Build models long enough and you get the idea that virtually anything you can name in the way of kit subjects, tools and the myriad world of aftermarket products exists somewhere, most of it readily available.  Think it if you want, but you'd be wrong.  We can all name subjects that aren't available in kit form or your particular scale preference.

The same can be said for paints, despite those 900 different colors we all have in our shops.  There's still one color you don't have that's needed for your next project!  Ditto for tools, detail sets, photoetch, decals, ad infinitum.  And then there's reference material.

We're all buried in photographs, photocopies, magazines, hardback and softcover books, CDs and more.  Spend much time on the Internet and you wind up with an immense list of bookmarks keyed to history and model sites.  No matter, there are still voids in the reference material landscape that occasionally are filled in.  Case in point is the fact that resin products -both aftermarket sets and complete kits- have been around for well over thirty years.  As you know, resin requires different construction methods and cements than does styrene.  That fact has led to the occasional article discussing resin construction.  What hasn't existed, to my knowledge, is an entire book on the subject of resin kits.  Til now.

If you will indulge me for a few moments, I'm about to use part of this month's column for some totally shameless self-promotion of my latest book. Hopefully, Internet Modeler's longsuffering publisher will see fit to do an objective review in either the May or June issue (What do you say, Chris?).

Published by SPECIALTY PRESS (https://www.specialtypress.com), the book's title is -drum roll please- How To Build And Modify Resin Model Aircraft Kits.  Produced in 8 1/2" x 11" format, it runs to 132 pages of glossy enamel stock bound in semi-stiff covers.  You'll find some 275 photos, all in color, describing the step-by-step construction of several kits.  Also 80,000 words of text.

The featured kit subject is the CRAFTWORKS Macchi-Castoldi M.C. 202 in 1/32 scale (and the finished Macchi is on the cover).  Other build-ups include a 1/72 kit by KORA of the Kamov A-7 Autogiro, converting a 1/32 REVELL P-38J to a P-38F and more. Chapters cover detail parts, paint, glue, tools, references, decals, etc.

Although subject matter is limited to resin aircraft kits, conversions and detail parts, the techniques described for working with resin applies to any resin subject.  So just because your preference is armor, cars or science fiction, don't get the idea that there's nothing in this book for you.  There is.

Price?  An extraordinarily reasonable $19.95.  You can get it from your local bookstore or hobby shop (They don't stock it? Pester them til they do!) or order direct from Specialty Press, 39966 Grand Avenue, North Branch, MN 55056, USA.  Phone number is 800-895-4585 and there's a $4.95 s&h charge per order.

If you build resin aircraft kits, you need this book.  Get out there and buy one.  Please?

SPECIALTY PRESS is also in the process of enlarging and revising their early Warbird Tech Series volumes as each comes up for reprinting.  Volume 1, Consolidated B-24 Liberator by Frederick A. Johnsen has now been given that treatment.  It runs to 104 pages and includes 8 pages of color (twice the 4 pages of color in the original volume).  The semi-stiff cover now uses heavyweight stock and glossy enamel stock is used for the pages.  And the price is still $16.95.

Inside, you'll find an occasional new b&w photo, revisions or additions to the text, a two-page table listing all C-87s, C-109s and B-24s used in the CBI and four new pages of color photos.  Believe me, it's the glossy stock that makes all the difference in the world where these revised editions are concerned. All of the photos really pop out, with details in the b&w that tended to merge with the background on the old paper becoming readily visible on the new.  New color photos include a couple wearing overall glossy sea blue paint and three photos of PB4Y-2 air tankers (or water bombers).  If you have a penchant for nose art, you'll find color close-up shots of Tondelayo, Shady Lady, Aries, Easy Maid and Million $ Baby to be particularly interesting.

Even if you have the original Volume 1, the additional material in this revised edition is reason enough to add it to your bookshelf.  Heck, the improvement in paper quality alone is enough to justify it.

For the spacecraft enthusiasts in the crowd, especially those with a passion for the U.S. Space Shuttle let me direct your attention to a magnificent tome that is distributed by SPECIALTY PRESS.  A hardcover book, it's titled SPACE SHUTTLE, The History of the National Space Transportation System, The First 100 Missions by Dennis R. Jenkins.

This massive 8 1/2" x 11" x 1 1/4" thick volume contains 514 pages of glossy enamel paper, hundreds of photos (I think. I haven't counted them.), both b&w and color, dozens of drawings/illustrations, many tables and multiple appendices, one of which is an 11 page index. Basically, it can be considered the Space Shuttle bible.

It starts where it should, with a dedication to the eleven Astronauts who made the supreme sacrifice to enable the American Space Program to become a reality.

Any good history will trace it's subject back to the earliest possible origin and Space Shuttle does exactly that.  The concept of reusable space vehicles dates to the 1920s and that’s where the story begins.  There are drawings and artist's concepts of the Sanger Silver Bird, the X-Planes and a wicked looking delta-wing X-15 with a pair of externally mounted scramjets, among others.

Chapter 2 is devoted to the concept of dynamic soaring, which eventually led to the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar.  The design concepts that preceded the final X-20 configuration are covered as well, including a fascinating concept from Bell called the Bomber-Missile (BoMi).

From there, the book moves thru discussion of lifting body design and concept exploration.  From Chapter 5 on, focus is entirely on the Shuttle as we have come to know it.  Quite a bit of space is spent on the design proposals offered by the various aerospace manufacturers.  That section alone will keep the concept modelers busy for many, many months.  And then there's Chapter 10.  That one, which deals with a technical description of the Shuttle, consumes nearly 100 pages and covers everything from the Orbiter to the Range Safety System.  Finally, there are five appendices (besides the index) that covers upgrade design concepts, improvement ideas for the existing design, acronyms and notes.

Keep in mind that there's no way I can do a comprehensive job of describing everything that this book covers.  Suffice to say that it is utterly magnificent.  You could literally spend the next several years producing superdetailed Space Shuttle models or concept models of Shuttle designs that never got past the drawing board…and never need another book for reference material.

I could blather on about this volume for another two or three thousand words, but there's no need.  If you're planning a Space Shuttle model, order a copy.  It'll be the best $39.95 you've spent in years. 

If you lean toward helicopters and 1/48 scale, check out this latest offering from ITALERI (https://www.testors.com).  Considering our current activities in Afghanistan, the timing of its release is most appropriate.

The kit in question is the Sikorsky MH-60G Pave Hawk and ITALERI has done a very nice job indeed.  You get 138 gray and 16 clear parts, all packed in a conventional top over bottom box, along with instructions and decals.  Clear parts get the only protective bag.

Quality is exactly what you'd expect from ITALERI.  In this case, surface detail is mostly raised…which is correct for an MH-60G.  It's very delicately done, much of it to the point that you feel it easier than you see it. 

Interior details include decals for the instrument consoles, the correct auxiliary fuel tanks inside the cabin and four machine guns (two on each side).  Actually, two of the guns are six-barrel mini-gatlings (one in each side door opening).  Interestingly, the references that I have indicate state that it only carries a total of two mgs, but they could easily be supplemented in the field.  The kit also utilizes a fixed air-to-air refueling boom. In typical ITALERI fashion, the smallest parts are delicate to the point that precision tweezers will be desirable.

Construction shouldn't cause any major problems, except for a couple of areas.  One is simply personal preference, that being the fact that the side doors have to be installed open unless you don't install the min-gatlings.  This is really your choice and depends on the specific aircraft you're modeling.  Rotors, though, are something else again.

The main rotor assembly is designed in such a way that you install the main hub before joining the fuselage halves.  When the model is otherwise complete, you then add the main blades and their actuating rods.  Incidentally, you have the option of building the main rotor in a normally deployed configuration or folded.  However, when finished, you can't remove the main rotor assembly for transport.  This is awkward at best and dangerous (to the model) at worst. 

You can solve this problem by simply leaving off the retainer when installing part B33, allowing the completed rotor to be easily removed and replaced.  The tail rotor, though, is a whole different animal.  You'll find that the tail rotor has a shaft molded integrally on the back of the hub.  The intention is that you simply insert the shaft thru the locating hole, add a retainer to the back and then join the fuselage halves.  I'd suggest that if you follow these instructions, you’d wind up doing major damage to the tail rotor long before the model is finished.

While the solution to this problem isn't easy, it can be done.  Exactly how you approach it will depend on you, but basically requires you to build a socket into the tail that will allow the shaft to be inserted and removed from.  Some of you may even find it easier to replace the plastic shaft with a metal shaft that will nest precisely in the socket.

Instructions are the usual international drawings-only style.  To ITALERI's credit, they're done well enough that you shouldn't have any problems with construction sequence.  As for color schemes, you're given camouflage schemes for a pair of 3-tone birds. One served with the 55th SOS in Saudi Arabia during 1991.  The other was operated by the 210th Rescue Squadron in Alaska during 1990.  Either would be an attractive model and the decal sheet provides correct markings for both.  Of course, there's nothing to stop you from replicating the camouflage and markings currently in use in Afghanistan.

All in all, a dandy kit of a current workhorse.  And the price is quite fair at $24.00.

There's more to talk about, but that's all she wrote folks.  I'm thirty minutes away from deadline and if I don't stop, you won't be reading this in April.  We'll talk about some safety items next month.