Eduard has produced a beautifully cast 1/48 version of one of the most current US Military’s air-delivered weapons – the AGM-154C1 (Block II) Joint Stand-off Weapon (JSOW).
The Wikipedia article for the AGM-154 says:
With regard to aircraft that have operated from the decks of a British aircraft carrier, there can be little doubt that the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 was the most spectacular. Purchased to replace the Sea Vixen in the role of all-weather fleet defense, the Phantom was the largest and heaviest aircraft ever operated from a British carrier and required a special breed of airmen to fly them.
Without giving a lengthy history of the M60 Patton the following is a short summary of the M60A2. The M60A2 nicknamed the “Starship” grew out of the development of the M60A1 with a CVWS (Combat Vehicle Weapons System) turret firing a 152mm conventional round. Planning began in the late 1950s. These were initially named the M60A1E2 then later standardized to the designation M60A2. Production was ended in 1975 with a total production run of 526 vehicles.
In the advertising literature AFV Club states this new kit features:
The AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod is used by the US Air Force, the Air National Guard and several US allies. The pod is a modular design that can be configured to address a variety of threats. It is cleared for use on the F-4, F-5, F-16, F-111, A-10, F-15 and C-130.
This set depicts the deep version of the ALQ-131 pod, often seen on an outer wing pylon of an A-10 or sometimes a C-130. The set is very straightforward consisting of the pod, two mounting lugs and a decal sheet.
The AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod is used by the US Air Force, the Air National Guard and several US allies since the 80’s. The pod is a modular design that can be configured to address a variety of threats. It is cleared for use on the F-4, F-5, F-16, F-111, A-10, F-15 and C-130.
This set depicts the shallow version of the ALQ-131 pod, often seen on the centerline pylon of USAF F-16s or an outer wing pylon of the A-10. I was also able to find a photo online of one mounted under the forward fuselage of an Australian F-111. The set is very straightforward consisting of the pod, two mounting lugs and a decal sheet.
The Ben Franklin class was composed of twelve submarines, SSBN-640 to SSBN-645 and SSBN-654-659. The class was an evolutionary development from the earlier Lafayette-class of fleet ballistic missile submarines. This class can easily be identified by the fairwater planes' location halfway up the sail; the Lafayettes and James Madisons had the fairwater planes in the upper front portion of the sail. In 1993, Kamehameha was converted to a Dry Deck Shelter/swimmer delivery platform, reclassified as an attack submarine, and given hull number SSN-642; her ballistic missile capability was removed and thereafter she carried only torpedoes as armament. Following conversion, she was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for the remainder of her operational career. She holds the record for the longest service life of any nuclear submarine—nearly 37 years.
Pen and Sword Publishers has added to their TankCraft Series. Volume Number 7 titled: Panzer I & II – Blueprint for Blitzkrieg 1933-1941 by Robert Jackson.
This softbound book is 64 pages. Included are some nicely done color profiles, many period wartime photographs, a summary of variants and some description of development, along with a section devoted to modeling the Panzer I & II.
The book starts with some background on German armor development but quickly gets into the Panzer I & II design and development. The variants of each model are discussed and photos of many of the examples are included. A separate section includes later war variants which used the Panzer I & II chassis for other vehicles. For example the Marder and Wespe. The book is well illustrated with some photographs I have not seen before. The color profiles were done just for this publication and are a nice touch for the book.
Table of Contents:
Quickboost, an Aires Resin division, continues to produce quick and simple resin upgrades for a wide variety of subjects. The detail parts are crisply cast and often add to or correct kit items.
This review covers replacement propeller blades for Hasegawa’s 1/32 Fw-190D-9. In overall dimensions, length and width, the kit and resin parts are very comparable with maybe .001 difference in length. The portion that differs is at the propeller base. The kit part starts to widen just a few millimeters from the base whereas the Quickboost parts taper more gradually and better match online profiles of the actual blades.
The MD-3 Ground Power unit is a portable generator designed to provide either DC or AC power to aircraft while on the ground. It is powered by a 180 hp Continental engine to drive its generators. Its initial design was for the B-47 aircraft but it can also be used for other cold war era planes such as F-84, F-86 through to F-4 Phantoms from 1960 to 1970, and this is by no means an exhaustive list.
The V-2 was the first operational ballistic missile. It didn’t use an aiming system as such but was launched in the exact direction of the target. The engine was cut off when the missile was at the correct speed and altitude to allow it to coast to the target. The 2150-pound warhead could do a large amount of damage, and, unlike the V-1 there was no way to intercept a V-2. A V-2 was also the first vehicle to go into outer space, reaching an altitude of 100 km. (62 miles).
The V-2 was a “vengeance” weapon, to answer the Allied bombing of German cities. The main targets were London, Antwerp and Liege. Over 3000 V-2s were launched against these cities.
This kit is mostly resin, with some PE details for the launch stand.
