Reviews

Review Author
John Noack
Published on
Company
UMM-USA
MSRP
$6.95

If you read my review of UMM’s 0.8mm Beveled Tip Chisel, you’ll have a general idea of the quality of these fine tools. That being said, UMM offers a wide variety of chisel shapes – 14 different tip shapes and sizes by my latest count. UMM 35 is a 2.5mm (0.10 inch) chisel blade affixed to a high quality plastic handle. The tip on this tool is elliptical, and while it will perform a wide variety of tasks (ejector pin removal, opening intakes, etc.) one unique use for the tool is for figure modelers to create or emphasize clothing folds. My figures are cartoonish and I’ll probably never get to that point but the tool is perfectly sized and shaped for my purposes.

Our thanks go out again to UMM-USA and John Vojtech for his generous support to the review team here.

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$9.60

I was intrigued by this model offered by Brengun that would be a great piece to add with your Japanese ground-based aircraft display base. My hopes are that I will eventually have an opportunity to try the 1/48 scale version of this accessory.

Typical with Brengun’s other releases, they provide the end user with some extremely nicely cast parts molded in a darkish grey resin. If there were any imperfections, they were not noticeable to my eye. I found the parts delicate buy not fragile. The resin was reasonably pliable making removal from the pour stubs easily achievable with a little patience. I can’t overstress to double, triple, and quadruple check the instructions before removing the parts. I had a small oops where I removed and discarded a small portion of the support frame. Thankfully I was able to recover my error with a scratch-built pump mount.

Review Author
Tom Choy
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$15.00

Between April to October of 2018, several F-15Es from the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (the "Panthers") deployed to an undisclosed location in the Middle East to support Coalition Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, tasked with striking Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. While deployed, the Panthers completed nearly 2,000 missions, over 10,000 flying hours, employing more than 500 precision-guided munitions in support of US Central Command operations. On their return to Lakenheath at the end of the deployment, the aircraft were seen sporting some very striking nose art and mission markings.

Since 2001, TwoBobs decals has built up a reputation for high-quality, well-researched and detailed decal sheets with a focus on modern US aircraft. This decal sheet focuses on some of the more prominent Panthers from the OIR deployment.

The airframes on this sheet are:

Review Author
Jim Stratton
Published on
Company
Fundekals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.00

Opening the package of decals you will find two large sheets of beautifully printed markings for no less than nine Corsairs These aircraft include mostly F4U-1A’s with markings for two F4U-1D’s and one late war FG-1D. There is no instruction booklet included in the package. However going to the Fundekals website you can download the instruction booklet as a PDF file. I call this an instruction booklet as it is comprised of 24 pages of Color and B&W illustrations and photographs of each of the aircraft covered on the sheet. Also in the booklet are precise instructions pointing out the various differences in each of the covered aircraft. A detailed history of each covered aircraft and its pilot is included. A really nice touch was a page covering the various different antenna arrangements. Covering, as they say, “Some stuff you might not have known”. Another page explains “New research on insignia colors in the Solomons. 1943-1944”.

Book Author(s)
Artur Juszczak and Dariusz Karnas
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.99

This tome is the second in this new series, Single. This series format consists of a 4-view colour profile, scale plans, and photo details of a single variant; in this case the PZL P.11c. MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. You won’t find an introduction or background summary, as this series dives straight into the drawings, illustrations, and photographs.

Artur Juszczak has illustrated over forty books for MMP. Some of these titles include the following: Boulton Paul Defiant (MMP Yellow 6117); Hurricane Ace Josef František: The True Story (MMP Blue 9); Henschel Hs 123 (MMP Orange 8114); and Fighters over France and Low Countries (MMP Red 4).

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$11.60

I have to say I was intrigued by this model offered by Brengun that would a great piece to add with your Japanese ground-based aircraft display base. My hopes are that I will eventually have an opportunity to try the 1/48 scale version of this accessory. J

Typical with Brengun’s other releases they provide the end user with some extremely nicely cast parts molded in a darkish grey resin. If there were any imperfections, they were not noticeable to my eye. I found the parts delicate buy not fragile. The resin was reasonably pliable making removal from the pour stubs easily achievable with a little patience. I can’t overstress to double; triple and quadruple check the instructions before removing the parts. My extinguisher nozzle assembly runs a bit shorter than it should L

Book Author(s)
Tony Buttler
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

History

There were numerous experiments involving jet propulsion for aircraft just prior to the outbreak of World War II, with Germany, Britain, and Italy leading the way. The United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan were somewhat late in starting, but by the end of the war, only the Russians and the Japanese had failed to fly a jet powered prototype, and Germany, Britain, and the United States had begun to produce actual jet fighters, with Germany and Britain in the lead.

This text, the second in the series by Osprey, covers the Gloster, Heinkel, and Caproni prototypes. Osprey’s previous book, X-Planes, Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters, covers most of the Luftwaffe developments, although none of these types reached actual production.

Book Author(s)
Robert Forsyth
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

History

Osprey has published a series of books offering comparisons of competing combat aircraft of World Wars I and II, and they offer specific information on how the planes fared against each other in combat. The author brings out the fact that a combat airplane not only has technological factors to consider, but also the skill and training of the pilots as well as the development of tactics suitable for the combat situation. The best airplane flown by an inexperienced pilot might well be at a great disadvantage against a combat veteran flying a less sophisticated type. With this in mind, the author covers the subject in such a way as to give the reader a very good impression of the factors affecting combat between the types.

In addition, the author brings out the fact that these types also fought against other types, but the emphasis is on the major aircraft in question, in this case the Tempest Mk. V and the Focke Wulf FW-190D-9.

Book Author(s)
Andrey Aksenov
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$40.00

The Russian T-54 and T-55 are without doubt the single most ubiquitous tank designs ever produced, having served in literally every theater of war since their initial design work back in the 1950’s. As such, they deserve a special place in any modern armor enthusiast’s collection. This book helps iron out some of the details for the detail conscious.

I must admit I was somewhat surprised as to the scope of the book when I first cracked the cover. Like most modelers, I’ve always used the terms T-54 and T-55 fairly interchangeably, as externally there are so few differences between the makes. I think I expected this book to treat them in the same manner. Instead, this book runs right into the process of creating the T-55 FROM the T-54 and never looks back.

Book Author(s)
Jean Marie Mongin
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Heimdal
MSRP
$40.00

If you’re a serious figure modeler and have a thing for the incredibly colorful and resplendent uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, this book from the series should get your attention. One of a range of large-format books by this publisher, it’s a virtual cornucopia of detail and information regarding the artillery arm of the French Army from 1786 through 1815, when Napoleon met his own “Waterloo.”