Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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F2H-2 Banshee Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) continues their replacement metal great releases with a set of metal gear for the Kitty Hawk F-2H Banshee. This white metal set is comprised of eight pieces and replaces both the nose gear as well as both main gear legs. Molding is excellent with only a hint of a seam which is easily sanded out. The main gear legs are direct replacements and are a drop in fit to the kit parts and will provide a nice sturdy base to the plane. The nose gear is a bit more complicated (as is the nose gear on the real Banshee) and is made up of the remaining six parts. I built the kit parts for comparison and I am very glad to have the SAC set as the kit landing gear retraction strut snapped when I cut it loose. The nose gear leg is assembled by adding the strut into… more |
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B-26 F/G MarauderPublished:
I have a confession to make. I love the B-26…no idea why, I just like the way it looks and the markings and so this review is a little bit of a love affair with a specific plane. So, when Hasegawa’s B-26 F/G came up for review, I jumped at the chance. Reviewing the kit in the box shows 12 sprues with two of those being clear. The clear parts not only include the canopies and windows but also the horizontal tails which is due to the small windows for the rear gunner which are next to the tail and small. In this way, the tiny windows are easier to mask and fit better. Also included is a set of poly caps for the props and a large set of decals covering three markings:
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TOPGUN Tigers and TalonsPublished:
The movie Top Gun, love it or hate it, raised a lot of interest in the Navy Fighter Weapons School and that interest was not lost on modelers, with the markings of the Adversary planes standing out. Furball has given us an enormous sheet of markings covering thirteen different schemes covering 12 different of F-5Es and F-5Fs between 1976 and 1986. Note that this is different from the smaller schemes as they just couldn’t fit the T-38’s on the sheet. There is great news in that the markings included are all airframes so you could build all thirteen planes included. The schemes included are:
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McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II - The Finale, Part 3Published:
Last we left off, the airframe was together with the parts and we were ready to paint. In preparation, I added the landing gear. To me, this allows the plane to sit up off surfaces while drying and these were sturdy and fit perfectly with the best attachment points I have seen. To start, I used Tamiya acrylic high gloss white thinned with lacquer thinner and sprayed the bottom and slightly up the sides. I masked off the intakes as they had a great demarcation line from the previous painting and the great design. I also shot the flaps, the rudder on the tail and all the landing gear doors. This dried quickly and I masked off for the Gull Gray. I masked around the edges and the rudder and used my Gyrocut to get some wavy lines. Tamiya yellow tape was used for all masking. I sprayed the… more |
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F-14 Bombcat Weapons Decal SetPublished:
So, you want to build an F-14 Bombcat in 1/72nd scale and you look at the kit and the weapons look plain. You look at the real items and they have markings all over them. What to do, what to do. The fine people at Furball have you covered in spades with the issue of set 72-006 which includes markings for 84 different things that go under the wings. Inside the set, you get a wonderful, large decals sheet in excellent register printed by Cartograf. The remaining three pages are detailed marking and painting instructions for both active and inert weapons. All paint colors are denoted in FS format. Alternate colors are also mentioned in notes for each weapon. All the instructions are also in color which is a great help. There are decals for each of the weapons listed… more |
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U.S. Marines Pilot WWII - Pacific TheaterPublished:
Aerobonus is part of Aires and produces a line of items meant not to enhance the actual airplane model but to add to a diorama or vignette. This can include figures or simple diorama accessories. This set is a WWII USMC pilot in 1/32nd scale describing his exploits in a nice action pose. The set is in four parts, the body, the head and two arms. All parts are cast well in Aires traditional gray resin with nice crisp details. Take care removing the parts and assembly will be a snap. I added the arms to the body and in hindsight, I should have left them off. I did keep the head separate and mounted all the parts to toothpicks for ease of painting. I primed the kit with Alclad gray primer and let dry overnight. I started with the skin tones and used Scale 75 paints… more |
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F-5E/F and T-38A TOPGUN Tigers and TalonsPublished:
The movie Top Gun, love it or hate it, raised a lot of interest in the Navy Fighter Weapons School, and that interest was not lost on modelers with the markings of the Adversary planes standing out. Furball has given us an enormous sheet of markings covering twenty-two different schemes covering both the F-5E, F-5F and the T-38A between 1976 and 1986. There are options for twelve F-5Es, four F-5Fs, and six T-38s. As noted in the header, there are separate sheets for the 1/48th and 1/72nd scale planes and both cover the same subject. AND, there are complete markings for all 22 planes! Here’s a complete rundown of the aircraft that are included in this set:
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F-4 Seat Belts Grey, SteelPublished:
This Eduard set is for F-4 Phantom seats which need gray seat belts. There is also a set for green belts. The photoetched fret is colored and has 22 pieces on thin metal. All of the seat belts are gray in color with top straps being olive drab. All buckles are bare metal give a great color to the set. There is also a nice set of instructions for installing the belts. Installation is easy, but first you need to get the seat prepared. I chose a couple of seats from Tamiya’s 1/32nd scale Phantom. I built and painted the seats per the instructions and weathered the cushions and metal parts and then gave everything a nice flat coat in preparation for the belts. I started with the two top straps, by pre-bending them to fit close to the need. I glued the top in place and… more |
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Mk.82 BombsPublished:
Eduard continues their Brassin series armament releases for 1/32nd scale aircraft with Mk. 82 low drag, general purpose bombs which are in use around the world. This set is your basic dumb bomb with a low drag configuration with no guidance systems or retardation fins. This set is comprised of thirty parts; twelve of which are the bomb fronts and the fins. The remaining eighteen are fusing/plugging options. There are three choices- standard fuse and the extended fuse and lastly, the plug installed to the nose to cover the internal parts. Casting is excellent with no pinholes and great definition. There are no seams on the parts to sand. Preparation is simple. The tail fins and the main body need to have their casting block removed and this is where planning pays off… more |
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F9F Panther Control SurfacesPublished:
Aires continues its releases with this excellent set to make the horizontal stabilizers moveable on Trumpeters 1/48th scale F9F Panther. The set is comprises four perfectly molded parts with two for each side. Casting is perfect and prep work takes about five minutes. Carefully cut the four parts free with a razor saw and then sand the edges smooth that were cut loose. They are already keyed to fit directly into the kit parts. A little clean up and they fit perfectly. One thing to note too, the set duplicates the kits surface detail very well with all the needed rivets. To finish, glue to the kit and angle the moveable parts to the same angle and paint. This is a wonderful quick to add set from Aires and will give you kit more visual interest. Highly… more |