Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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Windsock Centenary Datafile 173 Pfalz D.IIIa At War!Published:
Greg Van Wyngarden has taken a new look at the Pfalz D.IIIa service in WWI. This is but the first volume of a two volume set. Datafile number 21 by Peter M. Grosz came out in1995 so it is about time that Windsock revisited the Pfalz D.IIIa! The initial Pfalz D.III aircraft received a poor reception amongst German pilots as it was regarded as inferior to the Albatros D.V. That doesn’t negate the fact that it was still superior to most of the Allied opposition of the time. The Pflaz firm, however, did listen to the pilot’s concerns over the D.III and soon offered improvements in the form of the D.IIIa. The cover features a sensational painting, “Silver Eagles Over Flanders”. Bob Karr depicts of two German Navy MFJ “Yellow Beaks” Pfalz D.IIIA aircraft. The one in the foreground is… more |
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RP 825 Fuel Tank with PylonPublished:
PJ Production has jumped in to help 1/48 Mirage III series model builders. This new release provides you with a Mirage center line RP 825 fuel tank along with the pylon featured on the Dassault Mirage IIIS / RS, CJ, CJ / EZ, and the Cheetah. This set is probably focused on the new Kinetic 1/48 Mirage III kits, but it should also work well on the Academy, Eduard, Fonderie Minatures, Heller, and Hobby Boss kits; along with the older ESCI kit that has also been re-boxed by Revell and Italeri. Notable is the re-sealable packaging that PJ Production uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. You will want to be careful handling the resin fins as their thinness makes them easy to break or chip. There are no painting instructions included… more |
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A-26 / B-26 Invader 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 actually the third book to cover the A-26/B-26 Invader in the In Action series. Jim Mesko authored the first in 1984 (1037) followed by Jim Mesko in 1993 (1134), both of which are out of print. This edition by David Doyle adds considerably to the material provided in the first two. Veteran illustrator Don Greer provides the color artwork for the full page length color profiles within this tome. Todd Sturgell provides the line illustrations that depict the differences between variants. 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 |
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The Baron and his Funfdecker FokkerPublished:
Background‘The Baron and his Funfdecker Fokker’ is a re-release of the classic H-190 kit that was released in 1971. It has been re-released through the years several times as kit number 7236 and now here as 1735. This kit was originally part of the Deal’s Wheels (named after artist Dave Deal) series that primarily focused on car caricatures (13 of them), but a companion kit was issued with it under the title ‘Lucky Pierre of the Lafayette Escadrille’ featuring Pierre hanging on to the upper wing of an inverted Nieuport 17. There were also two WWII era airplane caricatures with the ‘Weiner Moldy and his Blown Messa-Schnitzel 109’ and ‘Flt. Lft. Rif Raf & his Spitsfire’. Now, less you think, that these might not have been real, there were actually four show cars produced… more |
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Window WipersPublished:
A feature that you can quickly notice on almost any 1/48 soft-skin AFV are the windshield wipers. Often they are either molded into the clear windshield, or they are absent all together. Hauler has come to the rescue with eight different sized windshield wipers. The photoetch sheet provided gives you a total of 120 individual windshield wipers along with simple instructions on folding them to set on the windshield. Hauler uses an open plastic pouch that is stapled to the header card. You will want to be careful handling the photo-etch windshield wipers as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster. Once you select the correct size to use, its simply a matter of freeing the windshield wiper from the photo-etch fret. The instructions show that a… more |
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Windsock World War Centenary Autumn 2016, Vol.32, No.3Published:
The Autumn 2016 edition of Windsock World War Centenary is the third edition of Volume 32. The cover subject is a reproduction Albatros D. Va with Rob Horne in character that is owned and operated by TVAL of New Zealand. More color photos from reproductions from TVAL (Peter Jackson) are depicted in the photo spread, “Stow Maries Photo Shoot” from Essex England. The “Our Reader’s Gallery” features excellent builds of a Wingnut Wings 1/32 Salmson 2A2, 1/32 Fokker D.VII, and a Roden 1/32 Sopwith Triplane. The fourth in a series by the late Harry Woodman focuses on an unpublished update to his rare Scale Model Aircraft in Plastic Card that is a must have. This “Practical Modeling” feature provides updates to the original and is supplemented with plenty of archival material… more |
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Lockheed F-94 StarfirePublished:
Steve Ginter’s Lockheed F-94 Starfire is one of three of the latest in his Air Force Legends series. This edition is in their standard 8.5” x 11” format softbound publication that is 160 pages (excluding covers). I counted 406 photographs (15 in color) along with 82 drawings and 63 insignias. Author Alan C. Carey is a noted military historian who was born in Orange County, California in a career military family. Carey got to Texas as soon as he could and achieved his Baccalaureate and Masters degree at Southwest Texas State. His interest in military aviation is primarily due to his father’s service from 1942-1966. Carey’s research on his father resulted in his father (and two members of his crew) receiving Distinguished Flying Crosses and Air Medals for their WWII service with… more |
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German Motorcycles of WWII: A Visual History in Vintage Photos and Restored Examples, Part 1Published:
Ampersand’s latest book by David Doyle continues to expand on their Visual History format as this edition follows up on Doyle’s “Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen: A Visual History of the German Army’s Multi-Purpose Vehicles”. Ampersand got their start in 1993 when Pat Stansell distributed a free issue of Military Miniatures in Review at the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta. Ampersand joined forces with HobbyLink Japan in 2008 and have continued to expand their military AFV publications ever since. True to the Visual History Series name, the focus of this book in on the visual, detailing the development and service history of the German Army’s Motorcycles of WWII. This is slightly expanded from Ampersand’s standard 120 page version of their Visual History format and it runs 128 pages packed… more |
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PianoPublished:
A perfect addition to your diorama is this WWII era upright piano and bench. Hauler provides nine resin parts and eight photo-etched parts to build the kit. The instructions provide a pictorial on where the parts go, but do not contain any guidance for color. A quick internet search revealed that most were painted in black with a few fancier ones showing a fine wood grain for the main body. The resin is packaged in a re-sealable plastic bag with the photo-etc h in a folded plastic bag secured with a staple. Hauler has molded the parts in a tan resin with only a few bubbles that I was able to find. There are no mold seams to sand off. The resin pour plug on the back of the piano is quite large, but was easily removed from the back with a razor saw in about fifteen minutes. As… more |
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F-105 Thunderchief 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 actually the third book to cover the F-105 in the In Action series. Lou Drendel authored the first in 1974 (1017) followed by Ken Neubeck in 2002 (1185), both of which are out of print. This edition by David Doyle adds considerably to the material provided in the first two. Veteran illustrator Don Greer provides the artwork for the full page length color profiles within this tome. This follows the normal format of the In Action series, detailing the development and service history of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. This is slightly expanded from Squadron’s standard 60 page version of their In Action format and it runs 80 pages packed with large… more |