If ever a seaplane design could be called elegant it is the Do- 24! The Dornier Do- 24 outlived its Third Reich users by 24 years. What was probably the best seaplane in the Nazi inventory was designed to meet specifications from the Dutch Navy.

The competition for the Luftwaffe’s next seaplane was fierce between the Blohm und Voss Bv -138 and the Dornier Do-24. Even though the test pilots declared the Do-24 the best handling seaplane they had ever flown, it lost out to the Bv-138. The RLM favored diesel engines on its flying boats and thus even though it was less powerful and an all around lesser aircraft, the RLM chose the diesel powered Bv-138.

This book describes the colors and markings applied to the T-34-85. It served in huge numbers with the Soviet Army and its allies. All of its major users are beautifully illustrated with incredible artwork including the color profiles. The period photographs are clear and in focus exposing the modeler to the harsh conditions of war. A total of more than 35,000 T-34-85s were produced in several variants from different factories. The museum walk around photos points out the differing turrets and chassis from their respective factories. This book is a must have as it covers; unit/ tactical markings, air recognition details, captured enemy markings and even individual names and insignias.

The book is a glossy soft cover featuring a hearty cord & gum binding measuring 8.5 x 11 with 120 pages and 120 illustrations.

MMP YouTube Review

Introduction

The original Star Trek TV series, in the 1960s, set the stage for TV science fiction drama in many, many ways - too many to go into here. Suffice it to say, that TV show, while great science fiction on the surface, hit all of the major political topics of the time including the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. In one particular episode “The Balance of Terror”, the crew of the Enterprise was forced to respond to attacks on Federation outposts along the Romulan neutral zone, made by a new and unseen enemy with sophisticated, as yet unknown weaponry. The enemy ship could electronically cloak itself from sensors and from being visibly seen. Because of the power required by the plasma weapon however, the ship had to un-cloak before they could fire. When the ship became visible, the image of a great orange bird of prey could be seen on the lower hull of the ship.

Adding to their line of detail parts for military models, Hauler has recently released a resin and photo-etched parts set for the Tamiya 1/48 scale German Motorcycle & Sidecar (Tamiya kit 32578). The set is comprised of seven resin and seventy photo-etched items. I would highly recommend the small photo-etched parts for experienced modelers, as removing the parts from the fret is a delicate process in itself, and maintaining control of these items through installation can be a challenge. In the end however, the results can certainly be worth the effort.

Introduction

Since late in the Korean war, into the Vietnam War, and even more importantly today, one of the most important missions within the United States Air Force and Navy is the suppression of enemy air defense systems. Blinding the enemy air defenses was and still is crucial to clearing the road for massive bombing campaigns and air superiority. In the United States Air Force, this mission went to a group aptly named the wild weasels. Much like a weasel, the job of these aircraft is to stick their head up and get the enemy air defense systems to see and lock their radar on the aircraft. When the electronic systems in the weasel aircraft indicate the enemy is locked on you, you would launch your anti-radiation missile to ride the enemy radar beam back to the antenna it was broadcasting from. Once in proximity of the antenna, the missile would detonate releasing thousands of bits of steel shrapnel, shredding the enemy radar antenna thus blinding the enemy.

Mushroom Model Publication has released the second volume of the Finnish Fighter Color series. You can find a review of Volume 1 here on the reviews site.

This book, as Volume 1, is structured by aircraft type. Each aircraft type has two chapters. The first one is devoted to the historical introduction on each type including how it was procured and how it did perform in Finnish service. In many cases there are plenty of historical details on different missions including date, location, number of airplanes involved and mission kills/losses. There are no first-hand narratives of pilots involved in the action, so I suppose the information is coming from squadron records.

Background

The website description of this title, “At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Navy was a shadow of its former might, a reflection of the empire as a whole - the "Sick Man of Europe". Years of defeat, nepotism, and neglect had left the Ottoman Navy with a mix of obsolete vessels, whilst the list of prospective enemies was ever-growing. An increasing Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and the alarming emergence of Italy and Greece as regional Naval powers proved beyond all doubt that intensive modernization was essential, indeed, the fate of the Empire as a naval power depended on it. So the Ottoman Navy looked to the ultimate naval weapon of the age, the dreadnought, two of which were ordered from the British. But politics intervened, and a succession of events culminated in the Ottoman Navy fielding a modern German battlecruiser and state-of-the-art light cruiser instead - with dramatic consequences.

The Space Shuttle (actual name “Space Transportation System) was a reusable manned low Earth orbit vehicle. It consisted of the space plane which went into orbit and glided back to Earth, two Solid Rocket Boosters and the expendable fuel tank.

Shuttles were operated by NASA from 1981 to 2011, flying a total of 135 missions.

The missions ranged from launching satellites and interplanetary probes to delivering components for the International Space Station, and later delivering supplies and crew for the ISS.

There were originally 5 shuttles built, Enterprise, which had no orbital capability, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Atlantis. After Challenger was destroyed, Endeavour was built.

Background

As described on the Osprey Publishing website, “Waterloo is one of the defining campaigns of European history. The name conjures up images of the terrible scale and grandeur of the Napoleonic Wars and the incredible combined effort that finally ended Napoleon's aspirations of power in Europe. Drawn from unpublished first-hand accounts, and using detailed illustrations, this comprehensive volume is the ideal resource for studying the intense fighting at the battles of Waterloo and Wavre, the final, decisive engagements of the Waterloo campaign. Those two battles are at the heart of this study, which explores the action at Mont St Jean where Wellington managed to hold the French at bay until the arrival of the Prussians under Blücher saw the Allies secure a hard-fought victory at the dramatic climax of the ‘Hundred days'”.

Mechatro WeGo robots are not as well known here as they are in Japan where the series has been a hit for a while now and their world continues to grow. Simply put, they are personal robots meant to carry children anywhere and everywhere. Here’s the detail from the web site:

“Direct from Japan’s Chubu Mechatronics, Mechatro WeGo mechatrobots have taken the world by storm! These innovative, child-sized transports are the world’s smallest mechatrobots, built for carrying kids to school, soccer practice – and everywhere else in between. Mechatrobots have made carpooling obsolete, leaving parents with more time to take care of everyday errands. The only thing mechatrobots are missing? An alarm that ensures the kids are home in time for dinner!”

The Kit

This review covers the 53’ Smooth Side Trailer 1:25 Scale Moebius Model Kit #1303. A new release, this model should be readily available at most outlets. This is a complimentary version of the original corrugated side 1:25 scale trailer model with a reefer and roll-up rear door option. Moebius designates this as a Skill Level 3 kit for modelers 12 years and older. It is molded in white styrene with soft vinyl tires, chrome wheels, waterslide decals, and an extensive instruction manual. This kit features all the details of the real thing. There is a highly accurate undercarriage featuring cross-members with angle-braced landing gear and a tandem axle configuration. The instruction booklet is top notch with a centerfold for decal placement. The completed model is a whopping 26.5” long with the reefer option. Massive but simple, this detailed kit is the perfect compliment for your 1:25 scale tractor models.

About the Company

AOA is a new decal company and they are purpose driven. AOA’s goal was to fill the gap of a lack of decals for Marine aircraft on the aftermarket scene and boy what a way to make an entrance by going to the 1/32 Trumpeter A-6 model. For those of you looking for Marine markings in all 3 scales they should be added to your list.

What’s on the Sheet?

This particular sheet covers three Marine VMA’s from the Vietnam War covering the years of 1967-1973.

The aircraft covered are as followed:

• A-6A VMA-225 (Vikings) – Da Nang 1969-71
• A-6A VMA-242(Batmen) – Da Nang 1966-70
• A-6A VMA-533(Hawks) – Chu Lai 1967-69 / Nam Phong 1972-73

The Decals are extremely bright and colorful with very little carrier film, AOA has used Cartograf to handle their printing needs and anyone who knows about cartograf know you are getting what you paid for with live colors , quality and accuracy.

About the Company

AOA is a new decal company and they are purpose driven. AOA’s goal was to fill the gap of a lack of decals for Marine aircraft on the aftermarket scene and boy what a way to make an entrance by going to the 1/32 Trumpeter A-6 model. For those of you looking for Marine markings in all 3 scales they should be added to your list.

What’s on the Sheet?

This particular sheet covers the stencil markings for all A-6A, A-6E, A-6E TRAM, and KA-6D Intruders.

The decals are extremely bright and colorful with very little carrier film, AOA has used Cartograf to handle their printing needs and with these being “High-Viz” stencils I know Cartograf is the way to go.

The stencils are covered in 5 separate pages from the ejections seat to the fuel lid cover. The sheets are very informative and go into great detail so no questions should arise on proper locations for stencil placement.

The first Corvette made it's debut in New York City's Waldorf Historia Hotel at the 1953 Motorama, a traveling showcase of the days' automotive industry's newest styles. The '53 Corvette was designed by GM legendary designer, Harley Earl. For it's debut, the Corvette was made available in only a single color, white. Also, it had only a red interior with a black folding top. I did not know this until reading up the 1953 Corvette. And much to the chagrin of hot rodding enthusiasts, it also came with a V6! There were only 300 of these produced, as they were assembled in a single plant in Flint, Michigan.

First shown to the public in 2007 the Su-35 has been under development since 2005. The Russians have classified the Su-35 as a “fourth ++ generation” fighter. Essentially the Su-35 is an upgraded version of the Su-27. One of the most noticeable upgrades being the Su-35 having thrust vectoring nozzles.

There are roughly 299 parts in the kit however some of them aren’t used. There are 15 total sprues, one of which is a stand for the model, and there are 3 duplicate sprues. The decals provided allow making either the 901 or 902 prototype version plane. There are a lot of options selecting armament for the plane, which makes that step fun. This is a re-boxed kit with a change of decals so there isn’t a major upgrade in any of the tooling. The fuselage comes in two halves and they fit together really nicely. The panel lines are scribed and some will need to be put back in when you sand down edges, but most of it looks deep enough that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Delta One has produced some interesting decals and this set is no different. This sheet gives you marking options for 7 different Dornier Do-17Z’s of the Croatian Air Legion on the Eastern front {10.(Kroatisch)/KG 3, 15.(Kroatisch)/KG 53} and Croatian Air Force 1941-1945.

You are provide in a ziplock bag a beautifully printed decal sheet, that's in register, inside of an 11 page booklet. Inside the booklet on the first two pages is a brief history of the Croatian Do-17Z, a brief description of each of the 7 aircraft and sources for their research.

There is color artwork for 7 A/C that includes both sides, top and partial underside views and also a color chart for each aircraft. The options included are:

Master Box has joined the parade of World War One subjects, commemorating the centennial of the Great War, by providing this set of British Infantry from the time around the Battle of the Somme in 1916. During these centennial years of the Great War (1914 -1918), we are seeing numerous WWI subjects especially aircraft and armor hit the market in record numbers. Aerodrome ground crews, tank crews and infantry will provide modelers with the opportunity to create some dynamic dioramas of this important conflict.

History

During the early years of the Second World War the Dornier Do17 was one of the Luftwaffe’s most important medium bombers. Developed during the early 1930s, first as a mail plane then as a reconnaissance bomber, the Dornier was nicknamed ‘the flying pencil’, due to its very thin tapering fuselage. While early versions used inline engines, the iconic and most widely used Z variant used Bramo radial engines, and featured a re-designed cockpit area, with the intention of providing more space and defensive capabilities for the crew. However this was not wholly successful; its small crew area and lack of power operated turrets making it easy prey for allied fighters.

AMT and Round 2 are known for their automotive kits and have been for a very, very long time. To add to their cars, here’s some really nice tires as part of their "Custom and Competition" line. Anybody building a muscle car from the ‘60’s needs a set of these puppies. You get 4 F60 x 15 and 4 L60 x 15 tires. There are no wheels in the accessory pack. I just put some Cragar SS wheels for the pic.

And here’s a problem/issue I found. Round 2 does not have the tires shown on their website. Several aftermarket outlets have the tires available from their websites. Regardless, these are great additions to any muscle car and are recommended.

My thanks to round 2 Models for the review sample.

Thank you to Tamiya, Inc. for providing this wonderful kit for review and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to document my build experiences. Sharing this review with the scale modeling community would not be possible without the exceptional support of the IPMS Reviewer Corps. Thank you everyone!

The Mosquito is one of my favorite aircraft with its underdog success story and exceptional operational history. Tamiya’s representation of the fighter-bomber version of the Mosquito is also exceptional. The following review is a compilation of the planning, preparation, and subsequent anticipation of a very enjoyable build of a de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.IV aircraft. Please look for a complete build review soon, where I will report on how this elegantly packed kit progressed to large-scale representation of the “Mossie.”

For a sometime now, Bronco Models has been releasing numerous military figure sets in 1:35 scale, and has particularly shown an eye for the not-so-typical. Sure, there has been the British AFV crew set and the U.S. Tank crew set, and both the 17 pdr and 25 pdr Anti-Tank gun crew sets. But they have also offered the British War Correspondents set and the Allied Female Soldier set. As a Minister, they then caught my eye earlier this year with the release of “God’s Blessing”, a 6 figure set depicting a Priest and five U.S. soldiers during WWII. The Priest (a Catholic Priest) is shown leading a front line mass, with his sacerdotal implements on the hood of a jeep. Kneeling before him are five soldiers, two of whom are holding Bibles (or, perhaps Prayer books). The box art captures this unique scene – worship in the midst of war.

This book is Part I of Volume 2 of the Camouflage S Markings series from Guideline Publications, publishers of Scale Aircraft Modelling and Military Modelcraft magazines and the Warpaint series of books. It covers British and Canadian armored (armoured? – two countries separated by a common language) forces in Normandy.

This is the 21st volume in Osprey’s “Air Vanguard” series. A quick look at Osprey’s website shows this is scheduled for an August, 2015 publication date.

The “Air Vanguard” series seems geared to providing an overall view of the subject aircraft’s development, technical specifications, and operational history. All other titles in this series have been available in various “eReader” formats (at a slightly lower price than the print version), so I imagine upon release that this will be the case for this volume. A glance at the publishing information in the book shows different ISBN numbers for the PDF/EPub editions, seeming to confirm this fact.

The book is broken down into 4 basic sections: Design and Development, Technical Specifications, Mark by Mark, and Operational History. A brief ‘Conclusion’ section wraps things up, and a decent bibliography for further reading is included.

If you have never have had the chance to review one of Guidelines Warpaint series, here’s a brief description. First they provide a complete and detailed history of the subject including a complete production list of air frames, Squadron which used the plane along with a list of serial numbers and codes and a comprehensive specification list covering the technical aspects of the plane. By this, they have the historians covered. Secondly, they have 1:72nd scale multiple view plans. Also included are detail pictures, pages of superb color camouflage drawings and photography in color and black and white. There is also a list of kits, decal and accessory list. Modelers are covered too.

Scale Aircraft Modelling's July 2015 issue focuses on some of the classic British era with everything from new kits, scratchbuilds and older kits.

The articles start with a test shot build of Revell's 1/72 C-54/DC-4 by Andy McCabe. The over 300 parts are assembled into a gorgeous military transport and the kits looks to be a must have.

Rick Greenwood builds Kinetic's 1/48 AMX kit and reports the overall fit of the kit is good but he did sand down the slightly pronounced rivets on the rear of the plane. He also reported a slight color issue with some of the decals but the result is very good.

Valom's 1/72 Bristol Bombay Mk. I is built by Ernie Lee. This is a mixed media kit with limited run plastic, resin engines and photoetch frets. The finished kit is nice and I love seeing an unusual build.