Jim Stratton
Reviews By Author
German Armored Cars In ActionPublished: June 6, 2012 The Squadron Signal “In Action” series has been around for many years and is well liked by modelers and vehicle historians alike. This newest volume concentrates on the German heavy armored cars used throughout World War II. The title may be a little deceiving as it only addresses the heavies and not the smaller light armored cars. This volume does, however, look at all the heavy… more |
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US Marine Corps Tanks of World War IIPublished: April 12, 2012 This latest release in the New Vanguard series by Osprey Publishing helps to fill the void of the history of USMC armor. The 48 page format of the series makes it necessary to limit the amount of information; thusly, there is no coverage of the armored amphibious assault vehicles. This issue only covers land-based armored vehicles. Perhaps we will be blessed in the future with another volume… more |
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BF2C-1 Goshawk DecalsPublished: October 28, 2011 History In the years prior to WWII, the US military had some very colorful aircraft that helped christen the era “The Golden Age”. These brightly colored aircraft were undoubtedly a carryover from the WWI where aircraft were often painted in bright schemes that reflected the pilots own tastes. This was also a transitional period that saw military aircraft evolve from bi… more |
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1950 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup TruckPublished: September 28, 2021 In the 1950’s the American trend saw greater use of the pickup trucks as second vehicles, Due to good marketing Chevrolet set records in the production of trucks with a market share of almost 37%. The 1950 3100 had a 6 cylinder Thriftmaster motor that utilized a GM Model ‘B’ downdraft carburetor with a concentric fuel bowl and a centrally located discharge nozzle. This carb had an improved… more |
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Hansa-Brandenburg W.29Published: May 31, 2011 HistoryThis is another superb kit from the guys at Wingnut Wings. According to the detailed history on the instruction booklet, the Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 was allegedly designed by Ernst Heinkel on the back of a cabaret wine list and was basically a W.12 biplane with the top wing removed. This advanced monoplane had markedly improved performance due to the reduction of drag afforded… more |
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Kurtis Midget Racer Edelbrock Equipped V-8/60 with TrailerPublished: November 11, 2021 Frank Kurtis founded the Kurtis Kraft Company in the late 1930’s. They designed and built race cars and in a twenty year period they built over 1,100 midget racers. 500 were built ready to race and another 600 were sold as kits. The midget racers came with different engines, most notably the Offenhauser and the Edelbrock V860. The Kurtis midget racers won several events all over the country… more |
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Tom Daniel's - Ice TPublished: January 6, 2011 This is a re-release of a real “Golden Oldie” show car. The original kit was released in 1970. As the box top art states, this is a Tom Daniels design. Tom Daniels designed 87 model cars for Monogram between 1967 and 1976. As I stated in the review of “Rommel’s Rod” most of his kits could be built in an evening or two. The KitThis kit is comprised of 65 parts and a decal… more |
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Valentine Mk. IV Red Army with CrewPublished: December 14, 2010 IntroductionThe Valentine tank was designed by Vickers-Armstrong as a private venture and was offered to the British War Department in 1938. Production for the Valentine started in 1939 with an initial order for 250 tanks. Eventually more than 8,000 Valentines in 11 different marks as well as various purpose-built types were produced, accounting for approximately 25% of British… more |
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German s.Sp. Artilleriewagen with Waffen Tank Crew (1944-1945)Published: May 24, 2022 IntroductionCyber-Hobby.com has released another kit in their armored train series. This is a re-release of the heavy railcar which mounted a Panzer III Ausf. N. turret with the 7.5cm KwK L/24 gun. These heavy armored rail cars were introduced in 1944 and saw extensive service in Russia and Yugoslavia. After the war Czechoslovakia used them until the mid 1950’s. These rail cars were… more |
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Creature from the Black LagoonPublished: September 25, 2021 IntroductionThis newest release from Moebius Models the 1/12th scale Creature from the Black Lagoon is a continuation of their popular Universal Studios “Monsters of the Movies” series of famous movie monsters. This kit is smaller than the previous releases of Frankenstein and the Mummy, which were 1/8th scale. This kit is also a Snap-Together kit with only 14… more |