Historical Background

Most of the information published on the subject of World War I aviation deals with the development of single seat fighter types, and it is refreshing to see a book dealing exclusively with the less publicized two seaters. At the beginning of the war, airplanes were seen primarily as a means of observing the enemy to see what they were doing, or were capable of doing, and for spotting the results of artillery fire.

This is a review of the NuNU Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo ’82 Rally of 1000 Lakes race car by Platz Hobby.

Engine

Disappointed that there’s no engine. It is curbside kit.

Interior

Interior is wonderfully engraved and fits extremely well. Very little, if any, flash needed to be cleaned up. Did not even have to paint some of the parts.

Body

Body was crisp and clean with no flash. I used HOK snow white pearl on the body, applied decals, and then sprayed 1 coat of clear to protect the decals. While the instruction sheet for the decals was available, I found them to be lacking in sufficient detail to apply correctly, especially on the door posts.

Chassis

The suspension parts are separate from the chassis pan as is the exhaust system. Some of the parts are pretty small and care must be taken when working with them.

For figure builders, or anyone who builds models that might have some leather (seat covers and the like), one of the latest releases from Ammo by Mig is a six-piece leather color range set. The colors vary from dark brown to rust ochre and should satisfy all your brown leather painting needs. The paints all have a stainless-steel mixing ball already contained in the bottles to aid in mixing, and the colors can be mixed to provide the base color, shadows, highlights, and even scratches and tears. I would highly recommend this set to any modeler looking to add some brown leather to their builds.

This book is as single-minded as one can be. Don’t look for a title page, a table of contents, an index, or any text for that matter. They are not to be found. It is an 8-1/4” x 11-3/4” glossy paperback with 24 pages of nothing but information and pictures of the -G model Starfighter as flown by non-US licensees, i.e., the “Single” subject..

The publisher’s catalog (Mushroom Model Publications) states this book is “a compilation of 4-view color profiles, scale plans and photographic details of the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, featuring scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals and also photographs of the details in black and white and color.”

Note that the scale plans of the F-104G are only in 1/72 scale. It’s the weaponry and external stores, such as Sidewinder missiles and fuel tanks, that are shown in 1/48 scale. Six of the 24 pages are in color.

MMP Books continues its series of “Colours of…” Eastern European Air Forces. This time the Yugoslav Air Force before and up to World War 2. The second volume covers the period mainly the mid-1930’s until April 1941. Volume 1 has been reviewed previously.

In particular this book covers the following airframes