Bill Kluge
Reviews By Author
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US Navy WW2 Instrument Dial DecalsPublished:
I don’t know how many times I’ve scoured through page after page of my aircraft decal sheets looking one or more dial decals to use on a particular instrument panel. Now, Airscale has saved me a whole lot of looking. They have produced a multi-national series of instrument dial decals in 1/48, 1/32 and 1/24 scale. This set, for US Navy aircraft, has scores of different instrument dials printed in two sizes. According to the list on the instructions, there are over a dozen different instruments represented on this sheet. Unfortunately, they aren’t individually identified or separated on the decal sheet itself. On the other hand, for that information to be useful you’d have to either be a pilot, have a better than average knowledge of the instrument panel being modeled, or have a diagram… more |
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Imperial Japanese Navy Heavy Cruisers 1941-1945Published:
While the aircraft carriers of Imperial Japan may have captured the glory of the navy’s early victories in the Pacific, by and large it was her cruisers that did the slugging, round after round, with the U.S. and Allied navies during the initial stages of the war. This latest New Vanguard edition by Osprey Publishing chronicles the development and use of Japan’s heavy cruiser force. All 18 of the heavy cruisers (designated “Class A cruisers” in the IJN) that fought in the Pacific War were completed before the outbreak of the war. No Japanese heavy cruisers were built during the war. The introduction describes Japanese naval strategy and defines the Japanese Navy’s notion that each of its vessels be designed to out sail and out gun any similar U.S.N or Royal Navy opponent. In… more |
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US Fast Battleships 1938-1991: The Iowa ClassPublished:
This volume of the Osprey New Vanguard series highlights perhaps the most enduring class of fighting ships of the 20th century. Considering that transformation in warships during the last 70 years, the longevity of the Iowa class battleships is noteworthy and a testament to their design and construction. The book is basically divided in to two sections. The first deals with design and construction of the four units of the class (U.S.S Iowa, U.S.S. New Jersey, U.S.S Wisconsin and U.S.S. Missouri) with particular emphasis on how design parameters of previous battleships (of both U.S and foreign navies) as defined by the Washington Naval Treaty influenced the development of the Iowas. These considerations had a direct bearing on such things as armament, protection and… more |
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F-4C/D PhantomPublished:
I must be one of the few modelers left that hasn’t built at least one of these since this kit was introduced more than thirty years ago. The 1/48th F-4, along with the Century Series and Naval Aviation jet aircraft molded by Revell and Monogram back in the 1970s and 80s are truly classic models: exemplified by outstanding detail throughout (for their day), but particularly in the cockpit and wheel wells; finely raised panel lines, and the sometimes less than stellar fit of some of the component parts. All of this offered at a consistently affordable price. This particular version of the venerable F-4 has been in and out of production a number of times since 1979. This kit represents the latest incarnation. A quick glance at the inside of the wing or the underside of… more |
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Ship Accessory Sets - Boat & Davit Set for Destroyers and Small ShipsPublished:
Rumors have been circulating over the past several months that Fine Molds would enter the 1/350 ship model market with a new offering of a Fubuki class destroyer. These appear to be confirmed by the fact that several on-line retailers now offer pre-orders on the Fubuki class DD Ayanami. If potential buyers are curious as to what the quality of this new vessel will be like, they need only take a look at either of these new accessory sets now offered by Fine Molds. The Fine Molds Boat and Davit box contains two separate grey plastic sprue trees that each include two 7.5m motor launches, with a couple of post-mounted life buoys and a canvas cover and left and right davits for one boat, one 7m cutter with a set of oars, as well as two depth charge loading and two torpedo loading… more |
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Ship Accessory Set Type 93 13mm Machine GunsPublished:
Fine Molds continues their series of finely detailed ship accessories with this weapons set of small caliber anti-aircraft guns. The 13mm gun, which was based on a Hotchkiss design and originally imported from France, was one of the two primary light automatic AA guns used on IJN warships (the other being the 25mm Type 96). This boxing includes two each of two different sets of weapons. Fret A contains two twin 13mm guns and two pedestals for them, along with one each single mounted Vickers machine gun and one single mounted Lewis machine gun. Fret B contains one single quad 13mm unit and one mount, plus four single mount 13mm guns. In total, the box includes two quad mount 13mm, four twin 13s, eight single 13s and two each of the Vickers and Lewis guns. All of the parts are… more |
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Precision Punch & Die SetPublished:
Punch & die sets are one of those tools that you don’t think too much about until one day when you need it. Then once you have one, you wonder how you ever did without it. Roll Models now offers the familiar Waldron set containing a punch guide and six punches in the following sizes: .160”, .120”, .089”, .081”, .059”, and .039” Using the set is simplicity itself. One need only slightly separate the sandwich guide, slide in the material to be punched out, line it up in the appropriately sized hole, insert the punch and lightly tap it with a small hammer. You’re rewarded with a perfectly round punch-out. Aircraft modelers have long used this tool to cut out small, round instrument panel dial and gauge decals. Ship modelers will find it useful when the time comes to… more |