The GBU-11 is a 3000-lb. laser guided bomb primarily used in the Vietnam era made by adding laser guidance and fins to a M118E1 bomb. Eduard has now given us an option of attaching this bomb to all the wonderful new 1/48th scale Phantoms among others.

Eduard’s set consists of enough parts and markings to make two of the large bombs. The set includes two tail units, two main bodies and a block of two different types seeker heads. The parts are cast in Eduard’s dark gray resin and are perfect. The bomb fins are super thin so be careful of them. Preparation is simple. Sand the main body and tail unit casting blocks off and join them. I used a little putty due to my sanding. I smoothed it with lacquer thinner. Pick which seeker head you need and cut it free from the casting block. Then sand the back smooth. Lastly, drill a hole into the center and attach to the rest of the bomb.

Osprey Publishing continues to expand its New Vanguard series, this time by adding a book on the US Navy Escort Carriers for the 1942-45 period, I topic I have always find fascinating. Escort Carrier were known as CVE (“Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable”) and despite that popular label, they contributed a big deal towards the Allied victory in WWII.

The book has a very reasonable breakdown of the topic into the following chapters: Introduction, The Rise of the Escort Carrier, Evolution in the Escort Carrier Design, Escort Carrier Air Groups, Weapons and Radar, plus a chapter on Escort Carriers at War and finally a description of each CVE class: Long Island plus Charger (prototype CVEs), Bogue Class, Sangamon Class, Casablanca Class and Commencement Bay Class.

Osprey is a publishing house in the United Kingdom that should be a household name to the swarms of us. Osprey continues to expand their Warrior series with the 182nd book in this installment. The warrior series examines specific units and armies of a particular nation. In this installment the Legionnaires of Marius, Sulla and Pompey the Great are discussed.

For the Warrior series, the chapters are organized as follows:

This is the latest installment in the Polish Wings series. I was not able to locate any information on author Steve Brooking other than references to this current tome. Wojtek Matusiak lives in Warsaw, Poland. He is a well-known Polish aviation history author. He is a specialist on the Spitfire and has published both in English and Polish. He has authored, or co-authored the following books: Classic Warbirds 11: Merlin PR Spitfires In Detail (2009); Polish Wings 6: Supermarine Spitfire I/II (2007); Polish Wings 13: Spitfire IX (2011); Polish Wings 15: Spitfire IX 1944-1946 (2012); Polish Wings 16: Spitfire XVI (2013); Polish Wings 21: MiG-29 ‘‘Kościuszko Squadron’ Commemorative Schemes (2016).

For those interested in the early days of the United States Navy, and particularly the USS Constitution, this new release from Osprey is a fun an interesting read. Explained early on as a work of fiction, this book provides a “what if” look at how such a manual may have appeared during the War of 1812. Covering the early days of the Navy and more importantly, the history of “Old Ironsides” from her beginnings to her current status in the Boston National Historical Park, there is much to learn about the oldest ship in the U.S. Navy.