Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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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 |
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Iron Tadpoles: A-6A/B intruders of the Vietnam WarPublished:
Furball Aero-Designs latest sheet is for the Hobbyboss 1/48 A-6A/B Intruders. This sheet has 15 different aircraft. The Intruders included are Vietnam era aircraft. Inside the package, there are 2 color back and front sheets with profiles for each of the 15 planes and includes color call outs and decal placement. A third full size sheet shows decal placement on the wing tops and the back shows a very detailed stores loading. A final single sized sheet shows stencil placement with color call outs also. You get two HUGE decal sheets with all the needed markings, numbers, wing walks and national insignia. There is also a very small sheet which has the wing markings for two aircraft. The decals are printed by Cartograf and from my previous experience with Cartograf and Furball, they are… more |
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A3D-2 Seatbelts and SeatsPublished:
Many of the latest releases seem to have been ignored by many of the resin companies. One of these is the Trumpeter 1/48 A-3D Skywarrior. Eduard has come to the rescue with several sets that address some detail issues in the kit. This set addresses the seats which are weak. While Trumpeter also includes some photoetch seat belts, they are generic at best. This set is one colored photoetch seat with enough belts and parts to fix all three of the kit seats and address the needed belts for the folded jump seat. The set comes with two choices of seat backs; one slatted the other more fabric looking. I built a copy of both. The one with the fabric look has to be slightly engraved to look more realistic. If you use a ballpoint pen and take your time, it is a simple process. the set… more |
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A3D-2 Interior Self Adhesive PhotoetchPublished:
Many of the latest releases seem to have been ignored by many of the resin companies. One of these is the Trumpeter 1/48 A-3D Skywarrior. Eduard has come to the rescue with several sets that address some detail issues in the kit. This set is a self-adhesive (SA) upgrade for the cockpit. The set comes with one standard sheet of photoetch and one precolored sheet with SA backing. The SA sheet is for the instrument panel, side instruments and about anywhere a black panel is needed. The other sheet addresses replacement boxes on the back of the cockpit, sidewalls to the cockpit and rudder pedals. Installations are pretty straightforward. There are a couple places where you need to sand smooth. The primary one is the cockpit instrument panel, which shows instruments from one side to… more |
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 36, Issue 4Published:
Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling follows a basic design and format. There are usually two Feature Articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, industry news and a series of Compact Build Reviews. The Feature articles for this issue covers a build of new H-K Models 1/32 Gloster Meteor and a 1/48 Wingman Models Latin American Kfir. The Meteor is from Jay Laverty and is Part 1 of a two part series. Part 1 covers the some issues with the kit and their easy fixes as well as preparation for the metallic finish and several hints and tips towards making it perfect. The other Feature article is from Brian Wakeman and builds Wingman Models 1/48 Kfir. This is the Kinetic kit with the addition of lots of resin for cockpit, nose and a host of other parts. He finishes the kit in… more |
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Remove Before Flight Tags - FabricPublished:
Eduard has previously issued “Remove Before Flight” tags made out of colored photoetch. This fresh set capitalizes on the new fabric material used in conjunction with their photoetch components. This set is for 1/48 scale planes, and it has one sheet of 16 fabric tags with two styles: one with a square end and one with a tapered end. The photoetch fret contains 20 of two types of attachment hangers. To give these tags a test run, I pulled a Kinetic A-6E out that had FOD covers on it. Removing the fabric tab from the backing is easy. They are, however, very fragile and want to tear almost like vinyl. The backing sheet is adhesive, and the tags come off a little sticky. If you set the tags aside for a little while, they’ll lose most of their stickiness and will be easier to… more |
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Toilet BowlPublished:
Plus Model, out of the Czech Republic, makes some of the neatest resin pieces for dioramas. They range from full-size parts to lots of add-ons that are really interesting. And now they make a resin kit of a toilet bowl. Yup, it’s a toilet. This is brilliant. All those home dioramas, shops, etc., that I have seen built, and there is never anywhere for the little resin guys to do their business. Now there is thanks to Plus Model. The set is a nice three-piece resin set containing the bowl, seat and lid. With the pour stubs removed, you are ready for paint. I primed the resin and painted the bowl and seat Tamiya Gloss White. I wanted a wood finish for the lid and put down a base coat of Tamiya Buff. I then took a well-worn brush and streaked Tamiya Brown over the base coat and let… more |
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HH-34J USAF Combat RescuePublished:
MRC-Academy's latest release from Gallery Models is the 1/48 scale HH-34J USAF Combat Rescue version of the H-34. Previous versions have included the USMC H-34 Chocktaw and the H-34 US Navy Rescue. This is the unarmed recue version and comes with markings for a USAF version as well as German SAR version. Both markings are primarily silver. The kit is primarily styrene but there are two nice photoetch frets for screens and smaller parts. The build starts with the interior and the interior is complete and full length. Starting from the front, there is a full front engine compartment, a well done cockpit and full crew area. Behind this is the tail of the helicopter and it is ribbed and has its bulkheads. The engine is 40 parts alone and looks great when done. Watch alignment on… more |