Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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F-35A Lightning IIPublished:
Tamiya caught everyone by surprise with its announcement of a 1/48 F-35A Lightning II. The kit is out now and it is fantastic. Let’s take a look into the box. The sprues are classic Tamiya, perfectly formed with great panel lines, no flash and the great Tamiya plastic. Starting off with the sprues, the top and bottom of the fuselage cover the majority of the fuselage with a total count of nine gray and a clear tinted sprue. Options include:
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A-5/RA-5 VigilantePublished:
Phoenix Scale Publications is a partnership of four people that have many years in the modeling world. They produce magazines (Scale Modeling and Aviation Modeling), Books (Red, Blue, White and Airmark series). The books are dedicated to specific planes and for this review, we look at the Airmark in Profile and in Scale series No.4, the North American A-5/RA-5 Vigilante. The contents of the book show the layout:
The Vigilante is one of my favorite planes due to its size and the fact that it’s carrier based. The introduction covers… more |
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F-15C Grim Reapers End of an EraPublished:
For those of us aircraft builders, Two Bobs Aviation Graphics is no stranger to the decal scene. Specializing in modern era planes of all types, they have supplied great decals for a long time now. This new set, “F-15 Grim Reapers- End of an Era” continues that tradition with a set dedicated to the 493rd Fighter Squadron located at RAF Lakenheath and known as the Grim Reapers. They are converting to F-35’s and went about commemorating the retirement of the F-15C’s with a special scheme and nose art capturing their last deployment to Poland. As a bonus, there are three additional schemes from their 2019 deployment that feature nose art. Included in the set are marking for:
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Ultra Micro Chisels- 2.0mm and 3.5mmPublished:
UMM-USA is known for many things and one of them is tools. Tools specifically found or designed by owner John Vojtech. If you look at just the web page for the chisels, there are 26 different varieties or sets. You can find them here: http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?cPath=21_224 The two we are reviewing here are the 2.0mm elliptical chisel (Umm 38) and 3.5mm flat double beveled chisel (UMM16). They both have great handles which provide a very sturdy grip. I have used these chisels before building resin figure kits but one of the new uses I have found is for aircraft cockpits for the flat chisel, With the new 3D sets from companies like Quinta and Eduard, the first thing you need to do… more |
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SB2C Helldiver Landing GearPublished:
The 1/32nd scale modeling world was happily surprised when Infinity Models came out with two versions of the SB2C Helldiver. It is a huge model and there are resin after market sets for the bomb bay, wing folds, weapons plus photoetch. The kit can get very heavy, very quickly. The kit landing gear are simple albeit beefy plastic parts. What to do so your Helldiver isn't sitting on the ground? Scale Aircraft Conversions to the rescue with a full white metal landing gear set. The set is 19 metal parts and will need some cleaning but is a direct replacement for the main gear AND that fragile rear leg too. The set could also be used to rescue you from a lost or missing part but with the weight of the kit, this is really needed Highly recommended to pretty much required. My… more |
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Viper Pilots – Reimagined BSG SeriesPublished:
Cozmic Scale Models from the UK specializes in SciFi Model kits and accessories. They have multiple figures, details and parts for everything from bases to crews to some full kits. This review is a 1/32 Battlestar Galactica series, the re-imagined version from 2004. These come in multiple poses and this one is standing holding his helmet in one hand. The kit itself is a single piece with decals and is very clean. To prep it for paint, a few small scrapings were done and a little cleaning around the helmet and then I shot it with Tamiya primer. Painting was done with acrylics and decals added. A final flat coat and done and it was ready for display or addition to a diorama. Highly recommended. Very well produced and they can be scaled to the modelers size. My… more |
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F-18C Legacy Hornet DecalsPublished:
Squadron is back and in a big way. In this review, we’ll cover the four new decals listed below:
First, the basics for all… more |
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Bf 108 Landing GearPublished:
When Eduard followed up with a 1/32nd scale version of their wonderful 1/48th scale Bf-108, modelers were excited to get a larger version of this plane and several versions have been issued. Looking at the kit, one thing noted is the scale thinness of the main landing gear legs. There is also the potential added weight of some photoetch and resin. Scale Aircraft Conversions can give you an alternative to the kit parts with replacement parts in white metal for the main gear legs and the tail also. The parts are direct replacement after a little clean up and can either replace the kit parts for added strength or, as I have had happen, save the kit when you break a part and need a replacement. Another great set from Scale Aircraft Conversions. Definitely recommended.… more |
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TG-16A USAF GliderPublished:
Hauler Brengun has done great work with their aftermarket sets and kits. This latest one, the TG-16A is a cool choice. In 2011, the TG-16A was chosen by the US Air Force as the new soaring trainer for USAF Academy and also is the choice for their aerobatics team. The competition version is rated at +7/-5 G which is impressive for the thinness of the actual plane. The kit comes with a single white sprue with all the parts (and a few extra) for the plane. There is a clear sprue for the canopy and rear tail part. The wings and horizontal stabilizer are a single piece. Instructions are a single sheet and painting instructions are on the back of the box. Four sets of markings are included on the decal sheet. All as similar since the planes themselves are similar. They are white!… more |
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Riveting Tools - 1/48th, 1/32nd and 1/24th ScalesPublished:
As an airplane builder, one of the necessary but boring parts for me is sanding smooth and then restoring panel lines and rivets. UMM-USA has the solution for the rivets with multiple sets. We will look at MN-006 (1/48th scale rivets), MN-021 (1/32nd scale rivets) and MN-049 (for 1/32nd and 1/24th scale rivets). Each riveter comes with a comfortable plastic handle with a wheel containing cuts with the raised pegs representing the rivets. Use is simple and I used a scrap piece of styrene. I used a ruler as a line on a smooth surface and you roll the wheel along with pressure on the tip. The rotating wheel engraves the plastic with rivets. The the different sizes all have the same diameter wheel so the difference is the cuts and number of spikes. The 1/24 scale has about 20… more |