The Great War Aviation Historical Society is a non-profit UK-based group that publishes the Cross & Cockade International journal four times a year. Issues are available in printed or digital formats. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the “Sopwith Dolphin” monograph, which I reviewed earlier for IPMS/USA. Cross & Cockade International is the sister of the US journal Over the Front.

ICM continues to model the Chernobyl disaster and its side effects, and this is the sixth set in that series.

Backstory

Unlike the previous, more generic versions of various first responders and/or victims, this is a specific set dealing with a very specific set of men. Here’s the story:

In 1986, the Number 4 reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine exploded, heralding one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. More than 500,000 personnel were mobilized to contain the disaster. The total cost of the effort exceeded roughly $68 billion dollars overall. Completion of the cleanup will still not be complete until around 2065 and with the current war going on, is likely to take much longer than that.

The Model T Ford was one of the most produced vehicles of the pre-WWI and WWI eras. The basic frame was highly adaptable to numerous roles. One of the more important roles was that of ambulances, especially for the war effort. 4,362 Model T ambulances were shipped to Europe, with most serving in France.

This model, in 1/35th scale, is manufactured by ICM and contains 88 parts total, with 9 crystal-clear parts. The parts are crisply molded as well, and I was surprised that the wheels and spokes didn’t have any flash, and the mold lines are straight down the middle of the tires. A word of caution: There are quite a few tiny parts in this kit that can easily be eaten by the notorious Carpet Monster!

Just as when one thinks of American bombers the iconic B-52 comes to mind, when thinking of Russian bombers, the same can be said for the Tu-95 Bear. The Allies had done much to prove the success of and need for long range strategic bombers in their defeat of the Nazis and Japan. The Russians (then Soviets) like many countries, had not developed much in the way of long-range bombers prior to and during WWII. The success of the British and American long-range bombers during the war would change that for the Russians.

With a few American B-29s making emergency landings in Russia during operations against Japan, the Soviets were given an engineering opportunity to not only study the B-29 but per Stalin’s direction to completely reverse engineer it to become the Tupelov Tu-4.

This is another paint set by the prolific Ammo by MiG concern out of Spain. I’m sure many of you already use these acrylic paints and so are familiar with their ease of use with both brush and airbrush. The featured colours in this set come in the familiar yellow-capped 17ml dropper bottles and includes colours needed for many of your favorite RAF bombers flown during World War II.