This is a review of the Veloce Buick Riviera 1963 to 1973

I haven’t written a book review in over 50 years, so bear with me.

The Veloce book is packed with information about the first three generations of the stylish, luxurious, and performance-oriented Buick Riviera. Tons of pictures accompany performance data, available option equipment for each year, changes and upgrades by year. I didn’t realize Buick started using the Riviera name in 1949 as a trim package and would later be changed/upgraded to compete with the Ford Thunderbird.

Also included are pictures of Riviera’s that have been customized with paint, wheels/tires, and body modifications.

The Veloce Buick Riviera is a fantastic addition to your hobby area reference materials.

Thank you to IPMS for allowing me to review this kit.

Courtesy of Platz (Japan): The world's first supersonic fighter was the American F-8 Crusader. Development proceeded according to the requirements of the US Navy, and the first flight was successful completed in 1955. Operation started in 1957.

The F-8 Crusader adopted a high wing swept wing design. The wing had a special mechanism that raised the front by 7 degrees. This slight operation succeeded in keeping the distance between takeoffs and landings short. The F-8 demonstrated excellent performance as an on-board fighter operated on an aircraft carrier. The aircraft was equipped with a 18,000 pound thrust engine with an afterburner and was adopted and operated by the US Navy, the Marine Corps, the Philippines, and France.

Thank you to Haagen Klaus, Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak for continuing to bring back a tremendous resource for the modeler and aviation historian, in a digital format. Thank you to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to test out this new and exciting method of researching history, details, and versions of the Super Hornet.

Two Bobs has released a decal sheet covering the Heritage Schemes for the 50^th Anniversary of the T-38 in USAF service. You get a total of 5 camouflage schemes, covering an overall grey, a South-East Asia scheme, an Aggressor/Air superiority scheme, a two-grey with a blue fin, and an overall white scheme.

The instruction sheet (printed in full color) it is truly huge at 11”x17” and it includes color callouts in FS standard, plus Testors, Humbrol, Mr. Color, Xtracrylics, and Mr.Paint making finding the right paint color a breeze.

The decal sheet is printed by Cartograf and it looks thin, glossy and it is in perfect register. Likely the color density will be excellent too.

From an inspection to the decal sheet, I think it is possible to actually finish all the airframes in the sheet. I think the hardest thing will be to choose which camouflage to finish it on. But why choose? You can make them all. Kudos to Two Bobs for allowing that!

Several of my modeling friends have been using Mission Model Paints and telling really good things about them. When I had the chance to review some of them I jump on that opportunity.

Before I go into the particular details of these color change colors, I wanted to mention a few things about the Mission Models Paints:

The very first thing you notice is the volume you get in each bottle: 1 fluid oz. That would keep you painting for a while. You might worry about the fact that the paint might go bad before you are out of it, but don’t worry. Based on the chemistry of it, it is shelf stable. I don’t know if after 5 or 10 years it will still be as good as pristine, but it should last you a long, long time.

Another thing to highlight is that each bottle has a “mixing ball” inside. I’m not sure if it is truly a ball, but you can shake that bottle and the little “rattle” will help you mix the paint thoroughly.