Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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A-6A Intruder VA-95 'Green Lizards' DecalsPublished:
Superscale continues its releases for Trumpeters 1/32nd scale A-6 with a marking set for the VA-95 Green Lizards. VA-95 has been active/inactive many times flying Skyhawks, Skyraiders and the Intruders. The decals here represent the Green Lizards during August 1974 aboard the USS Coral Sea. There are several great web sites dedicated to VA-95 and a quick Google search will find them with lots of photos. The decals come in two sheets. One contains the markings for the kit including some of the major stencils. A second small sheets contains the national markings. Both sheets have great registration and color and are printed by Cartograf in Italy. Decals are provided for one airframe, build number 156995. the kit has a great color scheme with the gull gray over white being the… more |
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A-6A Intruder VA-115 'Arabs' DecalsPublished:
Superscale continues its excellent decal releases with a set for Trumpeter's 1/32nd scale A-6 with this release of markings for the A-6A for the VA-115 Arabs. VA-115 transitioned to A-6's during the 1967-70 time frame and these marking represent the Arabs on board the USS Midway in 1973. Specifically, the markings are for build number 156995. The color scheme for the plane was gull gray over white with the tail in black and green cap, rudder in white and green tips and fins to the fuel tanks. The radome was tan also. This set includes a single sheet with all the markings needed to represent this build. Stencils will come from the kit. national markings are included and the decals are well printed with great registration. The printing was done by Cartograf and is superb.… more |
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US Navy Triple Ejector Rack TER-7 (A/A37B-5)Published:
The Triple Ejector Rack (TER) is a weapon suspension unit that attaches to an aircraft's main racks (pylons), and can carry up to three weapons. The Triple Ejector Rack has a single drop capability so the aircrew can drop the three bombs individually. Aircraft can carry the full range of Mk80, Mk20 series bombs on TER's. There are a lot of Internet references on these so information is plentiful. Aerobonus has released a set containing two beautiful resin TER's. The set is 14 pieces of perfect gray resin as per usual Aires standards. 12 of the pieces are separate shackles for the bombs. Construction involves removing the two bodies and all 12 shackles. This is time consuming as the shackles are small but patience will reward the builder in this case. Then, you add three pieces… more |
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 35, Issue 10Published:
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 Ex-Adversaries Reunited and A Model 1/72 Mil-Mi-10 Heavy Lift Helo. The Ex-Adversaries build is Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk Vb and FW190A-3 built in after war markings of the Turkish Air Force. The build covers weathering and construction and uses TigerHead decals for the markings. . The other Feature article takes A Models 1/72nd Mi-10 which is super detailed. This build, by Brain Wakeman, makes the entire issue. First, he started with a limited run kit which presents issues for modelers. Second, there is a fair amount of scratch… more |
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F/A-18E Super Hornet 'VFA-27 Royal Maces 2013'Published:
Hasegawa continues its releases of the F/A-18 Super Hornet series with a limited edition set for VFA-27 the "Royal Maces 2013", who are part of CVW-5 aboard the USS George Washington. The basic kit components have remained the same since 2006 when this series was released and IPMS/USA has been lucky enough to review the kit several times. That being said, this is a superb kit that makes an excellent representation of the Navy's newest workhorse. I did add one thing to it - TwoMikes resin intakes. I know TwoMikes is on a hiatus at the moment but their intakes are mandatory for this kit. They are white, fit perfectly and they are visible. The kit includes nine sprues of perfect gray plastic, two sprues of clear parts and one sprue of poly caps. The kit has the option for folding… more |
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LAU-3 US Navy Rocket ContainerPublished:
Aerobonus latest release is the LAU-3 US Navy Rocket Container. The LAU-series was generally used by the fixed-wing aircraft of the Air Force and Navy. The -3 version delivered 19 air-launched 2.75 FFAR rockets either individually, in sequence, or all at once. This set depicts the Navy version. Looking at various planes, I found pictures of the F4J Fury and Skyraider with these rockets on the pylons, and I am sure there are more, including Phantoms. This set contains 10 resin parts to make 2 pods. There is also a small decal sheet to cover the markings. There are tail cones and nose cones included. Research shows that these were not in use towards the end of the war. Color is white for Navy use, with the front and back plates being unpainted steel. Construction is… more |
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YF-23 Black WidowPublished:
Northrop's YF-22 was the direct competitor to the F-22 Raptor that the Air Force elected to purchase. Two prototypes were built- one in gray and the other in black. Hobbyboss has released the first quarter scale kit and it is a beauty. The kit is 94 parts with the upper and lower fuselage being one large piece each. Engraving is good. Most of the parts go toward the landing gear bays and landing gear. There is a clear canopy and windscreen. No option for opening it is available. There is a small decal sheet and full color paint guide in the kit representing the gray prototype only. Construction starts in a nicely detailed cockpit and includes a separate throttle, rudder pedals and stick. The seat is decent- the belts are molded in and acceptable for injection molded. The area… more |
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Me-262 Wheels and HubsPublished:
Eduard starting producing resin recently and started producing some superb wheels for different kits. This set is for Me-262's and can be used on Tamiya, DML or Monogram kits. In the package, you get 9 beautiful resin pieces- there add shows different resin for the wheel and hubs but they are all perfectly cast dark gray resin. All you need to do is remove the pour stubs and you are ready to go. The hubs are cast separately and I love this. Typical German wheels were black hubs and dark gray rubber wheels. This makes painting that scheme simple. Also, the tread pattern is beautiful as shown in the close-up shots. Lets' compare some of the kit wheels out there. I have included a couple comparison shots of the Trimaster/Dragon/DML vs. Tamiya vs. Eduard. Eduard is the… more |
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T-28 Control Lever and Rudder PedalsPublished:
Quickboost adds another set of upgrade part to its line for the Roden T-28 series. In this example, the add two upgraded control stick and four upgraded rudder pedals. the parts are cast perfectly in Aires gray resin. The control sticks have a web of film that has to be removed. No instructions are included as these are direct replacement parts. Removal is simple. Cut the parts free and trim as needed and use. I will warn you, the control sticks are very thin and fragile and even with the good quality of resin, I snapped one off at the base. Its an easy fix but still, a light touch is required. I have included comparison shots of the Roden parts. The Quickboost sticks are finer and have no ejection pin marks. The rudder pedals from Quickboost have a better tread pattern… more |
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Heinkel He-219 UhuPublished:
First, a little background. The He-219 Uhu was a purpose designed night fighter and also the first operational aircraft to have ejection seats. The plane had an advanced VHF radar, a 385 mph top speed, excellent armament and good range. It was not available in quantity however which is probably a blessing for the bombers flying at night. Revell's kit consists of 12 light gray sprues of medium soft styrene with 2 clear sprues. There is a large booklet of instructions and a large decal sheet. There is some small amount of flash on the sprues. The decal sheet gives you options for four planes:
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