Bill O'Malley
Reviews By Author
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VBL MilanPublished:
The Panhard VBL is a French light armored reconnaissance vehicle developed by the Panhard company with a steel-armored body and bulletproof glass. The VBL can also run on water with a propeller which is part of the rear axle. This version of the VBL includes a roof mounted Milan Anti-Tank Missile Launcher. This kit is a reissue of Tiger Model's kit of the Panhard VBL light armored reconnaissance vehicle with 7.62 mm machine gun, #4603. Tiger has also produced a version with a 12.7 mm M2 machine gun, #4619. All six of the kit’s vehicle hatches can be modeled open or closed. The kit includes a complete interior with weapons, gear, and communication equipment. The tires can rotate. The kit also includes a metal tow cable and missile launcher with six spare missiles. The roof… more |
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US Army TractorPublished:
This is a wonderful kit that I enjoyed building. The model has nice detail, great fit of the parts, and makes a fantastic little model of a unique military vehicle. It’s very small, with some finely cast prices, so experience with small parts will be helpful. Thunder Model is a new Chinese model maker and this is their first release. The kit was released in September 2016, and will be followed by a loader version of the same tractor. During World War II the Case tractor company produced more than 1.3 million howitzer shells, 200 sets of bomber aircraft wings, and 20,000 specialized war tractors and engines. From 1941 to 1945 the factory built over 15,000 special military tractors in roughly 40 variants, and over 4,000 tractor engines for the U.S. Army and the Allies were… more |
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Yamaha YZR500 (OWA8) "Team Lucky Strike Roberts 1989"Published:
This is a great kit with lots of detail and fit of the parts is excellent. The assembly is complex, but the instruction are clear so it’s a fun modeling challenge. Hasegawa's Yamaha YZR500 was released in 2014 and is a rebox of a kit first issued in 2012, The kit has been released several times since then, mostly with new decals. The kit comes on four gray plastic sprues, three white plastic sprues, plus a loose front cowl, one bag with black and clear hoses, one bag with metal screws and spring, one clear plastic sprue with the windshield, and two rubber tires. The detail on the plastic parts is very good and there aren’t any blemishes on the smooth body parts. Flash isn't significant, but there are some mold seams. The kit also includes one large decal sheet and one… more |
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D9R DOOBI w/ Armor SlatsPublished:
This is a large photoetch set that adds lots of detail to Meng’s D9R Dozer, particularly in the interior and with replacements for the exterior maintenance platforms. The Cooling Slats are tedious to assemble, but will add a battle-damaged look to the dozer. Soldering is highly recommended for assembling this photoetch set. This Eduard BIG ED photo etch set is intended for the Meng D9R DOOBI w/ armor slats kit. Like other Edward BIG ED sets, the D9R set is a combination of several photoetch sets that are also available individually, and includes:
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US Jerry Can HoldersPublished:
This is a nice set of jerry can holders that can replace the usually over-scaled plastic holders on military vehicles. The photoetch comes on one small fret that is about 1 ½ in. x 1 5/8 in. Four holders are provided with the photoetch. Each holder consists of seven parts: the holder, four bolts, and two straps for the jerry cans. The bolt heads are actually six-sided hexagons and are microscopic. I soldered the first bolt head into place, but the solder obscured the shape of the head. The subsequent bolt heads were glued into place with superglue, which worked much better. Folding the holder worked well. The corners of the holder are rounded so I bent them around a 1/16-in. drill bit, which worked pretty well. Hauler provides tabs for the bottom and side edges of the… more |
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Kenworth W-900 WreckerPublished:
This is a nice kit, with good detail and nice fitting parts. There is some cleanup for seams and flash, but it’s a fun kit to assemble. The Revell Kenworth has been around since 1996 and has been reissued in several configurations. It has included different sleepers, a previous wrecker, and even a dump truck. It appears that the only difference in this version of the wrecker are the decals. This behemoth of a kit comes in a huge box that is 14 x 20 x 5" tall. The kit is part of Revell's Historic Series and is listed a skill level five for ages 14+. The kit is 14 inches long and includes 411 parts, many of them very large. The kit includes eight large white sprues, three large chrome sprues, two small clear plastic sprues, one bag of rubber tires, one bag with a… more |
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US Army LeTourneau Sheepfoot Roller, Single & Double UnitsPublished:
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L.Z. Models from Ireland provide high quality resin models and accessories. These kits represent sheepfoot rollers manufactured by R.G. LeTourneau, whose machines represented nearly 70 percent of the earthmoving equipment and engineering vehicles used during World War II. The sheepsfoot roller is a flat head tamping roller, which employs tapered box heads, or ‘feet’ to compact dirt when towed behind a tractor or dozer. L.Z. has produced both single and double width units as separate kits. These appeared to be simple little kits, until I noticed that there are 100+ resin parts, and over 200 in the double roller kit. Each… more |
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Scale Model Handbook: Diorama Modelling 2Published:
This book uses seven dioramas to illustrate several aspects of modeling dioramas and figures, such as scratch built, conversion, figure sculpture & painting, etc. They book covers several popular modeling scales such as 1/35, 1/32, and 1/24. The dioramas cover many historical periods including Roman Empire, the 17th Century, and World War II. The book is 8-1/2 x 11 inches and printed on matte paper. There are over 450 photographs. Many are low contrast and printed against a dark background, making it hard to discern details. The color intensity is also fairly low so the colors do not pop out. Contents1. Elephant Down! Zama, 202 BC - 54mm (1/32)
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U.S. Armoured BulldozerPublished:
This is an extremely detailed, highly accurate, and well-engineered kit. It will take a lot of patience and only very experienced modelers should undertake this little beauty due to the large number of minute, sometimes microscopic parts. With 759 parts in a model that’s less than 6” long, the kit packs a lot of tiny parts in a dense model of the Cat D7. The fit of the parts is phenomenal. The many pipes and levers, layers of body parts, and even the articulated treads all came together nicely. The kit is part of MiniArt's WW2 Military Miniature series. Previous versions of the kit include:
Kit comes in a 15 x 9.5 x 3… more |
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German AFV DatabasePublished:
This magazine is a listing of 1/35 scale plastic model kits for German armored fighting vehicles (AFV). Most kits are shown on one page with the manufacturer and name of the kit, plus the name of the modeler that built the sample model. The text is mostly in Japanese, but the manufacturer, model name, and model are all listed in English also. This makes it easy to thumb through the photographs and identify the kit manufacturer. The models are all beautifully done and the color photographs illustrate the models very nicely. Some of the kits are not shown as built examples but rather photographs of the box art and sprues. There are also a few reference photos of the original vehicles. An introductory section shows detail photos of assembly and painting of an AFV Club… more |