This first of a two volume set of US combat aircraft over Vietnam exemplifies the excellence that we’ve come to expect from Mushroom Models Publications White Series aircraft reference books. This heavily illustrated edition covers 14 of the most important fighter, bomber, attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft flown by the US Air Force in southeast Asia. The second volume will cover Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. What you get in these pages is a top notch design description and thorough Vietnam combat history for each of the following aircraft, including many specialized sub-variants and special missions:

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 guide books. 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.

Platz Hobby produces several kits in 1/144 scale (currently 394 to be exact), and I was fortunate enough to receive this two-plane kit for review. In addition to the parts for two aircraft, there are markings for four different planes included. Construction was quick, and the detail is very good for this scale. Modelers familiar with working with small parts should not have issues building this release, and I would highly recommend it.

There have been many releases of the F6F in its variants over the years, so I probably do not need to mention much more on the history of a plane that had over 10,000 copies released during WWII. The dash 5K planes featured in this release were used following WWII as drones, drone controllers, and to tow targets. The final combat missions seen by these planes were as radio-controlled air-to-ground guided weapons used in Korea against well defended targets in the North.

Tiger Werke Resin’s latest entry making modelers life easier is the “Glu-Budy”. As with almost all their products, the Glu-Budy is cast in a light gray, urethane resin and requires neither assembly nor painting. [However, you do have to take it out of the box. :)]

This lightweight resin glue/paint holder will help eliminate that dreaded problem of the errant tipping of your modeling supplies. The “Glu-Budy is sized for square bottled modeling supplies (glue, panel line accent colors, decal solutions, etc.) from various providers (Tamiya, Mr. Hobby, etc.) This item has one square orifice and another round one sized for 10ml paints or other finishing supplies (Testor's, AK Interactive, etc.)

Tiger Werke Resin also has another Glu-Budy (#35227) that features two square receptacles should one prefer. Anyone (that would be all of us) who has ever tipped over a bottle of glue or paint can appreciate the utility of either Glu-Budy. You may want several....

The Il-2 Sturmovik is THE iconic Russian aircraft for me. It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t maneuverable, but it was a deadly ground attack aircraft. It could take a lot of punishment and was produced on larger numbers than any other aircraft in history. So you know it had to have some colorful markings. Well thanks to Foxbot we have some examples to add to our collections.

Packaged in a standard ziplock baggie, the decals and instructions are protected from moisture. The instructions are printed on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of high-quality paper folded in half. This provides strength to protect the decals from bending. They are printed in full color and feature EIGHT aircraft, two single seaters, three modified single seaters with the gunner in the exposed back, and three of the later model with the enclosed rear gun position. So, there is something here for every modeler.