Dave Morrissette
Reviews By Author
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USAAF WWII Pilot with Seat for P-51B/C MustangPublished:
Aerobonus is part of Aires and focuses on enhancement additions such as pilot figures for kits. This product provides a pilot figure seated, in 1/32nd scale for the Trumpeter/Revell P-51B/C Mustang. The set comes in four parts (head, hands, and set/body) all perfectly cast on a single block. Preparation was easy by using a razor saw to cut all the parts free (after a good washing). I then used the back of a #11 blade to scrape what few seams there were and glued everything together. I used perfect plastic putty on the arm seams and wiped with water and the seams were gone. I primed with Alclad gray primer. Painting was done with acrylics using Scale 75 for the flesh and various sources for the rest. The seat was painted with ModelMaster paints. As you can see from… more |
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Rome’s Northern Enemies - Painting Wargaming FiguresPublished:
This volume on painting war gaming figures focuses on Rome’s Northern Enemies - the British, Celts, Germans and Dacians and one of the first things that struck me was how applicable this would be to all war gaming figures. The book is a complete tutorial from soup to nuts on building, modifying, basing and painting figures. A quick look at the Table of Contents shows what I mean:
So we start with tools and finish with bases - a complete tutorial. Looking… more |
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Modern USMC Air PowerPublished:
Harpia Publishing has been producing very high quality aircraft books for a while. These books are lavishly illustrated and have covered subjects from subjects covering Iraqi MiGs to Chinese aircraft to specific planes like EMB Tucano. The latest volume is Modern USMC Air Power written by Joe Copalman. This is 256 pages of soft cover wonderfulness. The first thing that hits you is that the pictures in the book are amazing pictures all in perfect focus, great flying shots and lots and lots of them. Wow! I have included a picture of the table of contents. As you can see, there is a brief history and then it moves into the training aircraft, helicopters and all kinds of planes. The table of contents is below:
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Porsche - Classic German Sports CarPublished:
Pen and Sword’s Car Craft Series focuses on some of the more exotic cars and covers both their history and the variants. This volume covers the iconic Porsche 911. My personal first experience with the 911 came when my roommate bought a used 911 and we tooled around in it (plus I got to drive it). Even used, it was a thrill with the acceleration of a rocket and the brakes to stop a freight train. When this book came up for review, I had to jump at it. The book is soft cover and is lavishly illustrated with pictures and drawings. One thing that makes this series of special interest to modelers is that it has two specific modeling sections. This is shown in the table of contents:
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Hawker Hunter GA.11 ConversionPublished:
PJ Productions from Belgium continues with their simple conversions allows the Airfix F.6 to become a GA.11 single-seat training version for the Royal Navy. Looking around the Internet, there were 40 GA.11 airframes converted by adding an arrester hook, adding a Harley light to the nose and eliminating the guns. The starting kit is the Airfix Hunter F.6. I am sure the Academy F.6 could also possibly work. The conversion set contains three grey resin parts and one clear resin light. Casting is excellent with no pinholes and minimal casting blocks. Preparation is simple by removing the casting block on the parts for the arrestor hook and filling the one lone gun port. Washing of the resin is also recommended. A small instruction sheet shows the location of the arrestor hook under… more |
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Hawker Hunter FR.10 Nose ConversionPublished:
This simple conversion from PJ Productions in Belgium allows the Airfix F.6 to become a FR.10 reconnaissance version. Looking around the Internet, it looks like the FR.10 is a single-seat reconnaissance version with 33 made of rebuilt F.6 airframes. The starting kit is the Airfix Hunter F.6. I am sure the Academy F.6 could also possibly work. The conversion itself consists of six parts- a new nose, four cannons and a clear resin nose tip insert for the cameras that fit into the nose. The first step would be to remove the parts from the casting blocks wash the parts. Instructions show that the cannon barrels need drilled out with a 1.6mm drill and shows the exact position of the barrels when attached. After reviewing the kit, the nose would be direct replacement for the Airfix… more |
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Hawker Hunter F.58 Conversion KitPublished:
One of the latest conversions from PJ Productions in Belgium is the set to convert the Airfix 1/48th Hawker Hunter F.6 to a F.58 which is the export version for Switzerland. A total of 88 were built and 12 converted for an even 100 airframes. Changes addressed by this conversion include a new nose to the aircraft, under wing rocket option, Side blister under the cockpit, change to tail fairing, fuel tanks and various antennas. All this comes from 34 resin parts which are very well cast. There are no decals for the markings and those will need supplied elsewhere. The parts prep is simple, remove the casting blocks and wash to eliminate mold release. Conversion can start with the nose which is a direct replacement. You will need to drill out the gun holes and add the cannons but… more |
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F-4E Phantom EarlyPublished:
Zoukei-Mura started there 1/48th scale F-4 Phantom series with the F-4J in 2016 and since then they have issued an F-4S, F-4C, F-4D, F-4J Marines, another F-4J and this latest release, an F-4E Early…we finally have a gunned version and it is magnificent. Let’s look in the box (and it is packed). There are well over 400 part in the box with lots of options and parts not in use. These are on 14 perfect gray sprues with one clear sprue included for canopy parts, etc. There is one set of marking included for F-4E-35-MC, 67-0308, 469 TFS/388 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 'Betty Lou' which has two full color sheets. Most of these is taken up with the 400 stencils that go onto the plane- more on that when we get to it. There are a lot of optional position items to chose from when you build also… more |
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Milk TrikePublished:
Round 2 has reissued the 1/25th scale Milk Trike kit and it is great to see it again. MPC was a very popular model company in the 1960’s and 70’s and thankfully, Round 2 has saved their molds. The Milk Trike was one of six trike kits which came with different window colors and extensive decals to customize your build. Inside the box, there are 57 easy to build parts molded in white, chrome and three colors of windows- clear, transparent purple and transparent orange. There are preprinted black tires and a large decals sheet giving many options. I decided up front to stick with the Milk Trike theme and try to duplicate the purple color in Alclad Candy colors. Construction starts with the body. I glued it together and made my first mistake and glued the part of… more |
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Fighting Ships of the U.S. Navy 1883-2019, Volume One - Fleet CarriersPublished:
Fighting Ships of the US Navy is a series dedicated to exploring each ship in the US Navy’s inventory since 1883. In Volume One, the author, Venner F Milewski, Jr., starts with the Fleet Aircraft Carriers in the beginning. Overall, the book has a plethora of data and information of each aircraft carrier used by the US during the last 100 years starting with the USS Langley. Taking a look at the Table of contents shows what I mean:
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