Jarrod Booth
Reviews By Author
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Hawker Tempest Mk.II/V/VI and Hawker Fury/Sea Fury - Hispano Mk.V Cannon Barrel Tips and Pitot TubePublished:
Master Model is a Polish company that makes aftermarket brass gun and cannon barrels, pitot tubes and other replacement parts for scale model aircraft, ships and armor. The finesse and detail of these parts are nothing short of spectacular. For this review, I have used Eduard’s 1/48 Hawker Tempest that was issued several years ago. It is the perfect candidate for these parts as no cannon barrels are included, just holes in the wing leading edge. The pitot tube will be used on my Hobby Craft kit of a later model Royal Australian Navy Sea Fury (or the forth coming Airfix version). The Eduard Tempest is a late WWII aircraft that makes use of the under wing “L” shaped pitot. The parts come nicely packed in a small zip-lock bag with a cardboard label stapled over the top.… more |
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Hurricane Mk. I TropicalPublished:
The Hawker Hurricane needs little introduction. It was one of the finest fighters of the Second World War. It usually took second place to the more glamorous Spitfire. The “Hurri” served Britain and the Allies faithfully throughout the war and was adapted to many different environments. The subject of this build is a Hurricane Mk I Tropical that flew in North Africa. The kit comes packed in a sturdy box with a nice picture of a Hurri about to turn in and take a shot at an Italian Marchetti bomber over a desert landscape. The side of the box shows six different aircraft that can be modeled, as well as other useful information like paint colors. There are four individually packaged sprues, a photo etch fret, clear parts, decal sheet, and instruction booklet. Before… more |
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Snap-Tite 2018 Mustang GTPublished:
Sometimes experienced modelers get so bogged down with the extensive projects we are working on, we forget to lift our over-taxed heads from the work bench, remove glasses and opti-visors, and smell the sweet success of a quick, easy build. So, while browsing the IPMS review list one day, I came upon this kit and “snapped” it up. My thought was to have my wife build it, but she took off in our (real) ’65 rag top Mustang instead, and left me to it. The Revell Snap-Tite 2018 Mustang GT is a nice representation of the styling changes being made to the existing 2017 Mustang. The car will soon to be released this Fall. The main omission on the Snap-Tite model are the rear vision door mirrors. The model is nicely packed in a compact, end opening box with the body supported by… more |
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Boulton Paul Defiant F1Published:
The Defiant is an interesting aircraft and until recently, a largely overlooked subject compared to the popular “mainstream” aircraft from WWII. It has been offered by various model companies like Classic Airframes and Airfix in 1/48 and 172 scale. This British aircraft was originally intended as a day fighter, with the rear turret harking back to WWI designs that were quite successful in their day. During the early days of the Battle of Britain, the Defiant proved to be vulnerable to head on attacks after BF 109 pilots figured our it had no forward firing, wing mounted guns. The turret had limits to its travel and could not aim the guns low enough while firing forward. The aircraft was also hampered by the significant weight added by the four gun, powered turret, resulting in… more |
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Mi-24 Hind D/E Jak B-12.7 Machine Gun & DUAS ProbePublished:
The Mil Mi Hind is an awesome and feared gunship/attack/transport helicopter. Its first flight was in September 1969 and introduced into service in 1972. It is still operating today. Master Models is a Polish company that specializes in producing some of the finest turned brass and resin aftermarket parts I have seen! This resin/brass set can be used on any 1/72 scale Hind D/E, but I have the Hasegawa kit to compare it to. While the gun and DUAS probe straight from the kit is very good, the detail on the Master Model set has to be seen to be believed! In this 1/72 scale, I needed a magnifier to fully appreciate the work that has gone into making these parts. The complete package is compact in a zip lock bag and folded over label. Inside is a cardboard backing… more |
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F-14A/B Tomcat "Jolly Rogers" (2 kits) Limited EditionPublished:
The F-14 Tomcat is well known as a formidable, and versatile Fighter aircraft. It served faithfully, and saw action from 1974, until its retirement from the US Navy following its last deployment in 2006. Iran is the only other operator of the F14 Tomcat and is still in service. In this package are two complete kits, and include decals for VF-84 Jolly Rogers aboard USS Nimitz in 1978, and VFA-103 Jolly Rogers aboard USS John F. Kennedy in 2004. The large sturdy box features two nice color photos of each aircraft, and I referred to them several times while building and painting. All the grey plastic sprues for one aircraft and a photo etch fret are contained in one plastic bag. The clear parts are bagged separately. The main canopy in both bags had come loose, but no… more |
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Tiger II Ausf. B "Konigstiger" Photo Etch SetPublished:
The Tiger II Ausf.B, Konigstiger, King Tiger or Royal Tiger, as it was called depending where you were from, was the most powerful tank produced by the Germans. It became operational in July 1944, during the Invasion of Normandy. This formidable tank fought on the Western and Eastern Fronts until the end of World War II. Hauler is located in the Czech Republic, and produces high quality photo-etched sets for AFVs, aircraft, cars, railway vehicles and resin accessories for dioramas and resin kits. This set fits the 1/72 scale Revell Tiger II kit, and comes nicely packaged with the two photo etch frets inside individual clear plastic bag. The instructions are folded and everything is stapled to the folded over cardboard backing. Detailed and fairly clear… more |
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KC-767J & E-767 AWACS – J.A.S.D.F.Published:
Hasegawa continues their fantastic line of small scale airliner aircraft, with this release of the military Boeing KC-767J tanker and E-767 AWACS versions. I have built a number of their other civil airliners, and they are designed to build easily and fairly quickly, by all levels of modeler. I have included pictures of the instruction sheets that cover the history and details of these ex-airliner, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircraft. The two kits come in Hasegawa’s standard sized box, and packaging. Inside are two clear plastic bags, each of which contain the individual model sprues, clear parts, large ballast screws, a stand and poly caps. Loose in the box are two sets of instructions and one good quality decal sheet. Each kit also includes the extra parts specific to… more |
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The 1916 Battle of the Somme ReconsideredPublished:
“The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered” is a revision of a book written twenty four years ago by Peter Liddle, which benefits from more recently acquired research and information. It is a high quality, hard cover book. Peter Liddle is an historian of the First and Second World Wars, who has concentrated on personal experience of the men and women who took part in these conflicts. The book was of great interest to me, as my grandfather fought in the “Great War”, and indeed was involved in trench fighting on the Somme. He was a very proper, jolly English gentleman, and held the rank of Sergeant. After the war, he emigrated to Australia. He had a fabulous life, and passed away at the age of 92. Regrettably, we don’t have a lot of information about his WW1 experiences.… more |
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Iveco Hi-Way 40th AnniversaryPublished:
Iveco is an Italian truck manufacturer that builds some of the latest trucks and commercial vehicles in Europe. Acitoinox is a truck accessory parts company, and plays a big part in the fancy stripes and mirrored finish stainless steel 40th anniversary scheme of this subject. The Iveco Stralis Hi-Way is a re-issued kit with new decals and adhesive “chrome” dress up “stickers”. It comes in a sturdy box that is well sized for the amount of sprues inside. The sprues are mostly individually bagged and protected. This truck is beautifully detailed with parts reproduced faithfully to the original - outside and inside. I referred to various internet sites for picture references. The plastic is given in approximate colors of black, blue, white and chrome, so it could… more |