IPMS/USA Reviews

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy and IPMSUSA staff for delivering the book and publishing the review.

Mark Lardas is a real "rocket scientist" who has worked on Space Shuttle analytics and navigation. He is also an accomplished author with at least twelve books on naval topics, and a model maker as well. See his website for more details (www.marklardas.com). He has the gift of dissecting complex subjects (military campaigns) and finding the key fulcrums of change that led to the historical outcomes. He takes a fresh approach to re-analyze with additional information, with an objective, less-jaundiced eye for what really happened. The result is refreshing, especially for something like Tsushima 1905, something naval buffs think they know a lot about.

Osprey's Campaign 330 covers all the Russo-Japanese War naval campaigns, including the famous Tsushima battle. Like other Osprey Campaign books, this issue is 96 pages (not counting the front/back covers) -enough for a comprehensive discussion on the war and its naval side.

This publication can be purchased in one of three formats. The paperback edition (9781472827678) retails at $20.00. Both the eBook (ePub) (9781472827661) and eBook (PDF) (9781472827654) can be purchased for $16.00.

Written by David Greentree, Illustrated by Peter Dennis and Mark Stacy.

David Greentree graduated in History at York before taking an MA in War Studies from King's College London and qualifying as a lecturer in Further Education. In 1995 he accepted a commission in the Royal Air Force and has served in a variety of locations, including Afghanistan and Oman. He has written several books for Osprey, focusing on British military history and World War II. He lives in Southsea, UK.

Mark Stacey was born in Manchester in 1964 and has been a freelance illustrator since 1987. He has a lifelong interest in all periods of history, particularly military history, and has specialized in this area throughout his career. He now lives and works in Cornwall, UK.

CMK has produced a very nicely detailed resin Allison V-1710-39 engine for the 1/72 Special Hobby P-40E kits. The supplied items include the engine block, parts to assemble the mounting frame, firewall, engine cover panels and radiator assembly. Although made for the Special Hobby P-40E kit, with some prudent sanding to fit, the engine set should be adaptable to any of the 1/72 P-40E kits currently on the market. I dry-fitted to my Academy example (see photos).

Be sure to wash the parts in soapy water to remove mold release agents and prime prior to using your favorite modeling paints.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to the IPMS Reviewer Corps and CMK for the opportunity to review this item.

The Aircraft

The B-52 has been in service since 1955. Which means that in about 2 years they should start sending them Social Security checks. Because there are still 58 B-52s in service, the type may still participate in combat again. It's expected the BUFF will still be in service in 2050.

The aircraft in this kit are the types used in the 1960s and 70s in Vietnam, for Operation Rolling Thunder, Operation Arc Light and Operation Linebacker II. 31 B-52s were lost in the war, 17 shot down, one written off due to combat damage, 11 lost to accidents, one burned at the airport and one ran off the end of the runway and ran into a minefield.

The Kit

This kit is a rework of Minicraft's B-52H. Several of the sprues are marked for B-52H. The fuselage is new, there is an entire new set of engines, 4 pods for the D and 4 different pods for the F. There are also 24 "iron bombs and the underwing pylons and multiple bomb racks for these. The wings, landing gear, horizontal stabilizers and engine pylons are all from the H kit.

Background

The Sukhoi Su-24 "Fencer" has been in service for the Russian air forces for over 40 years. It is a rugged, variable wing sweep bomber that is easy to fly and well-liked by the two-man crew. Several kits have been produced of this aircraft and recently, the Advanced Modeling company has released some decal sets that depict the Fencer in modern markings.

In accordance with the agreement between Russia and Syria, a group of Russian aircraft were sent to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, September 2015 to fly in support of the Syrian ground forces. During actual operations, the national insignias and registration numbers were overpainted. This could not be easily removed so areas of lighter gray can be seen behind the restored insignias and numbers on certain aircraft. This sheet contains seven different markings for Su-24s that have been operated out of the Khmeimim Air Base.