Magazine

Text by Martin Waligorski Photos: Center of Military History, US Navy; Air Force Historical Research Agency   ”Ever since the days of the Phoenicians, the ability to land on defended shores has been a source of strength for those who possess it and a source of concern for those who […]

US Beach Landing Operations, 1943-45, Part 2

Academy’s 1/72nd Scale PBY-5 Catalina by Darrell Carney   Consolidated’s venerable Catalina was born from a 1933 US Navy requirement for a new long range flying boat. First flown in 1935 the design matured into the distinctive twin engine, high wing patrol aircraft that saw service in every theater of […]

Out of the Big Box

…or How My Airfix Auster Survived for 20 Years!  by Magnus Fridsell   That magic ”first model” Very few people’s “first models” seem to have survived, according to the tales one hear at the club meetings, many met an early death in the form of a match, firecracker or even […]

Do You Remember Your First Plastic Model?

Text by Martin Waligorski Photos: Center of Military History, US Navy   June marks the anniversary of D-Day landings, so it feels all the more appropriate to present our new photo album this month. It was almost 60 years ago that Allied forces surprised German defenders with an invasion of […]

US Beach Landing Operations, 1943-45, Part 1

artwork by Tor Karlsson text by Martin Waligorski   First announced in September 1973, the Bell 206L Long Ranger was developed to meet a requirement for a turbine-powered general-purpose helicopter in a size and performance range between the five-seat Jet Ranger II and 15-seat Model 205A-1. The original Model 206L […]

Bell 206L Long Ranger in Swedish Police Service

The Definitive Kit of the Cold War Armour Classic is Here by Brandon Hopkins About 12 years ago, I watched a movie called The Beast. In its most basic description, it’s a movie about the fall of a Russian tank crew in the Russian/Afghan war in the 1980’s. The tank […]

T-55 by Tamiya

model by Magnus Löfqvist text and photos by Martin Waligorski   After the death of King Charles II a succession dispute   developed between his brother, James VII of Scotland and II of England and his son-in-law, William of Orange. The entire history if this conflict is not within the scope […]

Highland Clansman, Culloden 1746

Modelling the RX-79G Gundam by Fernando Cuenca I have been scale modelling on and off for about 10 years, during that time I only modelled WWII bombers in 1/48 scale. This suddenly changed after a trip to the U.S. last year, where I discovered a whole new world of models. […]

The Future of Armour

Thunderbolt II from 261 Sqn RAF  by Leonard Thomson   This is the Revell (Germany) kit of the P-47D Thunderbolt in 1/72 scale. I had heard very good reports about this kit from Drewe Manton, and spotted one in the shops for something like £2.99. Very cheap. I have been […]

Thunderbolt for the British

Text by Martin Waligorski Photos by Martin Waligorski and Frank Spahr   Despite being one of the icons of post-war civilian aviation, the large, fabric-covered An-2 biplane remains firmly rooted in the 1920s. The An-2 was designed by Oleg Antonov as an agricultural aircraft for the post-war Soviet rural economy. […]

Antonov An-2 Colt in Detail

Tamiya’s classic still goes together like Lego bricks  by Vegard Henanger   As the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was entering service with Luftwaffe units during the later half of the 1930’s, its potential successor, the Fw 190, was already being designed by Dipl. Ing. Kurt Tank of Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau. However, the […]

Focke Wulf Fw 190A-3

ICM 1/48 P-51B in RAF colours by Wojtek Perkowski   The North American’s legendary P-51 fighter is widely recognized for being a result of a RAF order in the first place and the British initiative to adapt the design to take a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The latter moved the aircraft […]

Mustang Mk. III

Lockheed F-16 in 1991 Tiger Meet markings by Ricardo Dacoba   By 1960, the French minister of defense, Pierre Messner, took an initiative to make to promote French-American relations. On his request, the Commander-in-Chief Europe created an association to improve relationships between individual combat squadrons within NATO.. The USAFE 79th […]

Extreme Airbrushing

The all-new Tamiya kit is built out of the box  by Anders Isaksson Background The Humvee was designed by AM General as a contender in the competition for designing and manufacturing a multi-purpose wheeled vehicle for the U.S. Army. AM General was awarded with the contract to produce what was […]

M1025 Humvee

The Boat That Changed the Submarine Warfare Text by Frank Spahr Photos by Frank Spahr   (Due to the large number the images in this photo essay, the material has been split into two parts  to facilitate faster downloads – Ed.)   U-Boot Type XXI in Detail: Part 5 – […]

U-Boot Type XXI in Detail, Part II