Once in a while, you see a movie that, while not hugely financially successful, makes for a great 2 hours of fun. Such is the "The Relic", a 1997 monster flick starring Penelope Ann Miller, James Whitmore, Linda Hunt and Tom Sizemore. It shows up on cable pretty regularly and if you have the chance, watch it. The star of the movie is a 12 foot long mutant creature called the Kothoga that is part mammal, part reptile and all bad. It likes eating brain parts. Stan Winston Studios produced the monster and did it perfectly. Pegasus Hobbies has given a great opportunity to model the creature with this kit.

The kit itself is a mini diorama which contains the creature, a large museum base (the entire movie was shot in the Natural History Museum in Chicago), stanchions with rope, a name plate and a figure of the relic. The relic and Kothoga are molded in vinyl and the rest is in ABS plastic.

Twobobs Aviation Graphics continues to release decals to celebrate the special paint schemes that the US Navy is using to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Flight (Centennial of Naval Aviation or CONA). Each decal sheet contains markings for these special aircraft, and a 3” sticker with the CONA official logo is included in the packaging. Twobobs actually has an official licensing agreement with the Navy to bring these decals to us in the hobby world! As always, this Twobobs release features decals that are thin, crisp, and in perfect register.

Packaging is the usual clear zipper bag we see decals in, and inside is a one page, double sided, full color sheet which contains color information, the decal placement directions, and some images of the actual aircraft. This package contains one “standard size” decal sheet as well as a smaller insert sheet, along with the 3” sticker mentioned earlier. Decals are printed by Microscale Industries for Twobobs.

Kawasaki T-4 of the JASDF and T-33A, T-1A/B is the newest book in the series of “Profiles” by Model Art. This is #10 in the series and is just as good as the rest.

This softbound book contains 136 pages and is jammed packed with color photos, line drawings, and color profiles of the aircraft.

As you would imagine the main focus of this book is the Japanese Kawasaki T-4 Trainer. It is covered here in photo detail, and this book will be a great help to anyone building one of the Hasegawa kits. The first 16 pages are full color images of different units operating the T-4. Many of these are very colorful – including the Blue Impulse demonstration team. Pages 18-26 contain some background and development information on the T-4. While the vast majority of the text in this book is in Japanese, these pages have an English translation at the back of the book!

STRATUS Books is continuing its series to publish books on all the aircraft used by the Polish Air Force. This eleventh volume is a pictorial study of the 18 Mig-29s in Polish use from 1989 to 2009. The opening eight pages discuss the history of the purchase and operation of these Mig-29s from Russia and the Czech Republic, as well as the color and markings used by these aircraft. The remainder of the book covers each aircraft with multiple photos, profiles, and, for most of them, color 4-views. Special markings and commemorative schemes are also discussed and illustrated along with badges and other personal markings. There is one chart that lists each aircraft by code number, serial number, camouflage scheme, and notes on each operational history. Another handy chart lists Mig-29 by country (Czech, Russia and Poland) giving us the camouflage colors used in FS numbers. Finally, five large photos at the end of the book cover the cockpit.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Platz for providing this kit to IPMS/USA and to them for allowing me to review it.

The A-4 Skyhawk originated as a private venture design under a team headed by Ed Heinman. When the US Navy began looking for a replacement for the AD Skyraider Douglas Aircraft presented their new design. The Skyhawk went on to be one of the most successful post-WWII aircraft to serve the US Navy. A total of 2,960 A-4s were built in many variations and they flew in the service of as many as ten countries.