David P. Lennox

IPMS Number
36138

Reviews By Author

Box Art

T-28C Trojan

Published:
Company: Roden

The Aircraft

The T-28 Trojan was built by North American Aviation as a training replacement for the venerable and very dated T-6 Texan. The Navy wanted a tandem, tricycled training aircraft to train recruits to the new aircraft entering service. The contract was signed for VSN2S in 1946. The Army, also wanting to replace their T-6’s, contracted for their version of the VSN2S, the T-28 Trojan. In 1949, the newly formed United States Air Force and the Navy took delivery of the first T-28 Trainers.

The Model

There are 8 pages of well printed and defined instructions. All of the paint color callouts are in Vallejo numbers only. If you do not use Vallejo paints, a conversion chart may be necessary. There are three plastic bags in the box, one with the soft grey… more

Parts Package

T-28 Trojan Cockpit

Published:
Company: Aires Hobby Models

The Model Kit

Roden’s T-28 has a very respectable cockpit included in their kit. Their biggest weakness is in the seats and instrument panels. The Roden cockpit is composed of 17 parts, where the Aires tops out at 45, which include the individual components for each seat belt. Aires has developed a complete replacement that not only addresses these weaknesses, but also improves the side consoles without a lot of scratchbuilding.

The Resin Kit

The set comes packaged in a two-compartment blister pack, one for the seven resin castings holding 22 parts and the second for the single fret photo etched and printed plastic film parts. The single-page double-sided assembly instructions were very helpful for the resin parts, but somewhat lacking for the photo etch. A… more

Parts Package

T-28 Trojan Seats

Published:
Company: Quickboost

Two seats come packaged in a plastic bag with a folded paper backing sheet. There is no color information and no instructions, as there is no assembly required. However, care should be taken cutting off the pouring plug as part of them may be used for properly spacing the seat away from the cockpit floor.

The seats and seatbelts are very well defined with reasonable undercuts and no air holes or distortions. The resin took my Vallejo paint well after a soaking bath in Wesley’s Bleach White and priming with Alclad II Gray Primer.

If you want a great-looking seat without installing individual seat belts, this is for you. The Roden cockpit is nicely done and these seats go a long way toward improving the front office. Thank you to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for offering these… more

Detail Parts

F-86 Sabre Cockpit

Published:
Company: AMS Resin

AMS Resin, Advanced Modelers Syndrome, specializes in resin sets for aircraft from the 50’s to 70’s in 1/32, 1/35 and 1/48 scale. Their products are available through Sprue Brothers.

Their offering of this 1/32 F-86 cockpit is intended for the F-86F-40 kit produced by Hasegawa, but there are cockpit color descriptions for many variants. Included information is provided on a small CD. I stress the small CD because it may not work in all CD drives. It contains 20 excellent color photographs of operational cockpits as well as instructions for installation, with painting and historical information.

My sample arrived with a broken throttle handle and HUD supports, both of which were easily repaired using original kit parts and sheet plastic. The pouring sprues are well… more

Box Art

B-24 Liberator Mk. IV

Published:
Company: Eduard

Although the B-24 Liberator shared the honors with the B-17 Flying Fortress of being the principal American heavy bomber of World War II, it was a much later design. It incorporated several unusual design features, including the Davis patent wing of very thin section and high aspect ratio, and bomb bay doors which rolled up like the top of a roll-top desk. This feature was created to make it more difficult for enemy fighters to know when the bomber was on its final bomb run. The doors moved up the side of the fuselage instead of hinging down as in the B-17. The B-24 had a range of 3,000 miles, together with a speed of more than 300 m.p.h. and a ceiling of 35,000 ft. The B-24Hs in RAF service were fitted with Boulton Paul tail turrets, but retained the rest of their standard armament.… more

Box Art

F/A-18A Hornet Blue Angels

Published:
Company: Academy Models

At the end of World War II Admiral Chester Nimitz ordered the formation of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team to showcase Naval Aviation. In June 1946 the Blue Angles flew their first show with the Grumman F6F Hellcat. In 1986 they completed their 40th anniversary season when the team transitioned from the McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk II to the F/A-18 Hornet. The main difference between the Blue Angles F/A-18 and their combat brethren is the removal of the weapons systems and the addition of the smoke generator system. The system consists of a tube on the left engine that injects paraffin based oil into the exhaust. The oil produces a white smoke making it easier for spectators to follow the maneuvers.

The parts of this kit are molded in a Medium gray, slightly grainy… more