Aerial Gunner is a mid-war propaganda film about, you guessed it, aerial gunners in WWII.  It is on the disk of 20 “classic” WWII movies.  Actually, for what it is, this one isn’t bad.  It has a story, decent acting and for the modeler, some stock shots of wartime T-6 Texans (Harvards for you Brits and Canucks out there) and PV-1s.  Robert Mitchum actually appears uncredited in a small role.  I was unaware of this until I read in on IMDB.com.  While this movie won’t keep you spellbound, it will entertain.  Heck, it is better than either of the two Matrix sequels, though that may be damning it with faint praise. Well, I am a little closer to getting my $5.99 worth of entertainment from the DVD set.

that law professors aren’t some of the smartest people around.  This law school professor in Florida seems determined to prove that to be the case.  Why you would do this is beyond me.

UPDATE: Apparently the ridicule was too much.  The professor dropped his suit 24 hours later.

Ohio modeler and attorney Jim Bates reviewed the recent FAQ book on aircraft modeling.  Since I lent it to him, it is only right that I steal…I mean link to…the review.  Here it is.  I agree with Jim’s analysis.

October is history.  Had almost the same number of visitors in October as in September. 552 visitors.  Bigest single day was 65.  Average was 18 per day.  As I have said before, I have no clue what any of this means.  I’ll just keep posting, whether or not anyone is reading.

You can argue that this is cultural rather than religious, but whatever the case, you think this would be at the top of the radar for organizations like NOW.  However, it doesn’t seem to be.

IMHO John Scalzi is a douche. I’m just saying.

I’ve managed to pick up the latest issue of SAM, at least the latest available to me thru Barnes & Noble.  The new format seems to have settled down.  There are few typos and a better layout to the articles.  As seems to be the trend with modeling magazines, there are more photos and less text to the articles.

For the 72nd scale modeler, this issue has as its feature a build of the Xtrakit Supermarine Scimitar and an accompanying historical article with color sideview illustrations.  I had not realized how few of these aircraft were actually built.  76.  Althought I hadn’t thought about it before, this is really an attractive aircraft.  it is a shame it didn’t have a more sueful service life.

There is also a build/review of the Tamiya Beaufighter and the Italeri reissue of the A-6, both in 72nd scale.  It is a good issue, but at $12 for the news stand price I have to wonder how long it will continue to be viable.

The latest IPMS Journal brings more interesting articles to the IPMS/USA member.  In fact, one of the articles, the one on the AM-1Q Mauler began its life as a blog post on Jim Bates’ blog.  A version of that post appeared in Tactical Notes, the newsletter of MMCL.  From there it was picked up by Chris B., the editor of the Journal.  My only disappointment is that the original source wasn’t credited in the article, as is the polite practice.

In addition to the AM-1 article there is a very nice article on a 24th scale 240Z and a little history article on the crash site of an Argentinian A-4 in the Falklands.  I know I keep saying this, but clearly an IPMS/USA membership is the best value for the money in the modeling hobby today, just for the magazine alone.  The next issue is the National’s issue.  Can’t wait.

This story has got to worry a lot of folks.  Russians practicing war games with Poland as the simulated enemy on the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by the Russians in WWII?  If I am the Poles, I am on the eastern border digging the biggest anti-tank ditch you’ve ever seen!

On Halloween I attended to model show put on by the Cincinnati chapter of IPMS.  The  unusual date, on Halloween, was necessitated by the venue pulling Cinci’s original date (Oct. 24) at the last minute.  Don Flynn and company did an excellent job of last minute rescheduling.  I was worried that the date change and the bad economy would cause a problem.  Turns out there was nothing to worry about.

I got to exhange some beers with Ohio attorney Jim Bates.  I also vended and got to talk with a bunch of folks.  Great time.

Now for the photos.

JSII by Jack Bruno

JS II by Jack Bruno

Don Flynn’s Me-109

Me-109 by Don Flynn

Mark Cable’s MD-80

MD-80 by Mark Cable

The show was a great success.  Don reports a large number of entrants and a very large number of  walk-in.  A vigorous Make and Take program was held and it was very popular.  The Cinci show has really grown and it is one of the must attend shows in region 4.  See you there next year.