Reviews

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Stratus
MSRP
$52.00

The author, Wikold Koszela, has written 25+ books on warships – mostly British, United States and German battleships/cruisers, and modern Polish and Soviet Navy warships. Twelve of his publications are in the Kagero Top Drawing series. For this and other books, Witold also supplied the line and color drawings, and they are top quality and very helpful for modelers. I could not find additional information on Witold.

What You Get

You get a hardbound book, 11.875 X 8.5 inches (A4 size), 136 pages – not counting the covers and blank pages fore and aft. Unlike the 1st Volume, there is no 3-D photos or glasses. Cruisers of the Third Reich Volume 2 is loaded with 141 B&W photographs, nine tables and 24 line drawings. The last two pages of the book have four color plates, showing starboard and overhead profiles of Nurnberg, Admiral Hipper, Blucher and Prinz Eugen. After one Title and Table of Contents page, the book is arranged by ships:

Review Author
Joe Staudt
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$47.00

While most Americans might believe otherwise, the first production automobile was built in Germany in 1886 by Karl Benz (of Mercedes Benz fame). The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was built in very small numbers between 1886 and 1893. ICM first released a kit of this vehicle in 2020, with photo-etch parts for the wheels and and drive chains. This year they released an “easy” version of the kit that replaces the photo-etch parts with plastic versions at a significantly lower cost.

The kit comes in ICM’s sturdy thick cardboard box and consists of several sprues of parts in a soft gray plastic. The softness of the plastic is good, because it means that the many small, delicate parts tend to bend rather than break.

The parts had almost no flash and very few mold lines. This is fortunate, because filing or trimming off excess plastic is almost impossible on many of the parts due to their small size and fragile nature.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Barracuda Studios
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$21.95

Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 A-4 “kahu” Upgrade for your Trumpeter A-4 to turn it into a New Zealand bird.

Anyone who has been around the modeling community for a while should be familiar with Roy and his company. Well researched and flawlessly executed resin, decals, and other items for (Is it 20 years?)… This set is no exception.

3D printing has arrived at the house of the ‘cuda fish. I have this upgrade in hand and an impressive little bit of upgrade this is. I am no KAHU expert, but have seen the retired birds at work at Nellis AFB (until recently, some kind of contract change). The Kiwi markings are gone, but the overall paint scheme remained.

This set is designed to upgrade your Trumpeter A-4 to a KAHU. The instructions (which you download from Roy’s website) give full instructions on how to remove everything from the printing trestles, and how to use the remaining parts.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Barracuda Studios
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.98

Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 Exhaust and intake set for your Trumpeter A-4.

Consisting of four printed resin items, this one is truly necessary for tightening up a neglected area of many models.

The exhaust turbine section has the four support blades and centerline flow bullet molded as one piece. Easy to paint on this non-afterburning engine. And for those who like to look up the chute in every orfice in a model competition, this item will take care of the look.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Barracuda Studios
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$24.95

From Barracudacast’s website:

“The Aero 1D 300 gallon tanks were widely used, and were carried in this configuration by all variants of the Skyhawk as well as the F4D Skyray. This set consists of a pair of highly accurate and detailed 3D printed droptanks, complete with separate shackles for mounting to pylons. Drop tanks are printed hollow, so they will not weigh down an already large and heavy model. These tanks replace the inaccurate and less detailed tanks found in most 1/32 kits.”

Released to accompany the “KAHU” conversion, it is also valid with the standard A-4. Comprised of four parts for each tank and a set of six mounting brackets (Spares included, heck yes I tested it out)

This took me all of 20 minutes to finish the review set. CAREFULLY remove the parts from their stanchions, lightly sand, and CAREFULLY superglue with slow setting stuff.

Book Author(s)
Massimiliano Afiero
Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$28.95

The book is part of Casemate Illustrated Men/Battles/Weapons Series. This book is Volume One of the 12th SS Panzer Division history. The book covers the formation of the unit through the fourth Battle of Caen encompassing the events between February 10, 1943 and July 7, 1944, at which time they became part of the German forces trap in the Falaise Pocket. The book is divided into seven sections and an epilogue. It also contains a bibliography and index. The sections are as follow:

Book Author(s)
Mark Forsdike
Review Author
Paul Bradley
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$34.95

From 1948 through the 1950s British and Commonwealth forces fought a ruthless communist insurgency on the Malay peninsula. Thanks to sound generalship and the dedication and resilience of the officers and men, the security forces eventually broke the terrorists' resolve.

This book charts the service of one particular unit, the 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment, throughout their tour of duty between 1949 to 1953, the most critical years in The Emergency. The book describes in text and photos how the Battalion – which was mostly made up of National Servicemen conscripts – was able to operate in the oppressive climate and jungle conditions of the Malay Peninsula. Its success was built on good leadership and those most elusive of factors, good morale and camaraderie.

Book Author(s)
Tom Cooper
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Author Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian. What makes him qualified to author a book on a very non-linear and confusing chapter of history is the vast network of contacts he garnered throughout his time in the Middle East and Africa. He has authored/co-authored about 60 books, over 1,000 articles, and is the Helion Series Editor for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Technology at War. When someone with Tom’s credentials writes a book about a topic that you’re interested in reading, you pick up the book and prepare to be educated.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$18.95

This is the SAC gear is made with the brand-new Modelsvit P-51H. This was the last in the Mustang line, and essentially was a totally different aircraft; in outward appearance the lineage was there, but new wings, fuselage, cowling, combined with sub-parts of the previous P-51D tooling, led to a faster aircraft, with a bit more performance. Unfortunately for it, the Jet age had arrived, and as the jets arrived, the majority of users being U.S. Air National Guard units. And no, you can’t turn a D into a H. (well, if someone wants to try, go ahead, new wings, prop, fuselage, cowling, canopy… landing gear, wheel well… I guess you could use a stabilizer and fin/rudder, with an extended bit for the latter).

As the previously reviewed F-82, This is a kit not for the faint hearted, and in the end the final product has proven to be worthy of display next to the rest of the High-tech models of the P-51 to grace our building benches.

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas
Review Author
James Kelley
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$25.00

This book from the series “Inside” shows detailed drawings of the German aircraft instrument panels in great detail.

Instrument panels of the following aircraft:

  • Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4
  • Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4
  • Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6
  • Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-12
  • Messerschmitt Me 262 A
  • Heinkel He 111 P-1
  • Henschel Hs 126 B
  • Dornier Do 17 Z
  • Fieseler Fi 156
  • Henschel HS 123
  • Focke Wulf Fw-190 A-3
  • Junkers Ju 87 B-1

One would not initially think that a book named “German Instrument Panels” would be an interesting, dare I say fascinating book, but if you’re a modeling nerd like me, yes it very much is. The author has rendered the IPs of several famous, German WWII aircrafts panels into easily identifiable graphics, each accompanied by a breakdown of every dial, gauge, and switch.