Jim Pearsall
Reviews By Author
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USS OriskanyPublished:
HistoryThe Oriskany (CV34 ) was an Essex class carrier, laid down on May 1, 1944, and launched on October 13, 1945. She was too late for World War II, and construction was suspended in 1946. Construction was restarted in 1950. Oriskany was commissioned on September 25. 1950. She was built as a straight deck carrier, and served in the Korean War. Oriskany went to San Francisco in 1956 for a complete refit. The wooden deck was removed and a new aluminum angled deck installed. The hydraulic catapults were replaced with more powerful steam catapults. Oriskany was recommissioned in 1959. Oriskany served off Vietnam for six cruises. Her most famous pilot was Lt Cdr John McCain, who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, and was a POW until 1973. John McCain is… more |
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SAAB 35 Draken (mid and late versions) - Pitot TubesPublished:
This is a brass replacement for the nose pitot on the 1/144 J35 Draken. But wait, there’s more… It’s also an add-on for a tail pitot. But you have to check. Some Drakens have the tail pitot, many don’t, so check a photo before adding the tail pitot. The brass parts are always a welcome replacement for the plastic parts. All too often the plastic pitots prove to be fragile, and they break or bend. The Master pitots are fine turned brass, and they stand up to age and handling far better than the styrene kit parts. In this case I had a Pit Road Draken I built last year. I replaced the nose pitot, and upgraded the tail with the new pitot there. InstallationIn 1/144 scale, the removal of the kit part and the installation of the brass part have different… more |
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Landing Gear for the Zvezda 1/144 IL-76Published:
The AircraftThe IL-76 has the NATO reporting name “Candid”. It came out about 2 years after the Lockheed C-141, and has the same mission, of strategic and tactical airlift. The aircraft are pretty similar in appearance. The IL-76 can haul about 60 tons of cargo, a C-141 can manage about 90. The Scale Aircraft Conversions SetThe SAC set for the IL-76 consists of 5 parts, all in white metal. There are four main gear legs, with oleo scissors which use the kit wheels, and a nose gear leg. These parts closely match the kit parts. PaintingI painted the parts light gray, and left the oleos metal. This was probably the easiest part of the whole thing. AssemblyOnce I had the plane assembled to where the instructions told… more |
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Heinkel He-162A "War Prizes"Published:
The AircraftThe Heinkel 162 series was a last-ditch effort by the RLM to stop the destruction of Germany’s industries, transportation system and energy distribution by Allied bombing. The project began in September of 1944, with the prototypes first flown in December. The He-162A versions were mostly wood construction, with the single turbojet engine. It ended up being the fastest jet fighter flown during WW2. The wood construction turned out to be highly problematical, as the glue used was not compatible with the wood, and the second prototype flight ended with one aileron coming apart, and the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot. The KitThis kit contains all the parts for one Post-WW2 He-162A, with decals for four different aircraft. There are… more |
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USAF B-47 "306th BW(M)"Published:
HistoryThe B-47 was the first swept-wing jet bomber in the US Air Force’s inventory, serving the USAF from 1951 to 1969. The US Navy flew some EB-47Es until 1977. Development began in 1943, and the design changed several times until Boeing came up with a 6-jet aircraft with the engines in pods under the wings. Because of the size of the engine pods, the main landing gear was set up as a “bicycle”, with 2 main gear under the fuselage, and smaller outriggers under the engine pods. With this setup, the B-47 could not rotate the nose on takeoff. The main gear was set so the aircraft sat at optimum takeoff angle at all times. The B-47 was subsonic, but extremely fast for a 1950s, setting a number of time and distance records, with speeds around 600 miles per hour. Another… more |
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Nashville 1864, From the Tennessee to the CumberlandPublished:
This Osprey book covers one of the most ignored campaigns of the later stages of the Civil War. Mark Lardas does a very good job of covering the leadership, the units and the strategies of this campaign. The book is divided into the following sections/chapters
The Strategic SituationThe main… more |
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Bachem Natter Ramp/TrailerPublished:
BackgroundThe Spring of 1945 was not a good time for the Luftwaffe. Large numbers of Allied fighters were patrolling the skies over the Reich, bombers were decimating the factories, the transportation system, and the whole industrial complex. They were also bombing and strafing air bases wherever they found them. The Me-262 was slowing down the rate of attrition, but not stopping it. The idea for the Bachem Ba-349 "Natter" was that it would be built of wood, and instead of factories, it would be built in woodworking shops, requiring no strategic materials except the rocket engine and the armament. The next idea was to eliminate the steel launch tower and launch the Natters from pine trees which were stripped of their branches. This allowed the Natter to be… more |
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Japanese Type 99 20mm Mark 2 Cannon BarrelsPublished:
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. These are 4 20mm gun barrels for Japanese WW2 fighters. I had a 1/144 Platz N1K2 “George” on the shelf, which I built for a review about 4 years ago. I selected it for the upgrade. Removal and ReplacementRemoval was a simple job. I used sprue cutters and cut the guns off the wing, as close as I could to the leading edge. The kit has fairings at the base of each gun, but I fixed that later. Once I got the plastic guns removed, I used a sanding stick to flatten the base of the kit fairings. This gave me a clean surface to drill into. The… more |
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SEPECAT Jaguar GR1/GR3 - Pitot TubePublished:
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. The pitot part is a very fine piece of brass. The brass pitot is much finer than the kit part. Note that in the photos at the bottom, the pitot on the kit has already bent. While I was putting on decals it completely broke off. This saved me having to cut off the pitot to put on the Master brass part. It also shows why the Master part is superior. Pitot InstallationThe installation is pretty simple. I drilled a hole in the nose where the kit pitot had broken off. I test fitted the new part to make sure it fit OK. I put a small drop of gel… more |
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Su-27/Su-30 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. The pitot part is a very fine piece of brass. The piece is much finer than the kit part. I have somehow missed building a 1/144 Su-27 Flanker. This is a real oversight, as in the past I have built two Flankers in 1/72 for reviews. I really like the “back story” on the Ethiopian Flanker. The story of the woman pilot shooting down a MiG-29 with a Flanker is just too good to be true. Pitot InstallationOnce the kit was almost finished, I got out the Master Model pitot and took the pictures. It was an easy installation. I recently bought several… more |