Cross & Cockade International is the quarterly publication of a non-profit organization known as The First World War Aviation Historical Society. The UK based organization has been publishing these journals since 1970 with the objective of furthering the study of First World War Aviation History. The first journal of 2014; Volume 45/1 (Spring 2014) features a beautiful cover painting by David Ellwood of a Phoenix P.5 Cork flying boat “Rattling the Rivets of a German U boat. The Phoenix P.5 Cork is the subject of a 19-page feature article that kicks things off, but this quarterly journal, much like all C&CI journals, also covers a variety of other well-researched WWI subjects in a highly professional manner.

Following an Editorial page, the contents includes:

Here is the newest book in MMP’s “White Series”: Finnish Fighter Colours 1939-1945, Volume One. The author, Kari Stenman, is a name long associated with publications on the Finnish Air Force. Just scanning through my library, I see him as the author of several Osprey “Aircraft of the Aces” books, as well as a Squadron/Signal book. In fact, in the acknowledgements section of this book he mentions research assistance he has received over the last forty-five years! This book is clearly written by a dedicated expert in the field.

The book itself is hardbound, with a nice glossy cover and the 200+ pages within are produced on high-quality stock with a matt finish. Photos, mostly black and white, are on virtually every page. Most are at least ¼ page in size. Numerous, extremely high-quality side profiles are also present. Text is all in English, and is very well-written.

This is the third set of 1/48 decals from Speed Hunter Graphics which came out of the Reid Air Publishing Group. The decals look very nice, clear and in register. They are printed by Cartograf of Italy and work very well, I’ll tell you why in a bit. This offering covers six F-15C MSIP II Eagles with a nice mix of Mig killers, commanders' aircraft, and even an aggressor bird. You couldn’t ask for a more varied mix. I couldn’t find whose kit these decals were sized for on the instruction sheet but on the web site it was recommended for the Hasegawa F-15C. As fate would have it, I only had the Academy kit which seemed to work quite well. I also noticed that the site had selections for 1/32 and 1/72 size sheets. I do hope that they branch into the other scales because these decals are really worth it.

The options included in this set are: