This is the second book about Portuguese forces that I have read, authored by José Augusto Matos (he co-authored Sanctuary Lost, Portugal’s Air War for Guinea 1961-1974, Volume 1, with Matthew M. Hurley). Having read both books, I now better understand the author’s style and attention to detail. This is Zelia Oliveira’s first book in the series. As the title states, this book is the road to the Portuguese Coup of 1974 and covers primarily the period from 1961 to 12 March 1974 in amazing detail (there are ten pages of sources, bibliography, and notes).

Italeri has brought out the long awaited 1/32 scale Macchi MC.202 Folgore (Italian for Thunderbolt) just in time for the 100^th anniversary of the Regia Aeronautica (RA; Royal Italian Air Force). The MC.202 was a development of the earlier C.200 Saetta, which was a radial engine design. The MC.202 used the Italian built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine and a redesigned more streamlined fuselage. Considered to be one of the best wartime fighters to serve in large numbers with the Regia Aeronautica, the Folgore served on all fronts the Italians operated in.

Tru-Color Paint is a model paint manufacturer based in the US. They have an extensive line of railroad and car paints and they are continuously expanding their military line (aircraft, naval, armor).

This set includes the following colors (all of them already available in their line).

• TCP-1281: Dark Green
• TCP-1281: Dark Earth
• TCP-1284: Dark Sea Grey
• TCP-1287: Ocean Grey
• TCP-1288: Sky Type S
• TCP-1290: Interior Green

The set includes the main colors used by the RAF in the early years of WWII in Europe (Dark Green, Dark Earth, Sky, Interior Green) and some of the colors used in the later years (Dark Green, Ocean Grey, Interior Green). Including Dark Sea Grey is perhaps a bit unusual as that color was rarely used. Personally, I would have replaced it with Medium Sea Grey, which was the most common undersurface color in the later years of WWII.

This is a re-boxing of the Two Bobs kit first released in 2009. Special Hobby has since issued three versions. In this the “Anniversary Markings”, version we get a US Navy bird celebrating the American Bicentennial and a Greek AF, T-2 marked to commemorate 40 years of service with that organization. The T-2 first flew in 1958 and was the backbone of the Navies jet training syllabus till its replacement in 2008. The Hellenic or Greek AF received a total of 40 T-2Es and is just now in the process of phasing the last out of service. Venezuela also used this venerable trainer. In total 609 were built giving thousands of military aviators their first experience of jet flight.

Although not as famous as the U.S. Army’s GMC CCKW ‘Deuce-and-a-half’ the Studebaker US6 trucks were historically important trucks in their own right. Over 200,000 were built by Studebaker and Reo, with the vast majority of these trucks provided as ‘Lend-Lease’ to the Soviet Union and other allies. Although not ‘standard’ in the U.S. Army, many trucks were used by the U.S. Army Corps of engineers and transportation units in building and using supply routes such as the Alaska-Canada Highway, the Ledo Road from India to China, and the Persian Corridor from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union. (Tankograd Technical Manual Series #6037 and Wikipedia).