Jim Pearsall
Reviews By Author
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P-39 AiracobraPublished:
BackgroundDave Johnson bought this kit from a swap meet or mail order. He let me build it and review it. Then it goes back to Dave. This saves me from taking up my already meager shelf space. The AircraftThe kit calls itself a P-39, and it is. But it’s also a P-400, which was the Export/RAF version of the Airacobra. The P-39 was notable for the engine mounted behind the pilot and the 37 mm cannon in the nose. The 37 mm made it a great strafer, and the Russians got their money’s worth out of theirs. The other great trivia fact: The cannon was built by Oldsmobile. The KitAll resin, with very few parts. The decal sheet covers an Airacobra MkI and two P-400s, one Soviet and the other USAAF, Milne Bay New Guinea. The one problem I… more |
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P-51D MustangPublished:
The AircraftThe P-51 was the ultimate propeller driven fighter for the US in World War II. Fast, maneuverable, excellent range, plenty of punch, good load carrying ability, and it could be used for any mission the higher ups thought of. While it was superseded by jets, the P-51D was used for tactical bombing in Korea, and some air forces didn’t retire their Mustangs until the 1980s. There was much excitement in the Warbird community when the Dominican Republic decided to sell their P-51Ds in 1984. The KitI thought I had built this kit before, but I was wrong. The older Minicraft/Hasegawa P-51 has raised panel lines; this one has recessed panel lines. It’s a new mold. This kit is issued with new markings for 44-64076, “Jumpin’ Jacques” of the 3rdFG and 44-… more |
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F-105 Wild Weasel vs. SA-2 "Guideline SAM"Published:
I was somewhat familiar with the two opponents in this duel, having built the 1/72 Monogram F-105G a while back, and I’ve got the Gran kit of the SA-2 in the “to build some day” stash. I also have a copy of a video produced by the Air Force which features the development of the F-100 Wild Weasel mission, with interviews with the participants. The Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) is a cat-and-mouse game. The aircraft tries to get the ground radars to come up so they can fire anti-radiation missiles. The ground systems try to get the aircraft to come in range of the missiles and anti-aircraft guns which surround the SAM site. As I read this book, the question raised was, “exactly which player is the cat and which the mouse?” And what’s that ferret doing in there… more |
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Mi-24 MaskPublished:
I was just getting to the paint job on my review of the Zvezda Mi-24V. I had already painted the sand color when the postman delivered a package which saved me hours of work and possibly saved my sanity also. The Eduard mask set is a really great time and labor saving addition to the project. If you look at the mask layout, it becomes evident that there are only a couple of straight lines anywhere on the mask. The Hind’s canopies have a number of compound curves and squiggles, and masking these, even with Tamiya tape cut into ½ mm slices would be a difficult job. The masks went on very nicely. I used tape instead of the liquid mask Eduard suggests, but the masks followed every curve in the canopy lines nicely. A quick shot with the airbrush, and the canopy was painted… more |
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Mi-24V/VP Hind EPublished:
The HelicopterThe Mi-24 has been in service with the Soviet/Russian air forces since 1972. The design is interesting in that it has three engines; another tri-motor to add to the list. The 24 has undergone a number of redesigns, and the early versions had a much different cockpit setup. The Russian Air Force has announced that it will replace its 250 Mi-24s with newer more capable helicopters, starting in 2015. The Mi-24 is nicknamed “crocodile” by the troops. The Mujahedeen in Afghanistan called it "Shaitan-Arba" (Satan's Chariot)". The Hind is unique in that it can carry 8 troops and weapons at the same time. Huey gunships had to have the seats removed to allow for ammunition and extra fuel storage. The crews didn’t think much of carrying the passengers, as they… more |
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Il-2 SturmovikPublished:
The KitWhen I got the new Zvezda 1/144 Il-2 Sturmovik and Ju-87B Stuka, I thought they’d be highly detailed standard kits like the Mi-26 I built a while back. Well, no, they’re not. Zvezda is not only a manufacturer of plastic models, but they also have a large assortment of board games, and recently they’ve gone into war games using miniatures. This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There are other 1/144 aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Ju-87B Stuka, plus 1/72 ground units. Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll ruin it while playing. So simplicity and low price are virtues for this kit. … more |
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Ju-87B StukaPublished:
THE KITI’ve built a couple of 1/72 scale Zvezda kits, and they’ve always been quite complex, with lots of parts. The Stuka is a complete departure from that norm. It’s very simple, with only a few parts, and there’s not much detail on the kit. The explanation comes from the Dragon website. Zvezda not only makes scale models, they also make table-top games. This is intended as an add-on/expansion for the game “Barbarossa 1941”. There’s a reference card for the Stuka’s part in the game included in the kit. There are other aircraft available, Bf-109, La-7 and Il-2 Sturmovik, plus 1/72 ground units. Having done my share of “cardboard squares on a map” gaming, as well as some miniatures, I know that the more complex the miniature, the more likely it is that you’ll… more |
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Model Art Profile, #9, Mitsubishi T-2/F-1 of JASDFPublished:
I recently built the Hasegawa 1/72 T-2 for a detail set review. I ran into a large problem. The decals in my T-2 were many years old, had yellowed, and I didn’t want to do the Blue Impulse plane anyway. I went to my bookshelf, and I had only two references to the T-2, and one of them was for the Blue Impulse. I found a photograph of an aggressor which I used, but this book would have been a super reference, and saved me a lot of trouble. The text is Japanese, but by golly the profiles, photographs and 1/48 scale drawing all translate nicely into whatever language you use, and there are 4 pages of English translation in the back of the book. It’s the history of the T-2/F-1 and assigned units, which covers pages 10-18. Another super feature is the time line for 11 T-2s. It… more |
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Boeing E-3 AWACS, NATOPublished:
The AircraftThe E-3 Sentry is a logical follow-on to the earlier US Air Force EC-121. Of course the Sentry has better radar, more room and a more reliable aircraft. The basic airframe is the Boeing 707-720 with the JT-3D engines. When NATO decided they needed an airborne command and control system, they bought 18 Sentries. It’s of interest to modelers that the 17 remaining NATO Sentries are registered in Luxembourg, which has no other aircraft. In fact they don’t have an air base, so the NATO aircraft are based at Geilenkirchen, Germany. The KitThis is the third issue of the basic E-3A from Minicraft, along with their Boeing 707s, C-18 and E-8 JSTARS. The mold is several years old, but it has been well maintained, with crisp edges and almost no flash. All… more |
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Victor Units of the Cold WarPublished:
The Victor was the second of the three “V Bombers”, Valiant, Victor and Vulcan, flown by the RAF in the nuclear strike role. When Surface to Air Missiles came onto the scene, the Victor became a low-level penetration aircraft. With the advent of the Blue Steel stand off missile, the mission became more feasible, but still sporty. This is when the camouflage changed from white overall to grey/green upper surfaces. The advent of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles made the Victor pretty much redundant, but with a camera suite which could cover huge areas of real estate, it became a reconnaissance platform. The Canberra PR.9 took over the visual recce role, and the Victors were re-equipped with a radar package. The gee-whiz statistic here is that with the radar, a Victor could… more |