Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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F-101 A/C VoodooPublished:
Caracal Models continues its prodigious releases of superb decals with a Kittyhawk Models F-101 Voodoo. The decal set includes a large sheet with markings for four planes and stencils for one plane. The smaller second sheet is the needed stars and bars and a smaller yet third sheet has the corrected FB numbers for the bottom of the plane. The decals are perfectly printed by Cartograf and in register. Also included are beautifully printed full color instructions. If you have never used a Caracal sheet, this is one of their specialties in that each kit has a profile and shows much needed information to make sure they are placed correctly along with color call outs and tips on getting it just right! An example on these sheets the instructions for the fuel stencils being on one side only… more |
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F-101 Speed BrakesPublished:
Kittyhawk Models F-101 was highly anticipated and in most cases, it delivers a modern tooling of a desirable aircraft with many options. One of these is open speed brakes. The kits parts consist of an entire speed brake as one molding with the actuator as a separate piece. Looking at the attached pictures, the kit part has severe molding sink marks. This could be due to pulling to quickly before cooling or one of several other reasons. The speed brakes are pretty smooth and they could be fixed with CA or putty and made to work. Aires has given us an alternative with their set 4634 which replicates the speed brakes with even more detail and a better actuator. Aires parts are molded in their now familiar gray resin with a total of four parts- two speed brakes and two actuators.… more |
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Scale Aircraft Modeling, Vol. 36, Issue 8Published:
Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling has the same basic design and format. That's not a bad thing as it is jam packed with superb aircraft builds and tips. In this issue, there are four feature articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, and five Compact Build Reviews. The Feature articles for this issue starts with Jay Laverty's build review of the KittyHawk Models 1/48th scale F-101A/C. natural metal finishes are tough but Mr. Laverty does justice to the kit! There are great tips about working with photoetch and preparing for the metal finish as well as using Alclad. This really hit home with me as I am almost done with the IPMS review kit of this aircraft. Next up is Mr. Laverty's build of the hot new Airfix 1/24th Scale Typhoon. This is a large kit and will be built in… more |
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F-101 Voodoo Landing Gear SetPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions continues its line of white metal gear with a replacement set for the KittyHawk F-101 Voodoo. The Voodoo is a large, heavy plane, and this set will keep it upright. The set is cast in SAC’s traditional white metal and consists of 13 parts with minimal to no seam lines. All the parts of the kit gear are replicated in white metal perfectly. For the main gear, the wheel hubs are integral to the strut, and this arrangement is replicated in SAC’s version. The interior bracing is also replicated and attached to the retraction strut. The front gear is more complicated, consisting of six parts plus the retraction strut. The KittyHawk parts are very fine and the plastic is moderately soft. Thus, as you can see in the pictures, one part of the kit’s… more |
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A3D-2 Exterior SetPublished:
Eduard’s A3D-2 Exterior Set, number 48793, address some of the shortcomings of the Trumpeter 1/48 scale A-3D kit with additions to the slats on the outer wing, the tail hook area, the crew door, and the speed brakes. There are also additions to the windshield wiper and the back of the engine pylons. The speed brakes in the kit are nice; however, they lack surface detail, such as rivets and boxes. Eduard corrects this by adding five panels to the interior of the speed brake that have superb relief-etched rivets and lines. These panels require a couple of small bumps to be removed and then glued back into place. The speed brake housing gets a similar treatment with two parts each. One requires some bending, and the easiest way to start the bend is to use the kit’s plastic part as… more |
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German U-XXIII Coastal SubmarinePublished:
When Bronco first announced a 1/35th scale Type XXIII U-boat, I was fired up. I love U-boats and this scale was only previously available in very, very expensive resin. When it became available for review, I jumped on it. Upon opening the large box, you have lots of plastic to contend with as the finished sub will be as large as the 1/72 Revell Type VII’s. Inside are 113 gray parts with nice detail that make up the sub itself. The hull is split in half and also in front and rear sections. There are 52 parts to build two torpedoes and 21 to build a raft that can be attached to the front. Also included are 9 clear parts, a sheet of photoetch, two magnets and a nice sheet of decals. Being this large, you will notice that the sprue attachment points are pretty thick. Cutting… more |
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Focke-Wulf FW 190D-9Published:
Hobbyboss continues their FW190/Ta152 series with this FW190D-9. The kit consists of 118 beautifully engraved plastic parts, a sheet of 6 photoetch pieces and 5 clear parts. markings are included for:
There is an excellent set of decals with full stencils. The only thing I noticed right up front was the lack of seatbelts which I remedied with a Reheat set. Construction starts with the cockpit which nice with a good representation of the seat, pedals and decals for the instruments on the two panels. No issues came up and as I stated, I just added the seat belts. Also in the fuselage is the rear firewall which has the rear of the engine and several parts.… more |
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Fw 190 Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a set of main and rear landing gear parts for Hobby Boss Fw 190s in 1/48 scale. The set includes four parts: two main landing gear struts and a two-part rear landing gear (which proves to be a godsend—more on that later). The two main gear are drop in replacements. However, you’ll want to compare them to the kit struts to make sure you install each gear leg on the correct side of the aircraft; you could easily install them in reverse, which would give you an incorrect stance. The easiest way to make sure they are correctly installed, is to ensure that the torque link is facing back, towards the tail. Before painting, I removed the faint seam lines and polished the retraction strut parts to a shiny silver. This was left in natural metal by… more |
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X-47B Landing GearPublished:
Ross MacMillan and Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) continue to put our sturdy white-metal landing gear for many, if not all, of the new releases. This set is for the Freedom Models X-47B, the USN's UAV that is currently undergoing testing. Freedom Models’ kit is awesome and builds into a great representation of the UAV. One thing that hits you when you open the box is its size. It has a 62-foot wingspan, almost double a P-51’s! With that size of plane, white-metal gear could really help support it. Inside the package, you get nine well cast white metal pieces. Two of these are options for the nose gear: one with the catapult attachment up and one down, ready for launch. The remainder include the primary gear legs and retraction struts as well as the remainder of the nose gear… more |
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A6M5 Gun BarrelsPublished:
Tamiya has issued some of the most spectacular 1/32nd scale kits that have ever been made. One of these was the A6M5 Zero (Model 52) which raised the bar yet again. The kit is excellent but Quickboost shows it can make it better. This set includes two perfectly cast gun barrels for the 7.7mm guns above the engine cowling and two 20mm cannons for the wings. There is no assembly, prime and paint the parts and install and you are done. Comparing the parts to the kits parts, several things are evident. First, the two wing cannons are more representative of the real thing as Quickboost has them narrower than the plastic can be made. The 7.7mm guns have beautiful jacket details and much finer muzzle details than the kit parts. For $6.50, this is a superb upgrade to an already… more |