Jarrod Booth
Reviews By Author
|
Atlas A400MPublished:
The Airbus Atlas A-400M is a 4 engine, turbo prop, military transport filling a place (size wise) between the Boeing C-17 and Lockheed’s C-130. It is operated by the French, Italians, Britain and others. This soft cover book is made using high quality paper and is superbly put together. It shows the aircraft in its various air force colors, variants and an extensive pictorial excursion around it. There are hundreds of beautifully detailed photographs of every part of the A-400M, from close ups to action shots of the aircraft on the ground and flying. The reader of this book is taken on a “walk around” of the subject aircraft in pictorial form and each picture, or series of pictures includes a brief explanation of what we are looking at. The book starts with an… more |
|
Boeing 747Published:
Lance Cole is the author of this and many other worthy books detailing numerous aircraft types. This book – Boeing 747 is a timely and fitting tribute to one of the all-time classic aircraft and the very first “Jumbo Jet”. As the 747 is being retired by most airlines and carriers after 50 years of faithful service, plus the fact that I personally have flown as a passenger on every model of the 747, except the 747-8, this was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The colorful cover includes three iconic photos of the 747’s grace, power and size, followed at the bottom by a nice image of -300 in Qantas colors. The back cover highlights three models and an overview of what’s inside the book. Throughout the book, colorful photos adorn each page. The content index… more |
|
CH-47A ChinookPublished:
The Chinook helicopter needs little introduction and has been a mainstay transport of many armies, air forces and navies around the globe. This Hobby Boss kit represents the first operational aircraft, which I understand only the United States used. The C-47A Chinook helicopter served in the Vietnam conflict. Trumpeter is Hobby Boss’ parent company and I was curious to see if this Hobby Boss 1/48 scale CH-47 “A” model was similar to the Trumpeter 1/35 scale “A” model. I was able to look over the instruction manual for both online, as well as a parts review and breakdown on Hyperscale. I would go as far as to say that this is a scaled down version of the larger Trumpeter kit. The instruction manuals and parts breakdown were virtually identical. The only differences I… more |
|
Aircraft Models Stands (Black Edition)Published:
ICM has fast become a leader in the field of plastic models. These stands represent some of their latest releases. The black plastic set was preceded by a clear stand edition – A001. This was a simple set and included six parts for assembling three black stands of different sizes for aircraft models. The stands could be used for the followed scales:
1/24 scale aircraft would be too large and heavy to be supported by the largest stand. ICM’s packaging was superb with a colorful box top and a strong lid type box containing the parts and instruction sheet. The stand bases were connected to the sprue by one attachment. I would have liked to see the sprue attachment on the underside of… more |
|
Scania R730 StreamlinePublished:
Having previously built Italeri’s Iveco Hi-Way 40th Anniversary and the Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 Giga Space, I had a pretty good idea of what was in front of me building this truck. All the parts sprues were presented in the same organized fashion, and like the Iveco Hi-Way, the Scania R730 included a fantastic chrome adhesive sticker sheet on top of the gorgeous decal sheet. Italeri… more |
|
MV-22B OspreyPublished:
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey had a checkered development history and near cancellation of the project. However, persistence paid off and this unique and versatile hybrid aircraft has seen great success in the US Marine Corp (MV-22B) and US Airforce (CV-22). It is also being integrated into the US Navy (CMV-22B) to replace the aging Grumman C-2 Greyhound’s, as well as a Presidential (Marine MV-22B – VIP) transport. The only export customer so far is the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (MV-22B). There are several other countries who have or are considering the Osprey. The 1/48 Hobby Boss Osprey arrived in a large (a little too large for the contents), strong box, with a nice painting of the Marine version of the Tilt Rotor aircraft featured inside. Each sprue was contained in… more |
|
Tornado GR. 4Published:
From Italeri: The Tornado Gr.4 arose from a collaborative project between Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom for the production of a multi-role high-performance combat aircraft. The primary requirement, however, was to develop a ‘state of the art’ modern aircraft able to perform low-altitude penetrating strike missions. This need was met by the development of a twin-engine combat aircraft with a variable-sweep wing. The Tornado IDS (Interdictor / strike) was the first version to be released by the British Royal Air Force and designated GR.1. In 1996 the Tornado was upgraded to the Gr.4 standard which was characterized by improved operational capabilities, new avionics systems for navigation and the adoption of new ‘on-board’ technologies. These systems enabled the effective… more |
|
Tornado GR.1 Cockpit Set (REV kit)Published:
The Revell 1/32 Panavia Tornado has been around since the mid 1980’s and represented all variants from the GR.1, F2, IDS and ERC models. Both the RAF and German Airforce have been offered throughout Revell’s production runs. It is currently available as an RAF GR.1 in Gulf War colors. This aircraft has several nicknames: the “Fin” due to its enormous tail, and “Tonka Truck” due to its rugged, tough design. The RAF, German Air Force and the Saudi Air Force have operated the Tornado. Aires Hobby produces 1/32 scale resin replacement cockpits, speed brakes and exhausts for both the Gr.1 and the IDS versions. The subject of this review was the GR.1 cockpit. It was packaged in a compact cardboard box that was very strong and protect the contents quite well. Most of the resin parts… more |
|
Metal Landing Gear for Kitty Hawk Mirage 2000Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) is a Texas based company that makes white metal landing gear for a vast number of model aircraft in all scales. The idea behind the use of metal over the kit supplied plastic landing gear is strength. Over time plastic can give way under the weight of heavy aircraft models. The metal parts are contained in a clear plastic tray with an attractive color backing showing product details. This set includes the nose and main undercarriage legs, main gear retraction struts, nose leg torque links and inner main gear door retraction struts and bulkhead. They are a direct copy of the plastic kit parts, except for the main gear. The kit plastic main undercarriage legs are in two parts, while the SAC gear comes as one part. This makes the… more |
|
Mirage 2000 D/NPublished:
The Dassault Mirage 2000N is a nuclear strike variant, while the 2000D is a conventional attack version of this versatile French fighter. It has seen extensive and distinguished action in the Middle East and other parts of the world. The Mirage was packed in a large, strong and colorful top opening box. Each sprue was contained in its own plastic bag. At the bottom there was a separate cardboard box protecting the clear sprue, a resin exhaust nozzle in a small zip lock bag and the instruction manual. The decal sheets were found in their own zip lock bag along with a photo etch fret. The complete package was superbly done and offered maximum protection of all parts. Only the two main ejection seat parts were loose from their sprues. I had read other reviews on Kitty Hawk… more |