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Book Author(s)
Robert Jackson
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$28.95

This is a book in the Land Craft series which details vehicles and covers model kits and accessories to build the featured vehicle covered in the book. This book covers the Bren Gun Carrier by the Allies during World war two.

I found this book a fountain of information on this important little support vehicle. The Profile pictures are a particular favorite and great source for modelling.

The chapters on the different model builds and kits are of great interest and will provide a good resource when modelling this subject.

I was impressed at the amount of information and history found in the pages of this extremely enjoyable book. The pictures along are worth the cost of the book. I will find this book indispensible in my library of reference books.

I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in armor and modelling armor. I very much look forward to other releases in this series.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.75

Figures in 1/48th scale, in particular helicopter figures, are like hen’s teeth. So when a new set comes out I am all over it. The latest of these releases is from PJ Production out of Belgium.

Packaged in a small end opening box, with a ziplock baggie inside of that, are three pour blocks of light grey resin and a tiny M-60 machine gun. The small M-60 is loose in the baggie so be careful you don’t lose it when opening the bag. There are no painting instructions inside, but the cover photo of the finished figures is adequate for the job.

The three resin figures represent two pilots and one door gunner. This would seem to indicate that it for a Loach since they sometimes flew with a crew of three and Hueys flew with a crew of four. All the figures have chicken plate body armor and SPH-4 type helmets, but in this scale they could easily be APH-5 helmets. The one thing that stands out is that the heads have microphones molded on. Great job.

Book Author(s)
Prit Buttar
Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$35.00

This is book is a follow up to Prit Buttar’s On the Knife’s edge and begins after the battle of Kursk that turned the tide of the Eastern front in favor of the Russian forces. Retributions goes in to detail of the massive Russian offensive that forced a now desperate and shaken German forces out of Western Ukraine.

The author gives accounts of the many little-known battles that were constant throughout the Russian offensive. The this comes from the first-hand accounts are from the German and Russian soldiers that bring this to life.

I learnt so much from this book that I was not aware of and the information and writing really draws you in. The book is 480 pages and there are only a few illustrations, and these are battle maps.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
OKB Grigorov
Scale
1/700
MSRP
$25.00

OKB Grigorov has provided a super USS Skipjack submarine which represent this classic class of American Submarine. The Skipjack class first entered service in 1974.

Included is:

  • Five resin parts
  • One photoetch sheet
  • One resin submarine
  • One resin stand

The detail quality is great; The parts are very delicate parts that need careful removal from the resin bases.

There was no instruction sheet in the box I received to review, this was not a problem as it was a simple build.

The assembly is quick and easy.

The resin stand is an awesome addition to the kit.

I would like to have seen some small decals.

The final part is painting.

Thanks go to OKB for providing this kit to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.99

AFV Club kits for me have always been a bit of a challenge - multi-part assemblies that could easily be presented as lower part count builds are usually the norm for me. This particular build for the most part avoids this issue, except for the undercarriage. The only real issues encountered for me was in the order of assembly in some cases which will be outlined as we go. The kit is a rebox of the AEC Dorchester kit from 2012. Obviously these three examples were basically captured Dorchesters so the only changes were in the interior equipment and schemes of the three examples captured by the Germans as we will soon see.

What’s Inside the Box

The kit has an assortment of different media-plastic, resin, and PE, but not in overwhelming amounts. Inside we get:

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.39

Lifelike Decals from Japan is one of those hidden gems people need to hear more about. With a large selection in the most popular scales, they have decals for WWII era planes from Japan, Europe and the US. This set covers Part 4 for the B-25C/D/J in 1/72 scale and is meant for the Airfix B-25C/D and Hasegawa B-25J. The first two markings are for the famous Air Apaches of the 345th BG.

Inside the package, there a three small decals sheets covering the roundels and markings for four aircraft. The decals are a mixture of Cartograf and Microscale which is great. A separate page has information on the roundels used at specific times. There is a profile page containing the instructions and details about the four planes represented. Lastly is the cover with the top and bottom profiles and a detailed reference page.

The sheet covers four aircraft:

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.39

Lifelike Decals from Japan is one of those hidden gems people need to hear more about. With a large selection in the most popular scales, they have decals for WWII era planes from Japan, Europe and the US. This set covers Part 2 for the B-25C/D/J in 1/72 scale and is meant for the Airfix B-25C/D.

Inside the package, you’ll find three decal sheets with two being made by Microscale and one by Cartograf all in perfect alignment. Two sheets cover the plane markings and one is for the roundels in two different styles. Also, there is a masking sheet for “Old Baldy”. There are specific instructions for each aircraft along with color profiles and details of how to represent that specific aircraft with aftermarket accessories where needed. A separate page on the history and types of national insignia is also included.

The sheet covers five aircraft:

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.39

Lifelike Decals from Japan is one of those hidden gems people need to hear more about. With a large selection in the most popular scales, they have decals for WWII era planes from Japan, Europe and the US. This set covers Part 1 for the B-25C/D/J in 1/72 scale and is meant for the Airfix B-25C/D or the Hasegawa B-25J Solid Nose Version.

Review Author
Brent Bristow
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.95

The DFW C.V Landing Gear for the 1/32 scale Wingnut Wings kit is one of the many accessories offered by Scale Aircraft Conversions. This is the second of three of these aftermarket kits for which I am providing an out-of-box review. As with their other products, these are made of white metal.

For the packaging for this conversion kit, we have a blister pack with a clear plastic bubble. My only complaint with this is that you cannot reseal it once you open it. However, it likely keeps the cost of the kit down.

The kit consist of what appears to be 4 parts, two of which are connected together with a larger piece of metal sprue. Similar large metal sprues are connected to the other two other parts. I have to say that I am very impressed with the casting of the parts. After looking at them very closely, I did not see anything that would require any significant attention other than cutting them off of the large metal sprues.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$77.99

ICM continues to floor me with the boldness of their release choices, and the Gloster Gladiator in the impressive 1/32nd scale range is certainly one of them that I never expected to see in my lifetime.

The Gloster Gladiator was one of the rare biplanes to see combat service in World War 2 and was the last operation biplane fighter in British service, seeing service in most theaters of action via a number of air forces. Despite its obsolescence it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat, even making a couple of aces into the bargain.