Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
|
SBD-5 Dauntless ExhaustPublished:
Quickboost is famous for making simple, well detailed, drop in replacement parts. This set is for the Accurate Miniatures (now Italeri) SBD-5 and replaces the exhausts. The set includes four exhausts which have the attachment tab molded into the bottom. The molding is perfect and as you can see in the comparison, the Quickboost parts are much thinner than the kit parts on the edges and have a nice deep indent. Also, there are four exhausts, which is enough to do two kits or a spare if you are a fumble fingers like me. Adding them to the kit is simple. Cut them from the casting block and sand as needed. I primed with Alclad gray primer and then painted with Alclad exhaust manifold. I added a black wash making sure to get it deep in the inside. Once dry, I flat coated and glued… more |
|
F/A-18C US Navy, Swiss Air Force, Finnish Air Force & TopgunPublished:
When Kinetic announced they were doing a F/A-18C series, there was a lot of interest based on the fact that the Hornet has been a long serving fighter with an iconic shape and lots of great markings. When the markings were announced, my interest became a little more personal as one of the markings was for VFA-25 on the USS Carl Vinson. I was lucky enough to be on that very tiger cruise and I have included a series of pictures of this plane. How could I not build it (plus you can never have enough Hornets). Looking in the box, there are 18 light gray sprues with crisp engraved panel lines and riveting. Six of the sprues are dedicated to weapons (missile, bombs and pods). There are also two clear sprues, a photoetch sheet and the instructions which include separate building and… more |
|
USAAF 50-GAL Fuel DrumsPublished:
Brian Watkins is a huge WWII buff and longtime modeler and he did what many of us have always thought about, started his own company, Resin 2 Detail which is supplying detail parts he has researched, 3D printed and is selling them to us which is awesome This is a nice small set of four US 50-Gallon barrels/drums in two different styles. Each style comes a dented version and undented version. The parts are perfectly cast and bubble/seam free. Prep work is simple, lightly sand the bottom and prime the parts. Looking through the Internet, I found a couple different colors so I thought I would do some gray versions and some black and concentrate on weathering and wearing on the dented versions. I used a mixture of washes and pastels and the drums look great. I am sure you… more |
|
F/A-18C Seatbelts, SteelPublished:
Kinetics’ 1/48th scale F/A-18C is a great kit and comes with a good representation of the SJU17A ejection seat. The kit even provides a photoetch generic seat belt. Eduard ups the ante a ton with its release of a color photoetch steel set of belts specifically designed for the Kinetic seat. The set has one small colorized steel fret with nine pieces for the shoulder/seat belts and two pieces for the leg restraints. All made with multicolor parts. As you can see in the photo, the kit provides a basic lap belt and shoulder harness. Addition to the seat is easy. There are four sets of lap belts so those get added first. The seat is pretty flat so they slide right into place. Next, add the adjustment straps on top of the four lap belts. Lastly, bend the shoulder… more |
|
F/A-18 Canopy and Wheel MasksPublished:
Masking sets first started making their appearance a while back and have been made in several materials including vinyl and tape. Eduard has settled on the kabuki style thin yellow tape for their masking material and makes a wide assortment of masks for many different subjects. I think tape is the best item as it is thin, conforms to the shapes well and provides a good seal. This Eduard set is specifically designed for the Kinetic 1/48th scale F/A-18C and provides masks for the windscreen, canopy, and the wheels. Use of the masks is very simple. The windscreen and canopy are broken into four parts- two for the left side and two for the right side. Start at the corner and place the mask to conform to the curve in the corner and extend it out even with the bottom frame. Place the… more |
|
Outrider Mosquito F.II & FB.IVs - 333 SqnPublished:
Aviaeology describes themselves on their EBay store as producers of well researched books, decals, decals 'n docs sets, and docs primarily for scale aircraft model makers who work in 1/24, 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 scales. This is a great description of Aviaeology as they produce first rate decals with exhaustive research and all geared towards modelers. This set covers 333 Squadron of Mosquito F.II’s and FB.VI’s from 1943-45 and specifically covers 8 different airframes. They are:
|
|
F-15 A/B/C/D Resin Wheel SetPublished:
This set of wheels from Res-IM in the Czech Republic is a replacement for the wheels on Revell’s 1/32nd scale F-15B or Tamiya or Revell’s 1/32nd scale F-15C. They are different on the “E” version so this set is specifically made for the “A/B/C/D” versions out there. The set comes in a small sturdy box with the two main wheels on one casting block and the nose wheel on a separate casting block. Casting is excellent and the detail o the wheels include the logo and name of the manufacturer. These wheels appear to be more to scale than the kits as they are a little narrower also. To prep the parts, cut them loose and get rid of the casting plug. I ended up rescribing the tire tread with a PE saw where the casting block meets. Also note that the main gear has… more |
|
Combat Scooters Part 4 - USN/USMC A-4E/F Skyhawks in the Vietnam WarPublished:
AOA Decals specializes in Navy and Marine Corps subjects from the Vietnam era. This particular sheet focuses on Trumpeters very nice 1/32nd scale A-4 kit and is Part 4 of the Scooter decals. This set is similar to the first three parts with coverage of USN/USMC A-4’s with three choices of colorful squadrons and also a choice of aircraft with and without the later avionics hump. There are also different time periods represented for each of the squadrons so there are a total of six options. The options are:
|
|
CBU 103/104/105 WCMDPublished:
Most people around modern airplane models are aware of the cluster bomb dispensers that have been used for a while now. They are basically carriers of many smaller sub munitions that open and spread the smaller bombs over a wider area. In this case, the WCMD (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser) is a tail kit for cluster bombs (CBU-87, 89 & 97) which convert the normal cluster bombs by adding a different tail unit to allow corrections to trajectory based on wind changes allowing for more accurate dispersal. They were first dropped from a B-52 in Afghanistan in 2002. They are currently use on F-16C and F-15E. Videoaviation.com has issued a set of these munitions. The set comes with front and back parts for four bo0mbs and two sprues of lugs for the attachment points. Also… more |
|
SH-3H Sea King Seats with Safety BeltsPublished:
Hasegawa’s 1/48th scale Sea King is a wonderful kit and there have been a few releases of aftermarket for it but nothing lately. Quickboost and Aires surprised us with one of their latest releases, a pair of pilot seats in the Quickboost line as replacement for the kits seats. The set comes with two casting blocks which contains the seats and two side rails each. There are instructions included also. Assembly is maybe 10 minutes worth. Cut the seat from the casting blocks and sand the bottom even with the bottom of the seat. Carefully cut the two side rails loose and glue in place. I primed the seat with Alclad gray. There are no painting instructions and a quick search of the Internet shows the seats gray, black and khaki drab and more than that I suspect. I… more |