One thing I always tell people about the model-building hobby is how blessed I feel about the people I have met who are now my good friends. At the 2025 IPMS-USA National Convention, I made another new friend. I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Lieutenant Colonel Dusty Finley, Retired, who hailed all the way from Alaska. He served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the 11th Airborne Division (Arctic) of the U.S. Army. During our conversation, he told me about a book he was writing and I was thrilled when he told me he would mail me a copy. I received it, and from start to finish, I was enthralled. I have even been telling my friends new things I learned as a result of reading it.

2025 has seen several versions of Eduard’s P-40E released. Before this year, their P-40s consisted of M & N variants. Included in the 2025 lineup of P-40E Warhawks, Eduard has released a Royal Class Dual Combo R0023, P-40E Pacific Star Combo No 11185, the Kittyhawk Limited Edition Dual Combo No. 11187, the P-40E ProfiPack No. 82241, and the subject of this review, the P-40E Weekend Edition No. 84207.

Inside of the box, five beautifully molded gray sprues, along with one clear sprue, are contained in sealed bags. There are two decal sheets – one for stencils and another for markings also provided. This kit does not contain any PE or 3D printed parts.

This is author José Daniel Fernández Dugarte’s second volume of the 1992 coup d'état attempts in Venezuela, focusing on events of the February 1992 coup that were set up in the first volume, and the subsequent November coup that ultimately failed. The original manuscript was too large for the @War series, so the editors decided to break it into two volumes. Both volumes are essential to telling this complex story. This volume starts right where the first volume ends and outlines the rest of the first coup, the aftermath, then the second coup just nine months later, its aftermath, and the path of power for Hugo Chávez. Please read the first volume before attempting the second volume.

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, Aero L-39- L-59- L-139 & L-159 Albatros, is authored by Jakub Fojtík Ph.D. with scale drawings by Sam Pearson. The latest in Guideline’s Warpaint series, 149, was published in 2025. A digital edition will soon be available. The latest on Guideline’s publications can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/guidelinepub/

Background

The Panzerspähwagen (Funk) P204(f) was a German command radio-equipped armored car based on the captured French Panhard 178. Command variants of the P204(f) used FuG 10 or FuG 11 radios, and the large Hochantenne (elevated) frame antenna, with some vehicles also fitted with a right-side telescopic mast. The Germans converted the P204(f) into a Funk vehicle by removing the APX3 turret and installing a fixed or open-topped armored box.

Bob Sanchez has been in or around the military all his life. He was an "Air Force Brat" and credits his mom with getting him addicted to plastic modeling and airplanes. At the age of 10, Bob's mom came home with a Revell 1/32 scale P-51B and signed him up for the Military Book Club. From that point on, he was hooked! Bob Sanchez was in the USAF for 11 years as an Airborne Instrumentation/Telemetry Technician and flew on the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft as a Chief Flight Examiner. He finished his enlistment with Project Speckled Trout as a Flight Test Engineer performing airborne Comm/Nav testing on the Air Force Chief of Staff airplane. He has over 1,200 flight hours in numerous aircraft to include the C-135C, EC-135E, EC-18B/D, E-9A, NASA 757, F-16C, F/A-18B, King Air, MH-53 Pave Low, Bell Jet Ranger and OH-6 Cayuse.

Historical and Reference Notes

There are any number of articles about the Abrams tanks, as it was used widely in the Gulf wars and is still being refitted and continually upgraded in the US Army and the US Marine Corps (though the USMC has now traded theirs and discontinued their use of tanks). It was a significant improvement to the M60 series tanks which it replaced This is the culmination of years of research and started in the early 90’s to build over 4600 Chobham armored Abrams tanks (with approximately half of them now in storage). These heavy tanks have almost all been upgraded in several packages each of which have some unique design qualities (including the M1A1, M1A2 SEPv2, and the most advanced M1A2 SEPv3). There are also a total 10,000 Abrams that have been produced worldwide.

Congratulations to ICM on releasing a unique kit not available in styrene in any scale. The first release of this kit was the ICM 1/72 ZiL-131 with Trailer Armed Forces of the Ukraine (Kit No. 72817), reviewed here by fellow IPMS/USA reviewer, Marc K. Blackburn. For those who want an individual trailer to pair with another Soviet-era truck, this is the kit for you.

Reference the ICM website,

The most notable Bf-109F-0/F-1 is Adolph Galland’s machine in which he delivered lobsters to a birthday party for Theo Osterkamp. It was one of the earliest Friedrichs. Besides the lobsters the one thing that was unique about this aircraft was the squared off intake for the aircraft. Not the same as the Emil type, but entirely different. I’ve never seen it available before in 1/32nd scale. Werner’s Wings has it in 1/48 but not 32nd scale.

The Hasegawa 1/32nd scale Bf-109F is a very good kit. I’ve built a few of them. This easy conversion piece is a welcomed addition to the 109 line of accessories.

I’ve built a few Tamiya armor kits over the years but never one of their new 1/48th scale kits. I thought that I would dip my toes into Tamiya’s quarter scale pond with their new U.S. Light Tank M5A1 Stuart. By the time the M5A1 entered service it’s 37mm gun was no longer effective against German armor. However, the M5 still saw extensive service in all theaters of the war until its end. The Stuart had the advantages of having speed, reliability, mobility, and transportability, and were available in large numbers. The Stuart was used effectively for scouting and infantry fire support.

These kits have been around long enough now for me to say it’s the best of its kind in this scale. Since I’ve covered the basics of its construction in a previous review for this site, I’ll focus on details specific to this release. The primary feature of this kit is the inclusion of M-10 rocket or “Bazooka”, tubes. A separate runner of parts contains the tubes and the two types of mounting hardware. Also included are templates to locate the mounting holes on the wings. The quality of these parts is on par with the rest of the kit.

Three different marking options are included on the decal sheet as follows:

Stratus goes back to 1991 when they launched Fanatyk Plastiku for modelers in the Polish market. The original editorial team included Marek Bronkowski, Wlodzimierz Debicki, Artur Juszczak, Dariusz Karnas, Robert Panek, and Robert Peczkowski. A collaboration with MMP in 1997 later expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hard- and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus / MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

Helion is a UK-based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996 by University of Warwick graduate Duncan Rogers. Since then, they have published over 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year for readers around the world.

One of the latest in Mushroom Model Publications’ White Series, French Bombers of WWII, follows up an earlier volume on French aircraft, 2013’s French Flying Boats of WWII. MMP is calling this book part of their "Rainbow Series." I am guessing that it refers to their large format camouflage and markings set of books in their "White" series that have addressed Bulgaria, Finland, Hungarian, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Sweden. This series seems to share a commonality of discussing the specific topic of the evolution of a country's evolution in markings. To that end, this book utilizes many previously unpublished pictures and focuses on individual aircraft and is supplemented with superb color illustrations.

From the Valiant Wings Publishing website: Our eleventh title in the Airframe Detail series is an essential companion for anyone tackling the 1/72 scale kit from Azur-Frrom, the Trumpeter example in 1/48 scale, or even one of the older toolings.

Contents include:

Publisher’s Introductory Notes

“Führer Headquarters were Nazi command centers used by Hitler and his officials during World War II.

The Führer Headquarters, Führerhauptquartiere abbreviated FHQu in German, were headquarters used by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his close circle of commanders and officials. As Hitler directly controlled much of the German war effort, the FHQu were de facto military headquarters.

At the beginning of the war, Hitler's railway train served as Führerhauptquartier, for example during the Balkans campaign in the spring of 1941, but the construction of Führerhauptquartiere, Hitler's Headquarters, was entrusted to the Organisation Todt, the Nazi civil engineering body.

Introduction

I chose to review Super Model International, No. 2, because of one feature in particular—the BMW R75 build. Having previously built Revell’s 1/9-scale BMW R75 with sidecar, seeing a BMW R75 featured in this issue piqued my interest.

Magazine Features

Super Model International No. 2 from Kagero Publications is printed in A4 portrait format, on glossy, heavy paper stock, with sharp, clear photos throughout. This issue focuses on armor, showcasing advanced techniques, detailed sequences, and excellent build photos, all in color. Four authors contribute four armor projects, providing the reader with a valuable resource for techniques and finishing.

Contents

This issue features four in-depth armor subjects.

As a recap, we are building up the old Monogram kit and two ICM kits of the B-26B Marauder with ICM’s 1/48th scale Flak Bait as the main review item. I selected the following schemes for the three kits:

• “Flak Bait”, 322nd bombardment Group, Spring 1945
• “Hard to Get”, 497th BS, 344th BG, Cormeilles France 1945
• “Idiots Delight”, 391st BG, 575 BS RAF Matching England, August 1944

At the end of Part 1, the fuselages were all together and it was time to finish off the kits.

Hobby Boss’ 1/700 Type 094 Jin Class SSBN is composed of 18 injection molded styrene parts, 1 photo-etch part and a small decal sheet. One painting example is offered in full color. Assembly is broken down into two steps. Step one brings the hull halves and conning tower parts together. Step adds the conning tower to the upper hull, adds the photo-etch screw and places the supports of the display stand. Overall a very simple model.

ICM has been releasing quality kits, figure sets, and recently paints to support their vast library of releases. This one is a rebox of the original 2021 Leyland Retriever General Service Truck (Kit # 35602), but adds a figure set of Montgomery himself with three of his staff. It also has decal schemes for three versions of the same caravan: one sand-color scheme based in North Africa in 1942, a two-tone camo scheme for Tripoli in 1943, and the one I decided on, an all-dark green based in Germany in the spring of 1945.

What’s Inside the Box

You get thirteen light gray and three clear sprues, as well as seven vinyl tires and a small PE fret for the front grill. An additional sprue is inside for the four figures. Details are pretty crisp and there are a lot of interior details for the latrine and office area.