Volume 2 of the Medal of Honor series documents the 6 aviators who earned the Medal of Honor during the interwar years 19191939. This book of 80 pages has 215 photos and color profiles of 10 aircraft relating to this period.

Only 1 of the 6-aviation related Medal of Honor awarded in this period was for action that involved combat by USMC Lieutenant Christian Frank Schilt in Nicaragua in 1928. 3 of the other 5 men awarded the Medal of Honor were presented for exploration including Admiral Byrd (North Pole flight) and the other 2 awarded were for lifesaving efforts.

It is very interesting that Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr received the army designed Medal of Honor for his solo flight across the Atlantic 20-21 May 1927 even though he was no longer on active US Army duty. Authorized by a special act of Congress in December 1927 Lindbergh was presented the medal by President Coolidge in 1929.

Croco Models from Latvia produces some very interesting and unusual kits and this one is another great additional to their line up.

The Kit is resin

Included is:

• 67 resin parts
• One Photo Etch Sheet
• One Decal sheet
• One instruction sheet

The resin casing detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resin bases. Some arrived broken so I would suggest improving the packaging.The instructions need a lot of experience to work with to get a great model as they are not very clear. The assembly is good but needs a lot of patience, pre-fitting and time to the build going together correctly. There were a few gaps that needed filling. The PE sheet has some parts that are not for this version, it is also very thick and made it harder to remove parts from it. There are a few decals but no directors for location, so I used online references for this.

Boom. And just like that a Academy Panzer II model kit landed at my door. So The adventure begins. I have built many models of armor but was not a fan of early German subjects. This kit looked interesting and as a new molded kit I was curious what new technologies have been used on this kit. This review will read like bullet points for easy reading.

Un-Boxing

The box itself has very nice art on it. Paint call outs on the side have seven manufacturers listed and are a big plus in my book. The manufacturers are: Humbrol, GSI Creos, Life Color, Model Master, Revell, Vallejo and AK. The kit is a skill level 4 (out of 5) and is clearly marked on the box. The box itself is top opening and very stout.

One of SAC’s (Scale Aircraft Conversions) latest gear is set 48402 for the wonderful Tamiya F-4B in 1/48th scale. The set has wonderfully cast metal parts to replace all the gear struts, retractions cylinders and other parts. They are drop in replacements and was I ever glad to get them for review and here’s why. I recently moved for work including 400 built models. During the move, my F-4B took a hit and broke off one gear leg. SAC to the rescue!

To start, I removed the tire from the broken gear leg and cleaned out the hole in the bottom of the fuselage making sure the new leg fit which it did with no issues. A quick clean up with sandpaper and then I primed with Tamiya fine primer, let it dry and painted the leg white. I added the tire, gave everything a quick gray wahs and glued it in place paying attention to angle and the like. Once dry, you would never know it was broken.

Introduction

Another item added to Ammo by Mig Jimenez’s line of products for the modeling community is their new item, the “Long Live the Brushes” described as a soap for the cleaning and care of your brushes. From the product web page, the items description states.

“The product is capable of removing acrylic, enamel, lacquer paint residue. In just two steps you can extend the life of your brushes.

1. Moisten the brush with water and rub the hairs on the surface of the soap until it foams.
2. Once the paint residual has been removed, rinse lightly and shape the hair. We advise properly cleaning your brushes after each use and store in a protective case.”

Also, available on Ammo by Mig Jimenez’s YouTube channel is an instructional video narrated by Manuel Gil. This video can be found at: