Mike Hinderliter
Reviews By Author
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Model Art Modeling Magazine, #814, February 2011Published:
Model Art magazine is a very well known model magazine from Japan. It seems to do well selling here, even though it is written completely in Japanese. They really do believe in the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. There are so many wonderful pictures in this magazine that you can really tell what is going on. The magazine is 7 1/8 inches X 10 1/8 inches and is printed on glossy stock. Most of the pictures are in color and also a lot of black-and-white, toward the back. This magazine looks more like a trade paperback than a magazine, and it has a superb binding. No pages falling out here! This book is built to last for many projects to come. It’s divided up into sections that seem to cover all of the major kits, airplanes, armor, cars, and ships. This issue… more |
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F-22 Raptor Exhaust NozzlesPublished:
Aires now offers a resin a replacement exhaust set for the Revell F-22 Raptor. This set has very well detailed resin pieces molded in the standard Aires grey resin, and are flash and bubble free; as well as a small photoetch set. They also include a 3-page, blue paper diagram, which is a real help. The resin pieces include the burner cans, turbine faces and nozzles. There is also a small photoetch for the turbine fans and which really will make the exhaust detail just pop out at you when looking at the model from the rear, especially when it is compared to the original kit parts. One thing about the F-22 is that the exhausts are a very distinctive and major feature. The biggest improvement in this set over the kit parts is that you get one-piece exhausts, doing away with… more |
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P-47D-30 Thunderbolt Dorsal Fin ConversionPublished:
The latest addition to the Quickboost line of resin accessories is a dorsal fin conversion for the Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt. The first P-47s had a “razorback” canopy configuration with a tall fuselage spine behind the pilot which resulted in poor visibility to the rear. The British came up with an idea to use bubble top canopies on some of their aircraft to fix this problem. The USAAF liked this change and started to implement it to their fighters which included the P-47. To fit the bubble top canopy to the P-47 they cut down the rear fuselage which was found to cause yaw instability. To fix the yaw problem they introduced a dorsal fin extension in the form of a narrow triangle running from the vertical tail plane to the radio aerial. This change was also implemented in the field on… more |
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Wargaming on a Budget: Gaming Constrained by Money or SpacePublished:
This new book from Casemate Publishing is on how to Wargame on a budget because of how expensive it can be or when you don’t have a lot of space. Ian Dickie shows you how you can enjoy this hobby without the large expense and a smaller amount of space if need be. The book is divided up into 10 chapters not including an introduction. They are:
This book is a great guide for someone who is thinking to start out with wargaming and isn’t sure whether they would be able to do it because of money or space. The author starts… more |
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F/A-18B Casper and his Bandit GhostsPublished:
This sheet of markings is for the F/A-18Bs belonging to VFA-125, The Rough Raiders. They are one of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aggressor squadrons whose mission is to teach other fighter squadrons the tactics and skills they need to stay alive in a real dog fight. This set of markings comes with decals for 5 separate aircraft. They are:
I’ve always liked the aggressor paint schemes and this sheet represents 5 of the different schemes that are used. I’m sure that there is one for every aggressor fan. I picked the blue and gray scheme which… more |
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TSDS Decal/Detail Sheet for Invaders "UFO"Published:
TSDS is a company that specializes in making decals and details for Science Fiction subjects such as Irwin Allen TV shows, Lost in Space, etc. I was given the opportunity to try out a set of their water slide decals for the “ Invaders’ UFO”, one of my all time favorite TV shows from the 1960s. I quickly went looking through my stash to see where I had put it. This is an old kit and hasn’t been re-released by anyone yet and to find that someone put out an improvement for it is just great. The idea to these sets is to make the model look a lot better and more detailed than you would ever be able to do with dry brushing and painting the details. When I opened the package, I got all excited with the detail of these decals. I read over the instructions, and it explains that these… more |
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Messerschmitt Bf-109 B-E Seats without beltsPublished:
Loon models (Roll Models brand) has added an aircraft seat to their 1/72 aircraft accessory line. This one is for the Messerschmitt Bf-109 B-E. Loon models doesn’t specify a kit for this seat, but it will have to be a kit that has a cockpit in it and it can’t be one that has a huge seat in it, like some of the older kits have. While I was looking through my stash for a kit that would be good for this review I compared the Loon seat with and an old Revell kit, an old Hasegawa kit, and an Academy kit. I picked the Academy kit of the Bf-109E because the seat was comparable to the size of the replacement. The older Hasegawa kit was out because the seat was molded to the floor, it would work but I didn’t want to cut out the seat. The older Revell kit had an extra large seat that was… more |
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F-5, T-38 Ejection SeatPublished:
Pavla models has added an ejection seat to their 1/72 aircraft accessory line. This one is for the F-5, T-38. Pavla Models doesn’t specify a kit for this seat, but it will have to be a kit that has a cockpit in it. I picked the Italeri F-5A freedom fighter, kit # 1231. This offering is a quality piece of resin; smooth, seamless and bubble free. The detail is also very nice and doesn’t need any extra work to bring out the detail. All that I needed to do to make it fit the kits cockpit was to just remove the molding block and paint it. A drop of super glue and it was installed. When it is compared to the kit’s seat, you can see how superior it is. The kit seat is molded in two parts and there is a seam that runs right down the middle of the seat back. The seatbelts for… more |
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Messerschmitt Me 262 Seats Without BeltsPublished:
Loon Models (Roll Models brand) has added another aircraft seat to their 1/72 aircraft accessory line. This one is for the Messerschmitt Me-262. Loon Models don’t specify a kit for this seat, but you will want to use one that has a normal cockpit in it. The kit I picked out for this review is an older Hasegawa kit of the Me-262A. The LOON seat is two quality pieces of resin; smooth, seamless and bubble free. The detail is also very nice, and it doesn’t need any extra work to bring out the detail. The beauty of this piece is that all I had to do was paint it, assemble the tow parts, and add a drop of super glue for the install. No cutting needed on the original cockpit floor, just drop it in. This seat has no seatbelts molded on it, which is good if you want to add a pilot or… more |
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Sheriff Rosco's Police CarPublished:
The KitThe kit is molded in a white styrene and also has a generous sprue of chrome parts, and rubber wheels. There is also quite an arsenal of weapons included, (M-16, Thompson sub-machine gun, M1, shotgun, pistol, and a grenade launcher). I guess Sheriff Rosco always wanted to be on a SWAT team. This kit depicts the Dodge Monaco police car and is a very good representation of that vehicle. It also includes a nice engine that could be detailed if you wanted to. One problem is that the hood of the car has no hinges to open so you will have to just lay it next to the kit to show off the engine compartment.
The BuildI don’t normally build car models but my son does, and he especially likes vehicles from different movies and TV shows. When he saw… more |