Bill Kluge
Reviews By Author
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IJNS Yamato, Part 4, Final AssemblyPublished: August 18, 2023 Now that the major subassemblies are complete, it was time to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. I naively thought that it would all be downhill from here, even if it was a gently sloping downhill. I didn’t quite realize how many lengthy flat spots there would be along the way. The larger assemblies of superstructure, stack, and main and secondary armament structures fell… more |
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Dreadnoughts and Super-DreadnoughtsPublished: August 2, 2023 By the turn of the Twentieth Century, Great Britain was at the height of its industrial and colonial power, with the largest ironclad navy in the world. By 1904, Britain ruled the seas with 45 “pre-dreadnaught” battleships. Each of these carried a main armament usually consisting of four 12- or 13-inch main guns in two twin turrets (one forward and one aft) along with a number of lesser… more |
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IJMNS Yamato, Part 3Published: April 22, 2023 Building a battleship, especially one this large and complex, can easily appear overwhelming. So, as with any large model project, its easiest to tackle it as a series of subassemblies. That’s more or less the way the instruction sequence is arranged, and it simplifies painting, if nothing else (I found out the hard way that the Tamiya spray can and the bottle lacquer are not the same shade of… more |
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New Jersey Photo Etch SetPublished: January 14, 2023 Loren Perry’s recent retirement and subsequent closing down of the Gold Medal Models photo etch line produced many long faces in the modeling world, particularly in the model shipbuilding community. For many of us, Gold Medal photo etch was, and is, the “gold standard” for ship detailing sets. When Squadron Hobbies purchased Gold Medal Models remaining stock, and announced resumed production… more |
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IJMNS Yamato, Part 2Published: December 17, 2022 Initial ConstructionNow that I had the kit in hand, I had to once and for all decide into what time frame to build it. Most of the parts you need to build the ship at any point in her career are in the box, but much of the build will be determined by what point in time you choose to place the ship. I finally decided to depict Yamato during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, 1944.… more |
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IJMNS Yamato, Part 1Published: July 2, 2022 The ShipSo much has been written about the battleship Yamato that anyone familiar with the Pacific War will know of the Japanese super battleship. Realizing that they could not compete one-on-one with the U.S.Navy, from the mid-1930s the Japanese shipbuilding philosophy was to build each of their new warships to be individually superior to any competing USN warship design.… more |
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Tamiya Lacquer PaintsPublished: March 2, 2022 While Tamiya has long been a producer of acrylic model paints, they have recently entered the market of bottled solvent-based paints with a line of lacquer paints with the new “LP” prefix heading. As of this writing, there are 80 listed “colors” of lacquer paints in the Tamiya catalog, but that total includes such items as Thinner, a Flat Base, 5 Clears plus a Clear Yellow, Clear Orange, Clear… more |
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US Combat Aircraft Colors Over Vietnam 1964-1975: vol.1 US Air ForcePublished: November 1, 2021 This first of a two volume set of US combat aircraft over Vietnam exemplifies the excellence that we’ve come to expect from Mushroom Models Publications White Series aircraft reference books. This heavily illustrated edition covers 14 of the most important fighter, bomber, attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft flown by the US Air Force in southeast Asia. The second volume will cover Navy… more |
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British Fighter Aircraft in World War I: Design, Construction, and InnovationPublished: May 20, 2021 In this follow up to his volume on German aircraft, author Mark Wilkins takes an in-depth look at the concepts, design, and construction of the fighters from five of Britain’s most prominent Great War aircraft manufacturers. This profusely illustrated book uses images taken from manufacturers’ drawings and plans, period photographs and advertisements as well as numerous images of museum and… more |
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Pacific Profiles Volume 3: Allied Medium Bombers, Douglas A-20 Series - Southwest Pacific 1942-1944Published: May 14, 2021 This third volume of Claringbould’s aircraft profiles, the first of Allied aircraft, highlights the Douglas A-20 Havoc (Boston to the Commonwealth forces). The A-20, and its stablemate the B-25, were the two-workhorse low level attack aircraft of the US Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific. At one time or another, the A-20 equipped three medium bomber groups in New Guinea - the 3rd… more |