Clarence Wentzel
Reviews By Author
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North American B-25 Mitchell Pt. 3 DecalsPublished:
The North American B-25 Mitchell was one of the best Allied twin-engine medium bombers of WW II. It was dependable, simple to service and easy to fly. It was more angular looking than many of its contemporaries, but the Mitchell’s advantages made it preferable in most theatres. Many of the B-25 crews in Italy, Africa and the Far East showed their love for their planes by decorating them with great markings. The noses of the solid-nose Mitchells were painted to resemble dragons, bats, tigers, sharks etc. The glass-nose Mitchells seemed to collect lots of pin-ups. Lifelike Decals of Japan have recently issued four sheets of decals covering various B-25s. I chose to review part 3 of this group because I had a Hasegawa B-25J in my stash that I wanted to add to my collection… more |
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Lockheed XF-90 Penetration FighterPublished:
The years following WW II were an era of great advancement in the aircraft industry. Lessons learned from the war, information obtained from the Germans and the advent of the jet engine combined to greatly accelerate development of the industry. During this time, the US Air Material Command issued requests for proposals related to a Penetration Fighter, an All-Weather Fighter and an Interceptor Fighter. Lockheed worked to develop a submission for the Penetration Fighter contract. Their aircraft from the Skunk Works at Lockheed was designated the XF-90. Steve Ginter has been producing great reference books on Naval Aircraft since 1980 and then around 1999, he added Air Force Legends to the product line. This is the 22nd book in this series and is aimed at the Lockheed XF-90… more |
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P-40 E Warhawk "Claws and Teeth"Published:
HistoryThe Curtiss P-40 E was one of the few US aircraft available in any numbers at the start of World War II. In addition to US usage, a large number were supplied to the British under Lend-Lease provisions. These were called the Kittyhawk 1A. These were used in various Commonwealth nations and a number were even reacquired by the US. While adequate in performance for it’s time, the performance of the P-40 E was somewhat inferior to the Zero, Messerschmidt and Spitfire. Early versions of the P-40 were made famous by the AVG (Flying Tigers) and the image of the tiger mouth on the front fuselage intake became well known. The KitThis excellent new kit from Special Hobby covers the P-40 E with markings of two P-40s flying for the 49th… more |
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Breguet Br.693AB.2 - French Ground-Attack PlanePublished:
HistoryThe Breguet 690 series resulted from a French Air Ministry competition for a heavy twin-engine fighter. Similar aircraft were being developed in Germany – the Messerschmidt Bf-110 and in Holland – the Fokker G.1. The Br.693 was the most successful of the 690 series designs. Powered by the Gnome-Rhone 14M engine, over 200 were produced and in service against German forces. These ground-attack fighters were loved by their crews but many were lost to anti-aircraft fire and Luftwaffe fighters during the furious battles in May and June 1940. Armament of the Br.693 consisted of six internally stored 50 kg bombs, a 20-mm fixed forward firing cannon and four 7.5-mm machine guns. Three of the machine guns were fixed and one was on a flexible rear firing mount. The Br.… more |
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Su-24M Syrian Warriors Pt. 1Published:
BackgroundThe Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer” has been in service for the Russian air forces for over 40 years. It is a rugged, variable wing sweep bomber that is easy to fly and well-liked by the two-man crew. Several kits have been produced of this aircraft and recently, the Advanced Modeling company has released some decal sets that depict the Fencer in modern markings. In accordance with the agreement between Russia and Syria, a group of Russian aircraft were sent to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, September 2015 to fly in support of the Syrian ground forces. During actual operations, the national insignias and registration numbers were overpainted. This could not be easily removed so areas of lighter gray can be seen behind the restored insignias and numbers on certain… more |
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Su-24M Syrian Warriors Pt. 2Published:
BackgroundThe Sukhoi Su-24 "Fencer" has been in service for the Russian air forces for over 40 years. It is a rugged, variable wing sweep bomber that is easy to fly and well liked by the two man crew. Several kits have been produced of this aircraft and recently, the Advanced Modeling Company, a supplier of great resin parts, has released some decal sets that depict the Fencer in modern markings. In accordance with the agreement between Russia and Syria, a group of Russian aircraft were sent to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, September 2015 to fly in support of the Syrian ground forces. During actual operations, the national insignias and registration numbers were overpainted. This could not be easily removed so areas of lighter gray can be seen behind the restored… more |
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Su-24M/MR Chelyabinsk Eagles Pt. 2Published:
BackgroundThe Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer” has been in service with the Russian air forces for over 40 years. It is a rugged, variable wing sweep bomber that is easy to fly and well-liked by the two-man crew. A number of kits have been produced of this aircraft and recently, the Advanced Modeling company has released some decal sets that depict the Fencer in modern markings. This sheet, “Chelyabinsk Eagles Pt. 2”, along with the Pt. 1 sheet, represent various Su-24 aircraft that are based at the Shagol Air Base, near the city of Chelyabinsk near the border with Kazakhstan. When the regiment was first deployed to Chelyabinsk in September of 2010, the aircraft were painted in a variety of schemes and needed repainting. Before re-paint, at least two of the aircraft featured… more |
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Su-24M/MR Chelyabinsk Eagles Pt. 1Published:
BackgroundThe Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer” has been in service with the Russian air forces for over 40 years. It is a rugged, variable wing sweep bomber that is easy to fly and well-liked by the two-man crew. Several kits have been produced of this aircraft and recently, the Advanced Modeling company has released some decal sets that depict the Fencer in modern markings. This sheet, “Chelyabinsk Eagles Pt. 1”, along with the Pt. 2 sheet, represents various Su-24 aircraft that are based at the Shagol Air Base, near the city of Chelyabinsk near the border with Kazakhstan. When the regiment was first deployed to Chelyabinsk in September of 2010, the aircraft were painted in a variety of schemes and needed repainting. Before re-paint, at least two of the aircraft featured large… more |
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MiG-15UTI Soviet Air ForcePublished:
HistoryThe MiG-15 was one of the first really impressive fighter airplanes developed by the Soviet Union after WW II. Utilizing some British jet engine technology and some captured German swept wing technology, the Design Bureau of Mikoyan and Gurevich (MiG) produced a fighter that surprised the Allies when it was first encountered during the start of the Korean War. In 1949, a year after the fighter entered series production, work began on an advanced combat trainer variant to provide pilots with the skills necessary to fly the higher performance fighters. This resulted in the MiG-15UTI. The NATO code name for the trainer was Midget while the Soviet nickname was Babushka (grandmother). The MiG-15UTI was also used to train pilots for the MiG-17, MiG-19 and in some… more |
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Nakajima Ki43-II & Ki44-II with Fuel Truck (2 kits) Limited EditionPublished:
HistoryThis Limited Edition kit from Hasegawa allows the modeler to produce an interesting diorama related to the Akeno Flying School as it existed in December of 1943. The Akeno Flying School was located on the island of Honshu, south of Nagoya and east of Osaka. It was called the Supreme Flight Training School for the Imperial Japanese Army. Lots of photos of aircraft that were used during training at Akeno include many fighters from the Ki-27 to the Ki-100. By December, 1943, Japan was seriously in need of new pilots. A series of conflicts with opponents across the area of operations had ground down the Japanese Army Air Service and replacements were desperately needed from schools like Akeno. This limited edition kit combo features two aircraft, a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa… more |