The newest in Osprey’s Duel series is authored by Mike Guardia, a six year veteran who served as an Armor Officer in the United States Army. He attended the University of Houston where he earned a BA and MA in American History. Guardia has been published by Osprey before in the New Vanguard series, but this is his first entry into the Duel series. He has also authored The Fires of Babylon, Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always, and Shadow Commander. Hal Moore, of course, was popularized by Mel Gibson in the movie “We Were Soldiers”. He is an active member in the Military Writers Society of America and has twice been nominated for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award.

Osprey publishing continues to expand the Duel Series, this time with WWII naval enemies: British Submarines and Italian Torpedo Boats in the Mediterranean. The Italian Torpedo Boats were more like a “destroyer escort” or “frigate”-style ship, not a fast attack torpedo craft.

This book follows the typical format of the series including a few chapters on the technical aspects of each vessel, the training of the combatants, the strategic situation, a very detailed narrative of combat, and wraps it up with statistics and analysis.

I have to say that I have found the reading of this book very interesting and I was surprised by how many references –to other books or interviews- this issue of Osprey Duel has. It is clearly an extremely well researched book and some of the main things I learned follow:

Thank you to Ginter Books for providing a review copy of their new release, Naval Fighters Number 102, a second volume 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 adds to the material covered in Part 1, Naval Fighters Number 101, adding brief narratives, squadron insignia images, and photographs related to the aircraft as it was used by reserves, utility, training, and other interesting operational units.

Videoaviation is new to me and once I received the sample for review, I am wondering why I have not seen their fine aftermarket resin sets. Packaged in a sturdy plastic box, resin is protected by bubble wrap with all parts flash free and cast in light tan resin. A nice touch is the pour block on the pod is on the underside opposite the side on where it connects to the pylon. This makes it easy to remove that portion and sand contour without damaging features.

There are two choices on rocket types so take notes on what version you are modeling. These parts can easily be sanded free of the pour base. Instructions show to add lugs to the top but the sample already has these cast in simplifying the assembly however the lugs are very delicate and mine were broken. Not a problem if installing on a pylon and that detail will be hidden. Decals are included with all having a white background except for “Remove before Flight” flags.

Videoaviation is new to me and once I received the sample for review, I am wondering why I have not seen their fine aftermarket resin sets. Packaged in a sturdy plastic box, resin is protected by bubble wrap. The forward bomb part, fuse and lugs are flash free but the aft section with fins have a very fine mold line that can easily be sanded. Parts are cast in light tan resin. A nice touch is the pour block on the pod is on the underside opposite the side on where it connects to the pylon. This makes it easy to remove that portion and sand contour without damaging features. There are simply four parts to assemble , front & aft sections, fuse and lugs(2). Decals are included with yellow text and clear background