OKB Grigorov produces resin kits and accessories. The kits are 1/700 submarines and 1/72 armor. The accessories are for 1/35 and 1/72 armor. The kits aim for great detail. This is one of those kits, and it hits the mark.

The Vehicle

The Flak Panzer IV Kugelblitz (fireball) is a Panzerwaffe ’46 model. There was an idea for a Panzer IV armed with anti-aircraft weapons, something like the Wirbelwind, but with 3cm guns instead of the Wirbelwind’s 2cm guns. The concept was for an enclosed turret, providing protection lacking in the Wirbelwind, and greater stopping power from the larger caliber guns.

The Kugelblitz never made it into production or even prototype. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting vehicle based on an interesting idea.

The P-51 is often viewed as the most successful aircraft designed in WWII. It was originally developed in 1940 by North American Aviation for the Royal Air Force prior to being adopted by the U.S. Army Air Force. After WWII ended, all variants of the P-51 were retired except the P-51D, which was kept in service for the Air National Guard. In 1948, with the separation of the U.S. Air Force from the U.S. Army, the designation was changed from P-51 to F-51. At the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, most of the airfields on the Korean peninsula were ill suited for jet aircraft. So the F-51D was called back into service. This new release from Tamiya captures an F-51D from the Korean War and is their newest release of their highly regarded kit, last released in 2016.

History

This book covers the air war over Germany during the last year of World War II. With the Americans and British closing in on the Third Reich from the west, and the Soviets moving in from the east, the Germans had worked themselves into an impossible situation, and it seems that many of them were as much interested in preparing as comfortable a defeat as possible by avoiding as much contact with the Russians as they could, as they were in preserving their lives and way of life as much as possible. In no way was this truer than in the air. It had to have been obvious to nearly everyone concerned that time was running out, and that even though newer, high-tech weaponry was slowly becoming available, the end was near. The ground forces were moving relentlessly towards the German capital, and although some of the most fanatical Nazis still fought on, the majority of the German military and population was probably preparing for what was to come.

The Spotlight ON series specializes in color profiles of a given subject. In this case it is the Mirage III and Mirage 5 series of aircraft.

The book starts with a two pages description (landscape format) the characteristics of the aircraft and operational history of it. It is not meant to be exhaustive; it is just a primer as the real reason for this book are the fantastic 42 color profiles of the Mirage in service with different air forces.

With an aircraft that has seen such an extensive service -and combat- it is not possible to cover every single camouflage scheme worn by them. As such the book selects a representative sample of mainstream and one-off schemes, like retirement schemes and such.

The AIM-9X is the latest version of the venerable Sidewinder first used in 1956. If you are going to build a modern jet past 2003, it probably would have carried the AIM-9X. For modelers, AIM-9X missiles are scarce in the 1/32^nd scale range. Brengun comes to the rescue with two superbly cast examples in set 32039. Inside the package, you will find one casting block containing the missile body and two different motor sections- one for training and one live. There are two of these blocks to make two missiles. Also included is a PE fret for the fins, two cast seeker head covers, and a magnificent clear casting for the seeker heads. Lastly, a complete set of decals is included.