Jarrod Booth
Reviews By Author
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English Electric LightningPublished:
From the Airfix product page: As the only all-British built Mach 2 plus capable fighter aircraft, the English Electric Lightning occupies a unique place in aviation history and remains one of the finest achievements of the British aviation industry. Possessing incredible performance, this Cold War warrior entered service in 1960 and became Britain’s primary interceptor for the following two decades. The 1/72 Airfix Lightning F.6 is a reissued kit with new decals and parts. The compact red box that has become synonymous with the “new” Airfix is packed full. A single bag containing all grey plastic sprues, a clear sprue within its own bag, Instruction manual and decal sheet. The grey plastic parts were all in good shape, but there was some flash on a few parts and a… more |
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Mercedes Benz Actros MP4 Giga SpacePublished:
The Mercedes Benz Actros range of trucks was introduced in 1995 and quickly became a success hauling cargo throughout Europe and other parts of the world. Italeri is well known for their extensive range of truck models. They exhibit very nice detail and are relatively easy to build. The top opening box shows a great painting of the “show” truck. Inside it is packed full of parts sprues, “rubber” tires, mesh for behind the star, instruction manual and decal sheet. There were three parts sprues contained within two plastic bags each, while the clear parts and additional chrome plated parts were in their own separate bags. Construction started with the chassis. There were two parts to each chassis “I” frame and looked like a double bogey axel could be added/changed from… more |
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Allison Prop Jet 501-D13 EnginePublished:
Following the changes with Revell USA over the last few years, Atlantis Model Co. has acquired molds of classic Revell and Monogram kits. Some have not been released in quite a long time. The Allison 501 D13 (civilian), or T56 (military) engine entered service in 1954 and is still in production under the Rolls Royce name and designated T56. It was originally developed to power the C-130 Hercules and has since been used in aircraft like the P3-C Orion, Electra, E2C Hawkeye and many others. I understand Atlantis worked to improve the molds. I could see that the molds in this kit had either held up really well, or had some work done to improve and clean them up. Atlantis has done a fantastic job taking the modeler back to the 60’s when the 1/10th scale… more |
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F6F-5 Hellcat Landing Gear (AX)Published:
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. Examining each item, it was apparent that masters of the original plastic parts were copied and molded into white metal. Corrections or improvements were also made, such as removing the brake lines molded over the oleo struts. The general molding was quite clean, but seams would need to be cleaned up. Working with the white metal and cleaning… more |
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F6F-5 Hellcat, Part 2Published:
With the major fuselage and wing assemblies completed in Part 1, I continued on with Part 2 of the 1/24 Airfix Hellcat F6F-5 build. The tail planes, elevators, rudder and ailerons with their respective, movable, trim tabs were glued together with minimal problems. Make sure the elevator hinges are inserted the correct way… I got it wrong…twice!!! Luckily, the glue was still wet so I could pry the elevators open and correct my mistake….twice!!!! The instructions clearly show the correct way to install these. I also assembled the inboard and outboard flap sections, but, left them off… more |
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USAF/USN Seatbelts (Beige)Published:
RB Productions makes an assortment of aftermarket seat belts, photoetch and other items to dress up a wide variety of models. While building the 1/24 scale Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat these seat belts were offered for an IPMS review. The timing was perfect as I had completed the cockpit and kit supplied belts, and was about to close up the fuselage. The small package was nicely presented with a cardboard cover folded and stapled over a plastic bag. Inside was a sheet of paper belts, a small paper sheet containing the lap pad and photo etch buckles, all protected by a black cardboard sheet. Behind this were the tiny fold out instructions. I spent some time studying the instructions and going online to see how others built these. I have plenty of experience with… more |
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F6F-5 Hellcat, Part 1Published:
The Airfix 1/24 scale F6F-5 Hellcat has been a welcome surprise to many large scale model builders, especially those interested in US carrier based aircraft. This build will be in a two part “mini-series” due to the large size and length of time it may take to build. There are several good “in-box” parts reviews on the web, so I’ve skipped that to get straight into building this big Cat. However, I’ll start with some poignant information. A very large box arrived at my front door, and an equally large colorful box was extracted. It is the same size as the Airfix 1/24 Typhoon box. I couldn’t wait to slice through the tape securing the box lid to examine the contents! Each sprue is protected within their own plastic bag and they fill the strong corrugated… more |
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Gloster Meteor - Pitot TubePublished:
The Gloster Meteor was one of the iconic, pioneering jet fighters to become available during the final year of World War Two. Master Models is a Polish company that produces some of the finest aftermarket brass accessories to enhance just about any scale model. I have used their offerings before, and love the final look and relative ease of using them. Airfix has released a couple of Meteor kits over the last few years, and I recently snapped one up from my local hobby shop. The kit pitot is represented as a straight plastic tube with no relief whereas, I believe, it should taper in towards the end. I clumsily broke the plastic tube when removing it from the sprue and super glued it back together for the pictures here. The finesse of the Master Model… more |
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Mirage III CPublished:
The Dassault Mirage needs little introduction. It is a fighter aircraft that became iconic during the 6 Day War and other conflicts. Twelve nations flew the Mirage, including France, Israel, Australia and South Africa. Compared to other jet and propeller fighters, the Mirage is quite small and compact, but packs a mean punch! This kit is a ProfiPACK re-release of Eduard’s previous Mirage editions. After the super tight box lid was finally prized off, one finds multiple dark grey plastic sprues contained in two bags along with a separately bagged clear parts sprue. The instruction book, decal sheet and photo etch fret were located at the bottom of the box. Everything appeared in good condition, although the main canopy had separated from its sprue attachment. I found some flash… more |
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F6F-3 HellcatPublished:
The Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat was a US carrier based fighter that served with distinction throughout the Pacific War. This kit has been issued several times with different markings. It is packaged like other Eduard kits in a strong top opening box with the parts contained in a plastic bag with the photoetch, decals, and instruction manual protected in the bottom of the box. Resin wheels are a nice addition. Curiously there were two fuselage sprues, although there is no reference to one of them. The part numbers were different as was the sprue number. I put it aside and continued on. Construction starts with the cockpit. It appears a bit simplistic at first, but with the supplied photo etch, decals, and painting, the cockpit came out looking quite good. I used… more |