Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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Hawker Typhoon Mk IB Early Type Cannons with Uncovered Barrels (with Flat 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 and provides an option not included in the kit, the flat recoil springs. 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… 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 Revell / Takara / AHM (first released in 1966), Hasegawa (first released in 1983), Monogram / Revell (first released in 1984), Italeri / Testors (first released in 1985), and Academy / Minicraft (first released in 1985). I used the Monogram / Revell kit 85-5810 that was re-released in 2011. Notable is the superb re-sealable packaging that Master… more |
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Saab J 29 Tunnan Pitot TubesPublished:
Want an easy upgrade to any 1/48 Saab J 29 Tunnan? Step right up to the new Quickboost Saab J 29 Tunnan pitot tube 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. These parts are specific to fit the Pilot Replicas accurate and highly detailed 1/48 Saab J 29F injected plastic kit and an Austrian J 29F variant that basically obsoleted any previous 1/… more |
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Out of This World ModelingPublished:
Aaron Skinner started out early in publishing, founding his High School student newspaper in the early eighties. He has been an avid modeler since the age of six (supported by his grandfather). He graduated from The University of Queensland in 1992 with his degree in Journalism and History. He has worked with several newspapers in Arkansas and Texas as a photographer and reporter from 1994 until in joined Fine Scale Modeler in 2006. He was promoted from Associate Editor to Senior Editor in 2015 and has authored several modeling books, including: Essential Skills for Scale Modelers (2011), Modeling Airliners (2012), and Airbrushing for Scale Modelers (2015). He is active representing Fine Scale Modeler and providing presentations at contests and shows,… more |
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Viking Warrior vs Anglo-Saxon Warrior: England 865-1066Published:
Gareth Williams has been a curator at the British Museum since 1996, with responsibility for British and European coinage, about AD 500 to about 1180. Within this area he specializes in Anglo-Saxon and Viking coinage. Much of his work focuses on the use of coinage as evidence within broader historical and archaeological studies. Gareth has authored at least fifteen books and led several projects at the British Museum, with a “Viking Voyages” exhibition that recently finished a run from March 2015 through February 2017. He has been actively involved in historical re-enactments. Check him out at the British Museum. The cover painting by Peter Dennis is a clip of the painting that appears on pages 34 and 35 in the book… more |
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A-6 Intruder Units 1974-96Published:
Rick Morgan graduated from the University of Missouri in 1978 and joined the US Navy. His US Navy career included over 2,400 flight hours in the EA-6B Prowler and other naval aircraft with 41 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. His website claims he achieved 447 and ½ carrier landings. I’m afraid to ask about the ½ carrier landing…. Rick contributed articles to the “The Hook” prolifically, twice being awarded “Contributor of the Year”. He has a deep interest in aviation and trains. Rick has been published by Schiffer and Osprey Publishing. He currently works in the aviation industry somewhere in the Midwest (I’m guessing Missouri). Check out his web page at rickmorganbooks.com Illustrator Jim Laurier, a native of New England, provides the color profiles. Jim… more |
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Imperial Japanese Navy Antisubmarine Escorts 1941-45Published:
Mark E. Stille (Commander, United States Navy, retired) received his BA in History from the University of Maryland and also holds an MA from the Naval War College. He has worked in the intelligence community for 35 years including tours on the faculty of the Naval War College, on the Joint Staff and on US Navy ships. He is currently a senior intelligence analyst working in the Washington DC area. He is the author of at least two dozen Osprey titles in the New Vanguard, Duel, and Campaign series, primarily focusing on naval history in the Pacific. Paul Wright, born in N. Wales in 1947 has worked as a free-lance maritime and landscape artist since 1969. He has been teaching since 1974, starting out at the West Surrey Institute in Art and Design, and is currently a senior lecturer… more |
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Curtiss P-40 Warhawk - The Famous Flying Tigers FighterPublished:
David Doyle’s latest book is one of the initial entries into a new series called ‘Legends of Warfare’ with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The first Ground book is focused on the Panzerkampfwagen IV, the first Naval book is on the USS Yorktown (CV-5), and the first two Aviation books are on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (#4) and Douglas TBD Devastator (#3). The first and second in the series (Wayne Mutza’s Bell 47/H-13 Sioux Helicopter is #1 and David Doyle’s Grumman F4F Wildcat at #2) are scheduled to release later this year. After many years of being published in enthusiast publications focused on military vehicle restorations, David Doyle ‘graduated’ to full-fledged books in 2003. His first book was a hefty 512 page history of US military vehicles. He has now had more… more |
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Douglas TBD DevastatorPublished:
David Doyle’s latest book is one of the initial entries into a new series called ‘Legends of Warfare’ with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The first Ground book is focused on the Panzerkampfwagen IV, the first Naval book is on the USS Yorktown (CV-5), and the first two Aviation books are on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (#4) and Douglas TBD Devastator (#3). The first and second in the series (Wayne Mutza’s Bell 47/H-13 Sioux Helicopter is #1 and David Doyle’s Grumman F4F Wildcat at #2) are scheduled to release later this year. After many years of being published in enthusiast publications focused on military vehicle restorations, David Doyle ‘graduated’ to full-fledged books in 2003. His first book was a hefty 512 page history of US military vehicles. He has now had more… more |
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P-38 Lightning In ActionPublished:
David Doyle’s latest book continues to expand on Squadron Signal’s long standing In Action series that initiated back in 1971.This is a completely updated and expanded edition over Squadron’s earlier Aircraft In Action number 25, a 50-pager on the Lightning by Gene B. Stafford that was published in 1976. That first release was followed by Squadron’s In Action number 109, a 58-pager on the Lightning by Larry Davis that was published in 1990. A third release came in 2011 from David Doyle with 72 pages as Squadron In Action number 1222. This 2017 release adds an additional eight pages and includes many new photographs. After many years of being published in enthusiast publications focused on military vehicle restorations, David Doyle ‘graduated’ to full-fledged books in 2003. His… more |