Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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British WWI Fighter Aircraft in Poland: Bristol F.2B Fighter, RAF S.E.5a, Sopwith 1F.1 Camel, Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin, Martisyde F.4 BuzzardPublished:
Tomasz J. Kopański authors the latest in Mushroom Model Publications’ series of aircraft used in the Polish Air Force. Tomasz has done several volumes in the Polish Wings series, including Volumes 3, 7, and 17 in addition to several other Mushroom Model Publication books. This includes MMP’s Barbarossa Victims: Luftwaffe Kills in the East (2001), Kosciuszko Squadron 1919-1921: American Volunteers against the Bolsheviks (2003), PZL P23 Karas (2004), PZL P.11c (2013). He has also worked with Kagero, writing the Legends of Aviation 3D on Fokker D.VII: The Lethal Weapon (2012). Janusz Światłoń, a native of Krakow Poland, is an aviation history enthusiast and military modeler. He has retired for the Polish military after serving with the 6th Airborne Brigade. He has a… more |
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Operation Market Garden Paratroopers Vol. 2Published:
This tome appears to be Piotr Witkowski’s second book in English and it’s a follow up to Volume one of his Operational Market Garden Paratroopers that focused on uniforms, equipment and personal use items. The positive feedback he received from Volume 1 encouraged him to move fast on this volume to get it published. You can find the review on Volume I at the IPMS USA Review website. I’ve found two prior books in Polish: Polskie jednostki powietrzno-desantowe na zachodzie (Bellona, 2009) and a second edition of this book titled: Spadochroniarze Sosabowskiego : Dzieje polskich jednostekpowietrznodesantowych 1939-1945 (Bellona, 2012). Volume 3 is in preparation by Piotr Witkowski and will focus on Transports used in Operation Market Garden. This second volume focuses on… more |
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Defiant Mk.I Undercarriage CoversPublished:
Want an nice upgrade to any 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant? Step right up to the new Quickboost Defiant Mk.I undercarriage set that provides a beautiful replacement to what is supplied in your kit. The parts are packaged in the standard Quickboost re-closable packaging with a paper stiffener along with the description card. There are no instructions. These parts are specific to fit the Airfix accurate and highly detailed 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I injected plastic kit. They may also work for the older limited run Classic Airframes kits (471, 481, and 482) that were introduced in 1995. Quickboost has molded the undercarriage set perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The undercarriage set detail is an improvement over what is provided in the kit providing more of… more |
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Defiant Mk.I Pitot Tube and AntennasPublished:
Want an easy upgrade to any 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant? Step right up to the new Quickboost Defiant Mk.I pitot tube and ventral antenna Masts set that provides a beautiful replacement to those supplied in the kit. The parts are packaged in the standard Quickboost re-closable packaging with a paper stiffener along with the description card. There are no instructions. These parts are specific to fit the Airfix accurate and highly detailed 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I injected plastic kit. They will also work for the older limited run Classic Airframes kits (471, 481, and 482) that were introduced in 1995. Quickboost has molded the pitot tube and ventral aerial masts perfectly in light grey resin and clear resin with no apparent bubbles. The left wing pitot tube is an… more |
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Su-11 Fishpot Landing LightsPublished:
Want an easy upgrade to your 1/48 Sukhoi Su-11? Step right up to the new Quickboost Su-11 landing lights set that provide a beautiful replacement to what is supplied in the kit. The supplied instructions identify where new the Quickboost replacements go. The parts are packaged in the standard Quickboost re-closable packaging with a paper stiffener along with the instructions. These parts will fit the Trumpeter 2015 release of Sukhoi Su-11 (02898; Su-11 Fishpot). Quickboost has molded the landing lights perfectly in light grey resin and clear resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost landing lights are supplied with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup. Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts… more |
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SM.03 Sazabi CustomPublished:
This is Michael Rinaldi’s third book in this series, the first being on the Industria Mechanika 1/35 FichtenFoo's Fantastical Fish-shaped Submersible resin kit with the second being the Trumpeter 1/35 Stalinetz S.65 Russian Army tractor kit. This issue focuses on the Bandai 1/100 Sazabi Gundam Mecha that has been customized. The Single Model (SM) series represents a focus on a specific kit and as such is a limited edition (i.e. Only One Print Run!). This singular focus permits Michael Rinaldi to tackle topics outside of his successful TankArt series and allows him to address finishes that he has not attempted before. A core premise of the new book series is to explore and redefine artistic and creative finishes for each subject. This edition uses all the style and methodology… more |
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Hawker Typhoon Mk IB Early Type Cannons with Uncovered Barrels (with round Recoil Springs)Published:
Master Model has come to the rescue of big scale Typhoon modelers with their latest releases in 1/24 scale. Both the Hawker Typhoon Mk IB Early Type Cannons with Uncovered Barrels with Flat Recoil Springs (24-014) and Round Recoil Springs (24-015) have been released. Despite the large scale, Airfix’s 20mm Hispano Mk.II cannon barrels can still be significantly improved over the injection plastic offered in the kit. This set is specifically applicable to the Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon. There are currently two releases available. The Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB was released in 2014 with a second release in 2016 featuring additional parts for the ‘Car Door’ option. The first production batch of Typhoon Mk.Ib used the uncovered barrels featured in this set. Notable is the superb re-… more |
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French Pre-Dreadnought Danton Class BarrelsPublished:
The Danton Class represented six pre-dreadnought battleships of the French Navy, built in France between 1907 and 1911. Outclassed before they were completed, and obsolete by the end of World War One, the five surviving ships were relegated to second-line roles by 1920. The ships included the Danton (sunk by U-64 in 1917), Condorcet (Scrapped 1949), Diderot (Scrapped 1937), Mirabeau (Scrapped 1921), Vergniaud (Scrapped 1928), and Voltaire (Scuttled 1938, scraped 1950). The main battery consisted of four 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns in two twin gun turrets. The secondary battery consisted of twelve 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns in six twin gun turrets. Torpedo boat defense was supplied by sixteen 75mm (3.0”) Modèle 1908… more |
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SR-71 Blackbird Pitot TubePublished:
Master Model has come to the rescue of Blackbird modelers with their latest releases in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Alpha-Beta probe measures incidence and yaw and is mounted to the RF isolation segment of the nose cone. The pitot tube branches off to the side of the alpha/beta probe. The size and detail are quite difficult to realize due to molding limitations. You can find many releases of the Blackbird from Italeri, Tamiya, and Testors; all using the same plastic that was originally released in 1982 by Italeri. I used the Testors kit 4055 ‘Famous Spy Planes’ that was kitted with the Testors U-2. Notable is the superb re-sealable packaging that Master Model uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely until final… more |
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P-40B Warhawk ExhaustPublished:
Want an easy upgrade to the new 1/48 Airfix Curtiss P-40B? Step right up to the new Quickboost P-40B exhausst set that provides a beautiful replacement to what is supplied in the kit. The parts are packaged in the standard Quickboost re-closable packaging with a paper stiffener along with the description card. Although these parts are specific to fit the 1/48 Airfix P-40B injected plastic kit, they might be able to be modified so that they would also work for older 1/48 P-40B/C kits (Monogram/Hasegawa/Revell [1964], Academy / Hobbycraft [1996], Bronco [2016], Pegasus, Trumpeter [2004]. Quickboost has molded the exhausts perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost exhausts are hollowed out and have the appropriate raised seams on the back of each… more |