Allied-Axis is a quarterly publication from Ampersand Publishing Group that provides photos on both Allied and Axis armor and other military vehicles. Each issue focuses on three or four different vehicle types and provides brief background information but primarily focuses on photographs of the vehicles. There are no ads, stories, or other distractions. Just lots of photos. Photographs are all in black-and-white and include production photos and in-action wartime photos. Many of the photos are from proving grounds demonstrating the capabilities and various versions of the vehicles. Each photo has a very descriptive caption describing the setting, configuration of the equipment, crewmembers in their uniforms, etc.

This Issue #30 features three different vehicles: a Sherman Tankdozer, a German sFH 18 15cm Howitzer (Part Two) and a M23 Ammunition Trailer.

PJ Production from Belgium makes resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft, as well as some very nice resin aircraft kits. Among their many products is a series of ejection seats to replace the usually plain kit-provided examples. This particular seat is a Martin Baker Mark 10 seat. The listing isn’t more specific than that, but says it is to be used in the Mirage, Alpha Jets, Hawk, F-18, Tucano, F-5, Rafale, Tornado, Sea Harrier, Eurofighter, AMX, Gripen, Shenyang, Osprey, and MB-339. Whew. The only one I’m not sure about is the F-5, but maybe the Swiss jets or some of the other foreign sales specified the Mk 10 seat. Still, plenty of jets to use the seat in.

Osprey has put out book # 57 in their Duel series. It is about the British Q Boats or decoy boats, as they were also known, versus the German U-boats. This book is another interesting book about World War 1 to go along with the wars 100 year anniversary.

The Imperial German U-boats were preying on the merchant ships that were supplying the British war effort. The U-boats were doing such a good job of this that Britain had to think of something that would make the submarines surface. Once surfaced, the U-boat became more vulnerable and the ship would have a better chance to fight. Enter the Q ship, a ship that appears to be a lone merchant ship and easy target. Once the U-boat surfaces the Q ship’s hidden guns appear and open fire.

The book is divided into eleven sections:

Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal which is stronger than the plastic used in the kit’s pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.”

Aires has created a new wheel bay upgrade set for the Trumpeter F-100C or F-100D. The set’s parts include the main wheel bay in the fuselage, the nose wheel bay, inserts to go into the wings, the nose gear doors and various struts, hoses, and retraction arms, along with a piece of wire to be used to replicate the hydraulic hoses for the main gear struts. In my set, the smaller pieces were broken off the casting block and all but two were missing. However, I’ve seen other copies of this set and this is not typical.

In order to install this set, you are directed to remove the kit wheel bays and the detail inside the top part of the wing. An advantage of this set is that you will not have to deal with the seam down the middle of the main bay after assembly. Additionally, there is added detail compared to the kit parts, especially in relation to the gear doors.