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Book Author(s)
John Grehan & Alexander Nicoll
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$26.95

Dunkirk Evacuation Operation Dynamo is an excellent book that paints a vivid picture of the chaos and monumental evacuation efforts to save the British Army early in WWII. The book describes one of the most inspiring stories of World War II, the evacuation from Dunkirk, on a daily basis from Sunday, May 26, 1940 through Monday, June 3, 1940. Evacuation of Britain’s only army, the British Expeditionary Force, from Dunkirk was chaotic and rushed but miraculously saved the BEF.

Part of Pen & Swords Illustrated Series, the book is a compilation of fascinating photos. The book is organized in chapters for each of the nine days of the evacuation. Each chapter provides some text describing the major operations of the day and includes many black-and-white photographs of the rescue operations. The photographs are high-quality, quite clear, and helpful descriptions are provided in the photo captions.

Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
Company
Lion Roar
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$27.00

Thanks to DragonUSA for supplying the resin/PE set for review and IPMSUSA staff for handling the request and publishing this review.

Bottom Line: LionRoar has produced a line of WW2 US Navy barges, either mixed resin + photoetch or all metal photoetch. Few parts, a tricky PE folding and assembly job for an unusual subject that would be a necessity for dockyard dioramas. Would have liked better instructions and decals for the barge YD number, but a quirky, fun build. Change of pace weekender for the more advanced modeler.

Review Author
Max Welliver
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.99

Stemming from Academy’s excellent 2013 F/A-18 Super Hornet kit releases, they have yet again pleased Naval Aviation fans with the colorful VFA-2 Bounty Hunters Super Hornet CAG!

The kit offers two marking options, both from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2, Bounty Hunters, out of Lemoore, California. The scheme shown on the box is the colorful CAG 100 bird BuNo 165916. The second option is line number 104, BuNo 165920. The decals are by Cartograph and are of extremely high quality.

Book Author(s)
Andy Evans
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Model Aircraft Magazine
MSRP
$32.70

I will tell you from the start that I love SAM Publications books. As a modeler, I am always on the lookout for books that have not only great information and pictures but modeling references too. What I’ll attempt to do is cover all the reasons in this review. This book covers the magnificent F-14 Tomcat in all its glory.

The first place I want to start is the table of contents. That is presented below:

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
George Cully
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$42.00

The Royal Navy’s HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney came about in an unusual way, and that helps to explain their unusual silhouette: all three of both ships’ triple barrel main gun turrets were mounted on the foredeck, and their massive bridge superstructures and secondary armament suites were sited aft. Nothing else afloat looked quite like them. These ships were named after two famous British admirals: George Rodney, victor of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) and the Battle of the Saintes (1782), and Horatio Nelson, who won the Battle of the Nile (1798) and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).

Book Author(s)
Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak
Review Author
Bob LaBouy
Published on
Company
Detail & Scale, Inc.
MSRP
$19.95

In this review, I began by comparing Bert’s initial F-100 book, published way back in 1989 which was 72 pages in length (D&S Vol.33) priced at $9.95. With the newest Detail & Scale Series Volume 11, you’ll get 104 pages (at approximately twice the price) and you will see a dramatically increased amount of color images and increased amount of details about the F-100. If this earlier print version can be located, I recommend to pick up a copy, since there are a good number of differences of the photos offered.

I was especially impressed with two of the narratives provided in the book’s ‘Super Sabre Pilot’s Report’ and ‘The Super Sabre In Southeast Asia’ both of which well documented with numerous photographs.

The Table of Contents provides for this basic outline:

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$11.95

The Aircraft

The MiG-15 was the USSR’s first really successful jet fighter. The engines for the prototype were copied from Britain’s Rolls Royce Nene, with the cooperation of the UK government.

The MiG-15 was used in the Korean War, with Chinese, Korean and Soviet pilots flying combat missions into “MiG Alley” in northwestern North Korea.

There were many users of this aircraft, 39 countries, including the United States, who bought fighters as “opposition” aircraft for exercises like Red Flag. Only two countries still use the MiG-15, North Korea and Guinea-Bisseau.

The two versions this landing gear set is for are the MiG-15bis, an improved single seat version, and the MiG-15UTI, the two seat trainer version.

Book Author(s)
Artur Juszczak, Dariusz Karnas
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$11.37

The Single Series of Mushroom Model Publications focus on a specific airframe, sometimes even down to a specific mod or variant of an airframe, as in this case.

The booklet includes line drawings of the PZL TS-11 in both 72nd and 48th scale, some drawings (probably from some technical manual) with details on the wings and airbrakes, plus a nice walkaround -in black and white) of the airplane. There are a few color pictures showing the cockpit and electronics, plus a 4-view very attractive color profile.

I’m glad the booklet includes color pictures of the cockpit and electronic bays, as those colors are the hard-to-research. External colors are easier to research and even depend on the specific airframe you are modeling.

You can see a short video of every page in the book at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk6XcJpUJxY

Book Author(s)
Slawomir Zajaczkski
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

The Topdrawings series specializes in line-drawings of a given subject in each booklet. The 92nd installment in this series is devoted to the Medium Tank M3 Lee/M3 Grant as known in UK service.

This booklet has 4-View for the M3A1 early, mid and late production, M3A2 with welded hull, M3A2 with GM 6046 engine (modified rear part), M3A3 with welded hull, M3A3 late production series, M3A4 with Chrysler engine, M3A4 final production series, M3A5 with GM engine, and the M3 Grant (UK) modifications.

In addition to the B&W line drawings, you also get 11 color profiles, in some cases with multiple views (left side, right side, etc) of the same vehicle.

The booklet also includes a brief description on the overall history of the AFV and each line drawing has an explanation as to what was modified from the previous block series.

If you are looking for detailed drawings of the M3 Lee or M3 Grant, this book has it all.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Flex-I-File
MSRP
$25.99

It is difficult to find many modelers that have never used a Flex-I-File product. Most modelers have several of the Flex-I-File aluminum sanding frames on their workbench, and several packets of the abrasive refill tapes ready for use. Then there are the Flex Pads which are available in varied grits. Just in case the reader is one of those “unfortunates”, this review will result in some of your model money being spent.

Before we dive into the review, to be clear, the sanding frame is also sometimes referred to as “the handle” to which the abrasive tape is attached. And the abrasive tape is sometimes labeled “the sanding strip”. A Flex Pad is also known as a sanding stick.

The Flex Set being reviewed includes: