Chris Smith
Reviews By Author
We Were Never There, Volume 1: CIA U-2 Operations over Europe, the USSR and the Middle East, 1956-1960Published: January 13, 2022 On May 1, 1960, an ex-USAF turned CIA pilot named Francis Gary Powers flying a Lockheed U-2 at 70,000 feet 800 miles east of Moscow felt and saw the results of a Soviet SA-2 missile removing the tail of his aircraft. Thus ended the first round of U-2 overflights over the Soviet Union and the time frame covered in this volume. Despite the international incident that resulted, the information… more |
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A-10 ACES II Ejection Seat with Belts and Lambs Wool Seat CoversPublished: November 24, 2021 Phase Hangar brings us a resin cast replacement ejection seat for most 1/48 A-10 kits. You get a cast seat and canopy breakers with a printed seat rail. This version replicates the lamb's wool cushions seen in some Hogs. Compared to the Hobby Boss and Tamiya kit seats, this set provides a replacement with substantial improvements in detail. If you want to use this with Hobby Boss kit… more |
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A-10A/A+/C Warthog Wheel SetPublished: November 22, 2021 This set consists of resin 3D printed main wheels and a cast nose wheel. As the product description implies, these wheels are universal for all versions and kits of the A-10 in this scale. In the attached photos, I compared these parts with the Hobby Boss kit (in grey plastic) and the older Tamiya kit (in green plastic). The main wheels require minor clean up once the printing sprues are cut… more |
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A-10A/A+/C Warthog Exterior Update set 1 w/Wingtip Covered Chaff/ Flare Dispensers for Hobby BossPublished: November 7, 2021 Among the numerous update sets Phase Hangar has produced for the Hobby Boss kit comes this exterior upgrade that includes replacement wing tips and tail cone. Covered chaff dispensers are featured under these wing tips as well as missile launch detectors. These parts also spare you the chore of closing the joint in the curved underside of the wing present on the kit molding. In… more |
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A-10A/A+/C Warthog Engine Inlet/Update Set for Hobby BossPublished: November 7, 2021 Phase Hangar provides a nice upgrade of the engine inlet for all A-10 variants. Before we get deeper into using this set, the inlet parts Hobby Boss provides are impressively thin and detailed for injection molded parts. However, A-10 builders always encounter the same issue, how to mask and paint the inlet interiors, fan blades and center cones. Phase Hangar has solved those issues by… more |
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A-10A/A+/C Warthog Exhaust cone/Turbine update Set for Hobby BossPublished: November 7, 2021 The Hobby Boss 1/48 A-10 kit can make up into an impressive kit right out of the box. As with another production kits however, it has some areas that need detail upgrades to represent the aircraft in scale. One of those areas in this kit are the engine exhausts. The Hobby Boss parts C8 & C9 make up the turbine section of the engine. There is no internal detail so you end up with a black… more |
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A-10C Weapons Pylon Set for Hobby BossPublished: November 7, 2021 A focal point of any A-10 build is all of the ordinance hanging from eleven hardpoints across its wingspan. While the Hobby Boss A-10 has a lot of strong points, the kit provided weapon pylons are not one of them. The surface details consist of dimpled rivets and some raised boxy panels. Phase Hangar corrects that for us with this set of replacement pylons with separate bomb rack inserts. Each… more |
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A-10C Cockpit Upgrade Set for Hobby BossPublished: November 6, 2021 As the product description says, this is an upgrade set to convert the Hobby Boss A-10A to an A-10C cockpit. The base kit comes configured as an A model and the analog instrument panel provided reflects that. In the late 1990s A-10s were upgraded with GPS navigation and other capabilities that required multi-function displays in a reconfigured instrument panel. For that reason, the kit… more |
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Volvo 240 Turbo 1986 ETCC Hockenheim Winner - Detail Up PartsPublished: July 23, 2021 In 1982 the Federation International de ’L’Automobile (FIA) developed Group A requirements to allow manufactures and individuals to race production model cars. In order to qualify, a process called “homologation”, the manufactures had to build 2500 or 5000 cars or under “evolution” rules 500 cars which after inspection and approval qualified the cars to race. The subject of this review… more |
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Mirage III EZPublished: July 22, 2021 A type well known to anyone with even a casual interest in aviation history, the Dassault Mirage III is one of the classic early supersonic fighter jets. First flown in 1956, it has served in 14 countries and accrued an impressive combat record most notably with the Israeli Air Forces. Another export customer was the South African Air Force. Two examples of the countries Mirages III EZs are… more |