Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Shopping CartPublished:
Hauler Brengun makes some of the most innovative kits of unique things around which can be used in all sorts of dioramas. In this instance, it's a 1/35th scale shopping cart! The kit is simple- one sheet of nice photoetch, which has a dozen parts- one for he main cart plus a set and the fold out part that holds the seat plus a safety chain and four wheels. There is also a resin sprue with 5 wheels (an extra) and a resin handle along with the company’s logo. A nice set of instructions is also included. The biggest thing with building this kit is to make sure you get the large photoetch part folded correctly. If you do, you seal the seams. I used super glue, but in hindsight, soldering would be better. You then add the seat and inner part (if you have ever seen a grocery cart,… more |
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Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II - GAU-8 Avenger gun tip and Pitot TubePublished:
Hot on the heels of their 1/48 scale release, Master Models has released a 1/32 scale version of the GAU-8 Avenger gun tip for the Trumpeter A-10. Also included is a corrected pitot tube. The set is straightforward with a sheet of photoetch for the front and back of the gun barrel, a turned brass center post, seven turned gun barrels, a brass main gun housing and a turned pitot tube. I included several shots of the main gun housing with its holes as it is a work of art. Finely made and with the holes made perfectly. Assembly is done by adding the back plate and gluing the brass center post into its hole. The only tricky part is next when the front cap is added- you must make sure the holes align for the barrels. I did this by adding the end cover and holding it up to… more |
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The Carthaginians 6th–2nd Century BCPublished:
Osprey's Elite series covers many historical subjects. This is book 201 and covers the Carthaginians between the 6th and 2nd century BC. The author states several facts in the beginning in that this book is a study of the Carthaginians armament and military culture and much studying is left to do as the culture and records were destroyed by the Romans. Also, he notes that the book will attempt to represent how Carthaginian Warriors might have looked based on the current state of knowledge. From a modelers perspective, this will be most useful. The book is broken down into the following sections:
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Forces of the Hanseatic League 13th–15th CenturiesPublished:
Osprey's Forces of the Hanseatic League is book 494 in their Men-at-Arms series. This book deals with the history of the Hanseatic League from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. It stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages. Chapters include:
Addendums include a section of further reading recommendations and commentaries on the color plates. The book starts with a… more |
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HS-3/1 KrankenschlittensPublished:
The Krankenschlittens was one type of a variety of German Ambulance used during WWII. In this example, Hauler has given us a horse drawn sled type. The ambulance consisted of a shed constructed on a wooden frame with sled runners underneath drawn by a two-horse team. Hauler has replicated this rare piece with 32 excellent resin parts and a photoetch frame of 40 pieces in 1/35th scale. The resin is perfectly cast with no issues. There are significant casting blocks that need to be removed. To start, I removed all the of the resin pieces from the casting blocks. The smaller pieces were easy. Take your time with the pieces for the shed- it needs to be square and I slightly over sanded which caused a lot of work. The most difficult part to remove is the poles that go out in front.… more |
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Axis Midget SubmarinesPublished:
While most people know of the Gray Wolves and the story of the U-Boat packs, not many know of the war waged by the Axis by the midget submarines. Osprey's latest book can correct that fact. Axis Midget Submarines covers just what the title says, midget submarines from Italy, Germany and Japan. Each section follows a similar format. First, the history and countries doctrine of war are covered. Next, there is a section covering the development and types of midget subs used. The war time service record is then covered and also their prototypes and concept ideas. Each part is then summarized by an analysis and conclusion for each type. Lets take a look at Germany's section. It starts up with a discussion of Germanys late entry in the midget submarine war and its initial… more |
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Electric Intruders- EA-6A in USN & USMC ServicePublished:
Furball (Geoff Martin) has been producing some awesome decals and with this latest release, he addresses a venerable kit, Revell's EA-6A Electric Intruder. As a quick background, before the four seat EA-6B came into service to jam all those enemy radars, the Marines ordered 27 of the EA-6A Electric Intruders. They look like Intruders with Prowler tails! Revell's kit has been out a while but still can be built into a beauty and Furball has given us 11 superb schemes to dress the kit up. As with most Furball sets, you get five large color pages- a cover sheet, side profile sheets of all 11 jets, a sheet of wing marking locations and one sheet showing the stencils provided. All sheets have color call outs with the needed FS numbers. There is one large decal sheet with markings and… more |
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U.S. Field SwitchboardsPublished:
Plus Models continues its excellent details for dioramas with a portable US Filed Switchboard set. The set is 35 pieces of perfectly cast resin, 23 photoetch pieces and a piece of wire. The kit is actually four kits in one with a desk, two switchboards and the seats/wire parts. All of the parts are cast in grey-green resin and are bubble free and crisp. The first thing I did was to remove all the resin parts from their casting blocks. This is simple but takes some time as there are a lot of small parts. I kept them in the correct pile for each part of the kit. A quick wash and we were ready for glue. The desk is superb with all seven drawers being separate and fitting perfectly. This allows you to pose them open and fill them with paper or the like. There are two metal… more |
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White Knights - T-38A/AT-38BPublished:
Wolfpack issued their 1/48 T-38 kit to nice reviews, and Furball Aero-Designs has issued a sheet of 11 mostly-white Talons. Included are 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" sheets in color with profiles of the planes as well as color call outs and decal placements. The last side has stencil placements with top and bottom shots. The decal sheet is the same size and is beautifully printed by Cartograf. Included are the stencils and marking for two aircraft. The markings included are all USAF and are:
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 36, Issue 5Published:
Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling has been a basic design format but they changed it up with this issue. The change is that the "Scuttlebutt Lodge" and the "Marketplace" sections have been married together better to provide a more cohesive presentation of future, current and past releases, and give modelers more of the information they need to make informed decisions. There are usually two Feature Articles but in this issue there are four, an Aviation in Profile piece, and a series of Compact Build Reviews. The Feature articles for this issue covers the final part of the new H-K Models 1/32 Gloster Meteor, the second part of the Classic Airframes Grumman Duck diorama, the new Eduard 1/72 MiG-15bis and Wingman Models 1/48 Alpha jet. The Meteor is from Jay Laverty and… more |