Andy Renshaw
Reviews By Author
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Soviet Insignia and Medals 1944-1945Published:
Anybody who has seen period photos of World War II Soviet soldiers will note that many times their uniforms are decorated with medals and awards. Occasionally a figure manufacturer will provide these molded into the chest leaving the modeler to paint, but the majority of plastic figures do not. Eduard has been working through various subjects within its colored photo etch range, and now we get not just one, but two sets of Soviet World War II uniform insignia and metals in full color! This review covers the late war, 1944-1945 periods. This small set is chock full of enough decorations to award an entire regiment of 1/35 scale figures. Included are both uniform rank insignia for officers and enlisted, as well as various medals and badges. You also don’t need to be an expert to… more |
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Scooter Bandits TA-4J Adversaries Part 1Published:
Classic Airframes created quite a stir when they released their TA-4J in 1/48 scale. At long last, decal manufactures had a great excuse to make some of the very colorful markings found on the two-seat Skyhawk! Afterburner Decals wasted no time, and quickly released this sheet. Now, we all know that Hasegawa very soon after released their version of the TA-4J, but fear not as even though this sheet was printed for the Classic Airframes kit, they fit the Hasegawa kit just fine. For those that have noticed, the Classic Airframes kit looks to be a modification of the Hasegawa A-4 kit, thus both TA-4J kits are virtually identical in size and shape. In fact, for this review, I used a Hasegawa kit. Opening the package, you will be confronted with three beautifully printed; full color… more |
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A-4 Skyhawk Refueling ProbePublished:
Quickboost continues to push out affordable details for scale models and one of the latest is a straight refueling probe for Hasegawa’s family of A-4 Skyhawks. The part is solid resin, and appears to be strong enough. The tip is shaped a bit better than the kit part, but does require a little clean up to remove a small nub that is there to ensure that the tip is completely filled in with resin during the pour process. It’s a direct replacement for the kit part, so requires no modification. This probe is applicable to all A-4B, A-4C, and some A-4E, TA-4J, TA-4F. Do consult your references when building a particular aircraft to be sure it had the straight probe installed, or the later “bent” probe. Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS for the review sample! |
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TA-4J Canopy MaskPublished:
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Canopy masking is always time consuming and among aircraft modelers is one of the least favorite tasks to complete a model. Precut masks have been around for a while, but it wasn’t until the introduction of Kuboki tape that precut masks really matured. Eduard has been doing masks for some time now, and EX273 works perfectly with Hasegawa’s TA-4J. The set includes one set of masks for the canopy and landing gear. The canopy masks for the larger areas are split into two parts, which works perfectly allowing for overlap and exact… more |
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TA-4J Color Photo Etched Set Self-adhesivePublished:
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Eduard produced several new photo-etched sets for the TA-4J, a couple of which are applicable to other A-4 variants. The set covers the following:
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TA-4J AirbrakesPublished:
When Hasegawa finally followed up their excellent 1:48 A-4 series with a TA-4J, many modelers were thrilled, including me. Of course shortly after its release, aftermarket companies soon had various releases to detail the kit even further. Eduard produced several new photo-etched sets for the TA-4J, a couple of which are applicable to other A-4 variants. First we will look at the airbrake set. A single fret of etch is included along with one page of instructions in the usual Eduard style. The final assemblies completely replace the kits flaps, plus provide parts for the upper spoilers seen on the TA-4J, TA-4F, A-4F, and A-4M. Also one advantage the etched parts have is there is no ejector pin marks as seen on the kit parts. The assemblies seem complicated at first, with… more |
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Flat Tile RoofPublished:
Those of us that enjoy building dioramas will like this new set from MiniArt. The kit titled “Flat Tile Roof” contains all the parts for two panels of tile roofing. These panels can be used single, covering a 9-1/2 x 5-3/4” area each, or used together to formed a peaked roof that will cover roughly twice the size of a single panel depending on the pitch. Parts: In addition to one sheet of instructions, the kit consists of four sheets of vac-formed plastic and four sprues of injected molded plastic. The roof sections are made up of the vac formed sheets where you sandwich a top (tile) and bottom (wood beams) together. Cutting these parts out was simple, and I did so with scissors, and then sanded the edges down with some rough sandpaper. The fit is as… more |
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P-38 Lightning wheels - Spoked nose wheel with rear cover (diamond tread)Published:
Many times one of the areas that we find lacking in kits is the wheels. Usually the tread pattern is very shallow, incorrect, or incomplete. Plus, whatever tread is present on the kit parts tends to get removed when smoothing over the seam created from having the wheels in two halves. Ultracast has recently released a series of 1/48 wheel sets for the P-38 Lightning. This review concentrates on the “diamond tread” version. The parts are cast in flawless cream colored resin and feature beautiful detail including valve stems. Also on the main wheels, the internal brake drum is visible through the open spokes. The tread pattern is good and defined, and is more accurate than that in the Hasegawa kit. Comparing photos of wartime P-38 wheels, the Ultracast pattern looks correct while… more |
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F-14B/D Tomcat Exhaust NozzlesPublished:
When looking at our models we like to have something to look at both up front, and at the rear. Many aircraft kits are lacking in both of these areas, and Aires at least is taking care of both. This set deals with the rear area of the F-14B or D, which are both powered by the General Electric F110-GE engine. This is also the same engine found in many other aircraft, including various blocks of the F-16, F-2, and recently the F-15K. For the Tomcat, the F100 is the F100-GE-400 variant. With the introduction of this engine the F-14 experienced a substantial improvement in performance, reliability, and safety. Performance was increased enough that an F-14B or D does not need afterburner for a cat launch off a carrier. In the BoxThe Aires set consist of ten resin parts… more |
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F-5E Canopy MaskPublished:
One of the most tedious, but necessary tasks to aircraft modelers is masking canopies for painting. This is further complicated with modern aircraft, as many have an additional light yellow or gray rubber seal around the canopy glass. Trying to cut strips of tape, parafilm, or foil is tedious and time consuming to line everything up just right. Eduard has come to the rescue for the past several years with sets of canopy masks made of Kabuki tape that is thin, flexible, and very easy to apply. Tamiya tape is the same material. Keeping up with the latest releases, Eduard put out a set for the new AFV Club 1/48 F-5E. This set would also work for the recent F-5N release as well. To prep the canopy, I removed it from the sprue, polished it a bit, and gave it a dip in Future… more |