The Rockwell (I have a hard time pretending it is a ‘Boeing’ aircraft…!) B-1B has been an integral part of the USAF’s bomber force since the 1980s and is still a highly capable aircraft, though the arrival of the B-21 in the near future will end its sterling service.

This latest book in the ‘Duke Hawkins’ series brings a complete portrait of the B-1B, covering the type in great detail, both inside and out in over 400 colour photos. There isn’t a detail that is overlooked in this 180-page book; every part of the fuselage, wings, landing gear, vertical and horizontal tails are mixed with spectacular action photographs from aircraft based at Dyess Air Force Base or Ellsworth Air Force Base.

​A large chapter in this book is dedicated to the cockpit of the B-1B, showing every detail of the front and the back cockpit of the 4 crew members.

Green Stuff World is a Spanish company that supplies paints, weathering products, and scenery effects. They are among the newest hobby companies to provide IPMS/USA review samples. As I recently visited their webpage and looked at a few items, including their rotational paint shaker that I placed in my shopping cart, when the opportunity came along to review it, I jumped on it and the wonderful Bill O’Malley had it in the mail quickly.

According to Green Stuff World’s website,

“A rotational paint shaker is an indispensable tool on any workbench because it is highly effective at mixing a variety of different types of paints quickly and consistently, including latex, oil-based, lacquer, and enamel.

UP FRONT thanks to Brengun for sending us this Gem… This kit is a re-release of Brengun’s earlier Dauntless. The A-24 was used by the Army Air Force in several theaters of operation, and pretty well seems to have been as successful in operation there as in Blue water conflict. (Midway anyone?).

Total time in work: 3 hours over a week including paint and decals. NO filler.

The kit has only the box and decals as a difference from previous release. The end-opening box arrived in the usual condition of such items (flattened) but this did not impact the plastic or the remaining contents.

I was a bit more careful on this build than the last iteration. Not using the Micro photoetch aftermarket helped. (Yes, it provides that little extra “detail” but is a bit too much for my hand-eye coordination). I also used “itty bitty” kabuki tape dots from Gundam stuff to mask the wheel on the tires… such cool stuff we have available to help these days.

Introduction

This is a new tooling of the Bf-109 G14 from Zoukei-Mura introduced in 2022. The following comes directly from their website:

The special limited-edition Bf 109 kit featuring the aircraft piloted by Erich Hartmann, the WWII Luftwaffe ace who shot down the largest number of aircraft in the history of air combat, will be available via pre-order only. In addition to the Cartograf printed exclusive decals featuring the famous black tulip, a resin figure of Hartmann himself by Master Box will also be included with each limited-edition kit! From the outbreak of WWII in 1939 to the end of the war in 1945, the Bf 109 gave way to many ace pilots until it finally disappeared into the yonder. Now it will be revived as an SWS kit!

Notek lights were blackout drive lights used by German military vehicles in WWII. They were named after the Munich-based company that produced them, Nova-Technik GmbH.

The unit consisted of a 35-watt bulb under the hooded housing that shined backward against a mirror. The reflected light illuminated the ground ahead of the vehicle from under the helmet-like hood. The Notek light illuminated the road to about 100 to 130 feet ahead of the vehicle in a roughly 80-foot swath and had three settings: dim (invisible from the air above 2,000ft), medium, and full (invisible from the air above 6,400ft).