“On Thursday, 15 June 1955, thousands of people as usual were on the streets of downtown Buenos Aires. Some curious citizens had heard something about an air parade, and they were in the Plaza de Mayo looking up at the sky. At around 12:40 p.m., some Naval Aviation North American AT-6, PBY-5A Catalina and Beechcraft AT-11 planes appeared on the horizon, But they were not there for a parade; they were there to simply bomb Government House in an attempted coup against Juan Domingo Perón. This raid left behind more than 300 dead, 600 wounded and dead everywhere. The Army units that should have been mobilized to support the uprising never did. The coup attempt was aborted within a few hours. But unlike the bombing of the city of Guernica in 1937, the planes that bombed and the pilots who flew them were national forces. Perón would be finally overthrown three months later by the so-called Liberating Revolution.”

Volume Five of this series chronicles aerial warfare primarily in the New Guinea theatre in the critical period between September and December 1942. It can be read alone or as a continuation of the previous four volumes which span the first nine months of the Pacific War.

By early September the strategic picture in the theatre had changed markedly within just six weeks. From their new Buna beachhead the Japanese Army commenced a Papuan mountain campaign which threatened the Allied bastion of Port Moresby. Meanwhile the battle for Guadalcanal was raging, with the outcome of the wider Pacific War in the balance.

Against this background a strengthened US Fifth Air Force took the fight to the IJA with direct air support. While this was being conducted by P-39s, P-40Es, A-20As and B-25s, raids by B-17s against Rabaul aided US forces in the neighboring Solomons. RAAF Beaufighters, Beauforts, Bostons and Hudsons also contributed substantially to these efforts.

If you have won an award at an IPMS contest and it was an engraved wooden plaque, chances are it was made by Bases by Bill. Bill and Wes Wedeward have been supplying custom awards to shows for several years including the 2018 and 2019 IPMS National Conventions.

The awards are available in several sizes with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and special award options available. The bases are made out of the finest hardwoods and use laser engraving and can have hand painted color accents.

Bill supplied us with 2 examples. The first is a 4” x 3” rectangular award and the other one is 8.5” at the base and 6.25” tall with a rounded top. The engraving is perfect with all words easily readable.

He also sent me pictures of several other options they have done in the past.

Pricing varies by the size of award, details, type of wood, etc. and from what I can see on their site their prices are very competitive especially for the quality of their products.

Trumpeter has recently released several WWII German, truck-mounted Flak platforms based on the Mercedes Benz L4500A, including the subject of this review. As with previous releases, Trumpeter continues to stick to its roots in providing interesting and often one-of-a-kind subjects for a competitive price.

The L4500 was a heavy-duty truck built by Daimler-Benz from 1939–44 in the Mercedes-Benz plant at Gaggenau, and from 1944–45 by Saurer. The long-bed vehicle was built as both a rear-wheel-drive truck (L4500S) and as an all-wheel-drive truck (L4500A). The German Wehrmacht used the L4500 with armored cabins as Flak trucks during World War II. Due to the lack of production material, the cabin was replaced with the simplified standardized Wehrmacht cabin and the mud wings with simplified wings in 1943. The L4500 chassis was also modified as a halftrack for use on the Eastern Front.

Modeling powerhouse Italeri has re-released an old classic; the British Crusader Mk III, this time with updated decals and an all-new figure set. The Crusader was used extensively in the North African campaign and, while ideally suited for combat in desert terrain, it’s light armor and moderate armament were not able to adequately match the German anti-tank guns and vast mine fields, causing substantial losses on allied forces.

Opening the Box

After building newer kits with hundreds of parts, photo-etch sheets, brass barrels, and multi-part track links, opening the Italeri Crusader box was breath of fresh air.