I knew that Canberras had been used in the 1956 Suez Campaign, the 1990-91 Gulf War, the 1995-96 Bosnia affair and the Operation Telic, the 2003 Iraq war. This book showed me a number of facets of the Canberra’s career as the longest lasting RAF aircraft, from the first production in 1951 to the retirement of the PR.9s in 2006. Yes, 55 years. The Canberra replaced Lancasters, Lincolns and Washingtons (B-29s) and was itself superseded by Jaguars and Tornadoes.

There were actually three Canberra missions; tactical bomber, nuclear bomber and photo-reconnaissance.

This book follows only the RAF Canberras, not the American (B-57), Argentina, Australia, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Peru, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden, Venezuela, West Germany, or Zimbabwe.

I learned that Canberras had been deployed to protect Kuwait from invasion by Iraq, but this was in 1961.

Mini-Art continues to expand its 1/35 line of figures this time with a “French Civilian” set, with a total of 53 parts for 5-figures. One of the figures is a priest, another one a middle-aged business person, a French policeman, one young man carrying some bread in a basket (or is it a member of the resistance?) and an old man, with a raised arm, like if it were to be celebrating the liberation.

You get two sprues, plus a small sprue map in the box. Color instructions are called on the back of the box. There is no flash in the figures, but some line molding removal will be needed.

Most figures are multipieces, with several having two or more parts for the torso and in most cases the hats are molded separately from the head.

Mini-Art continues to expand its 1/35 line of figures this time with a 5-figure set of “British Officers”. One of the figures wears a kilt and the rest of the figures have gear for somewhat cold weather (coats, scarfs, etc).

You get two sprues for a total of 52 parts, plus a small printed out page with a parts map. There is no flash in the sprues and the mold lines are extremely faint.

Assembly and color instructions are in the back of the box. The kilt is likely to be the most challenging part to paint. I know it is beyond my painting skills and I would have like to have a decal provided for it.

The figures are broken down in a typical fashion of torso (at times two or three parts), legs, arms and head. When applicable, hats are molded as an independent part. Two of the figures seem to have maps or books on their hands.

Moebius Models continues to add to their growing line of Battlestar Galactica kits, including issuing some prefinished built up display kits.

Having grown up watching the original Battlestar Galactica, I was thrilled with the modern television series of the past decade. It is great to be a plastic modeler and have kits available from the series – thanks to Moebius Models!

Reviewed here is the Battlestar Galactica 1/4105 Painted and Assembled Display Model.

The kit comes in a sturdy outer sleeve with some nice artwork of the Galactica. The inner box shows the Galactica with a star background and the kit in a plastic cradle. My review sample arrived with one of the main engines separated from the kit, but it was a quick and painless repair.

Trumpeter has been releasing first class kits of Soviet Bloc aircraft for some years now. They have recently been taking on the MiG-23 Flogger and its variants.

The prominent point of any jet is the cockpit and the exhaust. With the limitations of plastic molding we, as model builders, are lucky to have resin parts. If you were going to do anything to spruce up a kit I concentrate on those two areas.

Perfectly molded in light grey resin the Brassin parts are everything that I’ve come to expect from Eduard. The detail on these seven resin parts is impressive to say the least. Of course none of the parts have any blemishes or imperfections that I could find other than my exhaust nozzle was slightly warped. A quick dip in warm water restored the roundness.