Dave Koukol
Reviews By Author
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USS Arizona - Squadron at SeaPublished: November 13, 2011
For 70 years following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona has been the icon of the devastation and loss of American life on December 7, 1941, having lost 1,177 American… more |
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Su-25 UB/UBK FrogfootPublished: November 9, 2011 In the latter half of the 1970’s the Sukhoi Design Bureau rolled out the Su-25, NATO codenamed “Frogfoot”, to the Soviet Air Force to fill a requirement for a dedicated close air support aircraft. Similar in role to the US Air Force’s A-10 Warthog, the Su-25 was designed to carry large air-to-ground payloads and internal cannon to defeat a wide variety of ground threats, including armor and… more |
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'63 Corvette Sting Ray CoupePublished: November 1, 2011 Chevy’s classic Corvette was first offered in a hard-top version in 1963, and that model-year’s radical shift in design style can still be seen in the generations of ‘Vettes which have since followed. The ’63 Sting Ray Coupe is Revell’s latest addition to its Snap-Tite Corvette collection, and this one surely does not disappoint young modeling hands. Camden (age 6) built this review sample in… more |
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Wile E. Coyote and the Wile E. WillysPublished: September 28, 2011 Saturday morning cartoons once again meet the modeling bench in Round2’s resurrection of classic kits featuring Warner Brothers’ beloved Road Runner and his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote. Of the three newly re-released kits, this review focuses on the hapless Wile E. Coyote and the Wile E. Willys – a loony dragster embodying a skateboard culture theme. The MPC-branded kit consists of 4… more |
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Road Runner and The Rail RiderPublished: September 16, 2011 Saturday morning cartoons again meet the modeling bench in Round2’s resurrection of classic kits featuring Warner Brothers’ beloved Road Runner and his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote. Of the three newly re-released kits, this review focuses on Road Runner and The Rail Rider – a looney dragster embodying a steam engine theme. The MPC-branded kit consists of 5 sprues of colored parts, including… more |
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Air War Afghanistan - NATO Air Operations from 2001Published: September 16, 2011 In the decade since America engaged in the War on Terror following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the war in Afghanistan has been an ongoing campaign to hem in and eradicate the Taliban and other radical Muslim entities which have held the country hostage since the departure of Soviet forces and provided safe haven and support for the Al Queda operatives behind the 9/11 attacks. A key… more |
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Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf.BPublished: September 4, 2011 How cool is this? A teeny-tiny 9-piece German half-track in 1/100 scale – sweet! Now, I’m not an armor guy, but I do enjoy a good armor kit every now and then, and I sure do appreciate those life-like pieces of work that show up every month at club meetings and at contests. Frankly, they intimidate this aircraft modeler to some degree. This little guy, however, is quite a different… more |
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F-22 Raptor in ActionPublished: September 24, 2021 Indispensible to scale modelers since the 1970’s is Squadron/Signal’s “In Action” series of books chronicling history’s great aircraft, armor, and naval vessels – featuring developmental and operational backgrounds and outstanding reference photos of details and markings. Their latest volume, penned by the legendary Lou Drendel, showcases the world’s most advanced and capable fighter… more |
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North American P-51D Mustang, Part 3Published: October 6, 2022 After 3-1/2 weeks since the “First Look,” this reviewer is pleased to provide this final installment for the out-of-box “build of a lifetime.” Indeed, in my humble opinion, our friends at Tamiya outdid even their standard-setting Spitfire series. All said, 34 hours were invested in the build – 24 on construction, and 10 on painting, decaling, and weathering. I can’t believe fewer than 40 hours… more |
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North American P-51D Mustang, Part 2Published: October 6, 2022 At the time of this writing, it’s been a week since I penned the “First Look” at this amazing kit, and I’ve now logged 19 hours of benchtime on this baby – 19 glorious hours of relatively problem-free building with exquisitely-engineered parts and crystal clear instructions. PowerplantVirtually identical to the Spitfire Merlin, with the exception of several parts unique to… more |