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Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$11.60

I have to say I was intrigued by this model offered by Brengun that would a great piece to add with your Japanese ground-based aircraft display base. My hopes are that I will eventually have an opportunity to try the 1/48 scale version of this accessory. J

Typical with Brengun’s other releases they provide the end user with some extremely nicely cast parts molded in a darkish grey resin. If there were any imperfections, they were not noticeable to my eye. I found the parts delicate buy not fragile. The resin was reasonably pliable making removal from the pour stubs easily achievable with a little patience. I can’t overstress to double; triple and quadruple check the instructions before removing the parts. My extinguisher nozzle assembly runs a bit shorter than it should L

Book Author(s)
Tony Buttler
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

History

There were numerous experiments involving jet propulsion for aircraft just prior to the outbreak of World War II, with Germany, Britain, and Italy leading the way. The United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan were somewhat late in starting, but by the end of the war, only the Russians and the Japanese had failed to fly a jet powered prototype, and Germany, Britain, and the United States had begun to produce actual jet fighters, with Germany and Britain in the lead.

This text, the second in the series by Osprey, covers the Gloster, Heinkel, and Caproni prototypes. Osprey’s previous book, X-Planes, Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters, covers most of the Luftwaffe developments, although none of these types reached actual production.

Book Author(s)
Robert Forsyth
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

History

Osprey has published a series of books offering comparisons of competing combat aircraft of World Wars I and II, and they offer specific information on how the planes fared against each other in combat. The author brings out the fact that a combat airplane not only has technological factors to consider, but also the skill and training of the pilots as well as the development of tactics suitable for the combat situation. The best airplane flown by an inexperienced pilot might well be at a great disadvantage against a combat veteran flying a less sophisticated type. With this in mind, the author covers the subject in such a way as to give the reader a very good impression of the factors affecting combat between the types.

In addition, the author brings out the fact that these types also fought against other types, but the emphasis is on the major aircraft in question, in this case the Tempest Mk. V and the Focke Wulf FW-190D-9.

Book Author(s)
Andrey Aksenov
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$40.00

The Russian T-54 and T-55 are without doubt the single most ubiquitous tank designs ever produced, having served in literally every theater of war since their initial design work back in the 1950’s. As such, they deserve a special place in any modern armor enthusiast’s collection. This book helps iron out some of the details for the detail conscious.

I must admit I was somewhat surprised as to the scope of the book when I first cracked the cover. Like most modelers, I’ve always used the terms T-54 and T-55 fairly interchangeably, as externally there are so few differences between the makes. I think I expected this book to treat them in the same manner. Instead, this book runs right into the process of creating the T-55 FROM the T-54 and never looks back.

Book Author(s)
Jean Marie Mongin
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Heimdal
MSRP
$40.00

If you’re a serious figure modeler and have a thing for the incredibly colorful and resplendent uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, this book from the series should get your attention. One of a range of large-format books by this publisher, it’s a virtual cornucopia of detail and information regarding the artillery arm of the French Army from 1786 through 1815, when Napoleon met his own “Waterloo.”

Book Author(s)
Andy Evans and Andy Renshaw
Review Author
Blaine Singleton
Published on
Company
SAM Publications
MSRP
$39.99

Back by popular demand, the Douglas A-1 Skyraider comprehensive guide, is a third edition reprint.

The Skyraider is best known for its never-ending ordinance delivery load on ground attack missions and supporting Search Air Rescues over the jungles of Vietnam, it was born with neither of those capabilities in mind. The Skyraider started out as a replacement of the SBD Dauntless and eventually the SB2C Helldiver. In June of 1944 Chief Designer Ed Heinemann suggested revamping the entire design and by March of 1945 had a completely different design.

Skyraiders served in the US Navy and Air Force as well as other nations air forces such as France, Gabon, Chad, and South Vietnam.

Book Author(s)
Editor: Robert Jackson
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$22.95

This is one of three books in Pen & Swords Land Craft series. The other books include The Jeep and Bren Gun Carrier. The Land Craft books are good resources for modelers as they provide background on the design of vehicles, detailed descriptions, and description of variants. They also include a gallery of completed models and kits available.

M2/M3 Half-Track Book Contents

Introduction

Provides a brief description of the history of half-track vehicles subsequent to World War I, including early French vehicles and the half-track car T1. These early vehicles were tested for use as prime movers.

Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
Company
OKB Grigorov
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$40.00

OKB Grigorov is a small model company based in Bulgaria that you may not be too familiar with. The company focuses primarily on AFVs, tanks, and naval ships in 1/72, 1/350 and 1/700 scales and they have an extensive list of products available. They produce full resin kits with photo-etch enhancements, as well as resin, photo-etch and white metal conversion pieces for other models. More recently, they began producing some plastic AFV kits.

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas, Artur Juszczak
Review Author
Keenan Chittester
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$10.85

This is the first release in a new series by Mushroom Model Publications. I am a big fan of their products, so I looked forward to reviewing this book. It is a softcover publication of 24 pages, 6 of which are in color. The cover is a heavy card stock with a color top view of a Russian P-39Q. There are also color side and bottom views of the same aircraft in the book.

The text in the book is limited to photo captions. There are 36 black and white pictures along with 10 color pictures. The pictures are of a good size and of good quality throughout. There is a mixture of walk around style photos from restored aircraft and wartime photos of U.S. aircraft in the Pacific theater. A couple of the photos are of P-39s undergoing maintenance and show several areas of the aircraft exposed.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$87.99

When I was asked to review this kit, I have to admit to feeling a bit daunted. I have only done a handful of modern armor pieces, and even those were really restricted to IDF tanks and vehicles. There’s not a whole lot of information out there on this specific vehicle either—a cursory Google search brings up primarily pictures of the actual animal known as the Clouded Leopard.