Dick Montgomery
Reviews By Author
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Xuron CuttersPublished:
Xuron offers an excellent set of hobby tools, cleverly disguised as ‘Field Service Tools’ for electricians and technicians. This set is presented in a fabric pouch, which has three pockets for the tools, and two additional pockets to store a ruler, a set of files, picks, scribers, and other small hand tools. For the hobbyist it might be more beneficial to identify the tools in this fashion: The Model 440 Mini-Scissor can be used to snip PE parts from the carriers, as well… more |
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P-47D Decals Part 8Published:
Lifelike produces excellent decals and, specifically, excellent coverage of the “Jug”. This particular item is Part 8 in the Lifelike coverage of markings for 1/48th P-47s. The other P-47 sheets are 48-045, 48-024, 48-014, 48-011, 48-010, 48-009, and the original 48-008. Clearly, if you are building a bubble top or razorback P-47D, Lifelike has you covered. This sheet of decals provides markings and stencils for three aircraft. I chose to use the decals for the aircraft flown by Capt. Charles H. Anderson, 335th FS/4th Fighter Group. The nose art features “Hell’s Belle”. Markings are provided for the aircraft of Maj. Charles F. Matheson, 394th FS/367th FG and Capt. Marvin E. Grant, 342nd FS/348th Fighter Group. Three “instruction” sheets are included in the product… more |
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P-40K Kittyhawk ExhaustsPublished:
Aires offers a myriad of after-market parts, this being a new offering. Designed for the Italeri kit I wanted to experiment a bit to see how the parts fit on the Hasegawa kit. The first step is to remove the Aires parts from the part carrier. This is easy to do and quite safe as the parts are not delicate. I used a Xuron part nipper to remove the parts from the carrier, trim away any flash, and then also to cut the six exhaust ports into 3 units of two ports each. That division is required to get the Aires parts to drop into place on the Hasegawa kit. As you can see in the accompanying images, the parts fit nicely and without issue. While a fan of Hasegawa, I can say that the Aires parts are superior to the kit parts. The kit parts show a fine mold line that needs to be… more |
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Control Surfaces for the P-40M/NPublished:
Aires is known as the producer of excellent after-market and detail items, and this product lives up to that standard. Designed for use on the Hasegawa P-40M/N this product provides for both of the horizontal stabilizers and control surfaces. There are four parts in all, cast in a durable resin material. Looking at the accompanying images, note that the image labeled, ” 2 Parts 1” shows the parts after having been removed from the package. One will notice some “flash” between the parts and the part carrier. Not to worry, that flash is easily removed with a sharp blade or a pair of cutters. All four parts were removed and cleaned up in under 5 minutes without the use of sandpaper. Study the image labeled, “3 Aires Parts Removed from carrier” to see one set of parts after having… more |
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Hawker HurricanePublished:
Authored by Marek Rys and illustrated by Thierry Vallet, this book, in the “Yellow” series is a comprehensive text and photographic/image guide to the Hawker Hurricane. The publication is a a revised and expanded edition of the book, “Hawker Hurricane”, (ISBN # 8389450321) The book thoroughly covers the development and technical aspects of the Hurricane, one of the most well-known of the British fighters of World War II. This story is told in excellent text accompanied by period B&W photographs, excellent color images of surviving airframes, extracts from official manuals and a superb collection of 1/72nd scale plans of all versions of the Hurricane from the Mk.1 of 1936 to the Mk. IV of 1943. Of particular interest to the hobbyist is the excellent color artwork… more |
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Supermarine Spitfire VPublished:
When one thinks of WWII and the RAF, the Spitfire instantly comes to mind. Author and illustrator Robert Grudzien has created a superb album of Spitfire V profiles in full color. The illustrations include Spitfire Vs flown by the British, Poles, Australians, USAAF, Soviet, Yugoslavian, Greek, Italian, Egyptian and Turkish Air Forces. Also included is a Spitfire VB in “captured” Luftwaffe markings. The illustrations are excellent resources for those who are searching for camouflage patterns and some lesser known color schemes and markings. A quad page fold-out shows the port side of probably the best known Spitfire B used by the Poles and flown by S/Ldr Jan Zumbach. If you are an aficionado of the Spitfire then this publication is a “must” addition for your… more |
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Adam's Armour 2Published:
Mr. Wilder provides a series of YouTube video’s displaying some of the same techniques that are in Adam’s Armour 1 and 2. Both books, however, contain far more information than the videos. YouTube Link These two publications are now available through Casemate and AFV Modeller Publications. Adam Wilder, a talented and gifted modeler, as well as an excellent writer, has authored “Adam’s Armour 1” and “Adam’s Armour 2”. This review focuses on “Adam’s Armour 2”. “1” focuses on the construction of the model while “2” covers painting and finishing. Reviewing the Table of Contents is an appropriate and enlightening place to start. While ten chapters were sufficient for Vol 1 “… more |
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Sopwith PupPublished:
This is the first WWI title in the Warpaint series and includes all the usual Warpaint features – historical text, a glossary for the modeler, color artwork by Richard Caruana and a three page color walk-around by author Matthew Willis. This softcover publication is 38 pages, including the inner front and rear covers, of data, information, illustrations, period B&W images, and a 3 page walk-around of the fully restored aircraft owned by the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in Bedfordshire, UK. Not as well-known as the Sopwith Camel, the Pup distinguished itself during its operational lifespan, and was a stalwart aircraft during the RFC’s most difficult time, Bloody April, 1917. Although a bit slower than some of its contemporaries, it proved to be a nimble and… more |
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Airbrushing for Scale ModelersPublished:
Walk into any modeler’s hobby room and you will find a library. Scan through the publications and titles on the shelves and you will find a book or publication on “airbrushing”. Airbrushing is an essential skill for almost all modelers and those modelers need to develop a high level of competency to use and master this basic tool. Kalmbach has released a new publication by Aaron Skinner entitled, “Airbrushing for Scale Modelers” that provides a comprehensive guide to airbrushing from “basic” to “advanced”. You probably recognize Aaron’s name as he is the senior editor for FineScale Modeler and also a very well-known modeler. In this publication Aaron guides the reader through airbrushing basics and then uses “project models” to demonstrate airbrushing techniques. The… more |
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Adam's Armour 1Published:
Mr. Wilder provides a series of YouTube video’s displaying some of the same techniques that are in Adam’s Armour 1. The book, however, contains far more information than the videos. Two publications are now available through Casemate and AFV Modeller Publications. Adam Wilder, a talented and gifted modeler, as well as an excellent writer, has authored “Adam’s Armour 1” and “Adam’s Armour 2”. This review focuses on “Adam’s Armour 1”. “1” focuses on the construction of the model while “2” covers painting and finishing. Reviewing the Table of Contents is an appropriate and enlightening place to start. There are ten chapters (the ToC mistakenly identifies two chapters as Chapter 8):
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