Jim Pearsall
Reviews By Author
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MMP Books Single #5, MiG-17F/Lim-5Published:
This is the 5th of the MMP Single series. This book is for the modeler who is going to build this aircraft. There’s no real text, other than the photo captions but there’s a bunch of good information to help build and detail a MiG-17F. The first 5 pages are line drawings in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Then 4 pages of detail drawings of canopy, landing gear, instrument panel, and aircraft construction detail. There follows 8 pages of black/white photos of aircraft details and in service. Finally, 3 pages of color photos, and a large 3-view of a Lim-5 in full color which takes up the last 3 pages. The photos give a very good idea of what the aircraft looked like when in service, and the color photos are wonderful in that they give good color info on the… more |
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F-5 Tiger II "Freedom Fighter" (shark nose versions) - F-5 E, F - Pitot Tube and 20mm gun barrelsPublished:
This was done in conjunction with the Platz 1/144 F-5E/N kit which I also reviewed. This set consists of a brass pitot, two 20mm guns, and a fairing which can replace one of the guns. The upgrade is pretty simple. You get a .3mm drill. Remove the kit pitot and drill a hole there. The guns require a little more work, as there isn’t a good place to start drilling. I began by using a #1 blade to dig the guns out, then drilled the .3 mm holes. Then I installed the pitot and the guns. I had to use a little filler under the guns to get them looking good. I painted the guns area with the same gray I used to paint the model, then highlighted the guns. I used Testors “Burnt Metal” for these, as I find gun metal to be too dark. The pitot was painted Neutral Grey along… more |
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MacArthur's Air ForcePublished:
The subtitle of this book is “American Airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941–51”. But it covers much more than this. This excellent book follows Douglas MacArthur from his education at West Point through his retirement. I really enjoyed some of the “side stories”, such as the fact that Arthur MacArthur, Douglas’ father was friends with Congressman John Mitchell. When Arthur was deployed, Mrs. MacArthur stayed in Milwaukee, where the Mitchells also lived. Douglas was friends with the son Bill, who was later famous as Billy Mitchell, the airpower advocate. The two served together on the Army General Staff. And Douglas MacArthur was on the board of Mitchell’s court martial. The book doesn’t just follow MacArthur’s career, but also the development of air power in… more |
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Meteor PitotPublished:
Master Model of Poland produces small brass parts for detailing models, be they aircraft or ships. They have parts for aircraft in 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144, mostly pitot tubes, refueling probes and gun barrels. This product is a single pitot tube for a 1/144 Gloster Meteor. The instructions are quite simple.
I had a HKM Meteor already built, and the kit comes without a pitot. So I added it. One of the great things about the instructions is the drawing for the placement of the pitot. The drawing is 1/144 scale, and makes figuring out where to drill the hole much easier. Once I got the drill started and the hole drilled… more |
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F-15E Strike EaglePublished:
The ModelThe F-15E Strike Eagle is a development of the F-15. The concept of the Strike Eagle was to produce a bomber aircraft which also had fighter capability. The biggest visual differences between the E model and earlier F-15s are the two-seat cockpit and the addition of conformal fuel tanks on the sides of the fuselage. This F-15E is a reissue of a kit previously sold as part of a multi-kit collection from F-Toys which contained an AV-8 Harrier, An A-10 Thunderbolt II and an F-15E. The kit is designed to have the parts pressed together, with little or no glue needed. As such, there is some filing and sanding required to get an acceptable fit. You get two aircraft in the box, and decals for 3 planes. AssemblyThe assembly is pretty simple. The… more |
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C-133 Landing GearPublished:
The AircraftThe Douglas C-133 Cargomaster was the only turboprop powered strategic airlifter for the US Air Force. The 50 C-133s in service were built from 1956 to 1960. They were designed to carry large and heavy cargo and were superior to the preceding C-124 Globemaster in that they were faster, easier to load and could carry larger loads. One of the duties of the C-133 was delivery of strategic missiles, the Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman, being faster and safer than over the road. C-133s also delivered Atlas, Titan, and Saturn missiles to the launch pads for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. When the C-5 came out in 1971, the C-133s were quickly taken off inventory, as most of them had reached their service limits for hours flown. The Scale Aircraft… more |
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US Navy Aircraft Wheel ChocksPublished:
This is one of those little “add-ons” that make your carrier deck look real. The US Navy has always been very careful about parking their airplanes on the deck, and keeping them there. It’s considered “not good” when the deck pitches and a plane slides into the plane next to it, or even “more not good” if it slides off the deck into the water. Tying the plane down works, but the chocks certainly help, especially when you’re moving the plane. The KitThe package contains 4 chocks, each on its own pour sprue. There are two parts to each chock. One of the parts has a rod attached to the chock block. The other part has a hole the rod goes through to allow the chock to be adjusted to fit the wheel. You get two sets of two chocks in the package. Preparation… more |
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T-72 MBTPublished:
The VehicleThe T-72 series was the most produced post WW2 tank. It is designed to have a low silhouette and smaller hull than most modern tanks. The crew is only three soldiers, with ammunition loading being done automatically. Due to the cramped crew positions, the maximum height of a T-72 soldier is 5 feet 9 inches. The T-72 gun is a 125 mm capable of firing HEAT and APFSDS rounds, as well as ATGMs. There are 40 different countries who have significant numbers of T-72s. In spite of an arms embargo, Iraq had 1000 T-72s in 1990. In 1996, this number had reduced to 375 The KitThis kit is all resin, with no PE or other media parts. The markings schemes are for 4 different armies, Czech, Polish, North Vietnam and Soviet. The Soviet markings… more |
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Exhaust Nozzles for the AV-8B/GR7 HarrierPublished:
The AircraftHarriers are famous for being able to take off and land vertically. Of course, taking off vertically with a full combat load isn’t practical, unless your mission is to drop a teacup of napalm just off the airfield border. Nevertheless, the Harrier has been successful, and it’s because of the ability to adjust the exhaust to vector it through the nozzles to allow downward as well as normal push for vertical and normal flight. The KitThe entire kit is two sets of nozzles, one forward, one rear, left and right sides. I used the Dragon AV-8B kit for this review, and the nozzles fit in the Dragon fuselage with no modification. PaintingThere seems to be some disagreement about the color of these nozzles. Some sources have… more |
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Renault FT-17 TankPublished:
The VehicleThe Renault FT (the 17 was added after World War I) was the first modern tank to reach production. The big advance over previous armored vehicles was the armament in a fully rotating turret, which allowed the tank to shoot without maneuvering. There were over 3,000 FTs built in France during the war, and there were 950 M1917 light tanks built in the United States. None of the US built tanks were completed in time to see action in the war, but France lent 144 FTs to the US Army in mid-1918. There were many users of the FT, including Afghanistan, where 4 were discovered by US Forces in 2003, Belgium, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, and 19 others, including Nazi Germany. The KitThis is a tiny vehicle in 1/144, smaller than the US… more |