Academy has rereleased the Accurate Miniatures 1/48th scale B-25B in Doolittle Raid markings and it is a welcome sight as this kit was getting rarer as the days passed. Inside the box, you get all the plastic parts associated with the initial release as well as a decal sheet covering all 16 planes. The parts are well molded and even 12-15 years later, they are flash free and excellent. The clear parts are superb also.

I will forgo the history as most are well aware of the raid by Lt. Col. Doolittle and his pilots and there are many excellent references and even some fun movies referring to the raid. I have wanted to build this kit for a while ever since trading it off to a friend a while back and jumped at the opportunity to build it.

I am bringing you guys the AIM-9J Sidewinder in 1/48^th scale from the Eduard Brassin line. I have not worked with Eduard’s resin line ever up to this point, and I can honestly say I'm impressed! The Sidewinder Missile does not need an introduction from me, seeing as they have been around for 60 long productive years, with the J model being used in the early 70’s as an Air Force production model.

These missiles come in a clear plastic package with multiple foam inserts to protect the product and keep them still.

There are a total of 28 resin pieces consisting of: 4 missile bodies, 1 resin block with the clear seeker heads, 4 blocks containing a set of fins per missile, and 1 block containing seeker head covers. There is one photo-etched fret and one decal sheet.

Annual Subscription (4 issues): £ 27.00 ($39.10) plus shipping

The latest journal of Cross & Cockade International - Spring 2016, features a water-color painting of two Short Admiralty Type 166 Seaplanes on the cover. The rear cover shows a photograph of Captain Eric John Stephens and his 41 Squadron SE5a along with a photo of Captain Frank Ormond Soden and his captured Fokker D VII of Ltn Adolph Auer (Jasta 40). If you check out the web site link above, you can get additional sample pics of the current issue.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

Whether you are interested in German paper projects of World War 2, a fan of Luftwaffe ’46 planes, or just a builder of unique aircraft, allow me to direct your attention to this recent release from Bronco Models. The relatively low parts count (57 in all) allows for a quick build for modelers with only limited experience. The only challenge may be a few small items, but these are not too daunting with a good pair of tweezers. The beauty of a kit like this is that you cannot go wrong with any paint scheme or markings that you choose, as no one will ever have a photo of the real thing to prove you wrong.

The Italeri kit this release is based on was first issued in 1988, and I not only bought it then but built it up into one of my all-time favorite dioramas. As with a lot of Italeri kits released at the time, there were a few spots of oversimplification, but it was a quick and fun build and certainly looked the part when complete.

Tamiya has done something interesting here, in that they have re-released this almost thirty year old kit along with their equally venerable U.S. Command figure set. Since I have built these figures numerous times over the intervening years, I will forgo the pleasure of repeating myself here.