Des Brennan provides a thorough coverage of the development, deployment, service, and retirement of the Panavia Tornado ADV in this publication. Illustrated by Richard J. Caruana, this book is an excellent resource for the aviation historian as well as the modeler.

The written content is well written, in clear and precise language. The content is presented in chronological sequence, as most publications of this type are, beginning with a thorough description of the role into which a new aircraft was to fit. The author describes, in detail, the requirements that the aircraft was to meet in order to accomplish its purpose in a theatre of operations with rather complex needs.

The text is supported by a large number of excellent color images and stunning 3-view drawings of the aircraft with varied markings. Richard Caruana, the illustrator, certainly captured the aircraft well in these illustrations.

Osprey Publishing, out of Oxford, UK, is back again with another Aircraft of the Aces series entitled Allied Jet Killers of World War 2, by Stephen Chapis and Andrew Thomas. Jim Laurier was commissioned to illustrate the various allied aircraft via original color artwork. Anyone familiar with aircraft modeling literature and research will recognize this authoritative series, and this latest release won’t disappoint.

Allied Jet Killers follows the format of the previous Aircraft of the Aces volumes, containing beautiful (original) color plates and numerous black and white photos with detailed captions, although much of what is contained in the captions is also reflected in the main text.

The photos are credited, and while I’ve seen some of the images before, most are new to me.

I am honored and privileged to review a beautiful new scale model offering in the Super Wing Series from Zoukei-Mura, Inc. I also wish to extend a very deep appreciation to the IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps for choosing me to review the F-4S variant of the famous McDonnell Phantom II.

The kit was released on 26 JUL 17, following on the heels of a previous F-4J release in the same scale and series. This review is the second of two sequential reviews, including my adventures in completing the kit build. This final review dovetails with the previous IPMS reviews of the Zoukei-Mura F-4 kits. I am not a subject matter expert (SME) on the F-4x family, but I sure enjoy a well-designed kit and fun build, learning about the real thing as I go. The Zoukei-Mura F-4S does not disappoint!

Background

The M60 series of tanks replaced the M48 as the main combat tank of frontline US armored combat units, first entering production in 1960. Instead of the 90mm main gun of the M48, the M60 introduced a 105mm gun. This was deemed necessary to defeat the latest Soviet T-54/55 tanks that entered service with Warsaw Pact forces in the mid to late 1950’s.

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their air wings.

The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hard-points, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon. Later models incorporated an M-61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record.