Paul R. Brown
Reviews By Author
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Spitfire Mk. IXe/XVI Landing GearPublished:
This set includes two complete sets of landing gear for Eduard’s recent Spitfire Mk. IXe and Mk. XVI kits. Each set is comprised of 5 pieces: two main struts, two scissor links, and a tailwheel with the strut. The parts are drop-in replacements for the kit parts. As the struts are small and space around them on the casting tree is pretty tight, the first thing I did was to use a razor saw to separate the parts from the casting tree. To keep myself from getting confused, I removed one set only so that I could match the parts up with the ones left on the casting tree and keep left and right straight. After the parts were removed, the next step is to remove the casting seams of each of the parts. I scraped off the seams with a Xacto blade and then used a small wire brush… more |
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MiG-21MF Fighter Bomber CockpitPublished:
Last summer Eduard released its much anticipated MiG-21MF kit in 1/72 scale. The initial release (the “Interceptor” version) represented aircraft manufactured at the Gorky factory. The second release was for MF’s manufactured earlier at other factories (the “Fighter Bomber” version). As with the Interceptor kit, in conjunction with the release of Fighter Bomber kit, Eduard also released a separate resin cockpit set for the earlier model MiG-21MFs. The set includes nine resin parts, a color photo-etch fret and an acetate sheet with 2 heads-up screens and is intended as a complete replacement for the kit cockpit and ejection seat. As you would expect with Eduard, the resin parts are beautifully cast with exquisite detail and the detail on the photo-etch set is crisp and sharp.… more |
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Fw 189A-1/2 Landing GearPublished:
This set includes eight replacement pieces for the landing gear on ICM’s recent Fw 189A kit. There are three parts for each of the main gear mounts (left and right struts and a retraction/extension arm) and two for the tail wheel assembly. The first step is to remove the casting seams of each of the parts. I scraped of the seams with a Xacto blade and then used a small wire brush in my portable Dremel tool at low speed, to polish up the parts and remove the remainder of the seams. As the struts and the tail wheel are rather easily bent, I did as much of the cleanup before I detached them from the casting tree as it is much easier to handle them while they are still on the tree, plus they are much less likely to bend or go flying when they are still attached. Take care when… more |
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MiG-21MF Interceptor ProfiPackPublished:
Last summer Eduard released the first of its 1/72 MiG-21 kits. The kit depicts the MiG-21MF (NATO reporting name - “Fishbed J”) aircraft that were built at the Gorky factory. These aircraft were primarily exported to the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Some of these aircraft were subsequently re-sold or passed on to other countries, such as Mali which acquired several aircraft from the Czech Air Force. According to Eduard’s instruction sheet, production only ran for two years before being closed, so only a limited number were actually built. As a ProfiPack, the set not only includes the kit itself, but also two decal sheets (one of the markings specific for this boxing, the other a sheet of stencils), a color photo-etch set (70141-LEPT1… more |
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MiG-21MF StencilsPublished:
When Eduard released its first 1/72 MiG-21MF kit last summer, it continued its recent trend of splitting the decals into two separate sheets, one with the unique markings for the aircraft depicted in the kit, the other being a full sheet of stencils. This method not only simplifies the decal printing process when Eduard decides to release additional boxings of the kit with new markings, but it also allows Eduard to release the stencil sheet as a stand-alone decal sheet. The sheet provides complete, and I mean complete, stencils for at least two models, depending on whose aircraft you are building. This is due to the fact that on some MiG-21MFs most of the airframe stencils are done in black, while on other aircraft, they are in blue, and others have almost no stencils at all.… more |
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MiG-21MF Interceptor OvertreesPublished:
When Eduard released its MiG-21MF kit last summer it also released an overtree set of just the sprues from the MiG-21MF kit. This set depicts the MiG-21MF (NATO reporting name - “Fishbed J”) aircraft that were built at the Gorky factory. As this is an overtrees set, the box only includes the four sprues (3 medium gray and one clear). There are no decals, photo-etch, masks, or instructions. The circular clear sprue contains the canopies, lights and instrument panels. Two of the gray sprues are for the airframe and the third one provides the pylons, weapons and external tanks. The molding on all of the parts is superb, but some of them suffer from a slight molding seam. This is easily removed by scraping it with a hobby knife or using a sanding stick, but beware of it as the… more |
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R-3S Missiles w/ Pylons for MiG-21Published:
The R-3S (AA-2 “Atoll”) air-to-air missile was developed by the Soviet Union as their equivalent of the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. It was used extensively by the Soviet Union on its fighters and it was exported widely to its allies. In conjunction with Eduard’s release last summer of its new MiG-21MF kit, Eduard released several photo-etch and resin accessory sets for the kit. This set is actually the combination of two other sets: MiG-21MF pylons (672 184) and R-3S missiles for MiG-21 (672 185). As a result, the set not only provides replacement pylons for all five stations, but also four R-3S (“Atoll”) air-to-air missiles and their associated launch rails. Buying this set instead of the other two sets individually will also save you a few bucks as the suggested retail price… more |
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MiG-21MF WheelsPublished:
When Eduard released its 1/72 MiG-21MF kit last summer it also released several resin and photo-etch sets to go with it. One of the sets is a package of resin wheels. The set provides two sets of main wheels (one with solid wheel covers, the other with spoked wheel covers) and two nose wheels. The instructions note that the solid wheel covers were seldom used on the MF version of the MiG-21, so check your references to see which type the aircraft you are modeling has. I used the spoked set and I have put the other set aside on the assumption that the MiG-21MF is just the first of a MiG-21 series by Eduard, therefore it will come in handy later on. The wheels are crisply cast with very nice tread and even raised lettering on the tire sidewalls. The tires also have a flat spot at… more |
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MiG-21 Landing GearPublished:
This set is designed to fit Eduard’s new MiG-21 kit. The package includes two complete sets of gear, so you can outfit two kits. Each set includes left and right main gear legs (with helpful tabs marked “L” and “R” at the top), a scissor link for each of the main gear struts, two main gear retraction struts, and two-piece nose gear. The parts are drop-in replacements for Eduard’s kit parts, although I had to do a little filing and sanding to get the kit wheels to slide onto the main gear axles, which are keyed just like the kit parts to ensure that the wheels are correctly orientated. I also had to do some work on the scissor links to get them to fit correctly as the gap in the center of each connection point was a little narrower than the mounting points. The castings are… more |
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MiG-21MF PylonsPublished:
This is another resin set that Eduard released to upgrade its new MiG-21MF kit. The set provides the five base pylons for the MiG-21, two for each wing and one for the centerline station. The pylons are drop-in replacements for the kit parts and require the same holes to be drilled out as the kit pylons do, so no additional work is required to use them. In reviewing the kit’s instruction sheet, it states that for the outer pylons, there is a difference between the ones used when weapons are mounted and the one used when fuel tanks are mounted on the outer wing stations. The set does not say whether the set’s outer pylons (parts R4 and R5) are weapons or fuel tank pylons, so I checked the instructions for Eduard’s R-3S missiles and pylons set (#672 18). This set also lists parts… more |