John Boyes was born in Edinburgh in 1947. Educated at Rugby School, he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1972 and thereafter pursued a career in the motor industry until his retirement in 2005. He has had a lifelong interest in the history of missiles and published his first book, Project Emily: Thor IRBM and the RAF, in 2008. John followed with Thor Ballistic Missile: The United States and the United Kingdom in Partnership in 2015. He is the treasurer of the Royal Air Force Historical Society and financial controller of the Bomber Command Association, responsible for the financial management of its memorial in London. He has given a number of lectures on Thor and regularly contributed to the British Nuclear History meetings at Charterhouse. He is married and lives in West Wickham, Kent.

The F8U Crusader (later re-designated as F-8) was the first operational supersonic carrier aircraft serving for the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the late 1950s. Often considered the last gunfighter, it was well loved by pilots for exceptional performance. One interesting feature was the movable wing assembly. While it’s often believed that the purpose of the raised wing was to improve lift, the fact is that raising the wing allowed the fuselage of the aircraft to assume a lower angle of attack on landing, permitting greater visibility for the pilot, while maintaining optimal aerodynamic performance of the wing, slats and flaps.

This book is volume 5 in a series of books containing pictures of the Sturmgeschutz in action and specifications for assault tank. Book has both English and Hungarian text.

I found the pictures in this book to be fascinating and show many of the variants of this very versatile AFV.

Many of these pictures have never been published before and I have seen a lot and yet I had no recollection of seeing any of these before.

I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in the Stug and a must for modellers.

Thanks go to Casemate Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them

ICM has produced a fine decal set specifically to be used with ICM kit no. 48281, B-26-50 Invader. The decal set includes markings for four aircraft, the most notable of which is B-26B-61-DL “The 7th Chadwick” piloted by Lt. Col. R. Fourtney, CO of the 13th BC 3rd BG in Korea of Spring, 1953. Other markings are included for B-26C-30-DT “Marth Ann” of the 3rd BG, B-26B-55-DL of the 95th BS, 17th BW and B-26C-45-DT of the 3rd BG.

Reviewer’s Comments

Each of the four options are intended for black-painted aircraft. A double-sided, full-color instruction guide is provided. Only side views of the aircraft are given. Placement markings are fairly understandable; however, cross-referencing is recommended.

The paints were provided by Tru-Color Paint. https://trucolorpaint.com/

This is a combined review of the 1/48 Italeri Mirage F.1 “Bye-Bye Mirage” and a selection of Tru-Color paints provided for the build review.

When you open the box you find a total of 5 sprues (one clear) with many parts marked as “not for use” -weapons for the most part. The overall look of the plastic parts is good. No flash, smooth surface, finely recessed panel lines and the transparent parts are free of scratches. You also get an excellent decal sheet with markings for 3 airplanes, all of them in the retirement scheme of the Mirage F.1