Gino Dykstra
Reviews By Author
|
U.S. M-107 Self-Propelled GunPublished:
The Italeri kit this release is based on was first issued in 1988, and I not only bought it then but built it up into one of my all-time favorite dioramas. As with a lot of Italeri kits released at the time, there were a few spots of oversimplification, but it was a quick and fun build and certainly looked the part when complete. Tamiya has done something interesting here, in that they have re-released this almost thirty year old kit along with their equally venerable U.S. Command figure set. Since I have built these figures numerous times over the intervening years, I will forgo the pleasure of repeating myself here. Building the remainder of the kit remains a breeze, for the most part. Unlike a lot of slide mold kits today, there are a fair number of parts which have… more |
|
Airspeed A.S. Horsa Glider Mk.1Published:
As Wikipedia puts it: The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider, built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors, used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces. It was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century conqueror of southern Britain. It had an aircrew of two and normally carried 20 – 25 paratroopers. Originally, it was intended to carry bombs and was designed so that paratroopers could leave the plane while in flight using parachutes. Both of these ideas were eventually dropped and paratroopers were expected to ride the glider all the way to the ground. Bronco has been spending quite a bit of energy lately in modeling British Paratroopers of the Second World War – everything from figure sets to vehicles to equipment. The Airspeed… more |
|
Italian Artillery of WWIIPublished:
Italian Artillery in WW2 is a subject long neglected in the modeling field, although it’s good to see Italeri and other companies starting to create kits of these subjects. Italy’s artillery arm during that war suffered, to a certain degree, from their successes in the Great War, where they captured or otherwise obtained large numbers of artillery pieces from the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire. This led to a certain complacency in the higher military echelons concerning further developments, so that Italy was always suffering from inadequate support in this field. That being said, when they did develop new materials they were consistently excellent with innovations such as easily replaceable inner barrels. Enrico Finazzer and Ralph A. Ricco have written an excellent and… more |
|
T-34/85 "Berlin 1945"Published:
No one needs to remind the typical armor modeler of the significance of the Russian T-34 in the development of modern armor. I have at least twenty variants of this machine in my own collection, and have been fascinated with this vehicle ever since Tamiya released the very first decent versions back in the 1970’s. This latest addition to the T-34 inventory comes from Academy models, and is a T-35/85 specific to the last-stage battles of World War 2 that took place within the confines of the German capital immediately before capitulation. At that point, even twelve-year-old Hitler Youth were being armed with the cheap and effective panzerfaust, and being sent up to the front lines often with nothing more than a solitary single-shot weapon. But they were effective enough to… more |
|
German Panther Ausf.D - Sd.Kfz.171Published:
I remember assembling my first Tamiya Panther kit back when I was in college; a wee bit before the Paleozoic. That was in the heady days when a typical tank model could be thrown together over a weekend. What they lacked in detail was more than made up for by expeditiousness. My last encounter with the Panther D was with Italeri’s release, which I made some years ago. This kit had poorly rendered wheels and other shortcomings, but was still an enjoyable build. This latest release from Tamiya, however, eliminates these shortcomings and offers what may well be the definitive Panther D. What the kit provides is about 300 parts in firm tan plastic, vinyl tracks, a little copper wire for tow cables and 3 decal choices from around the Kursk campaign. It also includes two… more |
|
German Tank Panther Auf. D Metal Gun Barrel SetPublished:
This is a review of the metal gun barrel set accessory package associated with Tamiya’s kit of the Panther Auf.D, kit number 35345. This accessory package comes with both a plastic sprue containing a detailed breech for the 75mm main gun as well as the metal barrel that is a direct replacement for the plastic barrel supplied in the basic package. The breech assembly is made up of 14 detailed parts including the scope and coaxial mg breech as well as parts to create the geared elevation system within the turret. There is also a single leftover piece that implies that this accessory kit may be for more than one make of Panther. The gun barrel is beautifully turned in aluminum and is a direct swap-out with no modifications necessary. If you leave the emergency… more |
|
German Tank Panther Auf. D Photo-Etched Grille SetPublished:
This is a review of the photoetch accessory package associated with Tamiya’s kit of the Panther Auf.D, kit number 35345. This kit includes all six engine grill covers as well as a redundant machine gun targeting ring which will certainly come in handy in other builds. The photoetch grilles can be placed on the base Panther kit with no modifications to the kit whatsoever. The fit is terrific and they add immensely to the final look of the model. My thanks to both Tamiya/USA and to IPMS/USA for a chance to add these nice additions to my Panther Auf.D kit. |
|
German Tank Panther Auf. D Separate Track Link SetPublished:
Tamiya’s Separate Track Link Set is a direct replacement for the vinyl tracks supplied in their new kit of the Panther Auf. D. Although the kit tracks are really quite nice in terms of detail and are glue-able with standard modeling adhesives, the separate track links feature open teeth and really permit adjusting the sag over the wheels that are such a distinctive feature of the Panther tank. I’ve seen other attempts to replicate the open-toothed track links of the original, most notably by Dragon which attempted to do this with slide technology for vinyl tracks. Although successful, the demands of the molds meant that the resulting tracks were exceedingly soft and rubbery, which meant that they by nature lost some definition and “firmness” around the sprocket and other… more |
|
Soviet T-35 Heavy Tank - 1938/1939Published:
The T-35 heavy tank is perhaps the ultimate expression of the land battleship concept originally explored by the British in their Vickers A1E1 “Independent” prototype. Designed to work in conjunction with the T-28, another multi-turreted vehicle, the T-35 was intended to serve as a breakthrough tank, pushing through enemy fortifications while suppressing return fire with its antitank and antipersonnel turrets. Of course, history has proven this concept obsolete at best, and virtually all of the operational versions of this massive vehicle were crippled by their poor transmissions long before encountering any opponents on the battlefield. In total, 61 of these behemoths were manufactured, only the final six in the configuration displayed in this kit. Most of these were lost during the… more |
|
F-86 Sabre DogPublished:
Permit me to open this review with a personal story. My childhood home town of Iowa City had a tiny little airport – the kind that sees maybe six Cessna's visiting in a week. However, even this tiny airport managed to have a gate guard, in this case an F-86D Sabre Dog donated from the Iowa Air National Guard, mounted on posts. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the best of shape. At some point in the past it had lost its canopy, which had been replaced by some artlessly shaped acrylic sheet. Even so, it seemed to a kid like a proud giant, reaching endlessly for a sky it would never touch again. Honestly, I loved that gate guardian. Unfortunately, in my college years an overzealous city beautification committee, led by a councilwoman with no interest whatsoever in… more |