The origin of Pen and Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers – established in 1858 – and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following of a series of articles published in the newspaper: Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of Dark Peak Wrecks and Barnsley Pals books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guidebooks. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful, and as more and more titles were produced the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group.

Red Fox Studios are a new company to me. Based in Hungary, they are a producer of resin upgrades and decals, including a range of 3D instrument panel decals, of which this review item is one.

Designed for the Kinetic 1/48 F/A-18C Hornet kit, this product has a plastic, non-flat surface with a 3D effect. It is best glued with cyanoacrylate, but PVA or other glues can also be used. The product can be washed with both oil-based and acrylic paints. It can also be minimally bent or sanded.

Having started the kit, I first painted and decaled the pilot’s cockpit using the kit-provided decals. I used setting solution to help these settle over the kit’s nicely-moulded in detail. These looked OK and would have been perfectly suitable under a closed canopy.

Hot on the heels of Brengun's 1/144th scale BDRM-2 scout car (item # 144061 ) comes the anti-aircraft version of the base vehicle. With addition of some optional parts the vehicle is equipped with the launcher for the Strela-1 missiles and additional ready rounds that mount the outside of the vehicle. Following on the previous release (the basic BRDM-2) Brengun also includes some photoetch for rear details (propulsion cover and rear stowage lockers), rear taillights, headlamp protectors for the front and a chassis mounted rear view mirror.

Putting this all together begins by removing the resin pouring stubs from the appropriate components. The tires are cast as single parts and benefit from drilling out the mounting dimples to achieve a better fit on the axle stubs integral to the main chassis. All the resin bits cleaned up without any bother. There is nice detail on all resin parts particularly on the rear deck, launcher, and the tread pattern on the tires.

History

The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") that would be too fast for fighters of its era to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter, and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.

Hauler has provided another addition to the great Diorama releases with this Bedroom Furniture set. The set includes a double Bed, two bedside units, a Wardrobe, two table lamps and two telephones.

The detail quality is great. The parts once removed from the mold base are ready to assembly.

Be careful when removing the side table lamp as they break easily. Also be careful not to drop a telephone on the carpet it will never be seen again as I found out!

The Assembly is quick and easy. The final part is painting them how every you want and looks great as an addition to any diorama.

Thanks go to Hauler for providing this kit to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them