IPMS/USA extends extreme gratitude to Paul and Susy Fisher for sending us this excellent item to upgrade the Hasegawa 1/72 legacy kit B-47 into a combat-ready aircraft with RATO. And thanks to Phil and John, our leaders in the IPMS reviewer corps, for graciously allowing me to review this set…

It’s not every day I look at a resin upgrade and go “I wonder what else I can do with this?” Fisher’s 1/72 B-47 RATO Horse Collar and bottles are one of these items. First, it’s a really simple upgrade. One world-famous Fisher single-piece resin casting that fits on the model without major cursing and sanding, and add-ons that make the final product look really great, in the form of 27 RATO Bottles.

Please note that this product was provided to IPMS directly by Advanced Models. The product is available through “Victory Models”. Also, please note that at the time of writing this review the Victory Models website did not show a page for AMD 148022. There is another product that has decals for the Su-24M, that being item number 148021, which is covered in another revew.

The “Syrian Warriors Pt.1” decal package contains an Information Sheet, a decal sheet, and a set of paint masks. The Information Sheet included in the Decal package is in Russian and English. In some cases, decal sheets produced by companies that are not primarily English speaking can cause the modeler to rely on the images rather than text. That is not the case with A.M. Decals. While the English translation is a little stiff, it is very informative and not at all difficult to understand. English speakers won’t miss a word of explanation and information.

If you are a fan of US Naval aviation in 1/72 scale, you will likely want to add one of the Special Hobby kits of the FH-1 Phantom to your collection as this was the first operational jet used by both the Navy and Marine Corps. Built up, the kit is a great representation of the Phantom, but I would recommend that the modeler have some experience building kits, as there were some fit issues to overcome. Overall, I would still highly recommend this unique representation of the Navy’s first operational jet.

This publication is available in three formats. The hardback version is $43.00, and both the eBook(ePub) version and eBook (PDF) version are $26.00.

“Adobe Digital Editions” is needed to download and view eBooks. This book was first published in Great Britain by Pen and Sword Limited and is distributed in North America by Casemate Publishers.

In his organization of this book, Mr. Michel provides a logical approach to this ‘air campaign.’ The Table of Contents provides for the basic outline:

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Attackers’ Capabilities
• Defenders’ Capabilities
• Campaign Objectives
• The Campaign
• Aftermath and Analysis
• Select Bibliography
• Index

During his introduction, I was surprised to read the author’s comments about an earlier book I had read and prior to this point considered to be the basic groundwork for this air war over Vietnam; Linebacker II: A View From the Rock. He calls this early recounting of the Linebacker II operations “an inaccurate and self-aggrandizing memoir.”

In this book, the author clearly lays out the 11 nights of the Linebacker II, and often ill-conceived organization, planning, and operations of these strategic and tactical missions. He does so in a very convincing manner.