Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Quickboost F3H-2 Demon Ejection SeatPublished:
Hobbyboss has an excellent series of hits coming, and their line of F3H Demon kits is most welcomed with their foldable wings and engraved lines. Like most modern planes, the kit suffers from the ability to do a really good ejection seat. Quickboost gives modelers an option with a perfectly cast five piece seat with molded seat belts. The seat comes with the main body, headrest, center stick and two loops for the sides of the seat. This is an early seat, those early seats being replaced by the MB series. Assembly is straightforward after removing the parts from the mold block. Notice in the comparison pictures that the kit parts do have some large ejector pin marks and that there are no seat belts. The Quickboost seat is a direct drop in and much better in shape and… more |
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S2F Tracker ExhaustsPublished:
It's amazing to me how many of the kits that were not around at all are actually being produced now. One of the companies coming out with a great selection of kits is Kinetic and their S2F Tracker is a lovely kit with options for wing folds and nicely engraved panel lines. One small deficiency of the kit is that it ignored the engine exhausts which are above and below the wings on the nacelles. For a lot of modelers, this is no big deal and the kit still is wonderful. View the images in the slideshow which clearly illustrate the location of the exhausts, with arrows indicating where they should go. Installation is easy. I used a small drill bit to open the holes and then refined them with files and a knife. Once the holes have been opened and cleaned up, the exhausts were added… more |
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Quickboost Saab J-35 Draken Ejection SeatPublished:
Hasegawa’s 1/48th scale J-35 Draken kit is an excellent representation of the plane. Like most injected kits, the ejection seat is not as good as the rest of the kit due to molding limitations. Now Quickboost comes to the rescue with a highly detailed resin Saab ejection seat with molded belts. I have enclosed pictures of the Quickboost seat as well as Aires seat and the kit seat. Aires has a set of PE seat belts that need to be built prior to installing the seat, Quickboost's belts are molded onto the seat and the kit seat has no belts at all. The Aires and Quickboost seat are similar with excellent detail on the fabric and seat. The Aires seat comes with an entire replacement cockpit. Modelers now have three choices- the kit seat; the Aires seat with the PE buckles/… more |
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Creature from the Black LagoonPublished:
When Moebius announced a kit of the “Creature from the Black Lagoon with Victim”, I was excited. I have always been a fan of the 1954 movie creature, story and Julie Adams. It got even better when they announced Adam Dougherty, the "Kreature Kid". It was a wonderful day when Review package arrived in the mail. Out came the DVD and straight to the basement. I broke the kit down into three builds- the creature, the girl, and the base. The kit comes with an excellent sandy base with lizard, fossil hand, stones and a nice tropical fern. I started with the creature himself, and the first thing that hits you is how nice the sculpting is with everything accurate down to the zippers on the back of the legs and on the arms. I built and sanded the arms and the head with no… more |
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F4D-1 Skyray Part 2 – The BuildPublished:
The first thing to realize when building a resin kit is you have to read and reread the instructions. Paul Fisher does an excellent job of not only writing the instructions but also adding tips, painting instructions, and any other needed information for the build. First, the main wheel well bays needed to be cleaned and the openings trued up. The gear bays were then glued in place. The detail on the wheel wells is phenomenal. The engine face was also painted and glued in place. The exhaust was also painted and added at this point. Once done, the inside of one scoop was glued in place and the top and bottom were sealed. The best way I found to do this was to use thin super glue, letting it flow into the seam an inch or two at a time and immediately accelerating it. This took a… more |
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P-47 Gun BarrelsPublished:
Master Models has released a set of 8 machined brass gun barrels for the current batch of 1/32 scale P-47 kits. One nice thing is that these barrels will fit either the Hasegawa release or the Trumpeter release. The barrels are perfectly made and already have the ends drilled out. The attached pictures show a comparison to the Hasegawa barrels, although there is really not any comparison – there are no seam lines and they have no sprue points to sand down. There is a 1:1 scale picture showing the proper alignment. To use this set in the Trumpeter kits, simply paint and glue the barrels in place. The Hasegawa kit will have to have the bulkhead drilled to accept the barrels, which you can then paint and glue. The drawing will then insure proper alignment. For… more |
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B-25 Exterior Detailing SetPublished:
Eduard continues their releases for H-K Models' 1/32 B-25 with an exterior upgrade set which addresses several areas. These include the engine with new wiring to the spark plugs, a crankcase placard, and detailed guards above the cylinders. The wheel wells get detailed with the new bulkheads for the main gear and inside detail for the nose gear door. Lastly, the cowlings get interior detail on the inside of the cooling flaps and doors, as well as detail on the framing. This set consists of two frets of non-colored PE which have excellent relief. Most of the parts, such as interior door, cooling flap interiors, bulkheads, and engine placard, require no kit modifications. I simply bent the part to shape by pressing and super glued them in place. There were then painted,… more |
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Bunny Fighter Grass MasksPublished:
For those who might have missed it, Eduard has launched the Bunny Fighter Club, a membership club from Eduard which will have special kits and aftermarket available to members only. To join, you need to purchase their excellent 1/48 MiG-21MF kit which has Bunny Club markings. The markings for the kit include the 2 Czech planes and the MiG-21MF flown by Lt. C. Bunnyfield. This colorful character has a light blue and green plane with orange details, with a large bunny on the tail wielding a missile. All kidding aside, Bunny Club members receive some great perks:
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Catwoman and Bat PodPublished:
Moebius has issued this model of Catwoman with the Bat Pod from the 2012 movie The Dark Knight Rises. The kit comes in two builds – the Bat Pod, which is all styrene, and Catwoman (who was played by Anne Hathaway), which is in six resin pieces. The styrene parts are black, crisp, and free of any imperfections. The resin is absolutely flawless. The Bat Pod assembles in three pieces – the main body and the front and rear axles. Assembly is straightforward. There are a lot of good tips in the build, so read the instructions. There is one caveat here – the axles must be in alignment to make sure the wheels ride perfectly on the ground. Part 41 is a key to this. Don't glue this in place until the front and rear axles are built and painted. Many of the parts are black. Once… more |
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Night Stalkers Don't Quit! Decals Part 1Published:
New from Floyd Werner and Werner’s Wings are decals and history for the Night Stalkers, the 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment (SOAR). This set of decals covers the history of the group from its conception in 1981 through Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993. The aircraft covered here are H-60's and H-6’s in 1/72 scale. The decals are also offered in 1/35th and 1/48th scales. The decals cover eight markings for the H-6 and 9 markings for the H-60. Each scheme has a specific color guide and also notations about specifics of that particular helicopter. There are notes about antennae locations, markings, and history of all airframes. The most impressive thing that comes with this set is the specific history of the Night Stalkers. The coverage ranges from its inceptions… more |