Paul R. Brown
Reviews By Author
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In the Claws of the Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat Against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000Published:
The book is Volume 29 of Helion & Company’s Middle East@War series. The book includes over 80 black and white photographs which include not only photographs of some of the US Navy F-14 squadrons that were engaged in operations in the Persian Gulf and over Iraq, but also quite a few good photographs of Iraqi Air Force aircraft, surface-to-air missiles and other defenses systems, as well as Iraqi pilots. The photographs are supplemented by 21 color profiles of various F-14s and Iranian and Iraqi aircraft that were involved in the actions discussed in the book. There are also several charts setting forth the order of battle for the two forces along with maps of the theater of operations. Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and author with extensive contacts both… more |
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Paradise Afire Volume 3: The Sri Lankan War 1990-1994Published:
The book is volume 17 of Helion & Company’s Asia@War series and, as noted in the title, is the third volume of its coverage of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The book includes over 50 black and white photographs, both of government and LTTE forces, 7 pages of color profiles depicting the aircraft, ships and vehicles of the security forces as well as the uniforms of both military and LTTE participants. There are also several maps of some of the more significant operations and a color map of Sri Lanka. Adrien Fontanellaz is a military researcher and author who has written several volumes for Helion & Company. Using official government histories and published autobiographies of some of the leading figures in the Sri Lankan security forces, as well as interviews with some… more |
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T-38 Talon, F-5B, RF-5A/E/S Pitot Tube and 20mm Gun BarrelsPublished:
This set is designed for use with kits of the T-38 Talon, the F-5B Tiger I and the RF-5A/E/S. The set consists of 3 brass parts – the nose pitot and two 20 mm gun barrels, however, as later versions of the RF-5 only have one gun installed, so you will need to check your references. If you are modeling a T-38 or a F-5B, you will only be using the pitot tube as neither had guns installed. The instructions are clear about what size drill bit you will need for each installation and clearly indicate how just how much of the pitot tube extends past the kit nose. Take care when drilling your holes and check them as you go to ensure that the pitot tube in on the aircraft centerline and parallel to the ground and that the gun barrels are parallel to the aircraft centerline. This… more |
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F-5E Tiger II Pitot Tube and 20mm Gun BarrelsPublished:
This set is designed for use with kits of the later models of the F-5E/F Tiger II with the so-called “shark” or flattened nose. I used on old Italeri F-5F kit that had been a shelf queen for a few years. The set consists of 5 brass parts – the nose pitot and a tube in which to mount it, two 20 mm gun barrels and a dummy fairing for those aircraft which only have one gun installed. While these parts will be some of the last ones you install, there is a little prep work that you need to do to install them. First you need to determine if the jet you are modeling has both 20 mm guns install or just one. You will need a close shot of the gun area to determine this as while the fairing is a bit larger in diameter and shorter than a normal 20 mm barrel, you will need just the right… more |
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Aircraft Carrier Juan Carlos I of the Spanish NavyPublished:
This is the first book of a potential new series from Duke Hawkins Books on aircraft carriers. The volume grew out of its earlier book on the Harrier II/AV-8B, as while working on that book, several of their photographers were given the opportunity to visit the Juan Carlos I while she was at sea conducting operations and ended up with an extensive collection of photographs not just of the Spanish Navy’s use of the EAV-8B Matador II (Harrier II Plus), but also of the ship itself and its other facets of its operations – helicopter and amphibious operations. The book is divided into ten sections/chapters starting with a brief introduction on the ship and its missions, then providing more details on the different operations conducted from the ship and details of the ships’ spaces… more |
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F-14D Tomcat Detail SetPublished:
This set is designed for Great Wall Hobby’s recent F-14D Tomcat kit and will nicely spruce up your build. The set includes complete photo-etch replacements for the instrument panels and cockpit side consoles for both cockpits, including the circuit breaker panels behind the Radar Intercept Officer’s (RIO’s) seat. A nice touch is the inclusion of not only the rudder pedals for the pilot, but also the foot pedals for the RIO which while not connected to any flight controls are important as the location of the RIO’s radio/ICS talk buttons. In order to install the etch parts you will need to remove the molded-on details from all the panels and consoles before painting the cockpit and installing the etched parts. Unfortunately, I received the set after I had painted and assembled the… more |
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F-14D TomcatPublished:
In December of 2019, Great Wall Hobby released a newly tooled 1/72 scale F-14D Tomcat kit. Like many of the other Tomcat kits that have been released in recent years, the kit is engineered so that Great Wall could also release a F-14A Tomcat by just swapping out a few sprues. However, the kit design is such that there are just a few parts on the F-14D trees that are not used. Upon opening the rather large box, you will discover that there are a lot of parts in this kit spread out over 41 grey sprues and one clear sprue! Many of these are smaller sprues such as those for the Phoenix, Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles. The intake trunks are molded on their own sprues as is the lower fuselage. There are two decal sheets, one with the stencils and the other with markings for three F-… more |
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F-14D Tomcat Masking SetPublished:
This set is designed for Great Wall Hobby’s recent F-14D Tomcat kit. As has become standard for these sets, the set provides masks not only for the canopy and the windscreen, but also for the tires or wheel hubs. There are three parts to the windscreen mask, one for each side and the central panel. The main canopy has 4 parts for each section, two for each side. The instructions advise you to cover the rest of the canopy area with liquid masking, but I prefer to cut small strips out of the unused parts of the masking sheet and use these strips to mask off the rest of the canopy. After masking the canopy, but before tacking it in place over the cockpit, I hand painted the center panel of the windscreen Tamiya clear green to get the green tint seen in some photos of this… more |
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RATO for A-4 SkyhawkPublished:
When the A-4B Skyhawk was designed, provisions were made for it to use RATO rockets to give it a short deck-run launch (if carrier’s catapults were unavailable for any reason). One RATO bottle could be mounted on each speed brake giving an additional 9,000 lbs. of thrust for five seconds. The bottles were fired electrically and upon burnout were jettisoned hydraulically from the cockpit. While this capability was never used by the US Navy, in Vietnam, the Marines took advantage of this capability when launching A-4s from short airfields. This new set from Brengun provides four RATO bottles, enough to equip two Skyhawks. Each bottle is comprised of two parts - the main body of the bottle and a separate piece with the exhaust nozzle. The main body includes simplified mounting… more |
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F-4J Phantom II Auxiliary Air IntakePublished:
This set provides replacement parts for the auxiliary air intakes and associate doors for Academy’s recent 1/72 F-4J kit. The set includes replacement bays for each side, replacing the single part provided in the kit. The set also includes replacement doors and actuators for the doors, again replacing the somewhat simplified kit parts. As shown in the attached photographs, the resin bays are very nicely detailed and really capture the look of this area of the Phantom’s engine. The doors are very thin and include nice rivet/fastener details on the exterior side and sharp interior details on the other side. The actuators are also crisply molded and Quickboost wisely provides two extra actuators for those of us who are guaranteed to lose at least one of them to the carpet monster… more |