Greg Van Wyngarden has taken a new look at the Pfalz D.IIIa service in WWI. This is but the first volume of a two volume set. Datafile number 21 by Peter M. Grosz came out in1995 so it is about time that Windsock revisited the Pfalz D.IIIa! The initial Pfalz D.III aircraft received a poor reception amongst German pilots as it was regarded as inferior to the Albatros D.V. That doesn’t negate the fact that it was still superior to most of the Allied opposition of the time. The Pflaz firm, however, did listen to the pilot’s concerns over the D.III and soon offered improvements in the form of the D.IIIa.

The book explores the early development history of the British tanks from 1915 to 1939. To be honest I had never read known much about the early tank development, but this book really does provide all the knowledge you could want on the early tanks and their success and failures.

It is writing so everyone can grasp and understand the history and technical details of this important piece of the tanks creation.

It covers all the prototypes and concepts of the British Tank development including the main variations and their uses. The many pictures really add to the books ability to clearly show the primitive tanks as they evolved into practical working armored vehicles.

I cannot recommend this book enough I finished during one long flight. The booked helped me learn and understand the early years of the British Armor.

Thanks go to Osprey Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them

Like many aviation enthusiasts and modelers, I have always admired the beauty of Supermarine’s Spitfire design. I am admittedly no expert on the type, but when Eduard announced their 1/72 version of an already well received 1/48 family of this aircraft, I jumped at the chance to do a review build. I also asked for a couple of the supplemental accessories Eduard has issued for the kit. The aircraft’s history is well known and extensively documented, so let’s get on with impressions of this 1/72 scale plastic version.

This kit issue (#70-121) is a completely new mould tooling. This kit is significantly more detailed than nearly every other 1/72 Spitfire kit out there, and the resulting high parts count will take me some time to build. So, I’ll give you my initial impressions in case you’re considering a purchase sooner, rather than later.

Yellow Wings is well known for their thorough research and excellent decals of traditionally Navy subjects, in particular from the ‘Golden Era’ of aviation. This particular sheet covers the time Kingfisher during the immediate pre-war timeframe.

Packaged as most decals are nowadays in a ziplock baggie, these decals are further protected by a heavy card stock title card. The instructions are included on three double sided 8.5 x 11 sheets.

The instructions cover all three aircraft. Each sheet contains a profile view, split view of the plan views and a head on shot. The specifications are included. These sheets look very much like the historical data from the National Archives.

A short while ago Hobby Boss released a charming model of a rarity – the Hungarian 39M Csaba armored car, which clearly shares an ancestry similar to the French Panhard armored car of roughly the same vintage. Although Hobby Boss seems to have done well in the overall design of this kit, it is somewhat let down by the soft rubber tires, which fall below the quality of the rest of the model. Ironically, what detail is evident on the tires is soft and inaccurate, and even includes a misspelling!