Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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Grumman EA-6B Prowler - Flying with the US Navy and Marines CorpsPublished:
Duke Hawkins books from HMH Publications are a series of, currently, twenty-three different books on various aircraft. They feature superb photography and detail with hundreds of color photos on great semigloss heavy paper. This volume, number 21, covers the EA-6B Prowler in 140 pages and over 320 photos. Rather than have a standard table of contents like many books, these dive right in and gives a brief introduction to the plane and its variants. Both Navy and Marine Corps versions are shown also. And then it dives right into the plane and its components. This starts with forward fuselage then fuselage then air intakes then more fuselage then wings, etc. working its way from the front to the back of the plane. Specifics such as the cockpit and landing gear get special… more |
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Color and Markings of the F-14 Tomcat- Part 3: Prototypes, Test, Evaluation and Adversary AircraftPublished:
Detail and Scale has been a cornerstone reference for modelers for decades covering all types of aircraft in great detail. The Color & Markings series does just that, cover the color and markings of a specific set of planes in great detail with superb pictures and detailed test. This book, Part 3, written by Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak, covers the F-14 Tomcat prototypes, test, evaluation and adversary aircraft. The table of contents is large and gives a great view of things to come:
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Phoenix Aviation Modeling July 2022Published:
Phoenix Scale Publications came to be at Scale Model World in 2021and was formed by a veteran group of aviation and scale modeling talents. They have come out with a series of books on specific planes and also what is being reviewed here, a wonderful monthly magazine, Phoenix Aviation Modelling, which is available as individual choices from their web site, or even better a subscription. The magazines are also currently available at 250 Barnes & Noble stores for $12.99. Inside the magazine are 10 feature articles with specific builds, coverage of newsstand (publications), Czech News (covering new releases from the Czech Republic), new kit releases, along with coverage of new aftermarket and decals. There is also a nice comment from IPMS/UK. The builds in the July… more |
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Ukrainian Albatrosses: L-39C/M/M1 Albatros, Ukrainian Air ForcesPublished:
For those that have never heard of FOXBOT, they are a decal and mask manufacturer from the Ukraine and have a series of decals and masks in scales from 1/32 down to 1/144. They specialize in planes from their region such as MiG and Sukhoi but they do have markings for other planes such as B-25 and P-38’s and more. Needless to say, this company could use some support at this time. The set includes markings for nine L-39C/M/M1 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force:
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Ukrainian Foxbats: MiG-25RBPublished:
For those that have never heard of FOXBOT, they are a decal and mask manufacturer from the Ukraine and have a series of decals and masks in scales from 1/32 down to 1/144. They specialize in planes from their region such as MiG and Sukhoi but they do have markings for other planes such as B-25 and P-38’s. Needless to say, this company could use some support at this time. The set includes markings for four MiG-25RB’s of the Ukrainian Air Force:
Inside the package is a full color instruction sheet… more |
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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 |