Historical Background

This book presents a detailed description of the efforts of the German Luftwaffe to defend against the night bombing offensive of the British Royal Air Force during the course of World War II. Of course, the Americans were also involved, but their primary attacks were carried out in daylight, so the main German efforts were against the RAF bombers and Mosquito night fighters. The author gives a good account of the course of the war, and the technological development on both sides as the war dragged on. The Luftwaffe’s main problem was their shortage of fuel supplies, and resulting restricted training programs. There were a number of approaches to the problems of locating enemy aircraft flying into German territory, and shooting them down without being shot down in return was a major issue.

This is another paint set by the prolific Ammo by MiG concern out of Spain. I’m sure many of you already use these acrylic paints and so are familiar with their ease of use with both brush and airbrush. The featured colours come in the familiar yellow-capped 17ml dropper bottles and include those colours needed for a range of modern Luftwaffe aircraft in the NORM 72 and 83 schemes, such as the Tornado, F-4F, F-104, Alpha Jet and UH-1H. The bottles are contained in a tray inside a sturdy card box that features a summary of the paints included and a nice colour profile of a Tornado.

Scale Aircraft Conversions provides resin and white metal parts for scale model aircraft, most of which are drop-in landing gear replacements.

The Airfix 1/24 BF109E was first released way back in 1973 but has featured in their range on numerous occasions since, most recently as part of the ‘Vintage Classics’ range in 2020. As such, the model lacks detail compared to modern kits and any enhancements for the kit are most welcome.

The Emil’s landing gear legs are pretty simple units, and the SAC parts reflect this. With just a little clean-up, these parts are drop-in replacements for the kit parts. The only parts you’ll need to use from the kit are the tyres and outer hubs.

SAC didn’t add brake lines down the main gear legs, but in this scale, the modeller is best served by adding these themselves so it’s no loss.

Let’s start by stating that the entire book is collection of color photographs taken by both original cameramen, as well as the regular foot soldier in the field. The photos chosen by the authors are one of the best I have the pleasure of seeing. The book is divided in three sections:

• The Ground War
• War in the Skies
• Behind the Lines

In turn, each section is divided in subsections. Part One; The Ground War is divided into 11 parts; Part Two; The War in the skies has 5 subsections and Part Three; contains 6 subsections. The Ground War is the largest and consist of 116 pages; The War in the Skies consists of 37 pages, while the section about Behind the Lines is 64 pages.

Hobby Boss latest Hornet release is the F/A-18 E Single Seat Super Hornet. Looking inside the box, the kit comes on 16 nicely molded grey sprues, 2 clear sprues, a small photoetch sheet, three sheets of decals and a full set of instructions. All total, there are 520 parts plus a piece of vinyl tubing. Options include: