Greg Wise
Reviews By Author
|
SSW D. III Seatbelts FabricPublished:
The ProductMy sample arrived in Eduard’s trademark clear poly envelope enclosing a piece of card stock, Eduard’s Knight standing at parade rest at the top right-hand corner. Inside I found one small photo-etch fret, one small textile fret and the instructions. The BuildFirst, the instructions are very clear and easy to understand. However this is where I ran into a bit of trouble. Following the instructions without consulting the internet proved to be my Achilles heel and I totally screwed up the review sample. I would like to apologize to Eduard and IPMS for my lack of foresight. It’s the result of living under a rock according to one online reviewer. If you’ve never used this type of product and are not familiar with it do not rely solely on the… more |
|
PV-1 Ventura Sirens of the SeaPublished:
According to Bombshell
The ProductMy sample arrived in the standard zip-loc bag we’ve come to expect from the aftermarket decal retailers. The cover sheet artwork features beautiful nude and non-nude nose art aircraft. The decal sheet itself is a masterpiece with seven options and enough decals to do at least two aircraft. Printed by Cartograf and made in Italy the decals are perfect in every regard. The only drawback worth noting is the lack of information specific for each… more |
|
Bren GunPublished:
The ProductMy sample arrived in the standard Brassin blister package, a folded paper information/assembly guild doubles as the cover art. Also included are fourteen pieces of resin in varying shades of grey and a small photo-etch fret. The parts clean up easily and are very highly detailed. The photo-etch parts are extremely small and delicate. The instructions are easy to understand and covers the build in four steps. However, the Bren gun can be configured in several options (see Eduard’s photo attachments). The most distinct option is the drum or clip types of magazines. The set also contains a bag for empty shells and support legs. The BuildThe build was completed in a couple of hours and proved almost non eventful. All the pieces fit very nicely and… more |
|
SH-3H Sub-HunterPublished:
History BriefThe Sikorsky Sea King became operational with the United States Navy in June 1961. When introduced, the Sea King was a considerable advancement over previous helicopters. It was used primarily for anti-submarine warfare: detecting and tracking Soviet submarines. During the Cold War, the Soviet Navy built a submarine fleet that at one point included more than 200 operational submarines. Luckily for the Soviets the highly capable Sea King never had to kill one of their subs. It was the world's first all-weather amphibious helicopter and one of the first anti-submarine warfare (ASW) rotor craft to use twin turbo shaft engines. The SH-3H was an upgrade of the SH-3G. It included SH-3G features with improvements for ASW, anti-ship missile detection and other… more |
|
La-5FN Upgrade SetPublished:
The ProductThis set comes on a single photo-etch fret and offers several worthwhile enhancements. The list of items include: brake lines, a complete set of landing gear doors, radiator faces, radiator exit door, engine shutters, cowling flaps, canopy lever, canopy mirror, ring & bead gun sight, throttle, several cockpit levers and trim wheels. A great feature about this brass fret is the delicate attach points. The instructions are clearly printed with Eduard’s easy to understand pictorials. The BuildFirst, I added the brake lines to the landing gear legs and they fit great. Then I made up the landing gear doors. Starting with upper section of the out board doors, I created the bumps by using a ball point pen and the card stock from the package and… more |
|
Jonny Quest: The DragonflyPublished:
History BriefThe Adventures of Jonny Quest was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems. An animated television series, it ran on ABC in prime time on Friday nights for one season from 1964 to 1965. A true original for the 1960s, it was created and designed by comic-book artist Doug Wildey and was inspired by American radio serials, American action-adventure comics and American science fiction genre. Ground breaking for it’s time it featured unmatched realistic art, interesting characters, and a better story line than any previous cartoon seen on television. The Quest Labs Supersonic Suborbital Aircraft known as The Dragonfly is the iconic Jonny Quest aircraft featured in the episode introductions… more |
|
Neo CN for Iwata AirbrushPublished:
As the name Neo implies, this is Iwata’s entry-level airbrush label, and it is offered in the two main styles of airbrushes: siphon- or gravity-feed. Our review sample is the Neo CN, a gravity-feed type. Gravity-feed airbrushes perform well at lower air pressures, which help create greater detail. Another differentiating feature between airbrushes is the trigger style: single- or dual-action. To explain the difference in simple terms, a single-action trigger delivers paint and air at the same time when depressed. The dual-action trigger has a slide, which means when you depress the trigger only air comes out, but as you slide the trigger aft it feeds the paint out around the needle. Our Neo CN has a dual-action trigger with a 0.35 mm needle and nozzle combination. Most lower-… more |
|
Lavochkin La-5 Control LeverPublished:
The Zvezda kit has been out for few years now and it is without a doubt the best La-5 in 1/48 scale. Surprisingly, the folks at Aries/Quickboost have been busy creating resin upgrades specifically for it. Releasing new items this late in the game is a testament to the kits potential. I’ve had my kit for a while now waiting to perform an all out super build. I’ve collected a few goodies; mainly Eduard aftermarket sets, flaps and such, and needless to say when I spotted new items from Aires’s Quickboost line for it I offered to review all of them. Besides the control levers I also received the Quickboost La-5FN seat with safety belts #QB48 611 and from Aires the La-5FN cockpit set #4629 to review. Since the Aires cockpit set offers basically the same control lever I will be using that… more |
|
Lavochkin La-5/La-5F/La-5FN Seat with Safety BeltsPublished:
Just what the doctor ordered, a new seat for the Zvezda kit. The Zvezda kit offers an excellent cockpit, engine and everything else. It’s an awesome kit but its weakest point is the seat. The folks at Quickboost have come to the rescue with this excellent casting that includes safety belts. Besides this seat being overwhelmingly superior to the kit part, I will be using this seat over the Aires seat provided in the Aires cockpit set #4629. Personally I prefer a seat with well-molded seat belts to the photo-etch ones. As you can see in the photographs it’s a must have if you plan on building any of Zvezda’s La-5/LA-5F/LA-5FN and it should work with any La-5 kits available. Bottom LineI recommend this part for your next La-5 build and would like to thank; Quickboost,… more |
|
Lavochkin La-5F/FN Cockpit SetPublished:
The ProductMy sample arrived in the standard blister pack commonly associated with Aires brand resin sets. Its contents were well protected and intact. This multi-media set is comprised of cast resin parts, a photo-etch fret and a small printed acetate film featuring the instrumentation dials and gun sight reflector glass. The small blue fold out instruction sheet is clearly printed and easy to understand. The resin parts have delicate details and look very nice. They include: a seat, seat back pad, oxygen bottles, radio set, armor plate, internal structures, complete sidewall replacement panels, flare gun, control stick, gun sight and forward instrument panel structure. The photo-etch fret is equally as nice and it includes; instrument panel face, complete seat harness,… more |