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Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$49.95

I have always loved the look and lines of the Westland Lysander so when given the chance, I didn’t hesitate to build the profipack kit from Eduard. To be honest I have the older Gavia boxing in my stash but it doesn’t contain all the little extras that Eduard has added over and above the original boxing of the Gavia kit in 2001. From reading reviews of the Gavia boxing there was small issue in the original tool that involved the location of the alignment holes for the wing strut attachment points. On the recommendation of a friend, I compared the molding of Eduard’s Lysander to the original boxing and Eduard have retooled the lower wing pieces to relocate the alignment holes to the correct position. Go team! The rest of the box o’ parts were top notch and included the great Eduard instruction sheet, color painting guide, decals for five different aircraft, pre-painted photoetch, kabuki masks and of course the polystyrene parts.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$19.95

David Doyle’s latest book continues to expand on Squadron Signal’s long standing In Action series that initiated back in 1971. This is actually the third book to cover the F-105 in the In Action series. Lou Drendel authored the first in 1974 (1017) followed by Ken Neubeck in 2002 (1185), both of which are out of print. This edition by David Doyle adds considerably to the material provided in the first two. Veteran illustrator Don Greer provides the artwork for the full page length color profiles within this tome.

Book Author(s)
Robert J Kowalski and Tommy H. Thomason
Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Ginter Books
MSRP
$46.95

Thank you to Ginter Books for providing a review copy of their new release, Naval Fighters Number 10, the first of a three volume set covering the Grumman S2F/S-2 Tracker and the WF-2/E - 1 B Tracer. I also appreciate all of those in the IPMS Reviewer Corps, who do the heavy lifting to get the reviews done, from start to finish.

Overview

The Tracker holds a special interest for me beyond my personal enthusiasm for USN aviation, an interest honed after hearing two Navy veterans argue about how effective the aircraft was. Naturally, one was a submarine officer, and the other an S2F aviator. This volume is the first of three projected volumes covering the Tracker, with development, testing, variants and foreign users described.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
Company
The Ampersand Publishing Group
MSRP
$20.00

The book, "M10/Achilles, A Visual History of the U.S. Army’s WWII Tank Destroyer" by David Doyle, starts with a short introduction that details the start of US Army WW II Tank Destroyer strategy and then a brief history from the early war period thru the end of the war.

The book is divided into 2 sections, the M10 and the Achilles.

Each section has both black and white photos from the war years, and color photos from the surviving museum examples. Most of the photos are well done and in good focus. Some of the wartime photos are little grainy, but give a good idea of the M10/Achilles in action.

The color photos are a mix of wide shots and detail close-ups. These close-ups are very well done and will help the modeler get the details done accurately.

The captions on the photos explain what you are seeing and give additional details about the subject.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

More metal gear from Ross at SAC. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review.

This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Kinetic’s F-16 series are most excellent, and easy to work with, but the landing gear, being part of the new plastic as well, tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has 11 parts; two main struts, three retraction links, two main gear extension rams, a nose gear and separate nose tire along with a torque link, and the set includes a replacement back bulkhead for the kit main gear well.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

More metal gear from Ross at SAC - another winner set. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review.

This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Airfix newest releases are just fantastic, and easy to work with, but the landing gear being part of the new plastic as well tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has seven parts; two main struts, two retraction links, two torque links, and a tail wheel and strut combo.

This was another “only takes five-minutes” installation once I got to the point of being ready to install the gear. The gear struts and drag link fit right into place, superglue and finished. Same for the retraction/extension arm; all were a direct replacement for the kit parts.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Model Art
MSRP
$29.99

Model Art Issue 61 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions. The Vessel Model Special is a quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. Each issue leads off with either short articles on a finished build or an in depth step-by-step ‘how to’ on the build and painting. The finished model photographs are of high quality in brightness, color, and depth of focus. Advertising comprises the inside covers (and back cover) along with another four pages showing what is available and new, always useful for building up that wish list. I counted nearly 600 photos (mostly in color) along with ten 1/700 scale drawings. You will find throughout this journal, period photographs of the real ships and aircraft involved in battle. Additionally there are a lot of color scrap drawings highlighting details in the Ship Construction series.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Acrylicos Vallejo

Vallejo has introduced a series of eighteen metallic colors in their Metal Colors line. This also includes a glossy black primer and a gloss protective varnish. Each bottle is 32ml (1.08 ounces) and has an excellent pour dropper which is angled. MSRP is $10.99 per bottle.

The colors reviewed are:

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$5.23

This is a nice set of jerry can holders that can replace the usually over-scaled plastic holders on military vehicles. The photoetch comes on one small fret that is about 1 ½ in. x 1 5/8 in. Four holders are provided with the photoetch. Each holder consists of seven parts: the holder, four bolts, and two straps for the jerry cans.

The bolt heads are actually six-sided hexagons and are microscopic. I soldered the first bolt head into place, but the solder obscured the shape of the head. The subsequent bolt heads were glued into place with superglue, which worked much better.