Bottom Line

A nicely detailed kit of an obscure topic – WW2 Japanese Navy Chinese river gunboats.

History

The Merkava Mk.3D main battle tank (MBT) in service in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the revised version of the Merkava Mk.3, equipping with a 120mm smoothbore gun, the BAZ gunner's sight and the panoramic commander's sight. The detachable add-on armor plates at the turret roof and its sides greatly increased the protection ability. As the most widely equipped MBT by IDF, the Merkava Mk.3D took action in the second Lebanon war in 2006, "cast Lead" operation in the Gaza strip in the winter of 2009 and many other security activities along Israeli border.

The Sunderland is one of my favorite flying boats. There is something about the Flying Porcupine that just makes me go cool. I even got a chance to see one at Fantasy of Flight during the Nationals even though it had been converted to a passenger version.

This new sheet by Aviaeology covers markings for 3 of the Mk.III versions as operated by the RCAF in Coastal Command. All 3 aircraft scored U-boat kills. They all wear similar schemes of white fuselage sides and undersides and either Dark Slate Grey and Extra Dark Sea Grey upper camos or the later version with just Extra Dark Sea Grey. The instruction sheet is in black and white and gives profiles and upper views of all 3 aircraft.

I have long seen the need for a stand or base that could be useful while painting a model, as well as for use in the construction of the model. I have tried to design and assemble such a base with some level of success, but recently I had the opportunity to try out a product by JHmodels. acquired through UMM-USA. This stand consists of a set of simple wooden parts, assembled with super glue, and including some metal nuts and bolts that allow for the parts to be adjusted to fit the model being built or painted.

Straight out of the package, the parts are held in a wooden fret that will remind one of PE frets that hold the parts in place with very small connecting tabs. These tabs can be cut with a hobby knife, popping the parts out of the wooden fret quickly and easily. Once the parts have been removed from the frets, one will need to do a little assembly. An instruction sheet illustrates those 7 steps

History

The Royal Aircraft Factory RE-8 was one of those airplanes that never attracted the attention it deserved, mainly because it wasn’t a fighter that attracted a lot of press. It was, however, a very basic, fundamental design, one intended for observation and reconnaissance duties over the front. I had always been under the impression that the RE-8 was a rather unimpressive plane, but after reading Paul Hare’s account of its development, I have come to the conclusion that it was really a fundamentally sound airplane for the tasks assigned to it. During the time period it was in operation, it acquitted itself honorably, with its pilots and crews often getting the best of higher performing German fighters. Certainly, taking photos of the trenches wasn’t as glamorous as shooting down enemy planes, but it was a very necessary job, and it doubtless saved thousands of British infantrymen’s lives due to its activities.