Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
March 15, 2019
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$33.00

Steam Traction on the Road is a historical description of the development of steam power and the engineers and manufacturers that created steam vehicles. The book includes a nice description of the people that designed steam vehicles in addition to the steam engines themselves. The book’s focus is on steam engines in England, but also includes some mentions of steam vehicles in America and other countries.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
March 15, 2019
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$54.00

The new Ford GT is a stunning supercar that competes favorably with the best of the breed at a price that the competition hasn’t seen in in a decade. Tamiya, not wishing to be left out of the fray has produced a similarly gorgeous replica of the car in scale for the advanced builder.

There are a lot of things to love about the kit and some things that could be improved, but in the end; if you want a great looking model of this superb car this the best example on the market.

Construction begins with the rear and forward body panels and you’ll quickly discover that you can’t use tube glue or the parts will not fit together. Thin liquid cement or thin superglue are needed due to the tight tolerances of the pieces and miniscule glue points. Reminiscent of the over-engineered 60’s kit that saw us trying to keep the front end together with a one-millimeter dot on the end of a tie rod, these joins require concentration and sparing use of adhesives.

Review Author
Ron Verburg
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$33.00

History

The Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle (16式機動戦闘車Hitoroku-shiki kidou-sentou-sha) is a wheeled tank destroyer of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle (MCV) equips designated combat units. Due to its light weight and small size, it is designed for easy deployment (by aircraft if needed) allowing rapid movement on narrow roads and in built-up areas in response to various contingencies. Despite its small size and light armor, it can successfully attack much larger armored fighting vehicles as well as personnel, using its large caliber gun.

Kit

The kit is produced by Tamiya, a well-known company who is known for producing quality midrange priced model kits. The box artwork is outstanding and shows the Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicle traversing open ground. This kit belongs to Tamiya’s 1/48 Military Miniature Series.

Book Author(s)
Tony Holmes; Illustrator: Jim Laurier, Gareth Hector
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

The opponent vs opponent series is one of Osprey’s most enjoyable, this volume does not disappoint. The Hellcat was a later war USN fighter of which 12,275 were built. It was fast, maneuverable and very rugged (there is good reason Grumman was called “The Iron Works”. The Hellcat became the premier fighter of the USN. The Kawanishi Shiden and Shiden-Kai of which a total of approximately 1400 were built, was developed from a floatplane and departed from customary Japanese design philosophy in that it was heavily armed and both maneuverable and ruggedly constructed.

The book is broken down into 10 sections beginning with two short introduction and design chronology sections totaling 4 pages.

Book Author(s)
Philip Young
Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Veloce Publishing
MSRP
$26.45

Veloce Publishing has issued a number of books in their SpeedPro Series that illustrates practical automotive performance tips and advice. This softcover book conations 96 pages of honest and engaging information on “How to Build a Successful Low-Cost Rally Car.”

It is first and foremost a primer that shows you how to enter the field of long-distance endurance racing on a budget but it also has information and close-up photos of the kinds of modifications that can be used to recreate an authentic replica of those spartan race cars in scale.

The book is British-centric and many of the automotive terms like bonnet and windscreen (just as the races are) are prevalent but are easily understood from context so it’s still a pretty easy read.

Book Author(s)
Leo Marriot
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$22.95

Thanks to Casemate Publishing & IPMSUSA for the review copy!

This book is also available in a hardback version (302 pages) priced at $55.00.

Casemate Publishers has reprinted a definitive review of the so-called “Treaty Cruisers” by Leo Marriot. The author has a long list of military books to his credit, focusing on WW2 ground actions and WW2 to modern naval subjects, including this title. He is known for an excellent book on the Titanic and The Universe, with illustrated views from the Hubble Space Telescope.

You get a 9.25 X 6 inches size paperback book with three Parts, 14 Chapters and four Appendices. Although the covers have a red tint, the book is completely B&W (no color) inside. The small print text is interspersed with B&W photos of ships, most of which are seen elsewhere, but there are a few rare ones. There are also small line drawings of profiles of ships. But mostly, this book is crammed full of text.

Book Author(s)
Marshall L. Michel III; Illustrated by: Adam Tooby
Review Author
Keith Pruitt
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$24.00

The Air Campaign Series from Osprey Publishing covers several operations from World War II in the European (Battle of Britain, Operation Crossbow and Sink The Tirpitz) and Pacific (Rabaul) Theaters, as well as operations during the Vietnam War (Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I and Linebacker II).

Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.00

Hauler produces photo-etched and resin upgrade sets for armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), airplanes, cars, railway vehicles, and dioramas. They also produce a few resin kits. Their products are in most of the common scale sizes, 1/72, 1/48, and 1/35, but they also produce a number of other items in common railroad hobbyist scales.

This diorama accessory is a US Army Field Safe. The safe itself is a resin box, with 3 additional pieces of resin representing the combination dial, door handle, and the actual door with “US” stamped on the front. There is a small photoetch sheet, which contains six pieces of photo-etch that will make up the inside shelves for the safe. A simple instruction sheet is included too.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$69.95

Brief History

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, NATO reporting name Foxbat, is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that was among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. It was designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau and is one of the few combat aircraft built primarily using stainless steel. It was the last plane designed by Mikhail Gurevich before his retirement.

Book Author(s)
Eduard M Young; Illustrator: Jim Laurier
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
March 16, 2019
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$23.00

Osprey Publishing continues to expand its “Combat Aircraft” series, this time with an installment on the B-25 Mitchel Units in the CBI. Like all the other books in this series, you can expect lots of period pictures, color profiles highlighting markings and main camouflages with excellent and detailed research.

The book is broken down in chronological order, which sort of follows a geographical order as the priorities in the CBI front shifted between India, Burma, and China.

These are the chapters and subsections on the book: