Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
|
War of the Worlds Alien TripodPublished:
Steven Spielberg's 2005 remake of War of the Worlds took the original 1953 version and upgraded the already excellent special effects using today's technology. In my opinion, the movie was okay, but the effects were excellent, and central to that were the Martians and their tripods. Pegasus Hobbies has already issued the Martians and has now followed up with this kit of the tripod. And what a kit it is! The kit is 93 parts including an excellent base of a destroyed street and buildings. The capture cages and lenses are clear. The top of the tripod is smoky clear. All the parts are perfectly molded, with no flash and petite engraving. There is an option of building the kit with the laser arms attached as it is first seem in the movie or building it with the cages underneath the… more |
|
Sea Vixen Ejection SeatsPublished:
Airfix's 1/48th Sea Vixen kit is a beauty all by itself. The one thing it does need is some ejection seats, as these are pretty visible when the build is done. The kit seats are OK but do not include any belts and, with the limitations of injection molding versus the great detail of resin, someone needed to make a nice set of seats. Squadron products to the rescue! Squadron's True Details USA line offers excellent value and detail and these seats are no exception. The set comes with two seats and a small sprue of ejection handles to add. The first thing you notice is that the seats are not carbon copies of one another – they are different. This is a great idea as many aftermarket sets that have seats with belts just mold the seat twice and while you get a nice seat, they look… more |
|
EA-18G GrowlerPublished:
Freshly released from Hasegawa and Hobbico is the best 1/48 scale version of the E/A-18G Growler. This is a modification of their F/A-18F two-seat Super Hornet Kit including four new sprues to allow for the radar jamming pods, extra bumps and antennae and cockpit differences. All the parts are nicely done with engraved panel lines and no flash. Marking are included for lo-viz VFQ-129 Vikings and the CAG from VFA-141. I chose the latter with its black spine and tails- great looking plane. The kit has several up front things to do. Since this is a modified F version, there are a bunch of holes to open on the forward fuselage, wings, and rear fuselage to allow adding of the changes peculiar to the G version. I missed doing this to the wings and made life much more difficult as… more |
|
Me-262 Seat with BeltsPublished:
Quickboost has come out with a 1/32nd scale seat and belts for the Me262. It can be used with either the old Hasegawa offering or the newer Trumpeter kits. A quick check of the Hasegawa and Trumpeter kits seems like it will fit either one. The kit has a casting block on the bottom which I cut off with a razor saw and then sanded smooth (although it is on the bottom and out of sight, which is great). The molded-in seat belts are excellent with all the correct parts present and done in nice relief. I included a comparison [picture of the Hasegawa and Trumpeter kit seats and the Quickboost offering). It is an enormous improvement and will make a world of difference in the kit as shown in the picture. Highly recommended! My thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the… more |
|
Me163A Seat with beltsPublished:
Quickboost continues with its excellent replacement seats with one for the Dragon/Trimaster Me163A. The seat comes with a small pour block which is on the bottom and easily cut off and sanded smooth.I had an old Trimaster kit and the picture shows just what an improvement it is with thinner edges and beautifully molded in seat belts. This product is highly recommended for the Dragon or Trimaster kit. My thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review sample. |
|
Kothoga CreaturePublished:
Once in a while, you see a movie that, while not hugely financially successful, makes for a great 2 hours of fun. Such is the "The Relic", a 1997 monster flick starring Penelope Ann Miller, James Whitmore, Linda Hunt and Tom Sizemore. It shows up on cable pretty regularly and if you have the chance, watch it. The star of the movie is a 12 foot long mutant creature called the Kothoga that is part mammal, part reptile and all bad. It likes eating brain parts. Stan Winston Studios produced the monster and did it perfectly. Pegasus Hobbies has given a great opportunity to model the creature with this kit. The kit itself is a mini diorama which contains the creature, a large museum base (the entire movie was shot in the Natural History Museum in Chicago), stanchions with rope, a name… more |
|
MiG-21SMTPublished:
When Eduard announced a new-tool 1/48th scale Mig 21, it opened up a world of possibilities as this was one of the most produced planes ever and served with a myriad of countries. The variants and markings are close to endless and they can be very colorful. This particular model is the Mig-21SMT version, a third generation plane with increased range. The kit is molded in Eduard's normal off green plastic on eight sprues plus a clear sprue, and there is no flash at all on the about 450 parts. It is also very complete with multiple sets of ordnance, variations in canopies, and a complete set of decals for the five schemes included – two Russian, one Polish, and two Soviet Union. There is also a complete set of stencils – over 100 stencils alone for the plane. In addition to that, there… more |
|
M61A1 Vulcan CanonPublished:
Master Models has created a superb replacement for the venerable M61 Vulcan cannon found in so many planes. The set consists of 6 perfectly turned brass barrels with hollowed out ends, a machined brass ring a machined center barrel and a set of photetched pieces to bring it all together. Assembly is pretty straight forward but there are some pitfalls to watch for as you proceed. I attached the six barrels to the back plate and then worked at slipping the parts over and down the barrels. This will work but the barrels can spin and you need to watch alignment at all times. The photoetch parts are delicate and the fit is very tight. I suggest you build the two parts that slide over and then let them dry thoroughly and then slightly open the holes to allow them to slide easier. I… more |
|
Elvira, Mistress of the DarkPublished:
Moebius Models continues their run of hits with the brand-spanking new Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. For those of you not around for the last 20 years, Elvira is a character played by Cassandra Peterson who is a valley girl-talking, smart-mouthed movie host for those awful yet loveable horror movies. I love her style and panache and when the kit came out, who could not want to review it? The kit was sculpted by Adam Dougherty. Actually, kit is an understatement, as it is a complete diorama. The kit consists of over 60 parts, including a carpet (with the carpet monster peaking out from underneath the corner), a full sofa, Elvira herself, and her dog Gonk, along with a rat, skull, and skeletal hand. I built the kit in parts and will cover the review the same way. The sofa… more |
|
MiG-21 Wheel WellsPublished:
Hot on the heels of Eduard's excellent MiG-21 releases, Aires has produced a set of wheel wells for the kit. The set comprises two parts, the main wheel wells and the front wheel well. Parts are cast perfectly with only some small casting blocks to remove. The detail improvement is obvious in the pictures. Installing the main well is simplicity itself. After removal of the casting block, the part slides into the space for the kit part and the fit is excellent. Some of the kit parts are added to finish it with only one cut needed. The front gear requires surgery. First, you need to cut the front part of the cockpit off where the kit bay sits. This is simple, with good instructions and location to cut. A few swipes of a saw and you're done. When I fit the well in, it wouldn… more |