M2 Bradley (USA)

The American Infantry Fighting Vehicle M2 Bradley entered service with the US Army in 1981. Developed in response to the Soviet BMP family, the Bradley is designed for reconnaissance and to transport a squad of six fully equipped soldiers in addition to its crew of three. Highly maneuverable and fast to keep up with the new M1 Abrams MBT, the Bradley is armed with a 25mm autocannon, a coaxial machine gun and a TOW anti-tank missile system with two missiles ready to fire.

The Trumpeter kit is very nice and easy to build. With some small improvements (see my previous WIP) it give a good representation of this vehicle. It is also the occasion to paint my first ever US troop in this case a very undecided command group from Elhiem Figures (made 2021)

M901 HAMMERHEAD (US)

The M901 ITV (Improved TOW Vehicle) is an American armoured vehicle based on the ubiquitous M113 APC and equipped with a dual TOW missile launcher. Introduced into service in 1979, the M901 is nicknamed the hammerhead because of the shape of its turret launcher which give it a firing coverages of 360 degrees in azimuth and +35 to -30 degrees in elevation and has the capability for day and night acquisition and tracking of targets. Capable of firing two missiles without reloading, the M901 carries 10 missiles reload. The TOW, a semi-automatic guidance system anti-tank missile, has a range of around 3,000 meters.

The kit is the old Esci with some reworking and many details addition. It's my first US Army vehicle and my first attempt at a MERDC type camo... and I am quite happy with it 😎 (made 2021)

New arrivals

I would like top be able to post regularly (if I found the time 😂) a new type of article about my various new acquisitions. Here is the first one about my purchases from the last 3 weeks or so.

So, here we are by order of arrivals...

Soviet T-62 by James Kinnear & Stephen L. Sewell by Osprey

I already have the T-55 book by the same authors and this offering as the same qualities and faults that its predecessor. Qualities: it exist, is in English, give a good overall view about the subject and have a lot of details photos. Faults: the narrative/chronology is sometimes confused and/or repetitive (not helped by some misprints), the photos are definitively too small and not enough of the "in service" type for my taste. For a reasonable price, I am nevertheless satisfied to have it in my collection.

M577 A1GE - MT-LBu MP-25 - MT-LBu MP21 by Red Tank Miniature

My first 3 3D printed models by Red Tank Miniature. Let's just say that I am quite astonished by the quality of these printing as they are really fine and precise. I really hope to find the time soon to start on them. It also gives me a lot of hope for futur models that we might have access to through this increasingly sophisticated production method.

M60 A3 by Revell

My two first M60 models. I think I will keep one of them basic and the other one can serve to make an M60 A2 (with the help of the ModellTrans conversion)  following my next purchase inspiration...

M60 A2 by Sabot publications

A very interesting book on a particular subject, full of photos (mostly in action). Only problem: unimaginative captions and misprints (this seems to become the rule of a lot of recent publications... cost reduction?)

STORM-333 by Mark Galeotti by Osprey

A rather unnecessary book with few new facts and mostly off topic photos. I liked the cover illustration by Mark Stacey but much less the interior ones by Johnny Shumate who seems to have been producing works in a hurry for some times.

Bell OH-58D Kiowa (USA)

Change of perspective with this topic on the OH-58D Kiowa helicopter. Started almost a year ago, it was only yesterday taught I finally decided to finish this kit. A single-engine, single-rotor family helicopters, the Bell OH-58 Kiowa was used by the US Army from 1969 to 2017 in the observation, utility and direct fire support roles. Coming into service from 1985, the OH-58D reconnaissance variant was an upgraded version with a new transmission and engine giving the aircraft the power needed for nap-of-the-earth flight profiles and a new four-bladed main rotor much quieter than the previous two-bladed one. Externally more distinctive, the OH-58D introduced the Mast-Mounted Sight above the rotor system which enabled operations in day/night and adverse weather conditions with limited vision and the target acquisition from relative cover.

The kit is from Revell. A simple kit but a good enough representation of this helicopter in the 1980s, at the time unarmed. (made 2020)