Paul R. Brown
Reviews By Author
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Sniper ATPPublished:
The Lockheed-Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod is one of the newest targeting pods fielded by the United States and its allies. According to Lockheed, the Sniper ATP provides superior targeting capabilities in air-to-ground, maritime and air-to-air environments. The pod is compatible with and is currently used on variants of the F-16, F-18, B-1, B-52, A-10 and other fighter/attack aircraft. This set is comprised of five resin parts, the main body of the pod, the seeker head, the weapons pylon interface, a dorsal box and the clear resin glass, and a photo-etch endplate. The attachment points for each of the resin pieces is well thought out and the parts are easily removed from the pour stubs with a sharp razor saw. While the resin window is very crisply molded and clear, I… more |
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Mi-24/35 Mk. III SuperHindPublished:
The Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship has been in service around the world since the early 1970’s. The first version, the Hind A featured a large square sided front canopy, but later versions, starting with the Hind D, have all sported a streamlined double bubble canopy over the pilot and weapons operator. While the Hind was designed to be a formidably armed helicopter gunship, it can also carry 8 passengers or troops in the main cabin. Like most other Soviet or Russian designs, the Hind has gone through a number of changes and numerous variants have appeared in service around the world and participated in many conflicts around the world, and continues to do so even today. One of the more recent variants is the Mi-24/35 SuperHind Mk. III produced by the South African… more |
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Tornado WheelsPublished:
RES-IM has recently released several sets of replacement wheels for modern aircraft. Often kit wheels are not accurate representations of the real thing, being rather featureless. This set provides a very nicely molded set of four replacement tires for the Tornado. The set does not state which Tornado kit it is for and as I only have Hasegawa kits of the Tornado, I don’t know if there are any differences between Hasegawa, Italeri or Revell moldings, but I can say they are a big improvement over the kit tires of my Hasegawa Tornado F3 as shown in the photos. The set consists of two main wheels and two nose wheels. The tires are crisply molded with nice tread detail and outstanding hub detail that really pops out with a light black wash. I left the tires attached to the… more |
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MiG-21 WheelsPublished:
Often, the wheels in modern jet kits are either too thin or too thick to be accurate representations of the real thing. Other times they just lack detail or just do not look right and we have to look to the aftermarket for replacements. This set from RES-IM provides a very nicely molded set of tires for the MiG-21 Fishbed. The set does not state whether or not it is for early or late versions of the MiG-21 and I have not dug out my Aerofax book on the MiG-21 to see if there are any differences, so I don’t know for sure, but I can say they are a big improvement over the kit tires of my Fujimi MiG-21R kit tires as shown in the photos. The set consists of two main wheels and one nose wheel. The tires are crisply molded with outstanding hub detail that really pops out with paint a… more |
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IJAAF WWII seatbeltsPublished:
Eduard continues its recent trend of providing realistic seat belts for a wide variety of aircraft. This set is advertised as providing seat belts for Imperial Japanese Army Air Force aircraft from World War II and boy does it! The set provides two types of seat belts for Nakajima aircraft, one leather and the other cloth, and a different type for Kawaski aircraft. There enough sets to make 9 sets of Kawaski belts, 9 sets of leather Nakajima belts and 13 sets of cloth Nakajima belts! The belts are in full color and assembly is easy as all you have to do is glue the part representing the leather back pad behind the buckle on the left belt and then you are ready to install the belts. The instructions clearly show how to install the belts, but it is really pretty self-… more |
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Black Box Canberras – British Test and Trials Canberras 1951-1994Published:
The English Electric Canberra needs no introduction to anyone familiar with post-World War II military aircraft. Originally entering service in the early 1950’s it served with many air forces around the world (including the United States Air Force as the B-57 Canberra) for many years. Almost from the beginning of its service with the Royal Air Force, the Canberra was used as a testbed for a wide variety of aircraft systems and weapons, ranging from airborne radar systems, to air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, airborne reconnaissance systems, and even ejection seat testing. Dave Forster has collected a wealth of information regarding the various British test programs that the Canberra participated in and presents it in a very well organized and informative way. The… more |
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La-7 Prop with ToolPublished:
Last year Eduard released a Weekend edition of their very nice La-7 kit in 1/72nd scale. This new set from Aires/Quickboost provides a replacement for the kit propeller parts. The kit spinner is assembled from two parts, the front spinner and a back plate, the blades are individual blades that are inserted into the assembled spinner and aligned visually. Aires’ set provides the spinner as a single casting as the back plate is molded with the front of the spinner. The blades are also provided as individual blades, but the set includes a very handy alignment tool to make sure all three blades are mounted at the same angle. The alignment tool has a hole in the center for drilling out and attaching the spinner shaft to the spinner, however, the hole does not go all the… more |
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TER (Triple Ejector Rack)Published:
The Triple Ejector Rack (TER) allows aircraft to carry three weapons on a single pylon, thus increasing the weapons load that an aircraft can carry instead of a single weapon per pylon as was common in World War II and Korea. The TER attaches directly to the weapons pylon and allows the carriage of up to three of the same weapon, primarily bombs, on that weapons station. The United States has used TERS since the Vietnam War and they still a common sight on US aircraft along with many NATO air forces. The bombs are attached to the TER by mounting lugs and are stabilized by adjustable sway braces on the TER. Brassin’s TER set provides five TERs and photo-etch for the sway braces and the mounting attachments. After separating the TER from is pour stub, the first step is to… more |
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SC 50 German WWII BombsPublished:
The SC 50 was a small general purpose bomb used by the Luftwaffe in World War II. The bomb weighed between 48 and 55 kg and was produced in several different variants. It was carried by Luftwaffe bombers and fighter-bombers during the war. The bombs could be equipped with “screamers” which look like long whistles to make noise during flight. This set provides eight SC 50 bombs and thirty-two very tiny screamers. The bombs are single piece units which are easily separated from the pour stubs. The screamers are provided in sets of 8 on 4 separate pour stubs. After removing the bombs from the pour stubs, I lightly sanded them on a piece of sandpaper taped to a small piece of glass from an old picture frame, making sure to keep the bombs vertical. This removed the remains of the… more |
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Hellcat Mk. I Weekend EditionPublished:
While the Grumman Hellcat’s primary claim to fame is its stellar service with the US Navy in Pacific Ocean, the Hellcat also saw action in the European and Mediterranean theaters with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. Under the Lend-Lease program over 200 F6F-3 Hellcats were delivered to the Fleet Air Arm for use from Royal Navy carriers as the Hellcat Mk. I. Eduard has released both the F6F-3 (Hellcat Mk. I) and the F6F-5 (Hellcat Mk. II) in 1/72. The kit is comprised of three sprues of parts molded in light grey and a circular sprue of clear parts. Two of the main sprues and the clear sprue appear to be common to all of Eduard’s Hellcat kits as they include a number of parts such as bombs, rockets and the night-fighter radar pod that does not apply to the Hellcat Mk. I.… more |