The Fairey Swordfish needs no introduction, it being one of those classics of aviation that find themselves famous for being available in the right place at the right time. This new book from Morton Books is the second in their Fleet Air Arm Legends series and is written by noted aviation historian Matthew Willis.

Author Willis weaves a tight story of the need and development of the Swordfish in the early 1930’s, the entry into service and the emergency measures taken to ensure that this obsolescent aircraft was made available in the numbers needed by the FAA when it’s replacement – the Albacore – hit development issues.

SAC is an interesting company; started around the year 2010 or so, they continue to provide model landing gear and other stress-handling parts in a world that some would say at the time “has no place for them here”. I differ in this view, one of their first sets was for the Italieri S-3 Viking, and I learned they had released a 1/32 set to replace the Revell JU-88 plastic set that was notorious for breaking off the wheel axle just in moving the model around; I was sold. SAC proves itself resilient where the naysayers are proven wrong (continually, I add) in the value of these vital bits. Others make stronger brass versions, but you will pay dearly for them in my experience, and they are more difficult to install due to being too stiff. I like SAC’s choice of metals.

The Tupolev Tu-2, along with the Petlyakov Pe-2, are arguably two of the most eye-pleasing twin-engine attack aircraft of World War II. In 1/72 scale, the Airfix Pe-2 has been available to modelers since the 60’s. An injection-molded Tu-2 kit in this scale was finally boxed by ICM in the late 90’s.

The “T” is the torpedo-toting version of the venerable attacker, and the sprues containing the torpedoes, pylons and support struts are clean and crisp – comparable I suspect to recent ICM releases. However, the remaining sprues have to be first-mold, and are heavily draped in flash. The plastic is also very soft – similar to new Airfix kits – and the sprues gates are thick and ill-placed, like a Trumpeter kit. My review deadline for this build came and went partially because I spent an inordinate amount of time carefully cleaning parts and removing sprue nibs. Builder be warned.

With a new acrylic formulation and from natural minerals, AMMO's new acrylic formulation of texturing product, Terra Form Premium Concrete, enables you to recreate 'real' concrete. The light grey tone with a variable texture also grants you the ability to create realistic groundwork for your small scenes and dioramas. The texturing product is recommended for scales 1/48th to 1/16th but don't let that be a limiting factor as you move forward with your plans.

The Terra Form concrete comes in a 100ml tub and may be thinned with water and may be combined with other AMMO texture products for custom tints. Clean-up is a breeze as that can be done with the aforementioned water. This along with all of AMMO's texturing products dries completely within 24 hours and may be sanded should you desire a more finished look.

Thanks to Casemate Publishing & IPMSUSA for the review copy!

If you are of a certain age and remember duck and cover under your school desk for nuclear attack drills, under a poster saying “one nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day,” this book will cause stress – rightly so. India is the setting of this Asia@War Series book, describing the oft-ignored entry and burgeoning status of India as a nuclear nation. It describes how India came to love The Bomb. This book is No. 25 of the Asia@War series, and details the nuclear weapons journey of a reluctant India, from 1960s to now.