During the WWII, it was not uncommon for airfields to be built in areas that were not always of the best surface condition year round. A nice flat area could be a super landing field during the summer, yet when the rains came, that same field would be a quagmire and totally unsuitable. The field engineers could make the landing strip usable, but not be able to properly prepare the taxi or parking areas.

A number of things were tried to alleviate this condition. The Germans used boards to take care of this problem because wood was plentiful. The US, however, decided to use something a bit more durable. Sections of perforated interlocking steel mats were developed to take care of this problem. Called PSP (Pierced Steel Planking), the material proved to be perfect. It could be stacked easily and quickly laid. The interconnecting of the pieces meant that there was no real size limit to what could be constructed. 

To show you how durable the material was, when I left the Navy in 1993, there were still areas at NAS North Island that had PSP used in parking lots were there was a great deal of sand. This PSP had been laid during WWII and was still in use.

Just Plane Stuff has among their repertoire of resin bases a PSP base in 1/48. If you read the review of their earlier Modern Fight Deck, you know that the detailing is superb. Just take a look at the image to the right and you can see how much detail is designed into this resin base. If you cannot find JPS products in your hobby shop, then use the link below to get information on ordering them. 

Look for a full build (well actually paint) review of this to come.

Review copy courtesy of Just Plane Stuff.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that averages over 2,000  visits a day, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.