Ed Kinney
Reviews By Author
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F-4E/F Phantom II Auxiliary Air IntakePublished:
These come beautifully cast without flaws and are designed to be “drop-in” replacements for the kit parts. A slight amount of minor surgery is required in fitting them in place, but nothing an average modeler couldn’t accomplish. Many thanks to Aires for the review sample. Visit them at their website https://www.aires.cz/en/ for these and other products. Highly recommended |
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Air Modeller #35, April/May 2011Published:
Contents
After having had the opportunity to review several of these publications, the best description for this would be “Class Act”. They are printed on heavy stock with excellent color… more |
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Instrument PanelsPublished:
Specific Instrument Panels
It seems that we have a new player in the decal aftermarket arena…it would be Airscale Decals, and a welcome addition they are. These sheets… more |
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P-39 Flaps and InsertsPublished:
Another beautifully mastered set, nicely cast in light tan resin without warps or pinholes. These are exceptional in that they go a long way to enhance an already extremely nice model and require a minimum of surgery to install. For me, they earn the “most highly approved” designation. Many thanks to Quickboost and to IPMS/USA for the review sample. |
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B-25 Mitchell in ActionPublished:
New from Squadron/Signal Books USA is the B-25 Mitchell in Action by David Doyle. Very possibly the most significant twin engine bomber of WWII is beautifully showcased in this new “in action” series book. 72 pages with artwork by Don Greer, this publication contains more than 200 photos (80 of them in full color), most of them original period photographs. This aircraft is covered in detail by taking it from the North American Aviation Prototype (NA 40) to the final production run of the B-25J, in use for some time after the close of the war. USN and USMC versions (PBJ series) are also well covered within, as are B-25’s in Foreign Service used by Allied Air Forces at that time. Also contained are several color profiles of the B-25. As a point of interest, this is the… more |
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6 NEW PRODUCTS FROM ALCLAD IIPublished:
As has been the case for as long as I have known him, Tony Hipp seems to be on an endless quest to develop and bring to market still more excellent products for the discriminating modeler. For years, we’ve searched for the ultimate natural metal finishes, and when Alclad first came on the market, every other product took a distant place far behind. Tony’s products, my estimation, have become the benchmark to which all standards are measured. These new offerings are not aluminum paints, but… more |
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F4U Corsair in ActionPublished:
This, being the third release (all written by Jim Sullivan) of the “Corsair in Action” series, I was curious and pulled the previous releases for comparison purposes. Not surprisingly, the quality level became better with each book marketed. The first one (1029) consisted of 50 pages, the second one (1145) offered 58 pages and aside from front and rear covers and the center spread, there was no color within. The latest offering contains 64 pages, and is loaded with both color photos and profiles, artwork by Dan Greer. I find the format similar to the “walk around” series also from Squadron Signal. The text is well written and begins with the early “bent wing birds” during the golden age of aviation, proceeds through the “Birdcage” versions and each later mark and dash number is… more |
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RB-51 'Red Baron' Reno Racer - Part 2Published:
At the risk of sounding like a “one string banjo”, Darn! These Fisher kits are really the car’s meow. I’ve lost track of how many of these outstanding kits from Paul I’ve had the pleasure to review, but this one is, as are all the others, an outstanding example of the pinnacle of Resin casting technology. The build is as simple as pie with the one piece wing, and a hollow-cast, nearly one piece fuselage (the belly scoop being the minor second part). With a couple of passes with the sanding sticks the fit is pure “click, click”. A minimum of glazing putty was used during the construction and finishing process. All parts were scrubbed with a toothbrush using Westleys “Bleche White” tire cleaner, followed by a wet sanding with 600 wetted down in soapy water, rinsed and allowed to… more |
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Grumman EA-6B "Prowler" Part 2Published:
This being the second Kinetic kit I’ve had the pleasure to build and review, I have found several similarities in the offerings. First, the instructions could use some tweaking, in that I found some misnumbered parts. It would be of major benefit to the builder to keep his reference material close at hand. Secondly, during construction I encountered what I felt was a major fit issue with the wing to fuselage joints. My kit required completing the attachment in 4 steps with cyano acrylic and accelerator to close gaps in the wing roots (interestingly, I have since had an opportunity to read other build reviews of this subject and their experience didn’t seem as pronounced as mine. Maybe it was something I did wrong.) In any event, these two issues are the only negatives to an otherwise… more |
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NEW FROM ALCLAD IIPublished:
ALC306 Bottle White Primer & Microfiller ALC309 Bottle Black Primer & Microfiller Never resting on his laurels (or whatever else he might call them), Tony Hipp, inventor of Alclad II, does it yet again. As I have stated in several “how to” articles on this product, I couldn’t stress enough the subject of surface preparation prior to applying the metal finishes. If any sanding scratches were present, they would require a base coat of a primer with filling capabilities, then sanding and polishing so that in the case of the “high shine colors”, a gloss black primer could be applied, followed by whatever finish coat was desired. These new offerings cut down on the workload substantially, in that these primers may be applied, sanded and polished to the desired sheen… more |