Helion produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year. The 'Africa@War' series covers African military history since 1945.

Peter Baxter is an author, amateur historian and heritage travel guide. Born in Kenya and educated in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), he has lived and traveled over much of southern and central Africa. Peter lives in Oregon, USA. His interests include British Imperial history in Africa and the East Africa campaign of the First World War in particular. He is the author of Pen and Sword's Gandhi, Smuts and Race in the British Empire. You can find out more at peterbaxterafrica.com

Master Model is a scale model metal detailing parts manufacturer located in Poland. Their lines include exquisitely detailed photo-etched and white metal replacement parts for aircraft and ships in the most commonly produced scales.

This Master Model set provides a huge leap over any of the injected molded parts available on any 1/72 kit. Many of the older kits didn’t even include a pitot tube. Those kits that do offer a pitot tube will be one that is over-scale due to the limits of injection modeling, not to mention successfully removing the sprue attachment points.

Following directly on the heels of the release of their truly lovely Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter in 1/32^nd scale, ICM has released a figure set to create an instant diorama with the aircraft. Consisting of two pilots, clearly fresh from a flight, and a ground officer taking notes, the figures create a lovely tableau straight from the box. I suspect they’re discussing about exactly who shot down that last Italian fighter that day.

Assembly of these figures is quite straight-forward, as they have little equipment or clutter associated with them. Both pilots have nicely molded separate life vests as well as oxygen masks along with the hoses. About the only modification you may need to make is to bend the hoses a bit to make them sit more naturally. It was unnecessary to use any filler on any of these figures.

I don’t think it’s necessary for me to go into the details regarding the horrific Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster that shook the world in the 1980’s and created the largest uninhabitable radioactive region on the globe, ultimately costing hundreds if not thousands of lives. The Fukishima disaster may ultimately turn out to do more damage, but Chernobyl certainly stands out as one of the top examples of manmade blunders up to now.

On that cheery note, it is with more than a little awe that I examine one of ICM’s latest and perhaps most ambitious products – the Chernobyl #1 diorama-in-a-box. Literally intended to be an entire scene in one package, this kit contains a command center truck, five new figures, a small hut and various bits and pieces to compose a radiation check point outside the recently destroyed power plant. To top it off, a beautifully rendered background is included to help you recreate the box cover in its entirety.

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999, and since then they have built up a list of books on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. MMP Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.