Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
January 25, 2021
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$12.99

I can’t count the number of times I’ve read of someone complaining about the props or spinner on a later 1/32nd scale Messerschmitt. Apparently, these specific parts are particularly hard to reproduce in styrene accurately (or so I’ve been led to believe).

Enter Quickboost to the rescue with a beautifully cast spinner and props for the F-4 version of this classic aircraft. This one comfortably fits either the Revell or the Hasegawa rendition of this aircraft and may even prove a good fit for the Twentieth Century Toys replica.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
January 25, 2021
Company
Mission Models
MSRP
$5.75

This review looks at Mission Model Paints Farm Tractor Yellow (MMP-126), Hiway Yellow 1930/1990 Heavy Equipment (MMP-041), New Construction Yellow 1990 to Present (MMP-125), and Concrete 1 (MMP-127). This is a comparison of the paint colors to actual vehicles or materials. Check out my earlier review on the use and performance of MMP Paints.

Mission Models Paints are non-solvent base organic acrylics that produce a flat finish.

Construction Equipment Colors

MMP has released three yellow colors for construction equipment:

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas, Zbigniew Kolacha
Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
January 25, 2021
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.99

Like many of us modelers, I simply never get tired of anything related to the iconic P-51 Mustang. In this volume of the MMP “Single” series, the authors focus on the Bravo model of the Mustang.

Having never seen an example of this book series, I was a bit surprised at first glance. Unlike other publications that cover the development of the type, this book launches right into the content modelers like to see. The book opens with four-view scale drawings in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Several pages of B&W wartime photos show the type in various roles. Next, are a series of drawings and photos taken from technical and pilot manuals showing the details of things we modelers like to see including engine, landing gear wells, gun bays, and cockpit. This volume closes with color plates of the instrument panel and three view renderings of “Sonava Buggar, a P-51B of the 355th Fighter Squadron.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
January 25, 2021
Company
Hauler Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$8.84

Brengun Models is a scale model and detailing parts manufacturer located in the Czech Republic. Their lines include limited production run multi-media kits and exquisitely detailed photoetch, turned brass, and white metal replacement parts for aircraft in the most commonly produced scales.

Brengun has produced a set of wheels with a cross tread patterns for any 1/72 scale F4U Corsair. There are no instructions, and any modeler familiar with resin parts will have no issues installing these wheels in lieu of the kit parts. A close-up evaluation of the parts (see photos), indicates a simple cut and replace installation that provides realistic scale-detailed wheels with significantly improved appearance to molded plastic kit parts.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
January 25, 2021
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$11.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Academy 1/72 scale F/A-18 E/F/G Super Hornet kit. The white metal replacements are a clean drop-in for the kit plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts, and one nose gear strut with a separate oleo scissor and retraction struts. Some other SAC packages include replacement wheels, as well, but not the case here. You will need to use the Academy or other after-market wheels for your build.

A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical replacement that should provide a greater strength assembly with a significantly improved weight capacity and abuse tolerance. In some cases where original equipment was left in a natural metal finish, painting may not be necessary. As always, check your reference photos

Highly recommended.

Thanks to the IPMS Reviewer Corps and Scale Aircraft Conversions for the opportunity to review this item.

Book Author(s)
Bojan Dimitrijevic and Milan Micevski
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
January 26, 2021
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Helion is a UK based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year, for readers around the world. Helion’s sixth book in the Europe @ War series is a square back soft cover includes 80 gloss paper pages. This has become a popular series and more books in the Europe @ War series are planned for 2021.

Book Author(s)
Paul Villatoux, Xavier Aiolfi
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
January 26, 2021
Company
Casemate UK
MSRP
$37.95

This book vividly describes life in Hitler’s Führerbunker below the German Reich’s Chancelleries as the Soviet Red Army closes in on Berlin at the end of WWII. Two French officers secretly entered the bunkers in November 1945 and gathered hundreds of documents that describe the living conditions and actions of the bunker’s inhabitants at the end of WWII. These documents form the basis for this book.

Führerbunker is divided into chapters that chronologically describe the last few months of Germany’s Reich at the end of WWII. Each chapter contains written text, sidebar narratives with first-person accounts, B&W and color photos with descriptive captions, photos of historical documents, and color illustrations. The chapters are:

Prologue: Berlin 1945

The opening chapter describes the chaos and devastation following the bloody assault on Berlin by the Red Army.

Book Author(s)
Dr. Dewald Venter
Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
January 27, 2021
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

From the publisher’s website:

During the Cold War, Africa became a prime location for proxy wars between the East and the West. Against the backdrop of a steep rise in liberation movements backed by Eastern Bloc communist countries such as Cuba and the Soviet Union, southern Africa saw one of the most intense wars ever fought on the continent...

South African Armour: A history of necessity and innovation, takes an in-depth look at 13 iconic South African armoured vehicles. The development of each vehicle is rolled out in the form of a breakdown of their main features, layout and design, equipment, capabilities, variants and service experiences. Illustrated by over 100 photographs and more than two dozen custom-drawn colour profiles, this volume provides an exclusive and indispensable source of reference.

Book Author(s)
Robert Jackson and Lynn Ritger
Review Author
James Kelley
Published on
January 27, 2021
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$26.95

Robert Jackson is the author of over eighty books on military, aviation, naval and scientific subjects. He was defense and science correspondent for a major British newspaper publishing group. Among the other books he has compiled for Pen & Sword are Bf-109 in the FlightCraft series and for TankCraft he has written extensively on the T-34, the Panzer I and II, the Centurion and Chieftain Main Battle Tanks as well as the Russian T54/55. 200 color and b/w illustrations