Grover C. Loening built his first airplane in 1918, the diminutive single seat M-2 Kitten monoplane, soon refined into the more powerful 2-seat M-8 that was accepted and purchased by the Army Air Corps. However, due to the resistance towards monoplanes he reverted to a biplane configuration in creating his most successful design six years later, the OL amphibian. The Loening OL and it’s derivatives would soldier on with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard for another decade.

The non-profit UK based group known as the Great War Aviation Society publishes A new magazine, Contact!, is now available in both print and digital download. The first two issues of Contact! are available for a free digital download on their website. Their journal, Cross & Cockade International, is also published four times a year. Issues are available in English as printed [Softbound, A4 (8.27” x 11.69”), 72 pages [Including Covers] as well as digital copies (or both). The Society also provides 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. The Great War Aviation Society also hosts a lecture series available through Zoom. If interested, you will need to register early as the call is limited in attendance.

Sylvain Hautier started Syhart Decals in 2005. Syhart Decals being derived from SY (Sylvain) HA (Hautier), ART (design), Decal (Decals.).

Although I had heard of Syhart Decals, this was the first time I had seen these in person, and I was very impressed with the presentation, the instruction sheet/manual and the high quality of the decals themselves.

The are several manufacturers of the 1/72 scale Rafale and represent various versions, whether Air Force, Marine or two-seater. These decal sets do not seem to be specific to any one manufacturer.

The decals were presented on bright blue paper that looked very similar to the paper used by ICM and Kits World Decals. Each decal on the sheet was sharp and in register, with minimal excess clear film. The printed part of each decal had more of a satin finish, while the excess film was glossy.

Fresh from the Review Corps gathering at the 2025 IPMS-USA Nationals comes this wheel bay plug set from O-Mask for the Tamiya 1/48 scale Dornier Do-335. I have been using foam earplugs trimmed to size as needed for several years when masking openings during painting, but these precision-cut plugs can simply be used with no additional work required. I highly recommend this set of plugs to any modeler that airbrushes or sprays their models and is building a Do-335.

According to information provided by O-Mask, these laser-cut foam plugs are designed to cover wheel wells, air brake bays, intakes, exhausts, cowlings, or other areas of your model. Made of soft, colored foam, these plugs are relatively chemical-resistant and therefore, reusable.

Mold parting seams are a fact of life for modelers. It matters not if you have the latest new tool styrene kit, a cast resin kit, or a “vintage” kit from the bottom of the stash, you have mold-parting seams to deal with. Most of us use a trusty number 11 hobby blade to scrape off the offending seam line. We have all used our expanded vocabulary when our hobby blade has gouged the part. There is a better way.