Book Author(s)
Peter Lush
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$39.95
From The Casement Publisher's website:
What's New
Published on
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$54.99
Airfix has a long tradition of packaging kits into gift sets. This tradition continues with the release of the Bomber Command Gift Set. As you can see from the box, profits go to an RAF charity. They have blended their ground support set with a Lancaster Bomber, making for a Bomber Command gift set. I have had the opportunity over the past several years to review the newer kits that Airfix is releasing, and I have been very pleased with their choice of subjects, improved instructions, and ease of assembly. This continues with this gift set. Airfix usually adds some extras to their gift sets. This gift set includes little plastic bottles of Humbrol paint that correspond to the painting instructions. It also has two little tubes of plastic cement. Having never used Airfix cement, in spite of its smell, I certainly like it better than the traditional Testors plastic cement.
Book Author(s)
Neil Thornton
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$35.00
Neil Thornton’s book takes a fresh look at one of the most famous battles in British history, that being the battle that took place at Rorke’s Drift on January 22-23, 1879. Author Thornton indicates, in the book’s title, that it presents a new perspective to a very well-known and documented engagement.
Thornton puts forward a new narrative based upon a significant quantity of documentation, reasonable and logical conjecture upon some aspects of the defense of Rorke’s Drift, and in so doing, points to the conduct of John Chard VC, 5th Company Royal Engineers, as not only exemplary but one of the most important factors in the successful defense of the brief, but ferocious fighting between the Zulu army and the British Soldiers.
Published on
Company
David Doyle Books
MSRP
$22.95
The book explores the history of both the Kubelwagen and the Schwimmwagen in photos.
The visual history series of book mixes rare and visual stunning archival imagery with pictures of restored vehicles.
The book has some extremely interesting and diverse photos of both vehicles. A number of photos that I had never seen before made this a very fascinating book. I could spend hours looking at the pictures that are worth a million words! There are some wonderful pictures showing captured versions – idea for model inspiration.
The pictures depict many versions of the vehicles and there is some very detailed walk around photos included. The close up pictures are great at showing the details of the vehicles.
I whole heartily recommend this book to everyone with an interest in these vehicles; it has great reference photos. It is a great book for modelers.
I look forward greatly to others in the series, especially if they are by David Doyle.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00
Quickboost replacement propellers have been around for a few years now, but this is the first chance I have taken to work with one. I have to say I am impressed. This is an ingenious idea, which is very quick and simple – all at a reasonable price. There are other products on the market today which help the modeler to properly align their propeller blades. Quickboost has done something here which accomplishes the same thing, at lower cost.
The La-7 propeller set comes in the typical Quickboost plastic sleeve packaging, and contains several resin parts: The propeller hub, a resin set of propeller blades and “the tool”. The detail set is designed for the Hasegawa or Eduard boxing of the 1/48 WWII Soviet La-7 Fighter.
Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$19.95
The book is one of Squadron Signal series Aircraft in Action. It explores the history and development of the Convair B-58 Hustler. I have always loved this aircraft design and was very happy to have this book added to my reference library. The pictures of the B-58 in production and maintenance were something I really liked to see.
The book has some extremely interesting and diverse photos of the iconic B-58, there are over 200 photographs included. The photos show the classic lines and design of this wonderful symbol of the early cold war. The book drew me in to the point that I had to pull the B-58 model out of my stash ready to start building, using the book for valuable reference.
This book should be in every aircraft lover’s library and I recommend this book to everyone. The great reference photos are ideal for all modelers. The pictures and drawings of the aircraft during development, prototyping and production are very good and many I had never seen before
Published on
Company
Airscale Model Aircraft Enhancements
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.20
If you build modern aircraft in 1/32 scale, and are frustrated with some of the details that seem to be lacking on the instrument panels, this product will help you add more details to those instrument panels.
The package consists of one photo-etched (PE) brass sheet with a large number of instrument bezels, ejection seat handles, mirrors, switch panels, warning/caution light panels, and multi-function CRT interface bezels. Use these bezels/panels along with instrument decals (kit or aftermarket) and a truly realistic instrument panel can be made. This package, along with aftermarket instrument decals, can be used to scratchbuild panels that may not be included in a 1/32 kit, or replace a completely inaccurate panel on a kit. The ejection seat handles can be used to enhance either a kit ejection seat, or an aftermarket ejection seat.
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.99
Furball; a dogfighters’ term for a fighter-themed modeling company. We sincerely appreciate Furball Aero-Design’s support of IPMS USA and their providing one more of their great products for review. And thanks to the reviewer corps leaders for sending this set to me to review!
This set provides markings for nine early-model F-14A’s from the Bicentennial era:
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$41.95
This is a diorama set which observes the 25th anniversary of the Gulf War. The kit comes with 4 1/72 models; The US AH-1 Cobra, the US M-1A1 Abrams, the Iraqi Mi-25 and an Iraqi T-62.
Because there are 4 models in the set, and we have time limits, the helicopters are built by Mike Hinderliter, and the armor by Jim Pearsall. The review will appear in 4 parts, as each of the 4 kits is finished.
The T-62
The T-62 is a Main Battle Tank, developed from the T-55. The big improvements of the T-62 were a smoothbore main gun which could fire high velocity armor piercing rounds. Iraq had T-62s in the 1980 Iran-Iraq war, and they were successful against M-60s and Chieftains. But advancements in Coalition equipment, particularly the US M1A1 Abrams put the T-62 at a disadvantage in the 1991-92 Gulf War.
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$99.99
What's in the Huge Box
When I opened the box I was impressed with the numbers of sprues. At first glance it did not appear that this was going to be too difficult of a build. However, I later discovered that my assumption was incorrect. There are a lot of parts to put together, and you must be ready to devote some time into this model because it will take a while to complete. With that said, let's get on with the good stuff. Here is a breakdown of the items in the huge box.
Kit contents
- 20-Grey Sprues
- 4-DS Tires
- 1-Tow Cable
- Decals
- Instructions
(An interesting note. This kit has no photo etch parts. You will also have a ton of leftover parts in the kit which all look like the belong to the HEMTT. The question is why did Dragon not release the HEMMT with this kit?)