Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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A-7E Corsair II Late Ejection Seat with Seat BeltsPublished:
Quickboost adds to its long line of ejection seats with a late model A-7E Corsair II ejection seat with molded in belts. The seat comes in four pieces with two being the side on the seat top and one a handle on the right side of the seat. All the parts are perfectly cast. Assembly is simple with the canopy breakers being removed and added to the top of the seats. The handle is added. One warning here, I added mine and it was broken off with the handling by the end of the photos. The seat is designed for the Trumpeter kit so I built it for comparison. The Trumpeter seat isn't bad but in comparison to the Quickboost seat, it is lacking detail. The top of the seat is much better detailed in the Quickboost set. Quickboost is definitely an upgrade to the Trumpeter kit. This… more |
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Mars Attacks Martian WarriorPublished:
Mars Attacks! Most people will first remember 1996 Tim Burton film. it really started as a trading card series released in 1962 by Topps (the baseball card people). It became the most popular non-sport series ever. Mr. Burton kept the Martians in the film very similar to the trading cards and Moebius has duplicated that in this kit. The kit consists of 43 gray parts and 2 clear parts for the Martians helmet. The kit has a nicely detail base with toasted human on it, a lamp post and a Martian warrior straddling the corpse. The kit assembles in four parts- the base, the victim, the lamp post, and our Martian. The base has the victim molded in and separate hands and head. I used a gray primer which was a good base for what is mostly concrete. I added several washes and dry… more |
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J7W1 Shinden - Interior and Engine - Part 1Published:
Zoukei Mura made a huge splash several years ago with their Shinden, Skyraider and continued the exceptional releases in 1/32 scale. They have now entered the 1/48th scale market with a J7W1 Shinden. Zoukei Mura has a company philosophy of showing all internal detail in their 1/32nd kits to make the kit not only detailed but a learning experience for the modelers. This 1/48th scale kit is no different but I wanted a comparison review to their 1/32nd scale Shinden and decided to build them both at the same time and compare. Let's take a look at the kit- 5 sprues of all grey plastic, not the usual different colors. There is also one clear sprue. All the sprues are very crisp and the panel lines are engraved and just right for the scale of the plane. There is a decal sheet and the… more |
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YF-23 - Markings for Both PrototypesPublished:
Hobbyboss released the YF-23 Black Widow kit in 1/48th scale to some fanfare. It is a great kit of a unique subject. IPMS was lucky enough to review it while the kit is great, the decals leave a lot to be desired as far as accuracy. The wing warning labels are black, the tile grids by the intakes are missing and the tail markings are more for a fictitious active fighter. There are also miscellaneous badges missing as well as only having markings for the gray version. The black PAV1 version which briefly wore the red black widow hourglass was not represented at all. Never fear, Kursad Albayraktar and… more |
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Mk. 82 Bomb with Airbrake, EarlyPublished:
Eduard has started making resin sets and has started issuing weapons sets. This set contains the parts for six Mk. 82 bombs with the early airbrakes. It consists of 24 resin parts with each bomb being 2 parts. This will allow more versions of the bombs to come out. There are also two types of fuses for the front of the bomb. The set also includes all needed decals and instructions. Molding is top notch with very nice detail on the air brakes and also the attachment lugs. Assembly is started by cutting the bomb body and the tail from the sprues. The more square the cut here, the better the assembly. Each part is squared and glued together. I had to use a little putty on the body seam. I cleaned this with lacquer thinner and got a good seam. Painting is simple as… more |
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US Navy Torpedo Loading CartPublished:
Aerobonus continues their excellent diorama releases with a US Navy Torpedo loading cart. I searched the Internet and found out it was also used to load bombs. The kits is molded in four parts of Aires dark gray resin. There is the main body which is molded in one piece. There is a sizable pour stub to remove but it is all on the bottom and easy to remove. There is one sprue which contains both handles and a insert for the center with molded in straps. The handles are very thin and fine and they need very slow careful removal to make sure they don't break. The resin is good to work with and with some patience, I removed them slowly and sanded the parts off. The insert goes into the center easily. The handles are left and right so make sure they spread enough to get a weapon between… more |
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F-105 Pitot TubesPublished:
Quickboost has released a set of pitot tubes for the Hobbyboss 1/48th scale F-105. This set is a single sprue of three pitot tubes cast with covers on each side to protect them. The usage is simple; cut the needed pitot tube off and attach to the model. I show it in the photos below beside the Revell kit I also completed for review. There are no seam lines -- so cut, glue and paint. Whether you have broken a pitot tube off, or want to prevent it, this is a nice set for that purpose. And you get three pitot tubes, so there is a reserve. This is a recommended set. My thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review sample. |
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T2 Aerial Hunter KillerPublished:
The Terminator series of movies is iconic especially considering that 2014 is the 30th anniversary of the first movie. There haven't been many mainstream kits of the movies. Pegasus has started their releases with the Aerial Hunter killer tank from the 2nd Terminator movie. At the beginning of the movie, the rebels are being chased by Terminators, tanks and Aerial Hunter killers. Previously, this was only released in vinyl as far as I know. Let me say up front that the challenge to this kit will be the painting. Looking at shots of the movie on the Internet, the Aerial Hunter Killer is colored somewhere between chrome and polished aluminum. For those with the funds, one of the original props is up for auctions (starting at a mere $47,000) but it gives a great view of the actual… more |
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General Dynamics F-111 - A Comprehensive GuidePublished:
For those of you who haven't seen them, SAM Publications has a series of books they call Datafile which are devoted to a particular aircraft and also have a modeling section. The newest one is No. 19 and deals with the General Dynamics F-111 series. There are 12 chapters dealing with all things Aardvark. The chapters are listed below:
There are also three appendices -… more |
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The Modern Hornet Guide - The Boeing F/A-18 A/B/C/D ExposedPublished:
Reid Air Publications has issued a new book and the winners are anyone interested in the F/A-18 A/B/C/D Hornet! For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Jake Melampy has written his series of books detailing specific airframes. F-16's and F-16's and others have been detailed before as well as others but the newest covers the entire series of the F-18's. The format of the books starts with the cockpits and works its way back to the wings, vertical stabilizers, horizontal stabilizers, fuselage and landing gear and finishes with all the ordinance used by the Hornets. The first thing you will note about the book is the quality of the pictures. Whether they are operational shots or detail shots, the pictures are superb- in focus, clear and well lit. Even the "in-action" shots… more |