Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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F-4 Phantom – "The End of the Film"Published:
Syhart Decals has released a decal sheet for a commemorative scheme flown by an RF-4E of the Hellenic Air Force when the aircraft was retired from service and the squadron was disbanded. The aircraft was repainted in a combination of black and dark blue and wore a complex scheme including the silhouettes of previous aircraft flown by the 348th Squadron, the Greek flag, and “Spook”, the green-caped mascot associated with the “Phantom II”. For the Greek flag, there is the option of using masks for the medium blue background and then another decal for the white stripes, or just two sets of decals (blue decals and then the decal with the white stripes on top of the blue decal). There is also a correction sheet with Spook, but honestly, I cannot find the difference between… more |
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F-4 Phantom – North Dakota CentennialPublished:
Syhart Decals has released a decal sheet for a commemorative scheme flown by an F-4D in 1989 celebrating the North Dakota Centennial. The aircraft was repainted in a vibrant blue. The decal sheet includes recommendations for color matches from Humbrol, Revell, Tamiya, Gunze, Model Master, and the RAL standard. The aircraft wore a very elaborate painting in the lower wing area reproducing the state seal. The complex decoration of the lower wing is reproduced as an elaborate multipart decal, which will fit within the different missile bays, landing gear bays, etc., of Phantom II. I would recommend starting with the central decal and building the rest of the state seal from the center towards the periphery. This is an on-the-sheet review, so I have not tested the decals… more |
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Curtiss Kittyhawk’s in the Soviet Far North, 1941-1945 – Volume 2: Reconnaissance, Ground Support and Final Missions, 1944-1945Published:
Casemate Publishing is distributing the 51 installment of the “Europe At War” series. This book is devoted to the P-40 aircraft in the Soviet Far North (Murmansk to Kirkenes area) while in service with the Soviet Navy Aviation. Finding details of western aircraft while in service with the Soviets is hard to come by. This book - together with the rest of the series devoted to the Kittyhawks in Soviet service- fills in a gap in historical documentation. The author utilizes both Soviet sources and German sources and combine them to provide a comprehensive and well-balanced narrative of the events during 1944 in northern Scandinavia. By that year, the Kittyhawks in Soviet Service were being used in a fighter-bomber role rather than air-to-air, as covered in Volume 1. The… more |
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References for Modelers – Vought F4U CorsairPublished:
Kagero has started a new series known as “References for Modelers”. This issue is devoted to the Vought F4U Corsair. I should clarify the book is devoted to the earlier marks of the Corsair, i.e. all the “dash one” versions, including F4U-1, F4U-1A, F4U-1C, F4U-1D, FG-1D and F4U-1P. The references include a few period pictures (black and white) plus line drawings in 1/48 scale showing mainly side views, with a few front/back or top views. There is also a series of line drawing in 1/72 which show the evolution across the marks and highlights the differences between each one of them -sort of a ‘cheat sheet’ on how to tell them apart. There are also a dozen color profiles, mostly in US Navy service plus the booklet includes a small decal sheet (in 1/48 and 1/72) for a… more |
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Chance Vought F4U Corsair – Vol.IIPublished:
Kagero continues to expand its line of Monographs, this installment being devoted to the F4U Corsair. It is the second volume covering the Corsair and this book in particular covers from the “-1D” to the “-7” marks. Earlier versions of the Corsair are covered in volume I. The book is profusely illustrated with black and white pictures of all the above marks, mostly in US Navy service. There are a handful of pictures in French and Honduran service and references to its service in New Zealand, Salvadoran and Argentinean and Royal Navy Service. The narrative (both English and Polish) has a good balance of description of historical missions, opinions of the pilots that flew the aircraft and technical details. There is good coverage of the service in WW2 - with US Navy, Marines… more |
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The Republic P-47 ThunderboltPublished:
Valiant Wings Publishing continues to expand its “Airframe and Miniature” series. This installment, number 25 in the series, is devoted to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The book is divided into the following sections: Airframe Chapters
Miniature Chapters
Appendixes
The first section of the book (… more |
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A-10A Thunderbolt IIPublished:
MMP Books continues to expand its “Colour and Scale” series, this time with an installment on the Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II. This booklet has 5 pages of line drawings for the Thunderbolt II in 1/72 scale, providing side views (both port and starboard) top view, bottom view and side-view without the wing or rudder obstructing the fuselage profile. In addition to the scale drawings, there are 8 pages of full-color profiles and, in some cases, also top and bottom views. The book covers camouflage schemes from the late ‘70s (early production) to the ‘90s… more |
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Cool Camo T-BirdsPublished:
Illiad Design has recently released an aftermarket decal set covering the T-33. This decal sheet covers a total of 5 aircraft, and you are provided with enough markings as to be able to model all of them. You are still expected to use the stencils provided with the kit. You have your choice of
They are an amazing selection of markings. I particularly liked the T-33 in SEA camo with shark… more |
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War in Ukraine Volume 6: The Air War February-March 2022Published:
Casemate Publishing is distributing Helion & Company’s 6th installment of their series “War in Ukraine”. This series is part of their “Europe at War” collection. “War in Ukraine” covers all aspects of the current conflict in Ukraine, like air warfare, drone warfare, armored vehicles or specific battles. This book is focused on the opening moves of air warfare in Mar-April of 2022. Taking into consideration that the conflict is still underway, the authors disclose that several of their sources are video captures, online publications and other social media sources. It should be taken into consideration that some of those sources could be impacted by the “fog of war”, either by accident or intentionally (i.e., misinformation campaigns, counter-intelligence campaigns,… more |
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Messerschmitt Bf 109G – Finnish Air ForcePublished:
MMP Books continues to expand its Colour & Scale series, this time with an issue devoted to the Messerschmitt Bf 109G in Finnish Service. At 16 pages long, the book is brief (rather a booklet) but it is very useful and packed with information. The first seven pages include line drawings of the Bf109G in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. I am not completely sure, but I would say that all the drawings are for the “G-6”, one of the most popular “109”s, which was used by several air forces, making the drawings of value beyond the Finnish Air Force The next eight pages have ful- color profiles for selected airframes, including: MT-415, MT-435, MT-451, MT-445, MT-455, MT-423, MT-426, MT-456, MT-437, MT-458, MT-231 (the lone G-2 in the book), MT-449, MT-431 and MT-453. All the G-6… more |