As an avid reader and collector of WWII related books, I am always on the lookout for material that presents unique perspectives and experiences from this era. Finding this book, Barbarossa Campaign in 1941 Hungarian Perspective fits right in.

Author Peter Mujzer is a devoted historian who has served in the Hungarian armed services and is a consummate student of its history. Prior to this book, he has published 10 additional works, specifically on the Hungarian armor, equipment, and battles of WWII. For this book Mujzer states, “…I would like to introduce our readers to the first major campaign of the Royal Hungarian Army fought against the Red Army in Ukraine from July until November of 1941.” It only takes a cursory flip through the pages to realize what an expert like Mujzer calls an introduction, is way more than that to the average reader.

This set is designed to provide replacement parts for Hobby Boss’ 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk kit. As with most of SAC’s landing gear sets, the metal parts are intended to be one-for-one replacements for the kit parts. The set consists of the nose gear strut, port and starboard main gear struts and retraction/extension arms for all three of these.

Like the kit part, the nose wheel is cast with the nose strut. SAC has also cast the nosewheel steering (part C21) as part of the strut, however as the arms on this part are very thin, they are easily bent, so take care around them. The set also includes the retraction/extension actuator for the nose strut, however, as the actuator is very skinny, it is easily deformed and when I first looked at it, I thought it was a brake line as the one in my set was pretty curvy.

Overview from the Author and Publisher

The 1944 Arnhem airborne operation, immortalized by the film A Bridge Too Far, will forever be remembered as a great British feat of arms. British and Polish paratroopers displayed outstanding courage and tenacity in a desperate last stand situation. And yet, as this book describes, the plan was fatally flawed as the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were recuperating and concealed nearby. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition the result of which was arguably inevitable.

During the Vietnam War the U.S. Army established fire bases in various locales to support the far flung forward operating /patrol bases set up to...well...patrol the country side. The fire bases were locations where emplaced artillery, either towed or self-propelled, could rain artillery fire down on unsuspecting enemy combatants and the occasional, errant water buffalo.

These fire bases were more often than not semi-permanent operating bases. With the passing of time the personnel at these areas would embellish and improve their living and work environments. Improving that work environment often took the form of some creative DIY projects. One such improvement was the stowage of ammunition for the 'Tube'. [ Technical Note: 'Tube' is cool artillery talk for the actual artillery piece.]

ICM Is a Ukrainian company who has really made a name for themselves in the plastic model community. An informative history of the B-26K Counter Invader is included on the cover of the instruction manual and I took a picture of so it could be read there.

The model was contained within a very strong, lid opening box. The sprues were found inside several plastic bags which protected the parts. Three instruction manuals and two decal sheets were laying in the bottom of the box. In my edition a single sprue of US Pilots and Ground Personnel were included, as well as US Aviation Armament (four sprues), both in their own bag.