Revell / Monogram has re-released their vintage “Eager Beaver” M-34 6x6 2.5 ton truck, the first of a long-lived family of trucks initially deployed by the United States Army, and subsequently utilized by many nations around the world. The M-34 started out in 1949 as a design by the REO Motor Car Company as a 2 1/2 ton, three-axle, all-wheel drive, off-road truck that was later nicknamed the "Deuce and a Half". The first vehicle in the family, the M-34, was quickly superseded in military usage by the M-35, the major difference being the M-35's 10-tire configuration versus the M-34's 6-tire configuration.

This old kit brings back memories of bicycle trips down to Rexall Drugs with my paper route money to buy yet another plastic model – I probably had a dozen of these trucks in and around the sandbox and dirt piles in my back yard, filled with mud-covered and dog-chewed army men. When I saw the opportunity to review this kit, I knew I had to get it!

The usual "Thanks very much" goes out to our friends and suppliers at Aires for providing us this marvelous exhaust nozzle; you have made quite a niche in the market, and IPMS USA is pleased to review your products!

This is an upgrade to the existing kit exhaust nozzle. As it is, there are only two parts to the Kinetic kit afterburner/reheat section; with a bit of paint and drybrush, an acceptable exhaust can be obtained.

With the Aires upgrade, not only do you get a much more detailed hot section and fairing, you get a photo etch flameholder, a detailed augmenter tube, and a super-detailed exhaust nozzle and external aerodynamic fairing petals. The only difficulty I had was attaching the exhaust nozzle assembly to the augmenter tube, but a bit of light grinding of the augmenter tube fixed that problem…it all fit well once I did that.

Aircraft History

The SU-27 was developed as an air superiority fighter by the Soviet Union in the late 70s in response to the F-15. It entered service in 1985 as the Flanker-B model, and is notable as the Soviet Union's first Fly-By-Wire aircraft. It is also regarded as being incredibly maneuverable, able to perform the Pugachev's Cobra maneuver, where the plane pitches vertical, losing speed while gaining little altitude, then pitching forward to level flight, potentially forcing pursuing aircraft to overshoot their target. The SU-27 has been used by multiple countries, and has spawned a great number of developmental evolutions, including a carrier-based version and a side-by-side, two-seat strike variant.

Background

The C-130 doesn’t need much introduction. It’s the mainstay transport aircraft for numerous nations, and has been serving the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1957. The newest C-130 is the C-130J, which incorporates many avionics upgrades, and most notably newer engines with six-blade props. The WC-130J is the USAF’s newest Hurricane Hunter, specifically designed to fly into the eyes of hurricanes to gather potentially life-saving data.

Eric Brown has flown more aircraft types and performed more carrier landings than any other person, dead or alive. That alone makes him a unique individual. In addition to that, he is actually a good writer. I’ve read several other of his books and I have found them very interesting, easy to read, and almost in the category of “page-turners.” This book is no exception.

This version is an extended edition of the original book, which was focused mainly in carrier-borne World War II airplanes. He added several carrier-based jet airplanes that he got to fly in his extended career, either in the post-war years or during his time at the US Naval Air Test Center.