Andy Renshaw
Reviews By Author
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Russian BRDM-2 (early) Armored CarPublished:
For the lovers of Soviet cold war armor, decades have gone by without any accurate, readily available kits. What was out were either resin or very limited run, and usually done from sketchy plans and grainy photos as a reference. The fall of the Iron Curtain saw the availability of reference material open up some, and a few kits from former Soviet Bloc countries trickled in, but we were still left wanting. Tamyia, Esci, Dragon, and others started covering the “heavy hitters” during the 1990s, yet that still left many vehicles untouched. Enter the 21st century market with an onslaught of kits from the Far East. Trumpeter has been steadily working its way through the Soviet inventory, or so it seems, and after starting a series of eight-wheeled vehicles, they begin the four-… more |
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ALQ-99 RAM Generator CoverPublished:
Quickboost is back again with a small accessory for an added finishing touch. They have been providing the modeling market with a whole series of useful aftermarket items that give a little extra detail or convenience at a very reasonable cost. These small sets tend to focus on one aspect of a model needing improvement – thus, the modeler can choose where to spend his energy, and money: on kit improvements. This small set from Quickboost provides some covers for the ALQ-99 ECM jamming pods found on the EA-6A, EA-6B, and EF/A-18G. Usually, these are seen on aircraft on static display at airshows, as I have yet to find some photos of them being used out in the fleet during operations, but I could be wrong. In the BoxThe bag with paper instruction insert comes with five… more |
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P-61 Black Widow Update and Correction SetPublished:
Mark Buchler has been around for several years, making small run resin detail sets for a few kits. His product line is not extensive, but what he does offer is high quality and usually fits the ticket for what is needed. Under the Modelshack label, Mark had a P-61 update set for the Monogram kit that included new cowls and engines. It was taken out of production while new, more accurate, tooling was made using Computer Aided Design (CAD). During the retool, Great Wall Hobby released their new P-61 kit, but it was quickly discovered to have several shortcomings in the cowl and prop area. Modelshack released the updated correction set, which fits both the GWH and Monogram kits, and gives marked improvement to both! In the BagModelshack keeps it simple with all 42 resin… more |
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P-51 Mustang Wheels, Diamond TreadPublished:
A fast way to upgrade any kit is to replace the wheels with some higher quality resin ones. Ultracast has long been a standard for outstanding resin aircraft accessories and updates, with their P-51 items leading the pack. These wheels are for any P-51 kit where the modeler desires a diamond tread. In The PackageThe wheels come on two separate pour stubs, sealed in a Ziploc bag on a card hanger. The parts are completely free of any defect or casting flaw, and the tread pattern is very nicely defined but not overdone. The casting block attaches to the tire where there would be a slight flattening from the weight of the aircraft, but there is no “flat tire bulge.” Use on the KitTo use these, simply cut from the casting block and drill an appropriate… more |
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P-51 Mustang Wheels, Block TreadPublished:
A fast way to upgrade any kit is to replace the wheels with some higher quality resin ones. Ultracast has long been a standard for outstanding resin aircraft accessories and updates, with their P-51 items leading the pack. These wheels are for any P-51 kit where the modeler desires a block tread, which is a little different than the standard kit-supplied diamond tread. In The PackageThe wheels come on two separate pour stubs, sealed in a Ziploc bag on a card hanger. The parts are completely free of any defect or casting flaw, and the tread pattern is very nicely defined but not overdone. The casting block attaches to the tire where there would be a slight flattening from the weight of the aircraft, but there is no “flat tire bulge.” Use on the Kit… more |
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High Velocity Aerial Rockets (HVAR)Published:
High Velocity Aerial Rockets, or HVAR, were used by the US between 1944 and 1955. This six-foot long rocket was 5 inches in diameter and carried a 45lb HE warhead. Unguided, it could be fitted to almost any aircraft with hard points and was used extensively on most late war fighters, patrol, and attack aircraft, and into the Korean war on jets like the F-86 and F-84. Retired in 1955, it became the precursor to the modern Zuni and other unguided ground attack rockets. For most modelers, we all will spend lots of time and energy detailing the aircraft to the max, yet when we get to the ordnance, we are left wanting by the kit-supplied items. HVARs tend to fall into this category, ranging from bare likeness with fins to better looking but still not up to the same standard as the… more |
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AIM-9L/M/N Sidewinder Seeker Head Covers with RBF tags (early)Published:
If you enjoy modeling your aircraft parked, loaded, and tagged, then this set is for you. Aerobonus, a child company of Aires, has released a set of seeker head covers with Remove Before Flight (RBF) tags for early model AIM-9 Sidewinders. In the BoxThe hanging bag with enclosed card backing comes with a single resin pour stub, in a light yellow color, with six covers. The light yellow resin is a perfect color for the actual covers, so no painting is needed. Casting is perfect, with crisp detail as we would expect from anything done by Aires. RBF tags are on a printed pre-cut, self-adhesive material. A small piece of fine wire is also included. AssemblyThese must be the easiest RBF tags I have ever done. The tags are printed on some extremely thin… more |
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A-26 Invader Decals, Invading Esquire Girls Part IIIPublished:
With most aircraft of WWII and the Korean War, nose art was common, though, if you are like me, you have been disappointed at times with the kit decals and their depiction of the nose art. So along comes IPMS member Michael Kloppenburg, a graphic designer by trade, and his brand of decals! Bombshell Decals has done a small but steady stream of some fantastic decal work with nose art that looks almost as good as the real deal. Bombshell’s latest releases cover six A-26 Invader aircraft spread over three separate releases. I have always liked the look of the A-26 Invader with its sleek blend of bomber and attack aircraft. Needless to say, I was instantly drawn to these new decals from Bombshell. The two aircraft covered in this set are
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F-5E Tiger II Gun BarrelsPublished:
Quickboost has provided the modeling market with a whole series of useful aftermarket items that give a little extra detail or convenience without breaking the bank. These small sets tend to focus on one aspect of a model needing improvement ; thus, the modeler can choose where to spend his energy, and money, on kit improvements. This small set from Quickboost provides replacement gun barrels for the F-5 series of aircraft by AFV Club. Use noteA few notes on using this set. First, both “barrels” are not truly gun barrels. Only the port (left) side contains the gun, while the other is an air inlet for avionics. Now, going one step further, not all F-5 airframes have the guns installed, and some don’t have the tubes installed either. Many F-5 airframes in the adversary/… more |
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F-5E Tiger II Auxiliary IntakesPublished:
Quickboost has provided the modeling market with a whole series of useful aftermarket items that give a little extra detail or convenience without breaking the bank. These small sets tend to focus on one aspect of a model needing improvement - thus, the modeler can choose where to spend their energy, and money, on kit improvements. This small set from Quickboost improves the look of the open auxiliary air inlets on the side of the F-5 series of aircraft by AFV Club. In the BoxThe bag with card hanger comes with fourteen resin parts. Of those, twelve are the individual louvers and two are the drop-in fuselage plugs. Casting is perfect, with crisp detail. The fuselage plugs show more depth and detail than the kit parts and will be a marked improvement. … more |