Much has been written in regard to the tank battles that happened on the eastern front with heavy emphasis on either the Germans or the Russians. This book looks into the smaller countries and the vehicles that were used during this campaign. By reading the book, you find out that some of these countries were not true allies to Germany. Many were forced to side with Germany and some tried to get out of this "alliance" but were drawn back in through kidnappings of their family members and other strong-arm tactics.

This book is clearly written and easy to follow. There are many black and white period photographs, color artwork, line drawings, cut-away drawings, and charts of the vehicles.

“How the heck did he do that?” A polite version of one of the most often-asked questions in the scale modeling culture. With the proliferation of modeling blogs and videos available on the internet, as well as generations of printed reference material, it seems a rare occurrence when a scale modeling reference in print form hits the market with such great impact and acclaim.

Michael Rinaldi’s TANKART Vol. 1 WWII German Armor is just such a work. For that matter, the book seems to be a work of art in and of itself. Yeah, that sounds a bit extreme, but seeing, reading, and re-reading is truly believing. So much for cliché, let’s get into the facts.

The MJ1-B is a United States Air Force bomb loader built by Hydraulics International. It has served in various forms since the 1950's and sports a 3000 lb. lifting capacity and a 25-horsepower engine. It is able to lift up to a height of 78 inches and was widely used in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.

The kit consists of enough parts to build either the MJ1-B (the late version), or the earlier MJ1-A version. The solid resin parts are finely cast and the kit includes a figure for each version – a male for the early one and a female for the late one.

All parts had to be cleaned and cut from their casting blocks, and are on the soft side. There was minimal flash on some parts which was easy to clean up. Care needs to be taken on the steering wheel and the side arms, as they’re very thin and delicate.

Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Hawk/Testors OV-10 Bronco kit. I have reviewed several of these sets, and have purchased a few more on my own, because in all cases they have been superior to the kit items.

The white metal replacements are a clean drop-in for the kits plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts and braces and one nose gear strut. Also included are weighted tires mastered by Doug Smith of Royal Resin. The weighted wheels are a significant improvement in detail over the balloonish kit tires. The SAC tires also have tread and improved rim/lug detailing.

A side-by-side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical strut replacement that should provide greater strength with a significantly improved weight capacity and abuse tolerance. In some cases, painting may not be necessary.

Highly recommended.

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.I/Vb.

The set includes 3 parts, two landing gear struts and tail wheel, finely molded in white metal. These parts are drop-in replacements for the plastic parts.

You can see from the pictures the parts are very cleanly molded and formed. They include the “double slot” in the struts where the plastic landing gear cover is attached, so replacement should be quick and painless.

Typically I tend to think of replacing a plastic landing gear by a white metal one when the model is large and heavy. For most single engine 1/48 scale models, weight is not an issue.