Mikester

"Messerschmitt Bf 109s over the Mediterranean, Part I" Maciej Góralczyk and Arkadiusz Wróbel Kagero Publishing Available from Kagero for €14.10 Kagero has released "Mini Topcolors 34, Messerschmitt Bf 109s over the Mediterranean, Part I". The Bf 109 remains an incredibly popular (and sometimes controversial) subject for WWII modelers and when dressed up in Mediterranean livery you get some great subjects to model. When you think of this theater of operations, JG 27 usually springs to mind. The iconic desert camouflaged Emils and names like Marseille, Schröer and Homuth are familiar to most of us but other units played a significant role in theater as well. As with every other theater the Luftwaffe operated in, the Med gave rise to many ad-hoc, field applied paint schemes. When combined with the usual array of unit insignias, personal markings, ID bands and the like you get some neat looking aircraft that will look great on the shelf, as well as challenge your airbrushing skills! The Topcolors format is simple, four view color profiles (with scratch drawings as required), a short description of the aircraft and a decal sheet printed by Cartograf with markings in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale. The 20 pages are presented in the usual soft cover landscape format. Arkadiusz Wróbel has done his usual stellar work on the color profiles and the eight subjects included in the book gives a nice cross section of 109s operating in North Africa and Italy. Let's take a look at what's inside: Taking a little closer look at the profiles, here's what's included: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7/N; probably W.Nr. 4139, 'White 11', flown by Lt. Theo Lindemann of 7./JG 26, Ain-el-Gazala, Libya, summer 1941, Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 trop; flown by Ofw. Karl-Heinz Bendert of Stab II./JG 27, Derna, Libya, December 1941, Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 trop; W.Nr. 8665, flown by Lt. Gustav Frielinghaus of Stab II./JG 3, Sicily, Italy, early 1942, Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4/Z; W.Nr. 13060, 'Yellow 2', flown by Uffz. Karl-Heinz Witschke of 3./JG 77, Comiso, Italy, early July 1942, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 trop; 'Black 7' of 2./JG 77, Tunisia, early 1943, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2/R2 trop; 'Black 19' of 2.(H)/14, La Marsa, Tunisia, March 1943, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6; 'Yellow 13', flown by Uffz. Hans Jegg of 9./JG 53, Italy, summer 1943, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 trop; 'Black 8' of 5./JG 27, Trapani, Italy, summer 1943. "Black 7" with it's meandering green squiggles and "Black 8" with the rarely seen Staffel emblem of 5./JG 27 are particularly interesting Gustavs. Decals are beautifully printed by Cartograf and are in perfect register, with authentic colour and minimal carrier film. So what do we think? Another interesting installment in the Topcolors series. While the subject may not appeal to everyone it certainly will appeal to Bf 109 and Luftwaffe enthusiasts. The only nitpick I have, and this relates to the Topcolors series in general, is the lack of spinner spiral decals. You're either going to have source them from another decal sheet or mask them yourself. With what's included it's certainly a good value and should be a welcome addition to your WWII aviation library. Highly Recommended! With thanks to Kagero for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link. Mike O

Mini-Topcolors 35 "Fw 190s over Europe, Part I" Janusz Światłoń and Maciej Góralczyk Kagero Publishing Available from Kagero for €14.10 Kagero's latest installment in it's Mini-Topcolors series is "Fw 190s over Europe, Part I". Powered by a BMW radial engine the Fw 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Bf 109. The 190 was used by the Luftwaffe in a wide variety of roles including fighter/bomber and ground attack. When the Fw 190 started flying operationally over France in August 1941, it quickly proved itself to be superior in all but turn radius to the RAF's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V. The 190 wrestled control of the skies away from the RAF until the introduction of the Spitfire Mk. IX in July 1942 restored qualitative parity. The Fw 190 made its air combat debut in the East in November/December 1942; though Soviet pilots considered the Bf 109 the greater threat, the Fw 190 made a significant impact. The fighter and its pilots proved just as capable as the Bf 109 in aerial combat, and in the opinion of German pilots who flew both, provided increased firepower and maneuverability at low to medium altitude. The Fw 190 became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force), along with the Bf 109 and went on to play a prominent role in the defense of the Reich and is one of the most recognizable of all single seat WWII fighters. Although arguably not as famous (infamous?) as it's counterpart the, the Bf 109, the Fw 190 remains a popular subject amongst modelers and and model manufacturers. "Fw 190s over Europe, Part I" provides eight color profiles of the Fw 190A in locales ranging from Norway to sunny Italy. The format is familiar, 20 pages done in soft cover landscape, four view color profiles expertly done by Janusz Światłoń, a short narrative on the aircraft and a sheet of decals printed by Cartograf. Let's take a look inside the covers. A closer look at the profiles (stand by for more on this later): Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3; W.Nr. 0130 541, flown by Oblt. Adolf Dickfeld, Kommandeur of II./JG 2, San Pietro, Italy, 20 November 1942, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3/U4; W.Nr. 0135 346, 'Red 9', flown by Fw. Oskar Sahre of 5.(F)/123, St. Pol, France, early March 1943, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5Y; flown by Maj. Hans Philipp, Kommodore of JG 1, Jever, Germany, summer 1943, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7; flown by Hptm. Rolf Hermichen, Kommandeur of I./JG 11, Rotenburg, Germany, March 1944, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R2; W.Nr. 682 181, 'Yellow 2', flown by Fw. Hubert Engst of 6./JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, November 1944, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-9; 'Blue 7', Stab II.(Sturm)/JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, March 1945, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3; 'White 12', flown by Fw. Ernst Mayer of 9./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, late March 1945, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8; W.Nr. 960 542 of Stab/JG 4, Germany, late spring 1945. Note that "White 12" is an A-3 still soldiering on in 1945. Amazing when you take into account that the average lifespan of a Luftwaffe fighter at this point in the was was measured in hours! The decal sheet is standard Cartograf quality, enough said. Printing is superb, being both in perfect register, beautifully thin, and with both accurate colour and minimal carrier film. So what do we think? There's good news and bad news here. I'm a "good news first" kind of guy so we'll go with that first. Eight beautiful color profiles and a sheet of Cartograf decals bundled into a nice package. So what could the bad news be? If you're like me and an owner of Topcolors 14 "Fw 190 at War" that feeling of deja vu you have is not your imagination. Five of the eight aircraft here were already featured in "Fw 190 at War". I find this a little perplexing since I can think of numerous Fw 190 schemes that either never have been done or that are on sheets that are long out of production. Based on this I'm recommending this book with an "*", the asterik being if you already own "Fw 190 at War" you're not getting a lot of new content here and it may be of limited interest to you. Otherwise, definitely worth adding to your library. Recommended* Thanks to Kagero for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link. Mike O

Kudos, Nick! Very comprehensive and well researched.

Nice collection, Greg. Especially like "Red 1".

Epic, just freakin' epic!

Great stuff, Jeroen!

Great news, Harv!

Very nice! And welcome to the forums!

Absolutely amazing!

Great stuff, I'm floored as usual!

Man, that's rough. She'll be in our thoughts.

The only problem I ever had with Hasegawa was the white was really an "off-white", their newer sheets are much better. Other than that they always went down with no problem, same with Tamiya, just have to alter your techniques a little. Now some of the sheets printed by Microscale (for Eagle Editions) I found to be complete crap and impervious to everything.

The only hobby that I've profited from by selling stuff second hand was D&D. I had an extensive collection of old, long OOP relics that I sold off at sometimes ridiculous prices. Models? Lucky to get half of what I paid for them in most cases. A kit is usually going to get replaced by something newer or better at some point so I collect to build not to hang on to in hopes that it will be worth something someday.

Nice...now if I could only paint figures!

Absolutely amazing!

Dave, Do you guys have any intention of doing further runs of kits that have sold out? I've seen the hysteria before, the 1/72 Revell Ar 555 was going for stupid prices on ebay and then Revell decided to roll it out again. All those guys that forked out $100 for a $25 kit probably felt a little silly.

Dave, I've found that Hasegawa decals behave a lot better if you soak them in hot water, Micro-sol has always worked OK on them for me.

Sweeeeeeet!

Well it's about time, I was starting to worry! Excellent work my friend!

Greg, I'll only get offended if you don't like 109s and 190s! Thanks for the comments. Thanks, Ralph!

Outstanding!

Nice!

The Hasegawa sprues usually contain at least one beule in the G-2/G-4 kits so I have a few in the spares bin. Personally I don't want to mess with trying to mold something unless I can do it with a simple one piece smash mold. Hoping they correct it before the final article is released.

Nice!

Looking good, Harv, you're in the home stretch!