Gino Dykstra
Reviews By Author
M60A2 StarshipPublished: February 3, 2020 Developed in the late 1960s, the M60A2 was an ambitious attempt to create a multi-tasking battle tank to accompany the M60A1, one capable of firing both conventional 152mm rounds or the new Shillelagh anti-tank missile. It featured a rotating command cupola with integral machine gun and a distinctive low-silhouette turret. Because of its technologically advanced design it was nicknamed “The… more |
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German Machine Guns of World War 1Published: May 9, 2016 Now that we stand 100 years from “The War to End All Wars”, it seems reasonable to step back a bit and reflect on the vast changes this war instigated, not the least being the changes to warfare itself. The Maxim machine gun was used in some form by virtually all of the belligerents in that war (France notwithstanding), but nowhere to the effect that the German Army employed it. Looking back,… more |
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US Army Rangers 1989-2015Published: May 9, 2016 The Rangers are an elite arm of the United States Army that ostensibly traces its roots back to Roger’s Rangers of Revolutionary War fame. More plausibly, this unit was created shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and has served as a highly trained mobile strike arm of the U.S. Army ever since. This most intriguing book delves into their operations, training and equipment during… more |
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Lost in Space Derelict and JupiterPublished: April 5, 2016 Before I begin, one quick confession: I never watched this show much when it first came out. It was in direct competition with the original Star Trek and as a kid, I only go so much time in front of the idiot box. That being said, what we have here is one fascinating vehicle. Featured in the second episode of Lost in Space, it was part of a real attempt at science fiction story… more |
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German Panzer Kpfw.38(t) Ausf. E/FPublished: April 5, 2016 Hobby Boss has recently re-released the TriStar kit of the Pz. 38(t) under their own label. Fortunately for me, the last time I worked on this particular vehicle it was using the elderly Italeri kit some years ago, so I can approach this model with no previous expectations. Let’s take a closer look at the kit. The sprues are molded in a crisp light tan (odd, as every version of this… more |
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U.S. M-107 Self-Propelled GunPublished: March 19, 2016 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… more |
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Airspeed A.S. Horsa Glider Mk.1Published: February 13, 2016 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… more |
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Italian Artillery of WWIIPublished: October 14, 2015 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… more |
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T-34/85 "Berlin 1945"Published: September 12, 2015 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,… more |
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German Panther Ausf.D - Sd.Kfz.171Published: February 3, 2020 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… more |