Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2Published:
Oh boy- is this great!!! (Stolen from a famous movie.) I have been waiting patiently since Airfix announced the first 1/48 scale styrene kit of the Sea Vixen and the kit delivers in spades. A quick background shows that the De Havilland Sea Vixen entered service in 1959 and served until the 1970's. It was the first British fighter to be designed without guns relying solely on its missiles. On to the kit- the basics show very crisp molding with engraved panel lines and are molded in light gray styrene. There are three large sprues in total. A very nice clear sprue rounds out the plastic and has the canopies and windscreens as well as the seeker heads, HUD glass, etc. One thing that hits you right off is the instruction manual: detailed and with 20 pages of instructions and 2… more |
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Adjustable Stand for Model Aircraft and CollectiblesPublished:
One of the long time problems modelers have had is what to do if they want to pose an aircraft in flight- after all, that's their natural habitat, in the air. Another problem we modelers have had is how to show off the underside of our exquisitely detailed airplanes or the like while they sit on their gear. Carlos Laos and Flightpose have come to the rescue with a simple yet brilliant idea! Flightpose stands consist of three soft-tipped, moveable rods attached to a base. The rods are repositionable and can be used to support a good size kit. I tried it on Airfix's new Sea Vixen and also Academy's 1/32 F-16I Sufa and the large version supported each of them with no problems. The tips are very "grippy" so there is good firm support. The sizes mentioned above in the pricing are… more |
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Me-262A-1/U-4Published:
A little quick history. As the Germans got deeper into trouble at the end of WWII, the started trying more and more desperate things to try to stem the inevitable. One of these was to "up" gun the Me262 with a 50mm Mauser Mk 214A V3. That is what this kit depicts. Now to what's in the box: life for this kit started out in the Trimaster range many years ago (late 1980's or so) and the molds went to DML/Dragon who got rid of the white metal with plastic and now on to Dragons bargain line, Cyber-hobby. At the time of the initial release, the Trimaster kits were the most detailed Me262's around with, at the time, revolutionary photoetch included and extensive detailing. The build starts with the cockpit and wheel wells and there are not issues. For the wheel wells, a large part is… more |
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P.K.H. 103 NutcrackerPublished:
The Maschinen Krieger universe is a SciFi series created in the 1980’s by Kow Yokoyama and ran as a series of stories in Japanese Hobby Magazine Hobby Japan. Many of the creations are permutations of WW I and WW II tanks and aircraft upgraded and all started with powered armored suits. In 2009, Hasegawa received the license for the kits and entered the market with the Falke, Lunadiver Stingray and now the P.K.H. 103 Nutcracker, a hover tank. After building the Lunadiver Stingray, when this came up for review, I wanted to add to the collection I am building. Inside the box are 8 tan sprues and an upper and lower hull for the Nutcracker. Molding is superb with fines detail. Also included are 5 sprues to build two of the powered suits, a Gustav and Melusine. Finishing out the box… more |
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U-Boat BiberPublished:
Most people are aware of the large WWII German U-boats as they appear in movies, video games and on TV very frequently. These are typically the large Type VII and Type IX boats. Many don’t realize the Germany also had a very active midget submarine effort going where one or two man subs attacked and sunk shipping. While there are several different types, the one we are looking at is a one man sub named Biber (Beaver). There were 324 built towards the end of the war. While not very successful (they sank or damaged 9 ships versus losses of 70 subs), they do hold a spot in the history of the Kriegsmarine. Italeri has produced the first injection molded kit of the Biber in a nice 1/35th scale. The kit comes with 2 excellent sprues of plastic for the sub, a sheet… more |
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E2C Hawkeye Replacement PropellersPublished:
Quickboost has introduced a drop in replacement set of props for the Kinetic/Italeri 1/48th scale E2C Hawkeye. The set comes with 2 sets of replacement blades, 2 complete one piece spinners and a jig to insure proper alignment of the blades. Casting is perfect with no flash, air voids and any imperfections at all. Looking closely at the parts, one advantage to the Quickboost set is that the leading edges of the props and the ends have engraved lines where the kits are raised. Not a big issues but it is about time saving. Also, if you bought the modern version of the E2C with the 8-bladed props, you can use these to convert back. The jig is an excellent tool and insures proper alignment of the parts. Simple install, perfect casting and great convenience are all… more |
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Sub-Miniature Punch and Die SetPublished:
For those of you that do any scratch building or those that super detail kits, you are well aware of punch sets. For the rest of us, a quick explanation is needed. Roll Models Sub-Miniature Punch and Die set includes a series of series of metal punches and a guide to allow you to replicate small discs. The Sub-Miniature set comes in sizes 0.063, 0.058, 0.053, 0.048, 0.043, 0.038, 0.033, 0.028, 0.023, 0.018 inches. It can be used for punching out plastic card to replicate bolt heads or used to punch paper to make masks. The process is simplicity itself. You select the size punch you need. Slip your material to be punched between the guide bars, insert the punch and strike sharply. Out the other side comes a perfect little disk. You can do this over and over and it remains the… more |
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Thermonuclear RodeoPublished:
As a devotee of SciFi and the related genres, I was always a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove. It had a great cast with George C. Scott, James Earl Jones, Peter Sellers and many more including the subject of this diorama, Slim Pickens as Major “King” Kong who most notably rides a nuclear bomb out of the bottom of a B-52 to detonate in Russia. I could go one more but you really need to watch is to appreciate the subtle and extensive humor thrown around. The kit’s make is “Government Issue” and comes from our friends at Squadron. The kit comes with nine well cast resin parts, a Lucite rod and two sheets of decals. A nice (and funny) set of instructions is also included. The likeness to Mr. Pickens is good. There were no bubbles and only minimal seam lines to… more |
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MiG-29A Intake and Exhaust CoversPublished:
I love building jets but there are two things that are a pain on most of them and that is getting the ejector pin marks out of the intakes and exhausts. Besides that, almost all jets have covers on them as soon as possible to prevent FOD damage so if you want to pose a parked jet, it should have these covers on them- engines are expensive! Quickboost has issued two sets each for exhaust and intake covers which are as simple as they sound and yet can make the diorama pop to life. The intake covers are one piece for each side with two delicate handles for each cover that… more |
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Max Modeller, Volumes 6 and 7Published:
I have been a fan of both AFV Modeller and Air Modeller for a while due to their excellent articles, top notch photos and in-depth subject matter, so when two sample copies of Max Modeller (Volumes 6 and 7) arrived, I was eager to see what the magazine was all about. First, the basics: each magazine is 68 pages, printed completely in color, on nice stock. The photos are perfect- -clear and detailed, and close up when needed. There are scattered ads for many UK and other vendors in the magazine. There is a review section of 5 pages or so and they rate the reviewed kits. The remainder of the magazine has five articles and this is where the magazine gets its name. The first thing you notice is that the builds are not OOB or “How to Airbrush Camouflage”. They are in-depth… more |