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Book Author(s)
Dariusz Grzywacz
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$4.95

This is the second adult coloring book published by MMP following their Classic Fighters book. The Operation Dynamo adult coloring book focuses on the airplanes and military vehicles used at the time of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

The book is 8 1/4“ x 11 1/2“ and includes 32 pages with 15 vehicles on two-page spreads. Each vehicle or aircraft includes a black-and-white photo, technical specifications, and a brief description. The image to be colored is a simple line drawing without a lot of detail, which makes coloring easier.

Aircraft & Vehicles Included:

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.95

This set is part of Eduard’s growing line of Steel seat belts sets. The set consists of 3 sets of seat seatbelts and shoulder harnesses for Yakovlev World War II fighters and 3 sets for Lavochkin World War II fighters. The set will particularly useful for dressing up the cockpit of an older kit. I had an old Italeri La-5 kit that has been in my stash for quite some time, so I pulled it out to see how the belts worked.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.95

Eduard Models continue to expand its Brassin line, this time with a drop-in replacement part for their excellent Spitfire Mk IX line: the top cowling.

The part itself is molded in resin and very small casting pours, making removal of the part trivial. The part itself shows no bubbles and exquisite fine detail, down to the rivets.

The plastic parts are not bad at all, however, they have a seam line that needs to be puttied and sanded to make it disappear. The resin part does not have any seam line and it is ready to be installed.

Note that the resin part fits excellently the width of the fuselage nose. However, when removed from the pouring stab it is slightly longer than the rest of the fuselage, perhaps by 1/32 of an inch.

It was very simple to sand it to fit of the surrounding plastic parts. Moreover, the sanding marks will be hidden by the propeller spinner.

Recommended to modelers of all skill levels.

Book Author(s)
Chris McNab
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$20.00

Osprey Publishing continues to expand its “Combat” Series, this time with a book on what is possibly the largest urban battle in military history: Stalingrad.

The book is organized as follows:

  • Introduction
  • The Opposing Sides
  • The Tractor Factory (October 1942)
  • The Barrikady Gun Factory (November 1942)
  • The Komissarhaus (November 1942)
  • Analysis
  • Aftermath

The Introduction section covers the overall strategic situation at the time of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Opposing Sides chapter describes the equipment and general tactics of both the German Pioneer (Assault Troops) and the Soviet Rifleman (Infantry). These two types of soldiers had different training, tactics, and weapons.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
AK Interactive
MSRP
$55.20

AK’s Real Colors of WWII is a beautiful publication packed with historical information and photos documenting actual colors and camouflage patterns used on WWII military vehicles.

AK describes the book as a detailed study of documents and original vehicle material from each respective army, plus the synthesis of other publications which are recognized as benchmarks in vehicle color. The intention of the book is to share all this information and provide a guide to the colors that can be used to produce an accurate camouflaged vehicle in a specific theater of operations. The goal to provide a standard guide of colors is a noble one, and will surely generate lots of discussions.

Using the study of preserved military equipment, and scientific analysis, AK has developed the colors used in these paints. AK-Interactive also used the advice of four experts who have years of experience in the inception, development, production, and use of military colors:

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
AK Interactive
MSRP
$2.70

Real Colors are AK-Interactive’s excellent new line of acrylic lacquer paints. These paints are new technically in the paint formula and new artistically with the statement on paint colors. These paint colors have been determined through scientific analysis of actual WWII paint samples to produce colors as accurate as possible. In addition to the paints, AK has published a book, Real Colors of WWII, that documents the historical research and analysis that went into determining the paint colors. The Real Colors paints and Real Colors of WWII book provide a historical benchmark of paint colors that will be a valuable resource for modelers to reproduce accurate vehicle colors. I anticipate lots of discussion about the colors presented.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/20
MSRP
$25.99

This is a brand new tooling of the Bi-Plane flown by Scooby-Doo and Shaggy in the cartoon. It is a snap together kit aimed at the young modeler. With that in mind I had my 7 year old son build it while I looked on.

In the box is;

  • 44 parts packed of the sprues
  • 1 decal sheet (stickers)
  • 1 instruction booklet

All the sprues are extremely well molded and no flash or sprue marks; the instruction booklet is easy to follow and well-illustrated.

Construction

Was very simple and my son had no trouble assembling the kit I about 20 minutes from start to finish. The only little issue he had was attaching the top wing assembly. In fact I did end up gluing this in place for him.

The final stages were the assembly of the three included figures which are Scooby-doo, Shaggy and Velma. These were a little tricky to push the arms on so I assisted.

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$66.00

History

As WWII progressed, British troops found that their 2-pounder and 6-pounder guns were being rendered obsolete by German armor, and planners decided to develop a vehicle using the powerful 17-pounder (76.2mm) gun. The vehicle chosen to mount the gun on was the Valentine with the turret removed and replaced with a fighting compartment. This new vehicle would be known as the Archer. Interestingly, as there was little time to re-organize the cramped layout, the 17-pounder had to be mounted pointing rearwards to fit it in. As a result, the Archer moved and fired in opposite directions. Designed and manufactured by Vickers’ Armstrong, 655 were produced by May 1945. It served with British and Commonwealth units from October 1944 until the end of WWII, and with the British using it until the early 1950s.

Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$40.00

The Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) was the first operational jet fighter. Design and testing of the first German jet engine was well underway even before World War II started. Due to problems encountered with new materials needed, fatigue and German High Command intervention and delays, the aircraft did not see operational flying until April 1944. The Me 262 was highly maneuverable and faster than any other aircraft of the time, but continued to suffer from engine problems. Many aircraft were lost to engine problems or mishandling.

Me 262B-1/U-1 was a two seat trainer converted into a night fighter, with the addition of a FuG 218 Neptune radar. This was an eight-dipole antenna array mounted on the nose of the aircraft.

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.50

Hauler has been busy of late with a pile of kits and accessory items. Among the accessory items are some 1/72nd scale engraved plates. The plates come in a variety of types that represent those used by the various combatants of WWII as well as some plates representative of those employed by more modern armies, notable the United States. Among the offerings are:

  • German WWII - Early type
  • German WWII - Late type
  • U.S. - Grill type
  • Modern - Lentil type
  • Modern - A type

Each plate measures 35mm x 65mm and you get one plate per package. As you can tell from the photos the various patterns are reproduced, in scale, and will go a long way toward giving your latest project the proper look.

Here's direct links to each plate reviewed: