Matthew Cottrell

IPMS Number
48174

Reviews By Author

Cover

Eagles Rock: 48th Fighter Wing - Where Combat Airpower Lives

Published:
Book Author(s): Michael Stephan
Company: HMH Publications

For those unfamiliar with HMH Publications’ line of Duke Hawkings books, they are a series of softcover tomes featuring detailed walk-around photos of individual aircraft types. Their focus leans heavily towards aircraft in European use, with forays into common US aircraft. Today’s book is the first in the Duke Hawkings Presents line: Eagles Rock - 48th Fighter Wing - Where Combat Airpower Livesby Michael Stephan.

Duke Hawkings Presents Eagles Rockdiffers from their traditional series in several ways. Physically, it is hardcover and slightly larger at approximately 10” x 11”. It features 170 pages with 200+ color photos. Also, the book focuses not on a single aircraft type, but on the “Statue of Liberty '' 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath in England. In… more

Box cover

Hitachi Double Arm Working Machine ASTACO Neo

Published:
Company: Hasegawa

It’s an all too rare treat in modeling to stumble across a kit whose subject matter seems truly unique. Even with the wide variety of aircraft, armor, and automobiles available in kit form, the basic points of construction can remain rather similar. Happily, hidden gems are still unearthed from time-to-time among newly released kits, and Hasegawa’s ASTACO Neo is one of these gems.

The Prototype

Built by Hitachi, the ASTACO Neo is, simply put, a double-arm working machine. It resembles a medium-sized hydraulic excavator, but instead of a bucket on the end of its main boom, it has a large grasping claw. This main boom is supplemented by a smaller secondary boom that has a hydraulic cutter. An operator can control both booms simultaneously, picking up items with the… more

Package

F6F Hellcat Early Armament

Published:
Company: Master Model

Over the past few years, Master has established itself as a quality provider of turned-metal aftermarket details for ships, armor, and aircraft. Their latest set of new releases cover the F6F Hellcat, providing welcome metal details for three variants in three major scales. The detail set under review today covers the F6F Hellcat’s early armament configuration, six .50 cal Browning barrels with drilled cooling jackets visible, in 1/72 scale.

Most Hellcats were equipped with six .50 cal machine guns mounted three per wing. The three guns mounted in each wing were staggered, with the innermost sitting forward of the middle gun and the outermost sitting aft, thus the barrels were staggered when viewed at the leading edge of the wings. In fact, the outermost barrels on each wing… more

Package

F6F Hellcat Night Fighter Armament

Published:
Company: Master Model

Over the past few years, Master has established itself as a quality provider of turned-metal aftermarket details for ships, armor, and aircraft. Their latest set of new releases cover the F6F Hellcat, providing welcome metal details for three variants in three major scales. The detail set under review today covers the F6F Hellcat Night Fighters’ armament configurations in 1/72 scale.

While most Hellcats were equipped with six .50 cal machine guns mounted three per wing, the night fighters had a second arrangement which included two 20 mm cannons in place of the innermost .50 cals. In addition, the inner guns often featured flash suppressors, a feature not found on the outermost .50 cals as their barrel tips were recessed within the wing inside blast tubes. In 1/72 scale, the… more

Package

F6F-5 Hellcat Late Armament

Published:
Company: Master Model

Over the past few years, Master has established itself as a quality provider of turned-metal aftermarket details for ships, armor, and aircraft. Their latest set of new releases cover the F6F Hellcat, providing welcome metal details for three variants in three major scales. The detail set under review today covers the F6F-5 Hellcat’s late armament configuration, six covered .50 cal Browning barrels, in 1/72 scale.

Most Hellcats were equipped with six .50 cal machine guns mounted three per wing. The three guns mounted in each wing were staggered, with the innermost sitting forward of the middle gun and the outermost sitting aft, thus the barrels were also staggered when viewed at the leading edge of the wings. In fact, the outermost barrels on each wing were not visible,… more

Box art

F/A 18A+ USMC VMFA-232 RED DEVILS LE

Published:
Company: Academy Models

Academy has a quality line of 1/72 scale aircraft, and they have recently begun to release several reboxings of these kits with special decals. Their latest special edition covers a USMC F/A-18A+ Hornet from VFMA-232, the Red Devils. The F/A-18A+ Hornet is an A-model that has had an avionics upgrade, primarily consisting of the addition of the AN/APG-73 radar. For the front-line Marine aircraft, so-called “bird slicer” IFF antennas are also found on nose of the A+, forward of the cockpit. Beyond the A+ parts, A-model Hornets also feature prominent reinforcement plates along the inside of each vertical stabilizer.

Academy’s initial 1/72 scale Hornet release debuted in early 2008, depicting an F/A-18C. This was quickly followed by an F/A-18A kit, which consisted of the complete C… more

Box Top

Honda Civic Si Coupe "Fast & Furious"

Published:
Company: Revell

On the back of the seventh Fast & Furious movie release, Revell has re-released a kit born in the 2 Fast 2 Furious era, or more commonly, 2003. Responding to the tuner craze of the time, Revell released several 2’ n 1 style kits of popular imports such as the Acura Integra Type R, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the subject of this review, the ‘99-00 Honda Civic Si coupe. Each of the the tuner-inspired kits included several aftermarket wheels, body kits, and spoilers, along with the parts to build a stock car.

The EM1 Civic Si, a nickname derived from the car’s chassis code in a tradition that is common to many popular Japanese cars, is based on the sixth-generation Civic two-door coupe, and it was offered only in 1999 and 2000. Honda’s popular small car is typically praised for it… more

Box art

Fairlady 240ZG Street-Custom

Published:
Company: Tamiya

Nissan’s Z-Car

Nissan’s Fairlady Z, more familiarly known as the Datsun 240Z in the United States, debuted in late 1969 (as a 1970 model) to wide acclaim. The US market 240Z was equipped with a 151 hp 2.4-liter straight-six motor fed by twin SU-style carburetors. The Z’s four-wheel independent suspension, manual transmission, and light weight made it a very capable sports car package, while its reliability and ease of ownership ensured it was a sports car that could be counted on to start every time and complete every trip.

While the US market Datsun 240Z featured the 2.4-liter six from the start, the Japanese home market Fairlady Z debuted with a 2.0-liter six in consideration of the Japanese system of taxation based on displacement. Even the fearsome Fairlady Z432… more

Box

NASA Space Shuttle "Discovery" w/747-100 SCA

Published:
Company: Dragon Models

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) fleet consisted of two modified Boeing 747s. The iconic N905NA, a retired American Airlines 747-100, conducted the Approach and Landing Tests with the Space Shuttle Enterprise in the late 70s, still sporting its natural metal finish with an American Airlines red, white, and blue cheatline. N905NA had a long second career with NASA, finishing its service in fall of 2012 after ferrying Discovery, Enterprise, and Endeavor to their final display locations, and ultimately arriving in Houston, TX, to start a third career as a museum display, eternally ferrying the Space Shuttle replica Independence.

The second SCA, N911NA, a former Japan Airlines 747-100SR,… more

Packaging

SH-3D Sea King Exterior

Published:
Company: Eduard

Introduction

The Sikorsky Sea King helicopter was developed in the late 1950s for the US Navy’s growing anti-submarine warfare role. Becoming operational in 1961, the Sea King would serve with the US Navy until 2006, and continues in service with other operators to this day. Over its lifetime, the Sea King would spawn multiple variants and revisions. This included versions to meet USAF and USCG roles, such as the well-known HH-3E Jolly Green Giant combat search-and-rescue helicopters. Additionally, licensed-built versions of the Sea King were made by Mitsubishi, Agusta, and Westland. The British-built Westland Sea King variants differ in quite a few points from the Sikorsky-built Sea Kings, and are the basis for Cyber-Hobby’s 1/72 Sea King kits.

Cyber-Hobby has released a… more