The emergence of colorized photos has been controversial amongst historians and certainly modelers.  The practice has come a long way and as the technology gets more advanced even better results will prove difficult for people to tell the difference. 

The latest book from Key Books embraces the colorization process and I have to say the results are pretty good.  Set in the Battle of Britain starting in July 1940 through the end of October, this paperback book brings to life the black and white photos from that era.  Colorization was done by Ghermán Mihály, with the help of author Clive J. M. Ellis to ensure the colors were as accurate as possible based off of current color research.  This colorization really gives you a feel for the actual events.  A word of caution, this technology is only as good as the artist.  Different interpretations of colors are possible, but it looks like Ghermán got it correct. 

The AMMO by Mig company is prolific in the endless useful and specific sets of paints, washes, and pigments they release. Their range of acrylic paints are designed to make painting a breeze thanks to the ease of application, with the 17mL dropper bottles. All colors in the range can be mixed with each other and with the full range of AMMO by Mig Jimenez acrylic colors. Each color is suitable for both brush and airbrush application. These acrylics are water-soluble and formulated to be safe and non-toxic. If airbrushing, I would suggest thinning first as the paints are thick out of the bottle which make them great for brush painting.

The Topdrawings series specializes in line-drawings of a given subject in each booklet. The 120th installment in this series is devoted to the always popular Armored Personnel Carrier Half-Track. This booklet covers the M3/M5/M9 versions of the half-track which were manufactured by International Harvester Company.

This booklet has 5-View line drawings for the M3A1, M3A2, M5, M5A1, M5A2, M9A1 in 1/35, 1/48 and 1/72 scale plus color profiles of M5, M9, M9A1 in French, Polish and American Service during World War II.

The booklet also includes a brief description on the overall history of the AFV. Sadly, not all line drawings have an explanation as to what was modified from the previous block series. By my personal inspection of the drawings the main differences are around the fenders and the back of the crew compartment (rounded edges instead of square ones). There might be other differences I have not noticed.

Guideline Publications Guideline Publications is the UK's leading publisher of modelling and hobby-related magazines. With a world-class portfolio of titles and an international Social Media presence, Guideline Publications has a dedicated readership that is constantly expanding into new areas.

Nikolay Yakubovich is an aviation engineer and aviation historian in Russia. He has written at least seventeen monographs focusing on Russian aircraft since 2001. These include a Russian hardcover monograph on the Tupolev Tu-16, published on January 1, 2001 all the way to 2019’s Guideline Warpaint 124 on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. Publishers include Wydawnictwo Militaria, Tseyhgauz, Eksmo Yauza, and of course, Guideline.

Historical Background

This book is part of a series explaining the historical developments of military and civil aviation in the Arab World. This includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran. After the end of World War I, these regions were in the process of moving from European colonial rule to independence, with Britain and France in decline, while Germany and Italy were attempting to increase their influence. At the same time, aviation was slowly improving, and the Middle Eastern areas were developing more sophisticated aviation facilities. The British were probably the most involved in colonial developments, while France and Spain were in decline.