Greg Wise
Reviews By Author
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Hurricane Mk I.Published:
History BriefThe Hurricane ranks with the most important aircraft designs in military aviation history. Developed by Sydney Camm, Hawker's Chief Designer in the late 1930s, the Hurricane was the first British monoplane fighter and the first British fighter to exceed 300 miles per hour in level flight. It was a single seat fighter with an enclosed cockpit. It featured a stressed skin aluminum wing with fabric covered aluminum control surfaces. The fuselage was a mix of steel tube, aircraft spruce forms, and fabric. 1700 Hurricanes fought in the Battle of Britain. That’s more than all other British fighters combined and those historic fights were seen as the Hurricane's finest hour. It fought over southern England and the English Channel during the summer of 1940 and… more |
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Boulton Paul Defiant Starter SetPublished:
History BriefThe Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I, among RAF pilots it had the nickname "Daffy". It was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. They were designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft without any forward-firing guns, as a two-seat turret fighter, powered by a 1,030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin III piston engine and 723 built. It was a contemporary of the Royal Navy's Blackburn Roc and the concept of a turret fighter, as it was developed in both aircraft, related directly to the successful First World War-era Bristol F.2 Fighter. In service, the Defiant was reasonably effective as a bomber–destroyer but proved vulnerable to the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Its lack of forward firepower was… more |
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T-34-85 Camouflage & Markings 1944-1945Published:
This book describes the colors and markings applied to the T-34-85. It served in huge numbers with the Soviet Army and its allies. All of its major users are beautifully illustrated with incredible artwork including the color profiles. The period photographs are clear and in focus exposing the modeler to the harsh conditions of war. A total of more than 35,000 T-34-85s were produced in several variants from different factories. The museum walk around photos points out the differing turrets and chassis from their respective factories. This book is a must have as it covers; unit/ tactical markings, air recognition details, captured enemy markings and even individual names and insignias. The book is a glossy soft cover featuring a hearty cord & gum binding measuring 8.5 x 11… more |
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T-34/85 "No. 112 Factory Production"Published:
History BriefThe iconic T-34 medium tank has certainly left its mark in the pages of history. It’s one of the highest produced and longest serving tanks of all time. Identifying T-34 variants can be frustrating and complicated. There were several differing turret castings between factories. New features were commonly added in the middle of production runs while other features were deleted. In addition damaged or older tanks were rebuilt or retrofitted and the addition of newer-model equipment and new turrets was a common practice. Our sample tank is from factory 112 located in Gorki. It appears to be a late version with a ‘mushroom’ type turret featuring early or late style copula and venting arrangements options. The ProductMy sample arrived in a… more |
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Mitsubishi F1M2 Type Zero Observation Seaplane (PETE) Model 11 "934th Flying Group"Published:
History BriefCode named ‘Pete’ by the Allied Forces the Mitsubishi F1M2 Type 0 Observation Seaplane Model 11 was originally built as a catapult-launched reconnaissance seaplane. In essence, the Pete was a two man crew, single-engine biplane with a main central float and two auxiliary outrigger floats. In June 1936 trials and flight testing of the first prototype Ka-17 (F1M1) aircraft were performed and evaluated. The tests showed that the seaplane had several serious design flaws, mainly with poor directional stability and lack of power. The F1M1's shortcomings fueled concerns about its seaworthiness. The following two years were spent in a major redesign. An improved version of the seaplane, designated as the Type 0 Observation Seaplane Model 11 (F1M2) included… more |
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F-4J VF-84 JOLLY ROGERSPublished:
History BriefThe McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor aircraft/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft. It was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force. The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It featured a tandem two-seat with twin-engines. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4 was designed without an internal cannon, but later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record. … more |
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Lockheed F-104 StarfighterPublished:
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a supersonic fighter-interceptor- bomber and fourth in line of the iconic Century Series aircraft. Author Jaroslaw Dobrzynski describes the Starfighter evolution and technical history in great detail. Mushroom Model Publications is highly regarded in the modeling world for providing top quality books at a fair market price. Written specifically with the scale modeler in mind, Mushroom Model Publications has released another illustrated masterpiece. Featuring 40 beautiful color profiles including data from the original technical manuals plus photographs of contemporary and surviving examples. The author examines and presents a completely documented, comprehensive coverage from the prototypes to the final export and license-built versions. They are all… more |
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SSW D.IIIPublished:
History BriefThe SSW D.III was a German single-seat fighter built by the Siemens-Schuckert Werke and served as a home defense interceptor. The D.III was a development of the D.IIc prototype. Around 41 D.IIIs were delivered to the front between April and May 1918, most of them went to Jagdgeschwader II. It was powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Siemens-Halske Sh.III bi-rotary engine. The pilots were enthusiastic about the new aircraft's handling and rate of climb, however, after only 7 to 10 hours of service the Sh.III engines had serious issues with piston seizure and overheating. In late May 1918, Jagdgeschwader II replaced its D.IIIs with the older Fokker Dr.I. The remaining D.III aircraft were returned to the Siemens-Schuckert factory. The problem was the Voltol mineral… more |
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SSW D. III GunsPublished:
The ProductMy sample arrived in standard blister pack. Inside I found the instructions, one photo-etch fret, one piece of steel gun barrel stock, two pairs of machine guns, one pair is completely made of resin and the other pair has the photo-etched cooling jackets with steel barrels. Both sets include and/or share common photo-etch embellishments. The BuildFirst I decided to build the most challenging of the two pair and forego the solid resins pair. I started by cutting the steel barrel into the correct lengths of 10.2 mm each leaving a small remainder to be discarded. Next I rolled the cooling jackets. This was relatively simple once I found a proper dowel. Here’s where the real fun starts, attaching the barrel, cooling jacket, receiver and muzzle parts… more |
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SSW D.III EnginePublished:
The ProductMy sample arrived in standard blister pack. Inside I found one photo-etch fret, one resin reducer, one resin carter with cylinders, one resin exhaust manifold and the instructions. https://www.eduard.com/out/media/648166.pdf The BuildI began by easily removing the pour blocks from the resin parts. Luckily the resin parts didn’t require a lot of clean up and they fit together very well. The photo-etch parts were a bit more challenging, the push rods were the trickiest part of the construction and could have been engineered to be a little more user friendly. They kept falling off because of the delicate glueing points. When set side by side the Brassin engine is certainly more superior to… more |