With that size of plane, white-metal gear could really help support it.

Book Author(s)
Ken Ellis
Review Author
John Noack
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$36.95

If you ever wish to locate an aircraft in Great Britain that is on display in a museum, in the hands of a private collector, undergoing restoration, or moldering away in a field, this is your go-to reference. Author Ken Ellis has obviously made it his life's work to locate, document, and track the 5000+ aircraft that fall into one or more of these categories within the bounds of the British Isles. Over 700 types – ranging from front line Lightnings to obscure one-of-a-kind homebuilts – are found within, sorted by geographical location. Of course, all the great museums – Duxford, the FAAM in Yeovilton, the RAF Museum in London – are represented, but who knew that a Westland Wasp was being kept in the hands of a private collector in Kirkham (“on the A583 between Blackpool and Preston”, p.94).

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a set of main and rear landing gear parts for Hobby Boss Fw 190s in 1/48 scale. The set includes four parts: two main landing gear struts and a two-part rear landing gear (which proves to be a godsend—more on that later).

The two main gear are drop in replacements. However, you’ll want to compare them to the kit struts to make sure you install each gear leg on the correct side of the aircraft; you could easily install them in reverse, which would give you an incorrect stance. The easiest way to make sure they are correctly installed, is to ensure that the torque link is facing back, towards the tail. Before painting, I removed the faint seam lines and polished the retraction strut parts to a shiny silver. This was left in natural metal by masking the area off. Polishing the gear is a great way to replicate the shiny look, and although its a little hard to see behind the wheel and gear flap once assembled, it looks great.

Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
February 10, 2020
Company
HAD Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$15.50

HAD Models is a Hungarian company that manufactures decals and distributes aftermarket detail parts. A visit to their website shows that their decal sets fill some voids and provide model builders with a variety of well-documented markings (particularly Hungarian, Russian and German a/c). HAD Models’ decals are on a par with major brands: They are printed on thin decal film in vivid opaque colors. The graphics are crisp and accurately registered. Many (but not all) sets include stencil data.

Set 48131 is devoted to Soviet MiG-3s that defended the homeland in 1941 and 1942. The set provides national insignia and specific markings for seven aircraft:

Review Author
Mike Hanson
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$26.99

The Revell 1/25 scale “Jungle Jim” Rail Dragster is a re-release of a series of dragsters produced in the mid-1970s. This particular kit represents a car driven by “Jungle” Jim Liberman. If forum comments are correct, this is not a representation of any specific car or race, but rather a generic representation of one of his cars. If you want to build something specific, a bit of research will likely be necessary.

The kit comes in Revell’s typical 9” x 7” model box, where you’ll find four sprues of white plastic, one chrome sprue, one black sprue with the rear tires, and a vinyl-type sprue for the front tires.

The largest sprue contains the dragster’s body, seat, and wings. There are some heavy ejection pin marks, but fortunately they are on sides that are not visible. I didn’t notice any sinking on the visible sides, so the parts shouldn’t require much cleanup.

Review Author
John Shimek
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
AMC Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$22.00

The Bussing-NAG 2 cm KwK 38, a four-wheeled German armored car, is one of two prototypes of this nature built. Historical reference for these vehicles is very hard to come by. However, it is known that they were in fact built but never put into production. It is also accepted that they were in fact field-tested, but it is debated as to which unit actually tested them. Some sources saying it was the 12th SS Panzer division, but again, there is no definitive proof of this as the data does not exist to confirm this information.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
September 12, 2014
Company
Hobby Boss
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$47.99

During World War 2 the Russians created a large number of flamethrower-equipped vehicles, useful for burning Germans out of strongpoints. Some of them replaced a turret or hull machine gun position with the weapon. Others, such as the OT-130, replaced the main gun itself and made this a dedicated flame thrower tank.

Like the original vehicle itself, Hobby Boss’ OT-130 tank is a modification of the tried-and-true T-26, which by this time in the war had outlived its usefulness as a main battle tank. The 45mm main gun was removed and replaced with a flamethrower unit and its appropriate internal tankage. The kit itself features over 900 parts including two sheets of photoetch and seeming hundreds of tiny pins used to assemble the workable tracks. There is no interior provided, although all of the crew hatches do open. No figures are provided with the kit, although it comes with a clear lens for the headlight.