Reviews

Book Author(s)
Neil Grant
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

I recently started to learn how to do German Longsword training, so this book was perfectly timed for me.

In common with the Osprey Weapons series of books, this paperback book consists of 80 pages with colorful illustrations throughout.

Swords have always fascinated me, whether it was Excalibur or Light Sabers, the thrill of sword play has spanned the history of modern man. The Longsword came into fashion in the 1300s until the 1500s as weapons and until the 1700s as sporting weapons. The study of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) has really taken off in the last few decades. This book is a great introduction of the longsword both as a weapon and a tactical, economic, and social artifact.

Review Author
Keith Gervasi
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$99.99

History

The Dornier Do 217 was a German multi-purpose bomber in WWII and was developed as a replacement for the Dornier Do 17. It was produced from November 1940 to May 1944. The Dornier 217J was the night fighter variant with BMW 801 engines, powerful armament and radar (on the J-2). In total, in 1942-43, there were produced 364 Do 217 night fighter of different modifications. They were in service with several night fighter regiments.

The Kit

Upon opening a large & sturdy box you are presented with a whole lot of plastic! 8 runners & 3 main wing pieces of grey injected plastic and 1 clear runner and a 24-page instruction book and a very nice decal sheet. The plastic cleanly molded with very little flash and crisp detail and the clear parts are thin and very clear. Also, the decals are cleanly printed and in register. Don’t be alarmed at the number of parts as 92 of these are only used for the Do 217N kit.

Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/8
MSRP
$29.99

If you are looking for something a little different for your next build, want to have some fun, and even possibly remember your youth a bit, the folks at Round2 have released the kit for you! This Schwinn Continental 10-Speed is part of the MPC line of kits and follows their previous release of the Schwinn “Classic Krate” bikes. This was a quick build with no construction issues, and I would highly recommend it for modelers of all skill levels.

First released in 1960 for an astonishing $86.95, the Schwinn 10-speed was produced for 22 years and was the American standard for this style of bike for many of those years. While the steel frame is now incredibly heavy when compared to the materials used today, for a generation, these were the gold standard. Available in an assortment of sizes and colors, the bikes remain collectors’ items even today.

Book Author(s)
Mike Davis-Managing Editor
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Cross & Cockade International
MSRP
$38.00

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$75.00

From Military-Today: “The Ural-4320 military truck is a further development of the previous Ural-375D. Its development started in 1972. Changes from the previous model include new engine, enlarged bonnet plus revised fuel, cooling, and electrical systems were introduced at the same time along with many other detail modifications. Its production commenced in 1976. The Ural-4320 took many of the roles previously carried by the Ural-375D. Production of the Ural-4320 still continues. This truck is in service with the Russian military as well as many other countries.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$78.90

Refer to Part One for the assembly review.

Review Note and Comments

I decided to make this a two-part due to the number of images and extensive text required to document the basic assembly phase. Although the assembly was a bit of a challenge for this model, the semi-finished model revealed a lot of nice surface detail that was appealing to me. This detail had some merit for an effort on my part to achieve a proper paint job and weathering application. If those efforts resulted in a nice-looking model the challenges faced during the assembly would make the effort worth-while.

Let's see what happens.

Book Author(s)
Ognjan Petrovic, Djordje Nikolic
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$29.95

History

After World War I, the map of Eastern Europe was radically changed, with a number of ethnic groups becoming independent for the first time. One country, Serbia, eventually became part of the Republic of Yugoslavia, which joined the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes into one country. This, of course, forced considerable reorganization of their armed forces. Of course, Serbia has virtually no aircraft manufacturing industry, so the Yugoslavs were compelled to acquire airplanes of foreign manufacture, mainly those built in Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, and England. German and Austrian aircraft were usually acquired as reparations due to the Treaty of Versailles, while the British, French, and Italian types were purchased directly. World War I vintage types were used throughout the twenties, but newer types were acquired in the thirties.

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas & Karolina Holda
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.50

These little single books by MMP Books are quite interesting. They focus on a single subject that is covered very well. The only text is the captions which are written in English. They do an adequate job.

These books are designed with the modeler in mind. As such they have scale drawings in 1/72nd and 1/48th scale. I couldn’t find fault with these. They look very accurate to me. After the drawings there are some historical photos and pictures from the parts manual of the aircraft. Intertwined with those photos are plenty of detail photos that should satisfy most modelers. The detail photos are of the F-4 in the Canadian Museum. There are four color pages and one aircraft of Hermann Graf is presented in a three view profile.

Overall these books are very concise and to the point. They are perfect for a modeler who is on a budget but needs the information. At a little over $11.00 they are a bargain.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.78

Thank you to Phil and to Bill for all the work that you do!

First Impression

This ICM offering is a bundle of two of previous releases: the T-34-85 Soviet Medium Tank kit No. 35367 issued March, 2018 and the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.B. King Tiger with Henschel Turret kit No. 35363 released July, 2016. The kits are separately packaged. The King Tiger has eight light-gray crisply molded sprues and a set of vinyl tracks. The T-34-85 consists of five dark-green sprues, one clear sprue, a set of vinyl tracks and individually packaged body halves. Two decal sheets are provided. The King Tiger versions are: PzKpfw.IV Ausf.B s.Pz.Abt. Feldhernhalle, Hungary, March 1945; PzKpfw.IV Ausf.B s.Pz.Abt.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
David Doyle Books
MSRP
$19.99

David Doyle's book on the B-29/B-50 Superfortress is one of the latest entries in the 'Legends of Warfare' series with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The is Volume 2 that follows David Doyle’s earlier work, B-29 Superfortress, Vol. 1: Boeing XB-29 through B-29B in World War II, that was released on April 20, 2020. The Legends of Warfare series has expanded rapidly since its 2017 debut in the market with now over 50 titles released. This hard cover series covers a wide variety of monographs at a good price point.