Book Author(s)
Si Sheppard
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

Roman imperial expansion over the entire Mediterranean basin was going full tilt in the first century BC. Nobody had been able to stop them and their inexorable legions, which were bound together by a discipline and unit cohesion seldom found anywhere else in the ancient world. They had rolled over the Punics, the Celts, the Macedonians and everyone else standing in their quest for global (as seen then) dominance. However, there was another people expanding out of the east who would finally confront the Romans in a way they had never encountered before.

Book Author(s)
Michel Estève
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Casemate UK
MSRP
$49.95

This awesome book Includes a vast amount of information with a very complete description of the Sherman tanks from the early M4s through the M4A6. The book is profusely illustrated with black & white and color photographs, color illustrations, charts, and diagrams. Modelers, historians, and those interested in tanks in general will find this book to be an invaluable enjoyable resource. The text is informative and easy to read, and the illustrations are beautifully done.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
MSRP
$10.80

As an avid figure modeler, I was given the opportunity to examine this new paint set by Ammo, which replicates the rather fiddly camouflage pattern often seen on modern Russian infantry. As an avowed enamel/oil paint aficionado, I thought it would be interesting to examine this acrylic set from my own jaundiced perspective.

To try out these paints, I elected to use a rather crude figure from my collection, the argument being it’s easy to make a good figure look good, but somewhat more challenging to get the same results from a poor figure. The uniform is not exactly right, but I was more interested in giving these paints a good test than in creating something to add to my collection.

To give the overlay paints some “tooth” I airbrushed a coat of light grey lacquer primer onto the figure first. This primer coat was allowed to dry for several days.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
MSRP
$44.00

ICM has certainly put its Ford Model T molds to good use, making no less than four different variants of this ubiquitous little vehicle previously, all variants which served with distinction in World War One. Now a fifth variant has been added – a little-known armored version used by the Royal Naval Air Service along the Russian Front. Really more of a weapons carrier than an armored car, only nine of these were ever made. I rather suspect that it was seriously underpowered for the additional weight of the armor, which would have made this a strictly hard-surface weapon of war.

Like the vehicle itself, the kit is a relatively simple build. It also comes with a separate sprue containing the parts for their newly released Vickers Machine Gun, which is a fine little kit in and of itself. There are three moderately-sized sprues with lots of parts you won’t need, a clear sprue for the lamps, a small decal sheet, and that’s about it for complexity.

Book Author(s)
Reiner Decher
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$45.00

History

This book covers the development of aircraft powerplants as they relate to the airline industry, going back to the beginnings of air transportation in the twenties. The author is especially well qualified to write in this area because (1) his father was an engineer who worked on jet engine development in Germany during World War II, and later France and the United States, and (2) the author grew up with this background, and competed a Doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT, after which he worked for AVCO-Everett Research Laboratory and the Boeing Corporation, later pursuing a career teaching and doing research at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$46.00

ICM continues to crank out some lovely combo kits these days, especially around World War 1 subjects. This kit, which includes both their previously released Type B Cargo Truck, as well as US drivers, is an example of this.

The Standard Type B Liberty Truck was the first standardized vehicle ever produced by the U.S. armed forces and was essentially an attempt to reduce the enormous inventory parts problems then associated with logistical support as well as come up with something that had all the best features of trucks of the time. It was produced by some fifteen firms to rigid specifications and served overseas starting around fall of 1918, so they were in service for little over a month before the end of the war. A large number of these were sold off to private companies and some served with postwar armies around Europe. All told almost 10,000 were produced – a prodigious number of one vehicle for those times.

Book Author(s)
Matthew Willis
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Tempest Books
MSRP
$19.99

Historical Background

Nearly every historical modeler and historian is thoroughly familiar with the British Spitfire fighter, which probably did more to help the Royal Air Force achieve victory over the Luftwaffe than any other aircraft. However, less publicized is the role of the Spitfire as a naval, carrier-based fighter, replacing older types including the Gloster Gladiator biplane, Fairey Fulmar two seat fighter, and Sea Hurricane, which were in Royal Navy service at the beginning of the war.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
MSRP
$32.00

Contents Description

The resin/photo etch upgrade set comes packaged in the typical Aires blister pack fixed to a heavy stock paper backer, with industrial strength staples holding everything in place. The set includes the cockpit tub with side consoles and integral rear bulkheads for the pilot and back seater positions, two ejection seats, side walls for both positions, front combing with integral instrument panel, rear seat instrument panel, and separate pilot's control column and some smaller parts. Also included is a small PE fret with seat belts, instrument panel faces, rear view mirrors, rudder pedals and other small details. In addition, a small film is provided that includes the various instrument dial faces. This film is part of a sandwich requiring cutting to shape, with placement between the resin and PE panel faces. All of the individual resin parts require the removal from casting blocks before the parts can be fitted in the model.

Book Author(s)
Robert Pied and Nicolas Deboeck
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
HMH Publications
MSRP
$31.00

This is a new publication from Duke Hawkins Books and is the fourth volume in a series of books that have been recently published highlighting modern jets. This series got its start with The Sepecat Jaguar in July 2017 and has now seen twelve books in this series published. There is also a special limited edition on the Belgian Air Force F-16 and on the Juan Carlos I Aircraft Carrier. This series of publications falls under the name of Duke Hawkins, but it is not clear exactly who Duke Hawkins is. If you check out other retail sites on this series, you can find Robert Pied and Nicolas Deboeck listed as authors, but there is not much additional information on them. One of the bylines goes like this:

Book Author(s)
Robert Pied, Nicolas Deboeck
Review Author
James Kelley
Published on
Company
HMH Publications
MSRP
$35.00

Casemate & HMH Publications presents to us another excellent book from their “Duke Hawkins” series, providing a close up of the "Legacy" Hornet in all its versions: A, B, C and D including the ATARS version. Over 400 photos show every side of the famous jet in service with the US Navy, USMC and the Air Forces of Spain, Finland, Canada, Switzerland, Malaysia and more.

The first thing I noticed upon opening the cover is, there aren’t any chapters proper. Rather, the book is divided into “sections”, each notated in the upper right-hand corner of the right page. Sections include: