Frank Landrus
Reviews By Author
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Spotlight On: Messerschmitt Bf 109 in RomaniaPublished:
Teodor Liviu Morosanu and Dan Melinte author the sixth book in Mushroom Model Publications’ series that presents detailed illustrations of celebrated aircraft (and in one case, AFV). This volume’s focus is on the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and Bf 109G fighters that display a variety of authentic Romanian camouflage schemes and markings. This is also one of Teodor Liviu Morosanu’s last books as the back cover shows a photo of him with the tagline of “1956-2011” There are forty profiles of Messerschmitt Bf 109E and Bf 109G aircraft in Romanian markings covered. In some cases, both sides of the subject aircraft are presented as well as top and bottom plan views. Where appropriate, enlarged scrap views focus on unique markings. All of the subject aircraft have a short biography that… more |
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Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw and Westland WhirlwindPublished:
Warpaint’s latest is their standard A4 format softbound publication that is 64 pages (excluding covers) on the Sikorsky Chickasaw and Westland Whirlwind helicopters. The book is split into two, with the first half dedicated to the Sikorsky Chickasaw and the second to the Westland Whirlwind. I counted 187 photographs (136 in color) along with 46 of Richard J. Caruana’s color profiles. Richard J. Caruana also contributes the centerfold (four pages) that features twenty drawings, all in 1/72 scale. Adrian Balch starts out with the development of the Chickasaw, truly a pioneer as the first practical helicopter. The Sikorsky S-55 / H-19 could carry not only its own crew but could carry up to ten passengers, or eight stretchers, or 5,000 pounds of freight. The prototype’s first… more |
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Russian Battleship Tsesarevich 1904 ArmamentPublished:
Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century. The ship's design formed the basis of the Russian-built Borodino-class battleships. This set represents what she carried prior to an attack in the night of February 9, 1904, in the Russian-Japanese war. She was one of three ships to be struck by Japanese torpedoes and limped back to Port Arthur. There she lost four of her 75mm, two of her 47mm, and two of her 37mm guns to reinforce the port defenses. After the Russian-Japanese war, Tsesarevich, helped suppress the Sveaborg Rebellion. Around 1906, her fighting top was removed and her superstructure was cut down, in… more |
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Kamov Ka-50 GunPublished:
Aires has come to the rescue with a major enhancement to the anti-tank 30 mm 2A42 cannon supplied in the Italeri 1/48 Kamov Ka-50 Hokum kit (tan plastic). Revell has also released the Italeri kit in black plastic with both the Werewolf and Black Shark markings along with more extensive stencils. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Aires replacements. Aires has molded the cannon perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Aires cannon is supplied on a single resin sprue with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup. I used a razor saw to carefully remove the muzzle brake and then focused on the rest of the cannon. You will want to be quite careful removing the sprue around… more |
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USS California: A Visual History of the Golden State Battleship BB-44Published:
This is Ampersand’s first nautical book, a new series that promises to focus on US capital ships of World War II. It follows the format as David Doyle’s “Flying Wings” and “Consolidated B-36” books, but is in hard cover. 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 USS California. BB-44, nicknamed the “Prune Barge”, was one of two USS Tennessee-class battleships and was the fifth ship of the United States Navy named… more |
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XF5U-1 Flapjack Landing Gear (KH)Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a nice set of replacement landing gear for the Kitty Hawk 1/48 Vought XF5U-1. The eleven parts supplied include the tail gear, main gear, torque links, and main gear retraction arms. A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the similarity with the kit parts. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new white metal items. You do need to be very careful to assure proper alignment on all three axes. The SAC landing gear may need to be slightly adjusted to be straight (a benefit of using metal is that you can bend it slightly). Smooth jaw needle nose pliers work wonderfully. The main gear struts, along with the retraction struts fit well into the Kitty Hawk wheel bay. Refer to… more |
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SAAB J 21 A-3 Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions has released replacement landing gear for the excellent Pilot Replicas 1/48 SAAB J 21 A-3. The 13 parts supplied include the nose gear, main gear, torque links, and main gear retraction arms. A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the similarity with the kit parts. Ross McMillan has combined two parts by securing the nose gear wheel fork to the nose gear, eliminating a potential point of failure. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new white metal items. You do need to be very careful to assure proper alignment on all three axes. The SAC landing gear may need to be slightly adjusted to be straight (a benefit of using metal is that you can bend it slightly). Smooth jaw needle nose pliers… more |
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Polish Wings 20: Yakovlev Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7, Yak-9Published:
Wojciech Zmyslony and Wojciech Sankowski author the latest in Mushroom Model Publications’ series of aircraft used in the Polish Air Force. This volume’s focus are the piston engine Yak fighters deployed by the ‘People’s Polish Air Force’ during WWII and the late 40s. The front and back covers are by Marek Ryś of a Yak-1b, one of three aircraft adorned with a presentation inscription. I counted 177 black and white photos along with 2 color photos of museum aircraft. Thierry Vallet contributes 42 color side views as well as top and bottom views as appropriate. Colors are even called out with Russian AMT and US FS numbers. The great part of these color side views is they are backed up with period photos of the aircraft that is being portrayed. Wojciech Zmyslony and… more |
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Consolidated B-36: A Visual History of the Convair B-36 "Peacemaker"Published:
This is Ampersand’s second aviation book, both in the Visual History Series, and follows the same format as David Doyle’s “Flying Wings”. 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. 2015 saw Ampersand dive into aviation books and 2016 marks their first dive into nautical books with the Visual History Series on the USS California. True to the series name, the focus of this book in on the visual with a mere… more |
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F4U-5 Corsair Night Gun BarrelsPublished:
The Vought F4U-5N Corsairs were delivered from the factory with four 20mm cannons with installed flash suppressors. Quickboost provides you with a set of Vought F4U-5N 20mm cannon fairings with flash suppressors. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the Hobby Boss provided plastic parts with the new Quickboost replacements. Although these cannon fairings with flash suppressors could be used on other F4U-5N kits with modification, Quickboost already has a set out for the Hasegawa F4U-5N kit (QB 48 680). Quickboost has molded the cannon fairings with flash suppressors perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles… more |