John Noack
Reviews By Author
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HMS M1 SubmarinePublished:
HMS Submarine M.1 was an innovative but ill-fated attempt to overcome the poor performance and high per-shot cost of contemporary torpedoes. The unique solution was to add a 12-inch Mark IX gun, initially intended for battleship use. The gun was to be fired at a flat trajectory on the surface, or even at periscope depth (!) through use of a simple bead gunsight. 3 of the 4 M-class vessels that were ordered were actually completed, but operational results were poor at best. To reload, the sub had to surface, and it has been reported that the Royal Navy was reluctant to risk the possibility of German replication of this concept. M1, the first in the class, did not see wartime service, and sadly was lost in a collision with a Swedish transport vessel in 1925, and was discovered again in… more |
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Model Car World Military Finishes (Various)Published:
Back in the mid-90’s, the late Ed Kinney and I co-founded IPMS Fame Cities in the Akron/Canton area. While many ribald tales could be told of those days, the tenuous link to this review is that the owner of MCW Finishes, Mike Guest, is a member of Fame Cities. I reconnected with Mike after I read about the new line of military colors he’s producing in gloss lacquer. I asked mike to supply us with a group of sample colors and he more than obliged. I was recently building the little Brengun 1/144 Horten 229 night fighter, which called for an RLM 75/76 upper finish, so this gave me my first opportunity to try these paints. I generally don’t write overly superlative reviews, but I have to tell you that these are absolutely fantastic paints. Mike and crew formulate their own colors… more |
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Horten Ho-229 Night FighterPublished:
I’m a sucker for Luftwaffe ’46 concepts and 1/144 scale, so when Brengun supplied us with this little bat winged beauty my hand went up immediately. The kit is petite, very nicely molded and with fine panel lines. Two color schemes are provided on the box, both for hypothetical units serving in 1946. The canopy is a little thick, but there isn’t much of a cockpit provided. I added paper seat belts and a stretched sprue control stick; you could go further if you chose to add some detail. I thinned all of the landing gear doors and used my fine engraving saw to separate the control surface joints. Assembly is easily completed in a few hours; I spent more time painting and decaling than I did building. I removed the molded-in cannon from the wing leading edges and drilled… more |
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Real Colors of WWII Aircraft, Limited EditionPublished:
This massive tome landed in my mailbox courtesy of the fine folks at AK Interactive who have also provided us with multiple samples of paint, brushes, weathering media and the like. This is the icing on the cake for any modeler of American, Russian, Luftwaffe, or British aircraft of the WWII period. The book is divided into 4 sections accordingly, with sub-sections for the various branches (e.g. USN, USAAF and/or time periods such as pre-war, early and late war and again, where appropriate, operational theatres such as Tropical and Mediterranean areas). The authors and researchers have gone above and beyond in providing accurate research and analysis of available images and documents from this global conflict. Supporting data include accurately reproduced color chips, copies… more |
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Spitfire IX: The Longest Day - Dual Combo Limited EditionPublished:
This lovely boxing of a Limited Edition kit includes parts for two complete Mk.IX’s (a “c” variant and an “e” variant) and decals for 6 different aircraft, specifically:
Also included is an extensive set of stenciling,… more |
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Professional Sprue Cutter - 2175ETPublished:
Our good friend and supporter Abby Robey of Xuron supplied several new tools to us for review. Up first is this sprue cutter. Like all of Xuron’s tools, this is a finely crafted tool that will deliver years of service if properly used. That means plastic only – the fine cutting edges are shaped to deliver a near-flush cut on soft plastic – use them on metal and you’ll damage that edge. I did a test cut on a standard sprue runner from the Eduard Spitfire I’m reviewing – take a look at the results in photo 3. Even on a relatively thick piece of styrene, the tool delivers a near-perpendicular cut through the runner. Moving on to “normal” usage, I removed one of the horizontal stabilizers from its tree – note (photo 4) that the resulting cut is almost perfectly flush. Cleaning up… more |
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Professional Sprue Cutter - TK3600Published:
Here’s the second review of some new tools from our friends at Xuron up in Saco, ME. The Photo-Etch Tool Kit consists of three discrete tools:
I’m currently working on an Eduard Spitfire in 1/72 scale with some incredibly tiny p/e parts, several of which have found their way to carpet heaven. Using the tweezer pliers to hold parts, and the extremely sharp scissors to cut them, I’ve eliminated the problem. Figure X shows the results of cutting the cockpit armor plate part off the p/e fret – almost no cleanup required. A couple of swipes with a sanding stick while holding the part with the tweezer nose pliers and I am done.… more |
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E.R. Engels II. LeRhone (with Skis)Published:
Designed and built by Russian engineer E.R. Engels, the Engels II was a parasol-winged monoplane flying boat first flown in 1917. Designed to fly using wing warping rather than ailerons, the aircraft was at one time the fastest flying boat in service. An egg-shaped pod held the fuel tank and structure for the 120 HP LeRhone rotary engine. Armament was a single, fixed 7.62mm machine gun mounted in the nose. The graceful parasol wings incorporated sharply downswept tips that served as floats. Omega’s kit, produced in the Czech Republic, is a limited run all-resin product that presents challenges best left to the experienced modeler, but with care and attention creates a diminutive gem of this one of a kind design. The box contains several “wafers” of parts that must be carefully… more |
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SH-3 A/D Sea KingPublished:
AFV Club is a Taiwan-based venture, founded by a hobby shop owner in the late 1980’s. With a growing catalogue of kits in various scales and genres (armor, aircraft, ships, figures and accessories), AFV have made a name for themselves as a niche supplier of subjects. This little gem is no exception. The Sea King, entering service in 1961, was Sikorsky’s first truly amphibious helo and one of the first to use twin turboshaft engines. Originally intended as an ASW bird, the type has had a long and illustrious history doing SAR, transport, medevac and AEW duty. The USMC has operated Sea Kings under HMX-1 as presidential transports that serve as “Marine One” when the President is onboard. As recently as 2009, some 600 Sea Kings remained in service with multiple military and private… more |
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GeeBee R2 RacerPublished:
Dora Wings is a relatively new company with a number of low-pressure injection mold releases. I contacted them and we were fortunate to receive two new kits - a P-63E King Cobra (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and the iconic Gee Bee R2 racer. There’s plenty of history to be found regarding this little bumblebee of an airplane - maximum sized engine stuffed into the smallest possible airframe - so let’s get right to the build. Kit contents include a very nicely detailed P&W Wasp radial, a very complete cockpit section (most of which becomes invisible under the tiny canopy) and a sheet of crisp p/e detail. A single sheet, 4 sided color instruction sheet includes a painting guide, and a sheet of masking media is included to allow you to recreate the scalloped paint scheme.… more |