Review Author
Eric Christianson
Published on
April 13, 2022
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.99

Ukraine-based ICM has enhanced their venerable six-wheeled G4 Staff Car with a couple of post-mounted Type 34 machine guns; a configuration that served to transport high command staff of the Wehrmacht, as well as guards and escorts. Vehicles in this variant were called Partisanenwagen. While the vehicle itself sports the older sprues from previous versions, the machine guns and mounts are new.

Book Author(s)
Nikolay Yakubovich
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
April 13, 2022
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$35.00

Guideline Publications Guideline Publications is the UK's leading publisher of modelling and hobby-related magazines. With a world-class portfolio of titles and an international Social Media presence, Guideline Publications has a dedicated readership that is constantly expanding into new areas.

Nikolay Yakubovich is an aviation engineer and aviation historian in Russia. He has written at least seventeen monographs focusing on Russian aircraft since 2001. These include a Russian hardcover monograph on the Tupolev Tu-16, published on January 1, 2001 all the way to 2019’s Guideline Warpaint 124 on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. Publishers include Wydawnictwo Militaria, Tseyhgauz, Eksmo Yauza, and of course, Guideline.

Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
April 13, 2022
Company
Crafter’s Square Metallic Marker
Scale
n/a
MSRP
$1.33

History

I found this in a local Dollar Tree Store, and thought that it would certainly be useful for any scale modeler. Other similar type stores did not stock the product. It is a small fine point non-toxic felt marker with silver colored ink, and I have found it much more efficient than using a paintbrush to paint fine line on parts of models. It is very efficient in painting the silver rocker arm covers on radial engines in almost any scale, and would also be useful painting cockpit interior details, including structural members and anything else requiring fine silver lines.

Book Author(s)
Slawomir Zajaczkowski
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
April 13, 2022
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

The Topdrawings series specializes in line-drawings of a given subject in each booklet. The 120th installment in this series is devoted to the always popular Armored Personnel Carrier Half-Track. This booklet covers the M3/M5/M9 versions of the half-track which were manufactured by International Harvester Company.

This booklet has 5-View line drawings for the M3A1, M3A2, M5, M5A1, M5A2, M9A1 in 1/35, 1/48 and 1/72 scale plus color profiles of M5, M9, M9A1 in French, Polish and American Service during World War II.

The booklet also includes a brief description on the overall history of the AFV. Sadly, not all line drawings have an explanation as to what was modified from the previous block series. By my personal inspection of the drawings the main differences are around the fenders and the back of the crew compartment (rounded edges instead of square ones). There might be other differences I have not noticed.

Book Author(s)
Dan Hagedorn
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
April 17, 2022
Company
Key Publishing Ltd
MSRP
$24.95

Everyone has heard of the AVG also know as the Flying Tigers and their exploits in WWII, but did you know that there was another AVG that served in Colombia in 1932? This book is their story.

In the early 1930s there was a border skirmish between Colombia and Peru when the latter invaded a very remote section of Columbia. So remote in fact that it was only accessible by floatplane or boats and thus there was a delay in the Colombian government finding out the Peru had invaded. Due to the remoteness of this area airpower was going to be the primary force to contest Peru.

Colombia’s air force was largely under the control of the German Airline that operated in the nation as little had been done by Germany to train locals in and on the aircraft. Also, the aircraft in use were largely of German manufacture which helped Germany maintain this control.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
April 17, 2022
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
Scale
NA
MSRP
$16.44

The AMMO by Mig company is prolific in the endless useful and specific sets of paints, washes, and pigments they release. Their range of acrylic paints are designed to make painting a breeze thanks to the ease of application, with the 17mL dropper bottles. All colors in the range can be mixed with each other and with the full range of AMMO by Mig Jimenez acrylic colors. Each color is suitable for both brush and airbrush application. These acrylics are water-soluble and formulated to be safe and non-toxic. If airbrushing, I would suggest thinning first as the paints are thick out of the bottle which make them great for brush painting.

Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
April 19, 2022
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72 and 1/144
MSRP
$18.43

The Clarkat Type B was a flight deck tractor used by the Royal Navy on its carrier fleet from 1942 until the mid-1950s. They were first seen on HMS Illustrious following her repair and refit in the USA in 1941-2 and served right through the Korean War. It was developed from an existing commercial tractor and was also used by the USAAF in the UK, so the possible uses for this kit go beyond an RN flight deck diorama.

Brengun has been releasing its aircraft-related accessories in a variety of media for some years now; they released a 1/48 resin kit of this type a couple of years ago, so it was natural for them to release it in smaller scales. Both kits come in their standard mid-grey resin with a small PE fret that includes the various small controls and instrument panel/dashboard. Each kit also offers a small decal sheet, containing two schemes and marking options, for a tractor based on HMS Victorious in 1944 and the other on HMS XXX in 1948.

Book Author(s)
Clive J. M. Ellis
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
April 19, 2022
Company
Key Publishing Ltd
MSRP
$24.95

The emergence of colorized photos has been controversial amongst historians and certainly modelers. The practice has come a long way and as the technology gets more advanced even better results will prove difficult for people to tell the difference.

The latest book from Key Books embraces the colorization process and I have to say the results are pretty good. Set in the Battle of Britain starting in July 1940 through the end of October, this paperback book brings to life the black and white photos from that era. Colorization was done by Ghermán Mihály, with the help of author Clive J. M. Ellis to ensure the colors were as accurate as possible based off of current color research. This colorization really gives you a feel for the actual events. A word of caution, this technology is only as good as the artist. Different interpretations of colors are possible, but it looks like Ghermán got it correct.

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
April 21, 2022
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$65.00

I found this interesting and decided to share...

From Wikipedia: “The Katyusha multiple rocket launcher is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in WWII. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area more intensively than conventional artillery, but with lower accuracy and requiring a longer time to reload.

They are fragile compared to artillery guns, but are cheap, easy to produce, and usable on any chassis[ A Chevrolet 7107 truck, for instance]. The Katyushas of World War II, the first self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Soviet Union,were usually mounted on ordinary trucks. This mobility gave the Katyusha, and other self-propelled artillery, another advantage: being able to deliver a large blow all at once, and then move before being located and attacked with counter-battery fire. Katyusha weapons of World War II included the BM-13 launcher, light BM-8, and heavy BM-31.

Book Author(s)
Ian Baxter
Review Author
James Kelley
Published on
April 23, 2022
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$22.95

Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, was arguably the pivotal moment of the Second World War. Initially the onslaught was staggeringly successful with, as the superb contemporary images in this book show, Waffen-SS armored divisions leading the charge. But the Nazis had underestimated the Russians’ determination to defend their homeland and the logistical problems compounded by the extreme winter weather conditions.