Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Scale Aircraft Modelling October 2015Published:
Scale Aircraft Modelling's October 2015 issue comes with a gorgeous picture of a Wolfpacks 1/72 T-2 Buckeye in trainer markings. For me, that sets the tone for a great issue as I love the color scheme. And that is how this issue starts with Karl Robinsons’ build of the beautiful 1/72 scale T-2 in the US Navy training scheme. He is well impressed with the kit and only notes small issues with fitting the intakes and flaps which are easily corrected. Roden’s 1/144 kit of Bristol’s Type 175 Britannia is built by Andy McCabe. He builds it in BOAC markings and it looks wonderful for what he considers a “quick build”. Mike Verier writes an excellent article on Gunships, highlighting the Roden 1/144 AC-47 Spooky. Not only does the article have an excellent build of the kit in… more |
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 37, Issue 7Published:
Scale Aircraft Modelling's September 2015 issue comes packed with great build articles of some unique planes as well as continuing its fine history and modelling articles with everything from new kits, scratchbuilds and older kits. Ken Duffey builds Trumpeters 1/72 J-15 which also includes a flight deck. Several of Mr. Duffeys pictures are also included showing the wing folding mechanisms. The finished models looks great with the plane poised for launch. Revell of Germany’s 1/144 Airbus A330-330 gets built two ways- one in Delta Airline markings and a shot of the same plane in Thai Airways markings. While released almost a decade ago, the kit still produces beautiful looking airliners. Tony O’Toole’s article on the Short Sterling A Mk. IV and its participation… more |
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Mk. 84 Bombs with Retarded FinsPublished:
The Mk. 84 general purpose bomb is a 2000 Lb. weapon which can be configured with different fins and fuses depending on its mission at the time. In this iteration, Eduard has provided a Mk. 84 with retarded fins, I believe based on the BSU-50/B parts to allow lower release and the plane to escape the blast radius. Eduard’s set comes with two main bomb bodies, three styles of fuses, a photoetch fret with two pieces, decals, and instructions. Construction is simple- take your time and cut the main body away from the pour stub being careful of the rear fins. Sand smooth and add the photoetch to the rear. After that, all that is needed is to select the fuse type. The fuse can actually be added after the painting. Color is simple with olive drab being the main choice. The… more |
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GBU-10 Paveway IIPublished:
The GBU-10 Paveway II laser guided bomb is a modified version of the Mk. 84 general purpose bomb with added fins and guidance system. Eduard has produced a set of two GBU-10’s in 1/48th scale. Each set has two bomb bodies, separate front fins for 8 parts and two sets of seeker heads for the front; one ready for use and one with a cast in cover. Casting is perfect and in standard Eduard dark gray resin. Also included are the instructions and a decal sheet with all the markings. Construction is simple. My one piece of advice is to take your time and cut slowly. The parts are small and thinly cast to make them realistic. The main body gets cut loose at the rear of the assembly. I cut each fin loose separately and the trimmed off the pour block and the cut the remainder loose with… more |
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3D Center Locating Tool JigPublished:
UMM continues to make and issue tools that their owner John Vojtech has developed and used to make his award winning models. The UMM™ 3D Center Locating Tool Jig is one of those tools. What you get is two pieces of aluminum bolted together so that the bottom forms a v-shaped notch and the top forms a straight edge aligning with the point of the notch. The purpose of the tool is simple, find the exact center of a round or square object. This is extremely handy when you need that center for drilling out holes or attached things exactly on center. I tried the jig on the bottom of a bust which needed to be attached to a base, and I had to drill and insert a pin to insure its stability. I slid the base square to the notched side and drew a line up the straight edge. I then rotated… more |
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Mk. 20 Rockeye StencilsPublished:
One thing that has been overlooked by some manufacturers is markings for the weapons they include in their kits. They are sometimes afterthoughts or incomplete and a few are actually not bad, but seeing a beautifully built plane with average weapons kills the mood. AOA Decals has started a trend to fix that with their release 32009 for Mk. 20 Rockeye cluster combs. Inside the package is a two-sided color sheet detailing the markings with notes for the Mk. 20 and a small decal sheet containing enough markings for four bombs total. One really thoughtful note is that the yellow-stenciled markings are presented with variations compared to each other so that each set is slightly unique, which will give you a nice variation and a more realistic weapon. There are also alternate double… more |
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UMM VojTech Hand Sanding Bar XLPublished:
John Vojtech made a big splash at several nationals a while back with his magnificent builds of a B-2 and C-130 to name a few. To build these models, John actually fabricated some of his own tools and over the years has refined them and is now selling them. This UMM-USA tool is the VojTech Hand Sanding Bar. These bars come in five convenient sizes: Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small, and Fine. Made from polished aluminum and with 6 flat surfaces, these tools are useful in many applications. The part reviewed here is the extra-large bar. Using it is simplicity itself. Get a piece of the appropriate sandpaper cut a strip the width of the sanding bar or a little less. Wrap the sandpaper around the bar of the side you need. One end of the sanding bar is longer and comes to a sharper… more |
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The Intruders SandboxPublished:
AOA Decals continues their releases for Trumpeters 1/32 A-6 and in this the A-6E version. The decals included cover all three squadrons from the Operation Prairie Fire (March 1986) and Dorado Canyon (April 1986) missions in Libya, and also two squadrons from Desert Storm from Jan. to Feb. 1991. The markings included are:
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 37, Issue 6Published:
Scale Aircraft Modelling's August 2015 issue continues its fine history and modelling articles with everything from new kits, scratchbuilds and older kits. The articles start with an Academy 1/48 F-4J Phantom built by Bill Clark. He adds Hypersonic Models canopy set and Quickboost resin seats to build an RAF Phantom in a unique turquoise scheme. The finished build looks great. Andy McCabe builds Revell's 1/144 747-8F in Cargolux markings. The kit is built on a stand with an excellent paint job. Airliners and cargo planes never seem to get enough attention and this is a wonderful article covering just such a subject. Meng Models 1/72 Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet fighter is built by Mike Williams. Not only does he do an excellent review of the kit, he fits it to a… more |
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Intruders from the BeachPublished:
AOA Decals has released its first 1/72 scale sheet which is a scaled down version in many ways of the 1/32 scale sheet. AOA indicates that the reason the company formed was to fill the large void in decal coverage of Marine Corps Intruder accomplishments during the Vietnam War. There are a couple things that hit you when you first open the package. First, the number of options is staggering - 64 marking options of 45 different aircraft. These include:
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