Gino Dykstra
Reviews By Author
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Vought F4U-1D CorsairPublished:
When I was a kid of about eleven living in Lincoln, Nebraska, I used to regularly visit one special park there. That's because not only did they have an open Sherman tank you could crawl around on, but a real live ex-Korean Corsair. I spent many a happy Saturday afternoon inside the cockpit or wandering over the wings of that aircraft, and ever since then I've had something of a love affair with this bent-wing beauty. As a modeler, I translated this love into 1/32nd scale ever since high school. I've built the Revell kit too many times to mention, the 21st Century Toys version and the Trumpeter version. However, nothing I have ever seen compares to the quality of the Tamiya rendition of this bird. So, what do you get for your money? Actually, quite a lot. Not only does… more |
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Sd.Kfz.250/7 Atle 8cm Mortar Carrier w/ Full InteriorPublished:
The Germans of WW2 were notorious for multi-tasking vehicles, and this one is a good example. In this case, they mounted an 81mm mortar in a standard light armored half-track. I’m old enough to remember the last time a plastic kit manufacturer took a shot at this particular make – a motorized version by Arii back in the early 1970’s. The older kit was pretty poor by even the standards of the day, although it did provide a nice ammunition trailer (to carry the batteries for the motor, of course). Otherwise, there wasn’t much to recommend it. Dragon has filled the void with a new release which does a fine job of capturing this beastie, including “magic tracks” which eliminate the odious task of snipping some 200 track bits off of sprues. As with all armored kits, I… more |
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T54 E1 - Smart Kit "Black Label Series"Published:
You’ve got to give Dragon Models some real credit – they’re willing to put out the oddball kit now and then, and to do it with class. The U.S.-made T54-E1 tank (not to be confused with the Russian T54) was one of the several attempts in the mid-50’s to upgrade the M48 from its 90mm gun to something with a bit more punch. Three different approaches to this idea were initially attempted, including this one, which clearly owes its ancestry to the famous French AMX-13 tank developed around the same time. The idea, of course, was that an autoloading main gun would eliminate the need for a human loader, and would permit extremely rapid firing during combat. There were a couple of problems with this idea, however. First, once the nine-round “magazine” was expended, someone typically had to… more |
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Finnish Tank CrewPublished:
Over the relatively short time that MiniArt has existed, I have been consistently impressed by the imagination and daring of their figure releases. They have released wonderful civilians, troops and tank crews, often filling gaps no other manufacturer has been able to do. I’ve had wonderful results from their French and Italian tankers, and look forward to getting their Hungarian tank crew soon. MiniArt has done it again with this current release, filling a void that has been in the armor field for quite awhile. On examining the contents of the box, you get five full figures, two of whom are in relatively typical light grey overalls, two in what can only be described as “pseudo-Russian” uniforms, and a single figure who really seems to exemplify the Finnish, with a mix of a… more |
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Dangerous Curves Series - Sloane, Vegas BabyPublished:
Masterbox Models in the Ukraine has been at the forefront of the figure end of the modeling business for some time now, never fearing to take some interesting chances on the market. This latest series of figures, designed to accompany most car models with some lovely ladies, has been no exception. Of all model companies which produce figures, Masterbox may have a truly unique approach. In most companies, sculptors produce the master figures, and illustrators paint their renditions for the box art. Masterbox, on the other hand, has illustrators create paintings of interesting figures and scenarios and the sculptors follow behind, making the three dimensional renderings afterwards. This one fact may explain why Masterbox figures are so innovative – post apocryphal figures, pinups… more |
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T-54-1 Mod. 1947Published:
I've always had a fascination for the Russian T-54/T-55 series and have been building models of it all my life, beginning with the ancient Tamiya T-55 from the 1960's. As each new incarnation came out, I leapt on it eagerly, including the Lindberg kit, the AMT/ERTL kit all the way to the latest Takom offering. MiniArt has been expanding its armor stable dramatically lately, with the release of a number of kits on these ubiquitous vehicles, both with and without full interiors. The T54-1 marks the transition of Russian armor development from the the T-34 through the T-44 and rather looks like a transition, with a number of aspects shared with its predecessors. As stated before, MiniArt is offering most of these new kits either with or without interiors, and I must… more |
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U.S.S. ExcelsiorPublished:
The U.S.S. Excelsior has been a Star Trek favorite for quite some time now – one of the most elegant designs ever made for the Star Trek universe. I didn’t notice this at first, but the designer was strongly influenced by the 1930s Art Deco Streamline Modern style, which features rounded shapes with straight fluting – quite a retro look when you stop and think about it. I remember a friend of mine, upon first seeing the Excelsior in detail, quipped “This model isn’t so much a spaceship as a fashion statement.” When you look at the extensive use of piping and other fine details, it’s hard not to see his point. AMT released a model of this lovely ship quite some time ago – almost 20 years, if recollection does not betray me. As a hard-core Star Trek fan and modeler I built this… more |
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Excelsior Aztec DecalsPublished:
Round 2 Models has released a large 3-sheet decal set to accompany their newly revised and released U.S.S. Excelsior kit from the Star Trek series. Printed by Cartograf, these decals are commendably thin and for the most part, feature little to no carrier film to deal with. They respond quite well to MicroSol, which I used to help them conform to some of the compound curves found on the model. These sheets actually perform two functions rather than one; first, they provide decals for virtually all of the elaborate paint scheme for this model, eliminating an incredible amount of extremely tedious masking and painting. Second, they provide surface texture in the form of tiny panels. Let me deal with these two aspects separately. For the paint scheme the sheets actually… more |
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Sea HurricanePublished:
Like many limited-run model companies, Fly Models’ first kits were fairly small. I had the distinct pleasure of building one of their Ba-349 Natters when they first came out, and was impressed by the level of effort expended on this design by this fledgling company. It’s still one of the prides of my collection. Fly has started thinking a lot bigger, and their new series of 1/32nd scale Hawker Hurricanes certainly picks up where Revell’s venerable offering leaves off. I’ve built the Revell offering numerous times over the years, and the difference between the two offerings is dramatic. The Sea Hurricane comes with a small batch of light tan sprues, another of clear plastic and numerous resin and photoetch items to fill in the details. Surface detail is excellent, and… more |
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IDF M3 Half-TrackPublished:
I’ve always had a soft spot in my old modeling heart for the early Israeli equipment, back when the IDF had to scrounge for every item. I loved the interesting field modifications and clever use of limited resources, and the Israeli halftracks were a good example. Admittedly, from a modeling standpoint the conversion was always relatively easy, and I had it on my “to do” list for years, but just never got around to it. Dragon has done the job for me with this excellent little kit. I did, however, encounter a few bumps along the road, although nothing that should make any average modeler quail. One basic bit of advice, though -- do NOT try and build this in the sequence in the instructions. They have you build the separate units, such as chassis, truck bed, etc. in their entireties then… more |