Atlantis AMCA313

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX NEW VERSION for 2015 Although initially conceived as a stop-gap measure, the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (and the essentially similar Mk.XVI) eventually became the most numerous of all Spitfire variants with more than 7,000 delivered to the RAF, the VVS and other Allied air forces. Premier Japanese model company Tamiya has released Spitfire Mk.IXc, Mk.VIII and Mk.XVIe kits in 1:32 scale. These three kits are simply superb in terms of detail, engineering innovation, fit and presentation. In the warm afterglow of their release, many modellers have declared Tamiya's 1:32 scale late model Spitfires to be the some of the best scale model aircraft kits of all time. This book details the construction of all three kits in step-by-step illustrated guides, and also suggests how Tamiya's kit may be improved and describes the after market decals and accessories that are available for these magnificent models. (designed to be used with Tamiya kits)

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Beechcraft T-34A Mentor International Just in time for the upcoming Minicraft kit, this decal set provides colorful markings for seven T-34A Mentors from international operators. The aircraft covered in this sheet are: T-34A Mentor 54-10303, Japanese Air Self Defense Force T-34A Mentor 57-10418, Japanese Air Self Defense Force T-34A Mentor "9004" , Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force T-34A Mentor "JG-0508", Japanese Ground Self Defense Force T-34A Mentor "JG-0505", Japanese Ground Self Defense Force T-34A Mentor, Royal Canadian Air Force T-34A Mentor, Turkish Air Force

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Combat Colours 4: Pearl Harbor and beyond- December 1941-May 1942 This title depicts the camouflage and markings of a whole host of types belonging to the nations dragged into a Pacific War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As usually a huge amount of well researched information is presented for the modeller and historian. 215 colour profiles. 27 black/white photos.

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Imperial Armour: Modelling AFVs of the Japanese Army 1939-2020. 84 pages. Since the 1930s the armed forces of Japan have deployed a wide range of armoured fighting vehicles from diminutive tankettes to modern, state-of-the-art Main Battle Tanks. This new 84-page book from Guideline Publications and the team that bring you Military Modelcraft International presents a series of step-by-step guides and reference articles on Japanese AFVs from 1939 to the present day. Using kits from Dragon, Finemolds and Tamiya, some of the best modellers from the MMI stable go through construction, detailing, and painting and weathering, while in-depth reference articles look at Japanese armour in World War II and today. As well as collecting and reimagining some of the best features on the topic from MMI over the past decade and more, the book has new content that will both inspire and inform anyone wanting to tackle their own Japanese armour project.

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Grumman F2F and F3F (pre-war Navy/Marine biplane fighters. 192-pages [ F3F-1 F3F-2 F3F-3] And Civilian Variants By Richard S. Dann Published by Ginter Books The 192-page F2F and F3F book is generously illustrated with over 440 photos, including 34 color photos, many not previously published. In addition, 39 illustrations and line drawings are included. The early 1930s was a time of great change in the field of military fighter aviation. At the beginning of the decade, the state-of-the-art in fighter manufacture was the use of traditional construction techniques of welded tube fuselages and fabric covered surfaces. Fixed landing gear and open cockpits were standard equipment. By mid-decade, the state-of-the-art was changing. Lightweight aluminum alloys were being developed that offered high strength and light weight. External bracing gave way to cantilevered aero surfaces. Enclosed cockpits, retractable landing gear and aerodynamic streamlining were becoming standard design features on civilian and military aircraft of the day. In the late 1920s, the U.S. Navy fighter market was dominated by Curtiss and Boeing with aircraft manufactured using conservative design and construction techniques that had been employed at the beginning of the decade. By the early 1930s, however, Boeing had updated their F4B/P-12 design, incorporating a stressed skin, semi-monocoque fuselage into later models of both. In the Autumn of 1929, three engineers from the Loening Aircraft Company on Long Island made the decision not to relocate to Pennsylvania during a merger. Instead, they resolved to form their own aircraft manufacturing company. Thus, Leroy Grumman , Leon "Jake" Swirbul and William Schwendler founded the Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Corporation, in December 1929. Following early successes with the FF-1/SF-1 naval aircraft, Grumman turned its attention to designing a single-seat naval fighter for use aboard the U.S. Navy's growing carrier fleet. With excellent performance attributes, the Navy purchased 55 F2F-1s. While performance of the F2F-1 were impressive, Grumman continued development, offering the Navy an improved design known as the F3F-1. With even better performance than the F2F, the Navy eventually ordered a total of 162 F3Fs in three major subvariants. Grumman 's stubby F2F and F3F airplanes dominated U.S. Navy fighter squadrons from 1935 to 1941, with the final operational F3Fs relinquished to the training command a mere two months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and surrounding facilities. The first half of this 192-page monograph covers the developmental history of the F2F and F3F. Individual aircraft histories are provided for each aircraft, listing assigned commands, mishaps and final disposition. Detailed period engineering photos show every aspect of the aircraft. This is followed by an operational history of each Navy and Marine Corps squadron that operated the F2F and F3F.

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Douglas C-74 Globemaster By Nicholas M. Williams, 104 pages (88 in b&w, 16 in color), 141 b&w photos, 35 color photos, 22 illustrations. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought U.S. Army Air Corps strategists to the realization that a new global transport was needed to carry large loads over great distances. The Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California, also quickly saw this need and design studies were begun immediately on an expanded version of the company's DC-4. The "C-74 Project Group" adopted a design philosophy to produce a "no frills" transport able to accommodate at least two of the Army's T-9 tanks, two 105mm Howitzers, or two angle dozers. Douglas contacted the Air Corps early in 1942 to determine their interest and a letter of intent was issued in March 1942 for procurement of the Model 415A, now designated the C-74. A contract of over $50 million was signed in June 1942 for fifty airplanes. To speed its delivery to operational units, the C-74 was designed to be released without the benefits of an experimental or prototype model, all aircraft being designated as C-74s with design features following conventional "state-of-the-art" practice. Originally, powered by Wright R-3350 engines, a decision was made in March 1943 to switch to the new, mammoth Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major. The first C-74 was rolled out in July 1945 from the Douglas Long Beach factory. At rollout, the C-74 was the largest land-based transport in the world with a wingspan of 173 feet, length of 124 feet, and gross weight of 145,000 pounds. Able to carry 125 passengers, the C-74 was called the Globemaster as its 11,100-gallons of internal fuel gave it a maximum range of over 7,000 miles, enabling it to circumnavigate the world with only two refueling stops. In its final form, the C-74 was a remarkably efficient airplane, using a semi-laminar flow airfoil for its wings with a full-span flap arrangement. The pilots were enclosed by two teardrop-shaped, double-bubble canopies that provided them with a 360-degree view. Douglas had every intention of adapting the C-74 into a civil airliner once hostilities had ended. In 1944 Pan American World Airways ordered 26 examples of the civil version, the DC-7, for a route expansion program into Latin America. However, further development of this DC-7 design increased its gross weight to 162,000 pounds and the unit cost to $1.4 million and Pan American cancelled its order in October 1945, opting for smaller transports. The first C-74, 42-65402, made its maiden flight from Long Beach in September 1945, but with the end of World War II, most of the C-74 production order was cancelled and only 14 Globemasters were built. Unfortunately, during contractor demonstration flights the second Globemaster crashed. The fourth C-74 was subsequently diverted for static tests and its components tested to destruction at Wright Field, Ohio. Beginning in September 1946, the remaining twelve C-74s were flown for the next nine years by the Army Air Forces' Air Transport Command and the U.S. Air Force's Military Air Transport Service. Once in service, the C-74 Globemaster, based first in Memphis, Tennessee, then Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida, finally at Brookley AFB, Mobile, Alabama, set many records for tonnage carried. In November 1949, a C-74 flew the Atlantic to England with a record 103 passengers aboard. One Globemaster set several records during the Berlin Airlift, averaging over 38,000 pounds of cargo and setting a new Airlift Task Force utilization record by flying 20 hours in a 24-hour period. Until one C-74 was converted to the prototype C-124A and the Globemaster II became available, the C-74 was the only Air Force transport capable of carrying outsized cargo. After the C-74's retirement from service in 1955, several were purchased surplus and began flying for a contract air carrier, Aeronaves de Panama, hauling prize cattle from Denmark to the Middle East, horses to Singapore, and ships' parts and vegetables throughout Europe. Unfortunately, after the tragic crash in 1963 of one C-74 in Marseilles, France, the airline suspended operations and its C-74s eventually were scrapped. Today, no examples of this record-setting transport exist. This monograph of the C-74 Globemaster is written by Nick Williams, an award-winning author of over two dozen articles published in the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society and publications in the U.K. Nick has written two previous books in Steve Ginter's Naval Fighters series as well as his 1999 book published in the U.K., "Aircraft of The Military Air Transport Service 1948-1966". His new book on the C-74 is the result of nearly fifty years of research, containing comments from several of the C-74's engineers as well as former Douglas and Air Force pilots.

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Curtiss P-40. Derived from the earlier Curtiss 75 Hawk the P-40 Warhawk was an attempt to update the original design for more modern warfare. Unfortunately the aircraft that first emerged was seriously underpowered, undergunned and suffering from stability problems. Although not an auspicious start for a fighter design the Curtiss engineers and those of Allison, the engine builders, finally resulted in an aircraft that was worthy of the appellation fighter. While the P-40 would never really gain the fame of other aircraft destined to play their roles in the forthcoming global conflict it would carve out a niches for itself in the deserts of Arabia, the icy Arctic and across the Pacific. Thus in the hands of experienced pilots determined to wring the best out of tools to hand the P-40 was more than able to match the best that the enemy could throw at it. The first claim to fame for the P-40 was with the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers created to support the Chinese Government in repulsing the Japanese invaders. Sporting shark mouths on the nose panels these early aircraft, sometimes working in desperate conditions, repulsed the invaders with great skill and held them at bay until America joined the war. With the air forces of other countries the P-40 made its mark. In the desert with the RAF and RAAF, across the Pacific with the RAAF and the RNZAF and in the frozen north with the RCAF the Curtiss roamed the skies. The P-40 saw service in other air forces with Brazil, Turkey and Russia operating the type with some success. . Written by Kev Darling this latest Warpaint covers all versions of this unique naval aircraft and is illustrated in colour by Richard J.Caruana. Unique 1:72nd scale plans are also included as well as a list of operators plus production details.

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