Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Storie di Grilli e di Paperi - A Brief History of Italian 102nd SquadronPublished:
Pierpaolo Maglio is a great modeler whose work can be found on line but for the those that don’t know, he is also a published author and his latest book is what this review is about, a brief history of the Italian 102nd Squadron. A look at the index shows the history starting in 1942:
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USN Inshore Patrol VSN-201, Quonset Pt, RI & VS-504 Cape May, NJPublished:
Monogram’s 1/48th scale Kingfisher has been around a while and it is a fun kit to build. Yellow Wings continues in its traditions of making markings for planes between 1930 and 1942 with this release for the venerable Kingfisher. This release covers two planes on “USN Inshore Patrol”. These were planes used for patrolling for U-boats right of the coast of the US. There are two planes represented:
Both planes are primarily aluminum painted with colorful marking bands and cowlings with early US insignia. Inside the package, there is a well printed (by Microscale) decal sheet with markings for two complete planes; complete profile and marking instructions for two planes with detailed notes and color… more |
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Curtiss P-40, 1941-42 55th Pursuit Squadron, 20th Pursuit GroupPublished:
Yellow Wings has dedicated itself to US markings during the period from 1930 to 1945 and makes decals specific to that time frame. Many do actually have the beautiful yellow wings from that time period also! This release covers the Curtiss P-40 and specifically between 1941 and 1942 for the 20th Pursuit Group and the commanders aircraft in 1/32nd scale. Markings are included for three aircraft:
The recommended kit is the Trumpeter P-40 and the decals are printed by Microscale which is always good to hear. All three planes share the colorful red/white striped tails. Complete sets of… more |
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F/A-18E Super HornetPublished:
Hobby Boss latest Hornet release is the F/A-18 E Single Seat Super Hornet. Looking inside the box, the kit comes on 16 nicely molded grey sprues, 2 clear sprues, a small photoetch sheet, three sheets of decals and a full set of instructions. All total, there are 520 parts plus a piece of vinyl tubing. Options include:
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F-4B Phantom Metal Landing GearPublished:
One of SAC’s (Scale Aircraft Conversions) latest gear is set 48402 for the wonderful Tamiya F-4B in 1/48th scale. The set has wonderfully cast metal parts to replace all the gear struts, retractions cylinders and other parts. They are drop in replacements and was I ever glad to get them for review and here’s why. I recently moved for work including 400 built models. During the move, my F-4B took a hit and broke off one gear leg. SAC to the rescue! To start, I removed the tire from the broken gear leg and cleaned out the hole in the bottom of the fuselage making sure the new leg fit which it did with no issues. A quick clean up with sandpaper and then I primed with Tamiya fine primer, let it dry and painted the leg white. I added the tire, gave everything a quick gray wahs and… more |
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Into the Iron TrianglePublished:
The Vietnam War, in my opinion, is not covered as well as many other conflicts both in the written word and in some cases modeling too. Arrigo Velicogna covers one of the parts of the war not talked about frequently and that is Operation Attleboro. This operation was not well detailed until recently and as late as 2018, it was poorly covered. The time frame involved is November 2, 1966 through November 23, 1966. These three weeks are analyzed thoroughly. Starting at the beginning, the actions of Attleboro occurred three months after Operation Starlite so very early in the war. The command personnel are covered for both the Vietnamese and Americans including Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem, American Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge and General Maxwell Taylor. The background of… more |
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Detail-up Parts: McLaren MP4/2C ’86 Portuguese GPPublished:
An available set for the Platz/NuNu McLaren MP4/2C is part Ne00001 and is made for kit PN20000. Included in the set are:
Also included are multipage instructions and these were done perfectly. Each step in the aftermarket package matches the steps in the kit instructions so as you go along, check both sheets. The carbon fiber decals cover almost all of the entire body and cockpit of the car and are in… more |
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McLaren MP4/2C ’86 Portuguese GPPublished:
A little background about the car the kit represents: It was the MP4/2C that McLaren introduced to the 1986 F1 Grand Prix. The McLaren MP4/2 was designed by John Barnard for the 1984 season. The McLaren MP4/2C was the updated version powered by a TAG-Porsche 1.5 litre V6 twin turbo engine with carbon monocoque chassis. A. Prost and K. Rosberg were the drivers. Rosberg ran a one-off livery in yellow/white, different from the common red/white livery, and was successful in attracting the attention of the fans and had a huge promotion effect. The kit gives you markings to make the car driven by either driver. Looking at the kit, there are 80% new tooled parts to produce the car as in the 1986 Portuguese Gran Prix and includes details such as the suspension and cockpit, as… more |
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A-10A/C Brrrrrt…to the FuturePublished:
TwoBobs has been producing decals for modern planes for a long time and has tons of superb decal sheets available. Several of the latest sheets deal with the 1/48th scale A-10 Warthog and this sheet, 48274 is titled, “A-10A/C Brrrrt to the Future”, and provides markings for three A-10’s- two A versions and one C version. The markings cover:
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Leopard 2 - NATO’s First Line of Defense, 1979-2020Published:
Tankcraft is series of books from Pen and Sword covering specific vehicles in a concise format and also covering the models associated with that specific vehicle also. This latest volume covers the Leopard 2 and notes that it’s NATO’s first line of defense and covers the years 1979-2020. The table of contents gives a good look at the way the book is laid out:
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