One of the latest offerings from Academy is their new tooling of a Super Hornet in 1/72 scale. Academy is known for well-designed and sharp tooling, and this kit is no exception.

The kit comes molded in 3 colors: gray, white and black. The gray parts include most of the airframe and other parts. The black parts include the vertical stabilizer, burner cans, tires, seat and instrument panels. Don't fret over the black verticals, however, as they are included in gray as well. The white sprue includes intakes, main gear wheel hubs and landing gear struts.

Note: This book is also available in two other formats, eBook (Pub) and eBook (PDF).

Osprey Publishing in their Duel Series and Mark Stille, along with illustrations by Jim Laurier, have published an excellent book on US Navy Ships vs Kamikazes 1944–45. Mark Stille, a retired US Navy Commander., has a BA in history and a MA from the Ward College.

What you get is a softcover book covering 80 pages with high resolution black and white glossy, detailed historical photos. Cockpit images and illustrated maps in color are also included. The book is divided into11 sections.

Tom Cooper and David Nicolle's Arab MiG series is an incredible history that addresses the Arab air forces of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria and from 1955 through 1973. Although MiG aircraft dominate the story, all Post-WWII Arab aircraft are included. The authors have been able to access official archives as well as the combatants involved to provide a unique perspective of the Middle East conflicts. Volume one in this series, published November 19, 2009, covered the background of the Arab air forces from 1955 focusing on MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters. Volume two, published October 19, 2011, addressed the Arab air force supersonic fighters from 1956 through 1967. Volume three in the Arab MiGs series focuses on the Arab air forces in the June 1967 War. Three additional volumes follow in this series, all with the same thick 256 glossy page count. I counted 148 black and white photographs, 28 color pictures, 17 color side profiles, and three maps.

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Quickboost's Messerschmitt Bf 109G Exhaust for the 1/48 Eduard 109G series of kits. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation of the packaging with the sealed flap on the back of package to allow for easy access to parts.

Upon removal of the resin exhaust you will notice the great detail that we have come to expect from Aires Quickboost products. The molding on the exhaust is excellent and they come off of the resin block with little effort, I tried a couple of different methods of removal, on the first one I removed with razor saw and the second on I was able to score with a blade and remove easily.

This kit features three figures depicting Wehrmacht soldiers fighting in the battles around Smolensk and Roslavl in 1941. From the start of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German forces army had enjoyed many quick successes and had advanced over 300 miles in less than 3 weeks. However, when they encountered the Soviets in the region around Smolensk, the Germans ran into heavier than expected resistance and were delayed for three months from July to September 1941. Although, the Soviet counterattack failed, and resulted in huge losses, including three Soviet armies, this defensive battle slowed the German advance and showed that a Blitzkrieg to capture Moscow was not going to be as easy as expected.