Thank you to John Tintera of Osprey Publishing and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me the opportunity to review this very intriguing aspect of U. S. Navy history. Author Linda Kush is a superb writer, bringing an excellent balance of engaging stories to historical facts.

The Rice Paddy Navy is the unofficial name for the 3,000 or so USN sailors, officers, Marines, and a few other branch members detailed to the Sino-American Cooperative Organization, also known as SACO. Author Kush’s father was a SACO veteran, and this is the first description of this little known operation since the memoirs of the commanding officer, Captain Milton “Mary” Miles, were published in 1967.

Initial construction of the ZIS-5 truck began in 1933, and ultimately the Soviets produced a million examples of this cargo truck. Wartime shortages of raw materials necessitated much of the truck body to be made from wood. The normally stylish/rounded fenders were simplified to the simple, squared-off examples represented here. I’m sure many of these trucks made the grueling winter crossing of Lake Ladoga to keep Leningrad supplied during the three-year siege by the Germans.

Model Art Modeling Magazine is a Japanese publication that is released monthly. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One attractive feature about these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

The March issue of Model Art Magazine is slightly different from their normal monthly issues. This issue consists of new kit reviews. They review a little bit of every type of kit to encompass all modelers. For instance, they review the Italeri 1/72nd scale Sunderland Mk. I and the Trumpeter 1/48th scale A3D Skywarrior as an example of some of the aircraft that were reviewed. For the AFV folks, there is a review of the Meng 1/35th scale A39 Tortoise and the Cyber Hobby 1/35th Super Heavy Tank out of the 4 AFV kits that were reviewed in this issue. For the ship folks, there are two reviews, and one review for the car guys – a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27.

Good news – Hasegawa has re-issued its Skyraider kit, too long absent from the hobby store shelves. Their first boxing comes with decals for an aircraft of VA-65 from the USS Enterprise – featured on the box art – plus optional markings for the CAG aircraft of VA-165 aboard the USS Oriskany. You’ll see two models in an accompanying photo, but note there’s only one model in the box – I thought it’d be a nice comparison to show off the alternate decal markings provided in the kit by building a second A-1, pulled from my kit stash. There’s only one set of common markings in the kit (insignia, wing walks, instrument panel, etc.) so I used these items from the second kit’s sheet.

Comparing the sprues, the re-issue is identical to the first release I built when this nice kit first appeared on the market many years ago. The clear parts are packed in their own separate poly bag to prevent scratching them.

The kit represents Prime Minister Josef Stalin’s personal Packard V-12. I found it difficult to get information on how this car was acquired. It was rumored that we (the US) gave him dies to make the car, but it’s unknown how true that is. I was able to get a few pictures, but my computer was giving me a fit, trying to get on a Russian site (not ICM’s), so I stopped.

The V-12 engine was a very durable engine. Packard had modified these to adapt them to marine use in our PT boats. Rolls-Royce licensed Packard to build the V-12 framed Merlin, which powered many British and Canadian aircraft, including our own P-51 Mustang, for better performance at high altitude than the Allison engine.

I like this kit, and in the hands of a modeler with greater ability than mine, this car could really sing. There are some problems that need to be addressed, though.