Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Scale Aircraft Modelling, Vol. 35, Issue 8Published:
Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling 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. This is my first chance to review this magazine and I am impressed. The Feature Articles for this issue cover a Revell 1/32 BAE Hawk and AZ Models 1/48 Heinkel He70. The Hawk build by Brian Wakeman covers building the Revell Hawk kit with an Aires seat, SAC landing gear, and Airframe decals for an African scheme. He covers the build thoroughly, including the need for replacement seats and his painting and weathering techniques using oils and variations in paint colors. The other Feature Article takes AZ Models’ 1/48th He70 and makes it a showstopper. This is one of the… more |
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T-28 Trojan Exhausts and Cooling FlapsPublished:
Quickboost and Aires add to their enhancement parts for Roden's 1/48 T-28 series with this set designed to replace the exhausts and cooling flaps on the sides and bottom of the cowling. The set is perfectly cast. To use, you cut the parts off of the casting blocks. Make sure to cut a little extra and sand back to the kit part. All the parts are drop-in replacements, so simply glue them in place. I included a shot of the Quickboost parts next to the kits parts. The kit parts are a little thick, and you’ll notice those large ejection pin marks on the cooling flaps. Also, you can see that Quickboost has hollowed out the exhausts while Roden's are solid and should be drilled out. This is another set needed for the Roden kit. The drilled-out exhausts and more-to-scale flaps… more |
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USAF Flightline Tool Cabinet (Roll Cab), 9 DrawersPublished:
With many of the new kits coming out, there have been a few excellent mechanic figures included, either in the kits or as aftermarket. It never occurred to me until this release that what was missing was a tool chest. A mechanic needs his tools, doesn’t he? Aerobonus to the rescue with a rolling 9-drawer tools chest which has the Snap On logo, too. The kit is simplicity itself, with the main tool chest being a single part only needing the casting block sanded off. The four wheels and a handle are on a single sprue and easily detached and added. The color is Snap On Red and is close to insignia red, which I used. The silver parts were painted and then touched up, and I also distressed the kit a little with some scrapes and scratches here and there. The decal sheet contains a… more |
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USAF 150 Gallon Fuel BowserPublished:
Aerobonus is part of Aires and has consistently come out with great items for dioramas for kits in multiple scales. In this kit, Aerobonus provides a 150 gallon USAF Fuel Bowser which is used to reclaim the fuel planes have left over in their tanks after they’ve landed. The kit comes with 14 resin parts and five small photoetch parts. Construction started by removing the casting blocks. They are large on the two tanks, and time spent here sanding them is worthwhile. The frame was next, and then the small parts. I added the two tanks to the frame, wincing at a few broken straps on the tank bottoms. They are fragile and broke during shipment. They were replaced with Evergreen strip. I added the axle next, and then added the reel on the front, and also added the two tires… more |
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T-28 Trojan Wheel WellsPublished:
Aires has continued its releases for the Roden T-28 family with a wheel well set. Included in the set are 9 large resin pieces in the standard firm gray Aires resin, and also a small fret of retractions parts which has around a dozen pieces. There is no photoetch with this set. The first thing to note is that this set gives you ALL the replacement landing gear doors – 9 in total, which are superbly thin and have great structure on their insides. The kit doors have some roughness that the Aires set does not. The front and rear wheel wells have much more detail than the kit parts, with better framing and detail. The big difference for me in this set is that the kit has some really tough-to-fix ejection pin marks, and the resin does not have any at all. Between the detail… more |
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AV-8B Harrier II Seat with Safety BeltsPublished:
Quickboost’s latest resin ejection seat is a 1/48th scale offering for Hasegawa's 1/48 AV-8B II. The seat comes as a single gray casting and is perfectly done in Quickboost's normal gray, pinhole-free resin. Prep is simple – cut the seat off the casting block and sand smooth. I included photos of the built kit seat (which is decent), but the resin seat and its belts are a definite improvement. The seat fits right into the cockpit. If you consider that adding a set of PE belts would costs a few dollars, buying this seat will fix the belt issue and improve the look of the seat which occupies a large percent of the cockpit. Another hit from Quickboost and definitely recommended. My thanks to Quickboost and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this seat. |
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Aircraft Warning ConesPublished:
Airline warning cones...those orange cones we see all summer long in parking lots and just about everywhere. These are also used around aircraft, and Aerobonus has created another great diorama item in both 1/48 and 1/32 scale. There are twelve parts to each scale – six bottoms with cutouts and six cones. Strangely, two of the cones are hollow and four are solid in each set. Not a problem. There are also decals with four different variations:
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Großer Hund Ausf. K KYKLOP Humanoid Unmanned InterceptorPublished:
As a bit of background, and from Wikipedia, the Maschinen Krieger universe is a science fiction universe created by Japanese artist and sculptor Kow Yokoyama in the 1980s. The franchise originally began as the science fiction series SF3D which ran as monthly installments in the Japanese hobby magazine Hobby Japan from 1982 to 1985. To develop the storyline, Kow Yokoyama collaborated with Hiroshi Ichimura as story editor and Kunitaka Imai as graphic designer. The three creators drew visual inspiration from their combined interest in World War I and World War II armor and aircraft, the American space program, and films such as Star Wars, Blade Runner, and The Road Warrior. Inspired by the ILM model builders who worked on Star Wars, Yokoyama built the… more |
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Focke Wulf Ta-152C-11Published:
The Ta-152 was the last upgrade to the Fw-190 series designed by Kurt Tank. The H versions were designed for high altitude interceptors while the C versions were designed for lower altitude jobs. None were produced or employed operationally in sufficient numbers, so this is a Luftwaffe ‘46 project. Hobby Boss continues their Fw-190/Ta-152 releases with this C-11 version. This kit consists of seven gray sprues, a clear sprue, a small PE fret, and decals for one plane, Yellow 11. The sprues are excellent – no flash, great panel lines, and the clear parts are very thin and clear. Construction is straightforward and starts with the cockpit. The PE fret replaces the rudder pedals, and there is also the needed seatbelts already included. Decals are included for the instrument… more |
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S2F Tracker Wheels and MasksPublished:
Aires continues its rich tradition of detailed aftermarket parts with a wheel set for the Kinetic S-2 Tracker. This set contains two front wheels and two main wheels as well as a masking set for the wheels to help painting. The set is cast in Aires’ usual gray resin and has no defects or issues. The set is simple to use. The wheels can be trimmed from the pour stubs. One thing you will need to do is to sand the mold seam off and rescribe the wheel treads. Total prep time is maybe 5-10 minutes. You will also need to drill the hole slightly deeper to allow the axle to slide fully into the wheel. The kit wheel has a separate hub and a two-part wheel. To build it, you paint the hub and glue the two wheel parts over it. This leaves a seam that needs sanded down and then… more |