Paul R. Brown
Reviews By Author
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Modern South Korean Air Power – The Republic of Korea Air Force TodayPublished:
This volume continues Harpia Publishing’s look at the air arms of some of the less well-known nations of the world, examining the Republic of Korea’s Air Force (ROKAF). With a highly unstable and unpredictable neighbor to the north, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) has to be constantly on guard and ready to fight. To ensure its ability to do this, it is closely allied with the United States and operates not only some of the most modern aircraft built in the United States, but also several modern indigenous designs. The book focuses on the ROKAF, its history, its current capabilities, its challenges, and its future. It also looks at the politics and alliances that play out in this region. The book is divided into eight chapters with two appendices:
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F/A-18 C/D Wheel SetPublished:
This set provides replacement nosewheels and main wheels for 1/72 F/A-18C/D kits. It includes two nose gear tires, two main gear tires, and is designed to provide one-for-one replacement parts for the kit wheels. The set does not specify which kits it applies to, so I assume it is intended to be a generic set applicable to any 1/72 F/A-18C or D kit. I had a Hasegawa F/A-18C kit on the workbench, so I used the wheel set on it. All four wheels are very well cast with excellent hub details and tread along with the brakes on the main gear tires. The detail is very crisp and a big improvement over the kit wheels. The wheels are molded with a flat spot on each one to simulate weight on them. After washing the wheels and separating them from the pour stubs, I painted the tires… more |
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FM-1 & FM-2 Wildcat Dual Combo Expert SetPublished:
By 1943, the US Navy had committed itself to an ambitious carrier building program, including not only the full-size Essex class carriers, but also a lot more smaller escort/jeep carriers. The escort carriers were envisioned to be equipped with a composite squadron comprised of Wildcat fighters and Avenger torpedo aircraft. As Grumman had ceased building both types of aircraft in order to concentrate on building F6F Hellcats, license production of Wildcats was transferred to General Motors, resulting in the FM-1 and FM-2 aircraft. The FM-1 was essentially a four gun F4F-4 Wildcat, while the FM-2 featured a more powerful engine, resulting in more engine torque necessitating the installation of a taller vertical tail on the FM-2 (which is accurately depicted on the FM-2 kit). … more |
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F-14 Tomcat in Detail & ScalePublished:
The book is the third time Detail & Scale has published a book in its Detail & Scale series on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. It has also released five books in its Colors and Markings series, two earlier versions and three recent ones. As is traditional with the Detail and Scale Series, the book starts off with a brief, but good overview of the development of the F-14A, B and D aircraft, including looking at the politics involved. The first chapter describes how the TF-30 engined F-14A was intended to be an interim version, with the F-14B, with a new advanced F401 engine, was to be the “definitive” Tomcat. Unfortunately, the F-401 advanced engine did not meet its expected performance and was abandoned by the Navy, resulting in the cancelation of the original F-14B, and… more |
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F/A-18 Hornets Part 3: Legacy Hornets DecalsPublished:
Last summer Squadron Hobbies released three sets of decals for the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet family. Set 72003 provides decals for three legacy F/A-18C’s - two in high-visibility schemes, the CAG (the carrier air wing commander) aircraft from VFA-192 Golden Dragons (2009) and VFA-34 Blue Blasters (2018) and a standard low visibility scheme from VMFA-122 Werewolves (2009). For the VFA-192 and VMFA-122 jets, the instructions include a full color profile view of the left side of each aircraft, the right side of the nose of each jet and a full color overhead view. The instructions for VFA-192 jet also includes the outboard side of the right vertical tail, while those for the VMFA-122 jet have the insides of the vertical tails with the “DC” markings and both illustrate the… more |
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F/A-18 Hornets Part 2: Super Hornets DecalsPublished:
Last summer Squadron Hobbies released three sets of decals for the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet family. Set 72002 provides decals for three Super Hornets in high-visibility schemes – two CAG (the carrier air wing commander) aircraft from VFA-81 Sunliners (2009) and VFA-143 Pukin Dog (2009) and an aircraft from VX-9 Vampires (2013). The instructions include a full dolor profile view of the left side of each aircraft and full color overhead view along with a color key listing the FS numbers for each color. There is also a small detail drawing of the inside of the starboard intake showing the placement of the decals that go inside of the intake and one of the underside of the aft end of the jet showing the placement of several decals including the ones simulating the diamond… more |
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F/A-18 Hornets Part 1: Legacy Hornets DecalsPublished:
Last summer Squadron Hobbies released three sets of decals for the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet family. Set 72001 provides decals for three legacy F/A-18C’s in high-visibility schemes, the CAG (the carrier air wing commander) aircraft from VFA-97 Warhawks, VFA-37 Ragin Bulls and VFA-15 Valions (2001). The instructions include a full color profile view of the left side of each aircraft, the right side of the nose of each jet and full color overhead view along with a color key listing the FS numbers for each color. There is also a small detail drawing of the drop tank markings for each squadron. The decals are very sharply printed with no offsets or misprints. Colors are nice and crisp and for most of the markings, the carrier film is pretty minimal being cut close to… more |
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Su-17M3/M3R/UM3 Landing GearPublished:
This set is designed for use with Modelsvit’s Su-17, Su-20 and Su-22 kits and fits both the 2017 and 2014 kits. The set provides replacement parts for both the nose landing gear and both main landing gear and is comprised of thirteen parts, five for the nose gear assembly and four for each main landing assembly. The nose gear parts include the nose wheel, but the main gear parts do not. The cast parts are designed to be drop-in replacements for the kit parts. As is to be expected with Scale Aircraft Conversions, the parts are well cast and capture the molded detail of the original parts very well. As with most of the other SAC sets I have used, there is a slight molding/casting seam down the sides of the parts that will need to be removed either by filing, sanding or… more |
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Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East Volume 3: Egypt 1948-1989Published:
The book is volume 46 of Helion & Company’s Middle East @ War series and, as noted in the title, is the third volume of its coverage of Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East focusing on arms exports to Egypt between 1948 and 1989. Starting in the mid-1950’s and continuing on and off up to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989, the Czech arms industry exported a wide variety of weapons to Egypt, including ammunition, small arms, artillery, tanks and aircraft. It was also heavily involved in training many pilots, ground personnel and technicians, conducting courses both in Egypt and Czechoslovakia. Initially many of the contracts between Egypt and Czechoslovakia were actually contracts between the USSR and Egypt with Czechoslovakia functioning as the… more |
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F/A-18 E/F Engine Nozzles Set (Revell)Published:
This set is designed to provide replacement engine nozzles for Revell’s 1/72 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Dauntless kits. The package includes two complete nozzle sets consisting of the flameholder section, the exhaust tube and the nozzle. As expected with Brengun, the resin parts are well cast and sharply detailed and are intended to be a complete replacement for the kit’ engines. As with any resin set, the first set is to wash the parts to remove and release agent residue. I then used a razor saw to remove the parts from the casting stubs. I have always struggled with this step as I can never quite seem to keep the blade straight all the way through, so I end up having to do some remedial sanding to even the parts up after removal. I had an old Revell F/A-18E kit in my… more |