Green Stuff World (GSW) is a company based out of Spain. It is specialized in the design and production of tools, paints, and other types of resources for modeling, crafts, and wargames. GSW has provided IPMS-USA one (1) 250 ml bottle of textured acrylic paint for review.

In the Bottle

The textured paint is packaged in a 250 ml bottle and comes in a very dark brown color to represent Volcanic Earth tones. Inside the paint has a consistency of thick paste with small granules mixed in to give it texture. It is water based and can be thinned if needed.

Helion is a UK-based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published over 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year, for readers around the world.

Juan Arráez Cerdá is a Spanish Aviation expert and owner of one of the best pictures’ collections of Spanish Aviation. He is the author of many books and articles about Aviation (in French and Spanish).

History

Over the years, much interest has been generated in the conflict between the Japanese, Chinese, and Russians begun by Japanese aggression in the area of northeastern China. By 1939, Japanese and Chinese air forces were actively engaged in a struggle for aerial superiority. While the Chinese had no aircraft industry to speak of, the Japanese were producing airplanes that compared favorably with those of the Americans and Europeans. The Japanese Army, for example, were producing airplanes which were extremely maneuverable, mainly because they were lightly constructed, had minimal armament, and had no armor protection. An example of this design philosophy was the Nakajima Ki-27, code named “Nate” by the Allies, which had a 780 HP Nakajima He-1b radial engine, and two light .30 cal machine guns mounted in the fuselage. The prototype first flew in 1936, and production models were operational by 1938.

This set of decals was released by Iliad Designs in 2021 and includes the following markings for some unusual DHC-6 Twin Otters.

Markings for the De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and the DHC-6-300 Twin Otter in these liveries

• Ecuadorian Air Force
• Transport Canada
• Alaska Army National Guard
• Guatemalan Air Force
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• French Air Force

The decals are in excellent register and show very accurate color for these unusual aircraft. Iliad Designs has always been a leader in the aftermarket decal sphere and this great set won’t disappoint.

Thanks go to Iliad Designs for providing this set and to IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them.

Having just reviewed the previous book in the Casemate Illustrated Series (No. 37 – The German Infantryman on the Eastern Front), I expected this book to follow the same format. While the outline of the book and its chapters are the same, the content differs vastly, and in a good way, especially for modelers. This book has a lot more focus on the Soviet Infantryman through re-enactor photographs focusing on uniforms and weapons, and more personal Soviet infantrymen accounts.

From the book’s conclusion,

The Western view of the Soviet infantryman and Red Army is colored by the Cold War. As the Soviet Union moved from valued ally to likely adversary, the Eastern Front battles were dissected by the German generals who had fought them. They pushed their own agendas and tended to undervalue their opponents, blaming the German defeat on hordes, poor strategy from the top, and almost anything other than the prowess of the Red Army.