The Vehicle

Developed from the M-41 Light Tank with which it shared many parts and features, the M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," was an armored light air-defense gun built for the U.S. Army by the tank division of the General Motors Corp. from 1952 until 1959.

The vehicle had a crew of six, weighed 25 tons fully loaded, and was armed with two fully automatic 40mm Bofors guns with a combined rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute (rpm). For close in defense, it also carried either a .30 caliber or 7.62mm pintle mounted machine gun. The 500 hp, six-cylinder, Continental, air-cooled, gasoline engine was located in the rear of the vehicle and via a cross-drive, 2-speed Allison transmission, could attain a top speed of 45 mph with a range of 100 miles. A total of 3,700 M42s were built.

TwoBobs Aviation Graphics have been around for years, and have built a solid reputation for producing some of the finest after-market decal sets in the industry. Chances are, if you’ve been around aircraft modeling for a while you’ve used some of their products already. Their recent release of a set of 1/48^th Viggen decals was meant to coincide with the recent Tarangus release of a JA-37 Viggen in the same quarter scale.

The decal set under review comes in a sealed plastic envelope that contains two sheets of individual markings covering the following nine different aircraft:

Chris Gibson’s latest book on British aviation projects examines the post-war genesis of the RAF's maritime patrol aircraft. Starting with the British affection for its flying boats of 1945, Chris Gibson chronicles the switchback path that led to the Shackleton and ultimately the Nimrod. As a bonus for underwater target fans, Chris Gibson provides intrepid commentary on the aerial systems developed to counter the threat from Soviet submarines.

To seek and destroy Soviet submarines, Shackletons and Nimrods carried many advanced weapons and sensors, but also played a role in saving lives at sea. Then, after forty years' service, the Nimrods were withdrawn without replacement after one of the most expensive procurement disasters.

Following in the path of Chris Gibson’s previous books, this tome presents hundreds of illustrations, photographs, and artwork. Chris must have really enjoyed the research as there are many projects depicted I was previously unaware of.

Thanks to Piotr at Master-models for providing these fantastic metal flash hiders to improve our Nocturnal Hellcats, and thanks to our IPMS leaders for sending these my way!

The Eduard Hellcats are still the best out there in my opinion, and Master details provide late-model covered .50 caliber gun barrel tips with flash hiders, which directly replace the kit plastic parts…

As you can see on the “before” picture, the kit-provided gun barrels are a bit lacking in the flash-hider department. Adequate but not quite there…

Developed as a Sidewinder for the U.S. Air Force, the AIM-9E was based on the U.S. Navy AIM-9B, but with some enhancements, based on early combat challenges of the B- model. The cooling for the detector used Peltier thermoelectric cooling, and the forward canards were changed. Ford produced 5000 of the missiles from re-purposed AIM-9B missiles. The AIM-9E measured 9 feet, 10 inches long, 22 inches across the rear fins, had a diameter of 5 inches, and weighed in at 164 pounds. The AIM-9E is credited with aerial victories over six MiG-21 aircraft during the Vietnam War being launched from F-4D and E Phantom II’s of the US Air force.