Jack Kennedy
Reviews By Author
|
F9F-2 Panther PartsPublished:
Let me begin this review by stating that there are four different part sets for the Hobby Boss F9F-2 Panther in 1/72 scale. I was impressed with the fine detail that Quickboost was able to put into each of these aftermarket part sets. They are cast in a tan resin with easy to remove casting blocks. The finer parts were very thin, so care must be taken when handling them. I would also recommend painting some of the parts before removing them from the casting blocks. Wing fences QB 72-342 $4.25 The instructions consist of exploded views but are very clear and complete. The undercarriage covers and exhaust nozzle do not have exploded views as they are not really… more |
|
WW II USAAF Fighter PilotPublished:
This is the fifth Ultracast figure I have had the honor of reviewing and I can honestly say that each one is better than the last. This figure of a WWII USAAF Fighter Pilot is no exception. It is sculpted by my friend Mike Good. He has a world-wide reputation as a sculptor of pilots in every scale and I believe I have painted every one of them. This piece is cast in tan hard resin in five parts that fit perfectly. The engineering is superb in that the pieces are pegged in such a way that there is no way to fit them wrong. After removing the casting blocks and minor cleanup of seam lines, I assembled the parts and mounted the figure on my favorite working block, a medicine container. I like this method because it affords me a surface to hold onto once the figure is CA… more |
|
Gloster Meteor F.1Published:
The Gloster Meteor was one of the first jets to fly operational and is one of my favorites. I was very pleased to receive this kit by Cyber Models to review and was not disappointed in it at all. Upon opening the box I was very impressed with the fine molding and details. The panel lines seemed to be truly in scale. Having built the Meteor F.3 in the white scheme, I chose to do the standard RAF scheme of light grey underneath and dark grey and green on the top surfaces. Assembly was pretty straightforward. The cockpit is a real work of art and I painted it semi-gloss black as per my reference. To add some color, I did add seatbelts from tape. The landing gear was a little confusing as I felt that the instructions were not all that clear. On the previous Meteor that… more |
|
The Concorde StoryPublished:
Let me begin this book review by giving a little background. When I saw that IPMS received this book from Osprey Publishing, I jumped at the chance to review it. The reason for my excitement to doing this review is that back in 1995 I was working part time as a courier, this entailed traveling all over the world delivering different packages that needed hand delivery and were time sensitive. One day I got a call at my office to go to Dublin, Ireland via Atlanta. That evening I flew to Atlanta to meet another courier and accept the shipment for Dublin. The other courier did not meet me on time to make my connecting flight to Dublin and the courier office told me to bring the package back to NY and that I would take the 9:00am British Airways Concorde flight the next day. Needless… more |
|
RAF RE.8, Harry TatePublished:
I have heard wonderful things about the Wingnut Wings models but I didn’t realize that they were this good. When John Noack posted that he had one of their models for review, I practically begged him to give it to me. I wasn’t disappointed. Upon opening the very substantial box, I was greeted with many sprues consisting of 265 plastic parts and 11 photoetched parts. I opened the instructions and I really cannot call them mere instructions as it was a 30 page book in color. They were the most complete instructions I have ever seen and they even had photographs of the real aircraft in several places to help locating where various parts were to be placed. I began as the instructions called for by painting the interior parts and then assembling them. This was the most… more |
|
F-86F-30 SkyblazersPublished:
The F-86F Sabre happens to be my favorite jet aircraft so when this kit was given to IPMS for review I almost begged to do it. This kit is not in a scale I normally build but since it was one of the only Skyblazer scheme F-86s, I just had to do it. I was not sorry. Upon opening the box the first thing that amazed me was the size of the decal sheet. It is huge and had every bit of the great color scheme in decal form so I did not have to mask and airbrush anything. The cockpit was adequate with decal instruments and side consoles. The seat was fine with the belts molded in. I liked the way that the cockpit fit with the intake trunk and front landing gear bay. When assembled, it became foolproof with the L/G well in just the right place and the same with the cockpit. … more |
|
Modern U.S. Army Rank and Regiment InsigniaPublished:
One item that is the curse of all figure painters is that molded insignias and badges on the figures are way out of scale. They are usually raised and if in scale, they would stick out about an inch or more. Now, Authentic Decals has produced a set of decals for modern US soldiers with insignia, rank and regiment badges. With this release one would think that their prayers were answered. Unfortunately they were not with this set. I realize that the modern US soldier does not have the colorful badges and insignia that were seen in WW II, but these are all monochromatic. Not only that, they are too small for 1/35 scale. I would also note that the regiment badges seem to be out of register. There is only one set of each rank so if you screw up one, you will have to change… more |
|
Gloster Meteor F.3Published:
To my knowledge there were very few 1/72 scale Gloster Meteors produced so it came as a very welcome offering by Dragon. Upon opening the box, I was impressed with the molding of this kit. The details were very fine and crisp. I consulted my research books and decided to use a white scheme, which was only used on 3 F.3 aircraft. Assembly was pretty straight forward. The cockpit was very complete; was painted in black and was not very difficult to do. The landing gear assembly in Step 1 was a little confusing when gluing parts B-3 and B-2. I knew that the Meteor was somewhat tail- heavy so I added a load of fishing sinker shot. I don’t know how much weight I added but next time I build a Meteor, I am going to add a brick as mine still became a tail sitter. The fit… more |
|
Napoleon's Army 1790 - 1815Published:
As a painter of military miniatures I welcome any new book on uniforms. Since my field of interest is the Napoleonic Era, this book by Casemate was most welcome. When John Noack offered it, I jumped at the chance to review it. I was not aware that it was written by the most renowned expert on the uniforms and history of the Napoleonic Era. When I fist started painting figures of the Napoleonic period, I was taken by the beautiful prints by Lucien Rousselot. At that time they were very expensive and I could only afford a few. Now Casemate has chosen to print all of his works in one book. To someone like me, it was like finding the Holy Grail. The book in s very large format (11.75” x 8.25”) hardcover book printed on beautiful glossy paper stock. It even has place markers… more |
|
F-86F Sabre Cockpit SetPublished:
The F-86 Sabre Jet happens to be one of my all time favorite aircraft so when John Noack put this kit up for review, I just had to jump on it. The cockpit set is for the Kinetic 1/32 F-86F of which I have three. The kit cockpit is pretty nice but this Aires kit is the frosting on the cake. It consists of 11 very finely cast resin parts, two clear parts (actually the instruments are in clear and black), and 21 photo etched parts. I primed the parts with Duplicolor Light Grey auto primer as I do with most of my models. I then used several books for detail research. I painted the details with Model Master acrylic paints. Once the details were painted, I removed the parts from their casting blocks. The major parts fit by interlocking the parts. The only thing left to do was… more |