This tome is the third in this new series, Single. This series format consists of a 4-view colour profile, scale plans, and photo details of a single variant; in this case the Hawker Hurricane I. You won’t find an introduction or background summary, as this series dives straight into the drawings, illustrations, and photographs. 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.

I’ve always been a fan of the iconic silver and blue Hughes H-1 Racer. I was familiar with the long wing variant, but as it turns out, two sets of wings were made for this one of a kind beauty - long wings for endurance flights, and short wings for speed records. You’ll have to decide for yourself which one appeals to you, but no worries - Special Hobby/Planet Models provide both in 1/48 resin.

The kit itself is fairly simple and straightforward - resin one-piece wings, fuselage halves and cockpit, engine “cob” and many, many cylinders, etc. Two vacuum-formed canopy blanks are included, good for those of us who need a spare. (Although I lucked out this time). The kit includes decals and a simple but thorough exploded view of the assembly sequence.

So, before we get into the specifics of the book. Here is a little about the author and illustrator. Dr Nic fields is the author of this publication and many others so he is not a stranger to the osprey family or to my memory. He’s a veteran of the Royal Marines, biochemist and historian so I guess you could say a jack of all trades. He does a lot of his research writing and editorials freelance.

Peter Dennis is another star contributor of the Osprey book family and is a graduate of the Liverpool art college. He’s has illustrated hundreds of books and I have quite a few examples of them , a sharp eye for accuracy and consistency your not going to find a bigger name than Pete when it comes to the historical art community.

Here we breakdown the contents of the book.

From my new, best friends at Wikipedia: The M728 is a full-tracked combat engineer vehicle designed to provide maximum ballistic protection for the crew and is a heavily armed derivative of the M60 series tank. Modified to provide a mobile and maneuverable weapon for combat support of ground troops and vehicles, the M728 vehicle is used for breaching, obstacle removal, transportation of demolition teams, and pioneering operations.

So, before we get into the specifics of the book. Here is a little about the author and illustrators, Mark Ladas holds a degree in Naval architecture and has written a few naval publications for osprey, he is an avid ship modeler and amateur historian. The illustrators Johnny Shumate and Julian baker both work as freelance illustrators and have both also been longtime contributors to osprey.

Here we breakdown the contents of the book.