Brengun brings a very welcome addition to the model aircraft market with this Extra 300L / 330 CL aerobatic plane. I have always wanted to build one and this release is most welcome.

In the box is:

• 2 x light grey sprues
• 1 clear canopy
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet

The sprue is well molded with very little flash and very good detail. The only issue is the plastic is very soft.

Construction

First is the construction stages A & B assemble parts of the cockpit. In Stage A where the seats and instrument panel are built, the PE set adds improved instrument panel and also seat belts. These are welcome additions to this very simple layout.

In stage B builds parts to the cockpit floor. The part numbers are missing from two parts which are in fact parts 21 and 23. At this stage the PE set replaces the pedals.

The Book

This is a short publication that provides very accurate 4-view drawings of the Soviet two seat IL-2 Shturmovik armored attack bomber of World War II fame. The drawings are done in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, and provide information on several modifications of the aircraft, mainly armament upgrades, but there is no color or interior information. There is an excellent photograph of a pristine IL-2 on the cover, and the book would be ideal for you if you were going to super-detail an IL-2 in either of those scales. There are enough kits available of the aircraft to make getting the book worthwhile if you are working with kits of this aircraft.

Recommendation

This book contains excellent drawings of the aircraft in two scales. Recommended.

The Book

This book is intended as a reference for anyone building a 1/72 or 1/48 scale model of a production Messerschmitt ME-163B. It contains entirely visual references, and does not tell the developmental or operational history of the type, but this information is covered in so many other references, so that is not so important. The modeling information, however, is extremely well done. The scale drawings are very useful, and whoever made the photographs did a very good job of accessing the aircraft and picturing the details, especially the interior. There are several ME-163’s on display in museums, so with some cooperation with the curators, good photos are certainly obtainable. There are some period photos included, some showing the equipment used by the crews during operations. The cockpit interior views are especially good, and I think with these, a pilot could get in one of these and fly it, if he was that suicidal.

Iliad Design has a newly released set of decals for 1/48^th scale P-51D Mustangs in various National Guard markings. Upon receiving the decal set for review I contacted Iliad Design and asked if there was a specific P-51D kit for which the decals were designed to be used. I was informed that the decals could be used on any P-51D on the market. I bought an Airfix P-51D to use as the test bed for this review. This is not a review of the Airfix kit, but I should mention that it has a great deal of detail. I mention this detail because the decals would be put to the test to see how well they “fit” over, and into, this detail. I will mention that I enjoyed the Airfix project immensely and found it to be a model that I could recommend to anyone who is looking for a good Mustang.

The book is the second on Hal Moore by Historian Mike Guardia his first being as co-author with Hal Moore on “Hal Moore on Leadership”.

This is a great photographic biography of Harold G Moore. It spans his childhood in rural Kentucky, West point during the latter part of World War II and military career, in occupied Japan then the Korean conflict.

This is followed by his time in the Vietnam War including his epic command at the Battle of Ia Drang. Which is the story used in the movie We were soldiers once where Hal Moore was played by Mel Gibson. Followed by his peacetime supervising military training.

Mixed in with the whole story is the thread of his loving family which includes his wife and five children.

The book has over 300 color and black & White photographs which are well selected and give a great insight into his life. The text with each photograph give a lot of information and reinforces the whole photo biography.