One of my favorite start of the new month activities is to head to Barnes and Noble on a Friday afternoon and peruse the new model magazines. I usually only buy one or two each month, but it is part of my routine. Apparently though, my solitary habits aren’t enough to sustain the space on the shelves as my local shop isn’t stocking much as of late. So I was happy to see this sample of SMMI show up with another review. Here’s the breakdown of what’s inside:

T-34 Captured - looks at Robin Gilby’s 1/35 ICM Pz.Kpfw T-34-747(r) - more so an overview of the painting process with no real in-build photos...describes paint and weathering stages.

The Desert General - Modelers Masterclass article on Robin Gilby’s 1/35 Tamiya Leclerc Series II build- this one describes the actual build, but again- photos only represent the tank during the painting and weathering stages.

This illustrated photo album includes over 120 B&W pictures of the Kaiserliche und Königliche Eisenbahn-Bau Kompanie unit (German Imperial Railway Construction Company) which operated during early stages of WW1 in the Western Galicia, now southern Poland. The railways are mostly narrow gauge.

The book uses black & white photographs to illustrate various construction or repair projects by the K.U.K in Western Galicia during the early WWI years between 1914-15. Captions are provided with each of the photos to describe the location and content of the photo. The photos are clear, and many show damaged bridges being built or repaired with descriptions of various construction methods and materials. A brief, but detailed outline of military operations provides context for the projects.

The railway projects are organized in these towns or areas:

General Outline of Military Operations in Western Galicia between August 1914 and mid-September 1915

Brengun, based in the Czech Republic, is known for producing a range of photo-etched and resin accessories for airplane models. They also produce a small number of 1/72nd and 1/144th model sets in both plastic and resin. One of their resin kits is the T-62 Main Battle Tank in 1/144 scale.

The T-62 entered service with Soviet Union in 1961, and remained in service with the former Soviet Union until the early 2000s. Originally, designed as an upgrade to the T-55 series of tanks, the T-62 was the first tank armed with a smoothbore gun and replaced the T-55 as the standard tank of the Soviet army. While the T-62 is no longer in service with the Russian army, it is still commonly seen on today’s modern battlefields in Syria and Yemen.

Hauler has provided another addition to the great Diorama releases. This is a 1/48 Scale U.S. Safe from Pre - WWII period.

Included is:

• 13 resin parts
• photoetch sheet
• small decal sheet
• instruction sheet

The detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resign bases. I did manage to lose the small resin safe handle. So I had to make one myself

The Assembly is quick and easy.

Please be careful with the Photo etch interior parts as they need to be assembled as tightly as possible to slide into the safe opening.

Next is the painting then adding the decals. The Decals did tend to roll up and were hard to place due to this. The addition of the gold bars were a nice touch.

Thanks go to Hauler for providing this kit to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them

Whether I am reviewing his armor books as now, or his aircraft books, like my previous review on the SBD, I am always finding David Doyle’s books to be tremendous additions to the reference bookshelf. I find myself referring to them numerous times, whether for my own projects or to check on something for friends asking advice. The best advice, of course, is to buy themselves their own copy of the book…and this Legends of Warfare volume on the Tigers is no exception.

The book is not the end all or be all purchase that you’ll never need anything else to buy for the library. It is, however, a good place to start for someone transitioning to armor modeling for the first time, or just looking to build one of the various offerings of Tiger kits available. WWII buffs in general will thoroughly enjoy looking through the texts and various photos. Enough babbling…what’s inside Mike?