Jets 09-10/2012

By the early 1940s the course for British flying boat development had become a complex quandary and for some, a doubtful path to take much further. Of Britain's principal flying boat manufacturers, even before World War Two, Blackburn, Saunders-Roe (Saro) and Supermarine had left the commercial market - Short Brothers met the required demand.
Later, the Government's wartime Brabazon Reports recommended various aircraft types for post-war commercial service, but no new flying boat. On the military side, the form of a flying boat to replace the Shorts' Sunderland was debated back and forth throughout the war, while all the time the doughty aeroplane successfully continued in service. But attempting to reflect ever-changing thoughts on possible new Service flying boats, the suppliers continued drafting paper projects. At Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Saro's thoughts embraced military studies but also, as the war turned in the Allies' favour, commercial types. During September 1943 Arthur (later Sir Arthur) Gouge, formerly Shorts' General Manager and Sunderland architect, joined Saro as Vice-Chairman. An ardent flying boat supporter, Gouge teamed up with greatly experienced flying boat designer Henry Knowler, establishing a unique centre of expertise.

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Scale Military Modeller International

When Zvezda launched their incredible Soviet T-90, it exploded like a bomb into the modelling community and soon appeared in many forums as modellers eagerly got to grips with the kit. For me the T-90 is a charismatic vehicle, and with its crowded turret, reactive armour and purposeful lines, it resembles a T-72 on Steroids! The Zvezda offering consists of over 451 parts and has some amazing details, and comes in at a very competitive price, making this one of those 'must-have' modern armour kits. As the plastic parts are so delicately moulded, additional detail sets are, in my opinion, unnecessary, however some etch smoke launchers do add to the overall look. The tracks are also nicely detailed, and pretty accurate. The kit has clear parts and also includes two types of 'net' for engine grilles, and a length of twine for the tow cables, however, this is not too accurate, so I replaced it with a suitable piece of wire from my 'spares-box'. 'Modular' is the key word when building the kit, as first you make up a number of smaller sub-assembles and then add these to the main parts. The barrel is OK in plastic, but I chose to replace it with a turned metal one from RB Models. Building the tracks and the road wheels has its own sequence, as first you have to assemble the tracks, and then fix the inner wheels to the chassis, and then add the outer wheels and finally the tracks and side skirts. So had to paint and weather the tracks and road wheels before assembling them, as once you have 'fixed' the side armour, this structure is effectively 'sealed-in'.

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Gun World 11/2013

Although military use of the shotgun goes back centuries, it has not always been thought of specifically as a combat weapon. The reason is simple. Many early North American settlers had only one weapon—a smoothbore musket or fowling piece—that could fire multiple projectiles, and they used it both for hunting and self-defense. Some early smoothbores, such as the blunderbuss, were intended specifically for use against an enemy. Designed to be loaded quickly via its bell mouth with an array of metallic projectiles including old nails or scrap iron, the blunderbuss was a fearful weapon for the coach guard or the ship's captain facing possible mutiny. George Washington understood the devastating effect multiple projectiles could have on an enemy and ordered the muskets of American troops loaded with "buck and ball," a combination of a musket ball and buckshot. Cavalrymen in the U.S. Civil War also used buck and ball loads. Once the double-barreled shotgun was developed, some users shortened the barrels (to make them handier in dose quarters) and loaded both barrels with buckshot. Originally, these double-barreled shotguns were percussion, but once the self-contained shotgun shell was developed, break open shotguns were quickly adapted for combat. In the American West, short-barreled shotguns—or sometimes longer barreled ones—were equalizers on both sides of the law. During the Indian Wars, some U.S. cavalrymen carried the double-barreled shotgun for close-range fighting, though they most likely retained their carbines for longer-range engagement.

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Jets 11-12/2013

A year ago the fighting in Libya that was to see the downfall of the Gadhafi regime in Tripoli was moving to its conclusion in Libya. In October 201I, the final remnants of the Gadhafi supporters were hanging on by a thread in a small number of locations in southern and central Libya, emboldened by their tribal connections to a regime whose hold on power was becoming increasingly tenuous. Then, with the full military might of the NATO alliance and its coalition allies, it was only a question of time before the insurrection would see a new government formed in Tripoli. The images of Libyan tanks and armoured personnel carriers being systematically targeted and destroyed by a United Nations authorised campaign proved just how far the application of air power had moved since World War Two. Air power had shown the versatility to be applied both in its hard and soft forms. In a 21st century where media images of dead women and children can cause public support for military interventions to evaporate in an instant, this was important.

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