Overview

In this highly-illustrated second volume of his history of US Naval Aviation, Leo Marriott takes the reader through the extraordinary developments in design and capability that transformed American aircraft and aircraft carriers after the Second World War. He describes the succession of conflicts in which they were deployed. Increasingly advanced jets replaced propeller-driven aircraft, and nuclear-powered carriers allowed the US Navy to project American military power across the world. As the many remarkable photographs in this book show, wherever naval aviation was involved, it played a crucial role, especially in the Korea and Vietnam wars.

This sheet from Twobobs provides markings for three F-16s. The first two depict special markings applied for the 70th and 75th anniversaries of supersonic flight. The third subject is the colorful Blue, White, and Orange NF-16D Vista.

The decal sheet is printed by Cartograf and packaged in Twobob’s typical 6x9 inch bag. The primary sheet has the main markings and stencils. The second smaller sheet has walkway lines and IFR receptacle decals sized for the Kinetic kit. There are enough walkway lines for one model.

The main sheet includes markings for and stencils for all three subjects. The colors and artwork look dead-on accurate compared to the reference photos I found of these aircraft.

The instruction sheet provides four views for each subject, a paint diagram, and notes on the specifics of each airframe.

Anyone familiar with my modeling work is aware of my aversion to water-based paints. When acrylic paints first came on the market, I tested several types and found them indifferently opaque and tending to extreme fragility. As a commercial figure painter, I simply didn’t trust them to stand up to the rigors of customer handling.

The Kit

Once again, ICM has come out with another excellent diorama set. The 8 cm Grantawerfer 34 was the standard infantry mortar throughout World War II and was noted for its accuracy and rapid rate of fire.

Inside the box you will find three gray sprues sealed in plastic. Tree A contains finely molded figure parts. Sprue W1 contains weapons and gear. The third sprue is identifiable only with numbered parts for the grenade launcher, rifles, ammo boxes, etc. The parts are all flash free and are very nicely detailed.

A double-sided glossy assembly guide is provided. Color callouts are easy to spot – red capital letters inside of red boxes -- and they correspond to Revell and Tamiya paints. In addition to color callouts, weapon and gear placements are indicated. The full color figure illustrations only show one view, i.e., right-side view, front view, etc. You will need to do research on your own to get gear placement truly accurate.

This book presents 104 color profiles of 8th Air Force P-47 B, C and D razorbacks. Profiles contain aircraft of the 4th, 56th, 78th, 352nd. 353rd, 355th, 359th, 361st, 495th fighter groups and 5th Rescue squadron are all within these pages. All are beautifully reproduced in color with many great schemes to be modeled. This is a great companion for building the new Dora Wings P-47B/C kit that has been just released.

Each profile caption contains a brief description of the colors and markings used on the aircraft as well as a brief history of actions and each airframe’s ultimate fate.

This is a fantastic color profile book that is worthy of the reference collection of any P-47, 8th AF or WWII aviation fan or modeler. Highly recommended to all!

Our thanks to Casemate Publishing for the review copy and my thanks to IPMS/USA for the review opportunity