Mark Aldrich
Reviews By Author
|
T-34T Post War Tank RetrieverPublished:
I have been a dedicated TreadHead for many a year now. That love also has a few sub divisions of TreadHeadiness. Yea, like that is a word. I have always thought Recovery Vehicles were so neat. Whether they were based on an actual combat vehicle like the M-31 and M-32 or completely their own design like the M-88. They all look so neat! The Russians were just like any other Army in the world. In the event of war or just a simple vehicular break down, combat vehicles need to be recovered and moved back to a location where they can be repaired. The first VT-34 vehicles were simple T-34s with no turret. Over time, they went from simple pulling tractors to very advanced combat recovery vehicles. I have almost every VT-34 vehicle and conversion to make a VT-34 in 1/35 scale. However,… more |
|
T-55 Stripped Motor CompartmentPublished:
Once upon a time there was a guy named Rob Ferreira and he was a TreadHead. Unfortunately, unlike most TreadHeads, Rob just didn’t enjoy building a military vehicle and weathering it. Nope that was too easy. What Rob liked to do was take a military vehicle to it’s final resting place. Be it as a monument on display in the open, an old forgotten wreck sitting in some wooded area all but forgotten about, a vehicle destroyed by some catastrophe, or a vehicle sitting in a vehicle track park in Afghanistan. This last scenario is what actually got the engine compartment started. Rob wanted to create more than one vehicle with this empty engine bay. He chummed up to his friend Steve Reid of Celticwerks and after much back door shenanigans and blacks ops dealings there was… more |
|
Parabellum LMG.14Published:
Wow, just looking at this piece has given me a re-found respect for you Braille-scale builders! I don’t see how you can do it. I have enough troubles bending and gluing photo-etched parts. I will learn to start soldering them soon. Can’t even imagine trying to do it 1/72 scale. That is an issue anyone that buys this kit will need to overcome. Mini World appears to be a relatively new company or at least a new off shoot from a company in the Ukraine. There were many companies that carried their line (all overseas) but only Hannants had this particular item listed on their website. Mini World does not have a website of its own. Their items are pretty impressive. They currently have 18 different machine guns on the market. Most are for WWI aircraft but I did also notice two… more |
|
IMI 60mm HVGPublished:
Editor's note: The following review was purchased independently and submitted for review by the author. Should you have an interest in the product you will need to purchase directly, as noted in the review. The history of this gun goes back as far as 1980. The Israeli’s had these mounted in M113 series vehicles as well as several wheeled styles. For one reason or another it never really took off. However, the Chilean army purchased several upgrade packages for their aging M-50s (supplied by Israel) and their M-24s. These guns and Fire Control packages were relatively cheap compared to other offers and had an incredible amount of hitting power for the size of the gun. Up until several months ago, there was only one option to own an IMI 60mm HVG or HVM (as it is… more |
|
17 pdr. SP M10 "Achilles"Published:
This is the Academy “Achilles” kit put into an Italeri box and marketed. The sprues all say Academy and the only difference is the decals and instruction sheet. The Academy kit is a gorgeous representation of the British version of the American M10 “Wolverine”. There are a few interior issues with stowage and rounds but it builds into a great model just the way it is. What you get is the ten Academy sprues done in beautiful tan plastic, two vinyl T-62 riveted tracks, a 16-page instruction booklet, length of twine (for tow cable), and decal sheet to mark four vehicles. The vehicles are two Polish Division machines and two British vehicles. One of the British vehicles has a neat looking black and green camouflage pattern. The only first look issues are the interior turret plates.… more |
|
Metal BridgePublished:
MiniArt definitely knows how to be creative with their sprues. This kit is nothing more than eight of their F sprues used to make a metal bridge with handrails. Sprue F is the sprue that was used in their “metal Stair”. This sprue is used to create the platform part of the stair kit. This was a simple build. Cut some parts, do a little sanding and the bridge is done. The handrails are a different issue. They require lots of sanding or at least scraping. That is what I did to remove the large visible seam lines on the parts. When finished, the “bridge measures in at 5 7/8 long by 2 7/8 wide. Without the handrails attached you could get away with putting a number of vehicles on the bridge (as seen in the photos) If you end up attaching the handrails, you will be limited to what… more |