James Binder
Reviews By Author
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FW-190A Night FighterPublished:
This kit is a new Profipack boxing of the venerable 1/48 scale Eduard FW 190A series, this time in its Nachtjager guise. It was my first foray into the Eduard FW 190 and I was blissfully unaware of the quirks of this kit. I started working on this kit during a build night at my Local Plastic Model Club and two other members warned me as to what I had gotten myself into. As the build went on I was to see why everyone has a love hate relationship with this kit and why it paid to heed their warnings. The Eduard Profipack is chock full of what we’ve come to expect from Eduard. Superb photo etch for the cockpit and other external parts (in this case the antennae for the FuG 217 Radar). Excellent masks for the canopy and wheels, and enough plastic parts to practically make two full kits. It… more |
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Flower Class Corvette SpiraeaPublished:
This kit comes to us from Mirage Models out of Poland and is the third boxing of this type of ship, the other two kits in the series being the HMS Anchusa and the HMS Zinnia. The kit itself is molded in a medium gray and consists of three sprues marked A,B,E (more on this in the review). The sprue connection points are a bit thicker than on a Revell or Tamyia kit, but are fairly easy to cut through with a number 11 blade or a breeze for a razor saw. The kit also gives you photoetch railings and main mast ladder and a small decal sheet with the ID numbers for the boat and a British Naval Flag for the rear flagstaff. This is my first ship model in probably 25 years but I thought it would be a good kit to try to get back into the ship arena. Not overly large or a lot of pieces and… more |
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USAF T-38A Talon - Part 2Published:
First off, I would like to thank both Caracal Models and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review these decals. Caracal Models has released their second set of decals for the Wolfpack 1/48 T-38A Talon. As you will see in my review for the Trumpeter T-38A, they can also be used on Trumpeter’s version with no modification. This sheet of decals includes nine separate options for the T-38A Talon.
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T-38A Landing GearPublished:
The SAC landing gear for the Trumpeter 1/48 T-38A Talon kit is a direct “plug and play” replacement for the kit gear with one minor change. The nose gear is one piece for the SAC gear whereas the Trumpeter part is a two piece affair (the nose gear attachment point is separate from the strut itself). I am not sure why Trumpeter did this but to me it seems like it would add a natural weakness in the structure and that joint has to hold the nose of a fairly large aircraft up. The SAC gear cleaned up nicely, with just some minor cutting and filing of excess metal. The top of one main gear had a bit of a pour plug that came off with a sprue cutter and a file. Since I was building the Trumpeter T-38A I was able to see the gear “in action.” After cleaning them up I primed them so as… more |
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T-38A TalonPublished:
The Northrop T-38A Talon is a two-seat, twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2014 in air forces throughout the world. On the heels of the Wolfpack T-38 kit comes the Trumpeter T-38A Talon kit in 1/48th scale. The kit is molded in grey plastic and clear plastic with recessed panel lines and rivet detail. It has 84 plastic parts, a fret of photo etch and two decal sheets one for the cockpit and one for markings of two aircraft, one from Holloman Air Force Base and one for an aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force, more on these decals later. The box is very sturdy and has a nice glossy front. CockpitThe build starts like most airplanes do, in the cockpit… more |
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X-47B with GBU-27Published:
The Northrop Grumman X47-B is the demonstrator vehicle for the United States Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System or UCAS. It was developed from the X-47A Pegasus and will be developed into the X-47C UCLASS which will enter service by 2019 The Kit is from the manufacturer Platz, a Japanese Company, and is 1/72 scale. They have made other UAV’s including the Global Hawk. Don’t let this small scale deceive you though, this model is almost 11 inches across with the wings extended. The wings can be built in the extended or folded position with no cutting, something you don’t see on many kits. This boxing also adds two options for weapons, either the GBU-27 or GBU-32 JDAM. I chose to have the aircraft carry one of each. The kit itself is molded in light grey with recessed panel… more |