Dan Brown
Reviews By Author
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Audi R8 LMS GT3 SPA 24 Hours ’15 with Detail Up SetPublished:
The Audi R8 GT3 is a mid-mounted V10 engine sports car produced by Audi to compete in the GT3 touring car racing series. This series is based on a vehicle that must be available for sale to regular consumers with minimal changes. Due to the low cost for entry to the GT3 race series, many teams have taken part and the Audi R8 LMS GT3 version has been delivered to many racing teams around the world. It is very active in both endurance and GT races. This new kit from PLATZ reproduces the AUDI R8 LMS GT3 from the 24-hour Spa race in 2015 in 1/24 scale. My example also included the Detail Up set specifically for this kit from NuNu. The box includes an impressive collection of well molded sprues with no visible mold issues or flash. There are four sprues in black styrene, one sprue… more |
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U-9 Grand Prix Car ModelPublished:
UGears is a Ukrainian company that opened in 2015, and UB LLC is their distributor in the US. Their kits are built from laser-cut plywood and cover a vast range of interesting topics. Everything from cars to bikes, trains and even a horse. Their kits are all given a difficulty rating that corresponds to the number of included parts and the estimated assembly time. This Grand Prix car is my first UGears kit and it listed as an advanced kit with an estimated assembly time of 6 to 7 hours. As stated above, all of their kits are assembled from precision laser-cut plywood parts. The surprisingly small box for this kit contains 5 large trees of 348 parts, a large number of toothpicks, a small stick of wax, sandpaper, two different sizes of rubber bands, and an extensive, full color… more |
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Audi R8 LMS GT3 Spa 24 Hours ’15 with Detail Up SetPublished:
The Audi R8 GT3 is a mid-mounted V10 engine sports car produced by Audi to compete in the GT3 touring car racing series. This series is based on a vehicle that must be available for sale to regular consumers with minimal changes. Due to the low cost for entry to the GT3 race series, many teams have taken part and the Audi R8 LMS GT3 version has been delivered to many racing teams around the world. It is very active in both endurance and GT races. This new kit from PLATZ reproduces the AUDI R8 LMS GT3 from the 24-hour Spa race in 2015 in 1/24 scale. My example also included the Detail Up set specifically for this kit from NuNu. The box includes an impressive collection of well molded sprues with no visible mold issues or flash. There are four sprues in black styrene, one sprue… more |
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Israel Main Battle Tank Magach 6B GalPublished:
The Israeli Defense Force has a long tradition of importing U.S. weapon systems and upgrading them to meet their needs. The Magach series of tanks are based on the M48 and M60 tanks. The Magach 6B Gal is a modernized version of the M60A3 Patton and the addition of the Gal designation came with a new fire control system. The Magach 6B Gal was used as a front line vehicle for many years, serving alongside the Merkava series of main battle tanks. As usual with new Meng releases, the box includes an impressive collection of extremely well molded sprues with no visible mold issues or flash. There are eleven sprues in sand colored styrene, two sprues of clear parts, four sprues of track parts, a ladder of poly-caps, a sheet of Photo-Etched (PE) brass, small metal tubes, a sprue of… more |
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Merkava Modern AFV PaintPublished:
Mission Models Paints has released several new colors recently for modern AFVs. This example is for modern Israeli armor, specifically the Merkava line of vehicles. This paint color is meant to cover most Israeli AFVs from the late 1970s to the present. Like all other Mission Models water-based acrylics MMP-128 is odorless, fast drying, designed not to clog airbrush tips, and to produce a smooth, durable finish. Mission Models helpfully includes a guide on how to work with their paint on their website under the Tech Support Section. The paint is thicker than many acrylics I have worked with and it is not pre-thinned for air brushing. It does appear though that the paint particles are very fine and they have helpfully included a stainless-steel ball in every bottle to… more |
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North American F-51D Mustang Korean WarPublished:
The P-51 is often viewed as the most successful aircraft designed in WWII. It was originally developed in 1940 by North American Aviation for the Royal Air Force prior to being adopted by the U.S. Army Air Force. After WWII ended, all variants of the P-51 were retired except the P-51D, which was kept in service for the Air National Guard. In 1948, with the separation of the U.S. Air Force from the U.S. Army, the designation was changed from P-51 to F-51. At the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, most of the airfields on the Korean peninsula were ill suited for jet aircraft. So the F-51D was called back into service. This new release from Tamiya captures an F-51D from the Korean War and is their newest release of their highly regarded kit, last released in 2016. The kit comes… more |
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9K330 Tor Air Defense SystemPublished:
The 9K330 Tor is the newest vehicle in the Russian arsenal for self contained anti-air missile defense system. The missile system is the SA-15 Gauntlet and it is mounted in the 9K330 Tor tracked chassis. The vehicle has an integrated rotating search radar, a tracking radar in the front of the turret, antennas for guidance and 6 vertically stored missiles in the center of the turret. Interestingly, these missiles are stored internally and are launched similar to US naval vessels. In 2016, Panda Hobby released the original version of this kit and it remains the only styrene kit of this subject. This new release from 2019 adds replacement white metal tracks to the kit. The kit is packaged in the usual Panda Hobby box with a colorful print of the vehicle in service. In the box are… more |
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M109A7 Paladin Self-Propelled HowitzerPublished:
The M109A7 is the latest version of the Army’s long serving 155mm self-propelled howitzer. First debuted in the 1960s to replace the M44. This newest version of the M109 sets out to upgrade many of the systems that allow a faster fire rate even with the increase in armor. There are also a number of parts that this vehicle now shares with the Bradley fighting vehicle allowing for cost savings in production and supply logistics. This new kit from Panda Hobby is the first kit of the newest member of the M109 family in 1/35 scale. The kit is packaged in the usual Panda Hobby box with a colorful print of the vehicle in service. In the box are 5 sprues of tan plastic, 2 PE sheets, a clear sprue, a small decal sheet and a small plastic box containing all of the white metal track… more |
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Russian Air Defense Weapon System 96K6 Pantsir-S1Published:
The Pantsir missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium range surface to air missile systems. The 96K6 Pantsir-S1 is a combination of the 2K22 Tunguska missile system with a KAMAZ-6050 8x8 cross country truck. The turret is equipped with two 2A38m 30mm AA guns and 12 57E6 series surface to air missiles. This vehicle has been exported to number of countries including Syria, Serbia and Iraq and it has participated in combat operations in Syria and Ukraine. This new kit from Meng is one of three modern kits to represent this interesting vehicle. The kit comes in a very large box with Meng’s usual print of the vehicle in question on the front. Make no mistake this is big kit with a lot of options to cover the large number of versions this kit covers. So, the large box… more |
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CF-188A '20 Years of Service RCAF'Published:
The CF-188A Hornet, more commonly known as the CF-18, is a multi-role fighter that first flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1977. It was chosen as a replacement for the CF-101 Voodoo and CF-104 Starfighter. The CF-188s were upgraded through two incremental Modernization Programs, with a new radar and avionics from the F/A-18C/D as well as a new targeting pod. This new kit from Kinetic is the latest special edition of the CF-188 Hornet and it covers the commemorative scheme for 20 years of service with the RCAF. The base kit for this release is Kinetic’s new F/A-18C that was released in 2016. There are several new sprues for parts to turn the jet into a F/A-18A/CF-188A. The kit comes in a very large box with an impressive and colorful picture of the aircraft in question… more |