This book contains 84 pages, 150 b/w photos, 3 color photos, 12 color profiles, 2 B/W maps, and 5 tables. It covers the war between Hungary and Slovakia in 1939.

Like WWII, which would begin 162 days later, the origins of this conflict could also trace its beginnings back to WWI and the Treaty of Versailles and specifically the Treaty of Trianon.

Hungary wanted to recover territory it had to give up as per the treaty, especially that in Sub-Carpathia. With Germany having seized Czechoslovakia and created the new nation of Slovakia, this seemed the right time to Hungarian officials. The war lasted approximately 12 days which in the end saw Slovakia cede roughly 655 square miles of territory back to Hungary.

This is the first in what is promised to be a new series of aircraft modeling guides, and the chosen subject is the incomparable Avro Vulcan, the best known of Britain’s Cold War “V-Bombers.” Designed for nuclear deterrence but made famous at the end of its career for the “Black Buck” missions against the Argentine invaders in the Falklands War.

Author Geoff Coughlin is well known in British aviation modeling circles and is the founder of the scalemodellingnow.com website. A well-established author and aviation historian, he starts the book with a good but necessarily brief history of the type’s development and service, I think that this would have benefited from being longer, but size restrictions clearly came into play.

A new vendor, DXM Decals from Taiwan, has provided the IPMS-USA reviewer corps with a wonderful waterslide decal set commemorating the JASDF 8th Squadron 60th Anniversary Special Painting of an F-2A “Panther Spots” in 2020.

The Anniversary markings are for the following aircraft:

• F-16C Block 50P, No. 13-8558 (SN 1058) – 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tsuiki Air Base, Japan.

Contents

There is one folded color sheet, printed on both sides (8 X 11.5 inches) that shows decal placement. There are three decal sheets which come with a complete set of stencils and the special camouflage scheme. Painting references are for five colors: FS35109, FS36320, Black, Radome Gray, and a Black+5% White mixture.

Another review of another ICM kit - and I can’t get enough of them! This time I am working on the ICM 48326 Marauder Mk. III in 1:48 scale. As always, another beautifully detailed kit with many pieces. ICM has some of the best detailed aircraft kits around, and they are always a joy to work on. The Marauder is no exception!

Unboxing

This is a massive kit with 8 sprues molded in their usual light grey, 2 in clear, and 1 decal sheet. The instructions are just as clear, beautiful, and easy to follow as I have come to expect and look forward to from ICM. They have 3 possible paint schemes to choose from on this one, all with a lighter shade of green on the top of the aircraft and beige on the underside, with decals to match the specific color palettes.

Academy/MRC has released a new boxing of the Rafale M in 1/144th scale. From Scalemates.com, the original molds were created by Revell-AG in 1999.

In the Box

The kit is enclosed in a top-opening box and comes with four gray sprues and one clear. Instructions are well illustrated and easy to follow, and contain 12 steps for assembly.

There are four marking options for this kit for the Aeronavale (Naval Air Arm of the French Navy). The markings are as follows:

From the Manufacturer’s Website

The de Havilland Mosquito was a versatile twin-engine aircraft that was one of the best aircraft of World War II. Not for nothing was it called the ‘Wooden Wonder’. It was used as a night fighter, fighter-bomber, bomber, reconnaissance, anti-ship or special transport aircraft. The first generation of Mosquitos was powered by Merlin engines with single-stage superchargers. In the spring of 1943, two-stage Merlins with higher performance at higher altitudes were installed in the Mosquito. This resulted in the PR Mk.IX reconnaissance version and the B Mk.IX bomber. They were produced in limited numbers, as they were replaced in production by the mass-produced PR Mk.XVI and B Mk.XVI versions, equipped with a pressurized cockpit. The performance of the PR Mk.XVI version was so high that enemy fighters could hardly threaten it.

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) has provided the IPMS reviewer corps with a set of 1/48th scale metal landing gear for Great Wall Hobby’s Su-27. These parts are drop-in replacements and provide a more robust landing gear set given its metal properties.

In the Package

The metal pieces are packaged in a clear blister package with cardboard backing. No instructions are provided.

Review Process

The metal landing gear set is used as drop-in replacements for the kit parts as noted:

Background and Historical NotesManufacturer’s Product Description

Studebaker US6-U3 in German Service

Guideline Publications Guideline Publications is the UK's leading publisher of modeling 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. This English language book, Warpaint 152, Junkers Ju 86, is authored by Daniel Kowalczuk with scale drawings by Sam Pearson. The latest Guideline’s Warpaint series, 152, was published in 2026. A digital edition will soon be available. News on Guideline’s publications can be found on Facebook.

War Dog Modeling offers a line of stands for holding various types of models (aircraft, ships, etc.) for painting and detailing. I was given the opportunity to try out the model car stand.

The stand itself appears to be 3D printed. All the parts are solid and strong, and it feels well-made. Mine came in an unmarked box, unassembled, with no instructions or photos. It was relatively easy to figure out how it all went together from the photos on their web site, but a photo or a simple exploded drawing in the box would have been appreciated. All the parts went together very easily, and no tools were required.

Another in ICM’s range of paint sets, this time for use with any WWII British armoured vehicles.

The set contains the following 12ml paint pots from their range of generic colours; I have listed what I believe to be their intended uses:

• 1041 Buff – Light Stone/Portland Stone
• 1027 Gun Metal Metallic – tracks
• 1054 Chocolate – possibly SCC.2 Brown, but this paint is too dark
• 1059 Green Ochre – Middle Stone/Dark Stone
• 1069 Extra Dark Green – Deep Bronze Green
• 1071 Camouflage Green – SCC. 15 Olive Drab or Khaki Green No.3

The back of the box has a couple of drawings showing suggested uses for each color. The Camo pattern on the Churchill is like nothing I have seen before on a British tank, though it’s quite possible it was a special scheme in Italy.

Recent advances in 3D design and printing have made it much easier for new kit manufacturers to enter the market with subjects usually avoided by traditional manufacturers. A good example of this is MDesign of Bulgaria. MDesign produces 3D-printed kits of unusual WWI subjects in a variety of scales. In this review I will be examining their new 1/32nd scale kit of the LFG Roland D.II. The Roland D.II was an attempt to develop a fighter from the successful Roland C.II two-seater reconnaissance aircraft. The D.II was not a success, it couldn’t match the performance of contemporary Albatros fighters and was more difficult to fly. The Roland D.II had a very short service life with Germany on the Western Front. The Roland D.II had a much longer career in Bulgarian service.

War Dog Modeling offers a line of stands for holding various types of models (aircraft, ships, etc.) for painting and detailing. I was given the opportunity to try out the model car stand.

The stand itself appears to be 3D printed. All the parts are solid and strong, and it feels well-made. Mine came in an unmarked box, unassembled, with no instructions or photos. It was relatively easy to figure out how it all went together from the photos on their web site, but a photo or a simple exploded drawing in the box would have been appreciated. All the parts went together very easily, and no tools were required.

AOA Decals has a good reputation for quality decals, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review another one of their newest releases, JLTV (1) - M1279

US Marines (35-013). The decals come in two sheets, one of stencils and the other of markings for nine options.

Reviewer’s Comments

Another in ICM’s range of paint sets, this time for use with any WWII British armoured vehicles.

The set contains the following 12ml paint pots from their range of generic colours; I have listed what I believe to be their intended uses:

1041 Buff – Light Stone/Portland Stone

1027 Gun Metal Metallic – tracks

1054 Chocolate – possibly SCC.2 Brown, but this paint is too dark

1059 Green Ochre – Middle Stone/Dark Stone

1069 Extra Dark Green – Deep Bronze Green

1071 Camouflage Green – SCC. 15 Olive Drab or Khaki Green No.3

The back of the box has a couple of drawings showing suggested uses for each color. The Camo pattern on the Churchill is like nothing I have seen before on a British tank, though it’s quite possible it was a special scheme in Italy.

This is a little out of order but I was building side by side and wanted to get the base finished to hold him when is done as the T-800 will weigh around 17-18 pounds. With the base (which is steps 108 to 120), it comes pre-painted in a gray and rust and looks nice. Needless to say, I could not leave well enough alone. The base also includes the sound chip, the battery pack that supplies it and four colored spot lights. The base comes in four large plastic parts with many different parts to add to the top including a skull, bones, springs and various rock and metal bits. Underneath, there were four LED lights that will need assembled, a multipart battery pack and the wiring to power it all.

Images of War: Tanks and Armour at Leningrad 1941–1944 is a photographic military history by Ian Baxter, published by Pen & Sword Books⁠ as part of its long-running Images of War series. The book is a 144-page paperback containing roughly 150–200 black-and-white photographs, many of them rare or previously unpublished.

The book focuses on the armored warfare surrounding the Siege of Leningrad, beginning with the opening of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 and ending with the German retreat in early 1944. It concentrates primarily on the German side of the campaign, especially the armored units of Army Group North and their advance toward Leningrad.

Among the formations discussed are:

Images of War: Tanks and Armour at Kursk 1943 is a forthcoming entry in the long -running Images of War photographic-history series from Pen and Sword Military. It focuses on the German armored formations that participated in the Battle of Kursk during Operation Citadel in July 1943, widely regarded as the largest tank battle in history.

The book is written by Ian Baxter, a prolific historian specializing in German military history of the Second World War. Baxter has produced numerous illustrated campaign studies emphasizing archival photography, unit organization, and battlefield conditions.

What the Book Covers

The emphasis is on:

AOA Decals has a good reputation for quality decals, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review another one of their newest releases, the M-ATV (1) M1240/M1277 US Air Force, Marines, Army, and National Guard (35-010). The decals come in two sheets, one consisting of stencils, and the other with markings for nine vehicles. The second decal sheet in the M-ATV series, M-ATV (2) M1240/M1277 US Army (MFO), Poland, Croatia, and Ukraine (35-011), was previously reviewed.

Two Bobs Aviation Graphics has provided the IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps with a wonderful waterslide decal set commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the very first Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) mission, which was flown during the Vietnam War in 1965. This project was code named “Wild Weasel.” This decal set captures the unique paint scheme applied to F-16C Fighting Falcons of the 20th Fighter Wing out of Shaw AFB in South Carolina.

The two F-16C Fighting Falcons markings are for: