Jim Pearsall
Reviews By Author
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Space Shuttle DiscoveryPublished:
The Space Shuttle (actual name “Space Transportation System) was a reusable manned low Earth orbit vehicle. It consisted of the space plane which went into orbit and glided back to Earth, two Solid Rocket Boosters and the expendable fuel tank. Shuttles were operated by NASA from 1981 to 2011, flying a total of 135 missions. The missions ranged from launching satellites and interplanetary probes to delivering components for the International Space Station, and later delivering supplies and crew for the ISS. There were originally 5 shuttles built, Enterprise, which had no orbital capability, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Atlantis. After Challenger was destroyed, Endeavour was built. The Kit… more |
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MiG-15 Ceskoslovenske PatnactkyPublished:
Eduard has come out with two double kits of the MiG-15. This one is the Czechoslovakian MiGs. There are two differences between the kits. First is markings. This one is for Eduard’s “home team”, with 7 different Czech MiGs. The second difference is that one of the MiGs in this kit has three guns in the nose instead of two. This is the build with three guns. Since this is a double kit, you get two of everything. I used the other kit to do the Eduard PE upgrade. I was also gratified to see that there are two slightly different sets of main wheels per kit. There’s also the usual canopy mask and wheel masks, which are top quality. The CockpitThe cockpit is basic, but if you really want to upgrade, get the PE set. There’s a decal for the instrument panel, which… more |
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MiG-15 bisPublished:
Eduard recently released two very good 1/144 MiG-15 kits. This is the PE detail set designed to make the kit even better. What you get is a fairly small PE fret with color cockpit components and aluminum colored parts. This is pretty good, since most of the exterior parts are will be natural aluminum when finished. There are only enough parts to upgrade one aircraft per PE set. The CockpitThis utilizes the Eduard cockpit tub. I painted the interior medium gray (36320) and the seat black. Then the PE instrument panel goes in, and the PE seat belts. The seat belts are absolutely super. There are also two side consoles and two handles which go in the cockpit. I used Gator Glue to put these parts in. Following the instructions, I put the cockpit into the… more |
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MiG-15 bis Dual ComboPublished:
This spiffy little kit comes two to a box. There are 5 markings choices. This is the “out of the box” version review. I did the other half of the kit using the Brengun PE. Major AssemblySince this is the second of these, I gained a little experience with the first, and I learned something. Well, I actually knew this from before, and that’s the MiG-15 model is a tail-sitter, and you need to add weight to the front. On my Airfix 1/72 MiG-15, I had to put about 6 finish nails in the intake before it would sit on the nose wheel. For this kit, the amount of lead needed just fills the top of the intake splitter. As for the cockpit, there’s a decal for the instrument panel, there’s a seat in there, and the stick is there. This is a huge improvement over the JJ-5 (… more |
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Hermes A1 MissilePublished:
The Hermes Program was a post WW-II American program which utilized German missile designs. Best known of this series was the Hermes A2, which was the A-4 (V-2) copy. The Hermes A1 was based on the Wasserfall, a surface to air missile developed at Peenemunde in 1942, but which never reached production. General Electric developed an built the Hermes A1, which was about ¼ the size of the Hermes A2. The other big difference between the A1 and A2 was that the A1 had 4 extra fins on the sides of the rocket body. This was to allow greater maneuverability when the rocket was being guided to a target aircraft. The guidance was done visually during daylight and with radar assist at night. Steering from the ground was done with a joystick. Five A1s were successfully tested at… more |
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Mobile BarriersPublished:
OK, here’s a diorama accessory for aircraft or armor, or any other idea you can come up in 1/144 scale. How about N Gauge railroading? The product is a set of 6 metal barriers with legs and connectors, so you could make a hexagonal pen, or put 6 of them against a wall with a 2X2 setup and the wall is the 4th side. There was a time when I wished we had those barriers for the static display aircraft at my Guard unit’s air show. In spite of the “NO SMOKING” signs prominently displayed around the aircraft, there was one guy who lit one up. Right under the wing of an F-14. Next to the fuel tank. Well, it was a shady spot. I called him on the “no smoking” rule, and he was going to put his cigarette out in the nicely provided butt can. Except this can was actually for… more |
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Martin 404 TWAPublished:
The KitThis was my first F-Rsin kit. Probably won’t be my last, though. Their catalog is just full of airliners that don’t make the cut for the major manufacturers. This isn’t F-Rsin’s first Martin 202/404 either. They have a resin version of this aircraft too, but it costs about twice as much. I hope they produce their NORD 262 in plastic. Or I may just buy the resin kit anyway. I may be the only IPMS USA member ever to get a ride in a NORD 262. Yeah, that’s a war story. The kit is very simple. Two fuselage halves, wings are 4 pieces: left/right, upper/lower, with separate nacelles. Cockpit and passenger windows are done with decals. The model is a limited-run kit, so the molding is not as crisp as a major manufacturer kit, and there is minimal molded-in… more |
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MiG-15 bis Detail SetPublished:
Brengun has produced a photoetch improvement set for Eduard’s 1/144 scale MiG-15. There are parts to redo the cockpit interior, new landing gear doors, wing fences, a pitot, and antennas. The project begins with the cockpit. The Eduard cockpit front is cut away, and the rest is thrown away. The PE kit contains the cockpit floor and sides, consoles, a seat and instrument panel. Also, you get seat belts. Wow. And there are two extra panels which are inserted on the cockpit sides after the fuselage is assembled. I made a mistake here. I thought I should carve the plastic wing fences off and install the PE parts at this point in the assembly, before doing the landing gear. It turns out that the wing fences are much more susceptible to being knocked off than the gear doors… more |
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MiG-15 bis CanopyPublished:
This is a pair of vacuformed canopies for the Eduard MiG-15. It’s great that you get two, because the Eduard kit is a double, so you NEED two. I was working on the Brengun PE detail set for the Eduard MiG-15bis, when Dave made this canopy set available for review. I begged and pleaded a little, and they sent it to me. The Brengun detail set makes a number of changes to the cockpit interior of the MiG. And this canopy is a wonderful add-on to that detail set. The Eduard canopy is nicely molded in clear styrene. But the Eduard canopy is therefore much thicker than a vac-form canopy. Since I was already building the Eduard kit, I had the Eduard canopy. I discovered that the Brengun canopy fits quite nicely over the Eduard one. This is a huge help for me… more |
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C-119 Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions provides a nice set of metal landing gear for a number of aircraft. I jumped at the chance to get the SAC gear for the C-119 because it looks spindly, and I need all the help I can get to keep my models intact. The SAC parts are very good copies of the kit gear. The other wonderful thing about the metal gear is that if you have a little trouble getting alignment as you install the parts, you can tweak the metal parts into alignment without breaking them. Installation was just like the kit instructions say, and the wheels fit onto the SAC gear legs perfectly. Overall Assessment. Highly recommended. The parts fit nicely, they are stronger than the kit parts, and you don’t have to paint the SAC metal parts to make them look like… more |