Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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German Z-32 DestroyerPublished:
Dragon continues to expand its “Modern Sea Power” Series, this time with the introduction of the 1/350 Zerstorer Class 1936A, with a twin 150 mm turrets. Upon opening the box you find 18 sprues, plus two small photoetch frets and decals. There is a total of over 550 parts on this kit. The parts are finely molded, with virtually no flash anywhere. I’ve only was able to spot a bit of flash in one sprue, around the propellers. Slide mold technology was used extensively in the kit minimizing seams and allowing multiple pieces (bridge, hull) to be molded in a single piece. It should be noted it the hull is packed with a small protector to protect the sharp bow from being damaged. There are a total of 18 steps in the instructions, although a few of them have sub-steps… more |
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Early P40s & Tomahawks DecalsPublished:
Iliad Design has released a new decal sheet in its 72nd scale line devoted to early P-40s and Tomahawks. This sheet provides you with 6 airframes, 3 in American markings and 3 in British markings. The American options include a natural metal finish, an Olive Drab over Neutral Grey and a Olive Drab/Dark Earth over Neutral Grey. All of them sport red and white stripes in the rudder. The British options include two Olive Drab/Dark Earth over Neutral Grey, and my personal favorite, Dark Earth/Middle Stone over Azure Blue in North African campaign markings. The decal sheet instructions do not specify for which kit they are meant to fit (Academy, Airfix, AML, Hasegawa or HobbyBoss). That shouldn’t be an issue for most of the decals, with the exception of the red and… more |
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Japanese Navy Ship Equipment Set EPublished:
The Japanese Agano-class of light cruisers had a total of 4 ships on its class: Agano, Noshiro, Yahagi and Sakaw. These ships were lightly armored command vessels that operated for destroyer and submarine squadrons. Hasegawa has released a detail set for its Agano Class in 1/350. This set includes
The Agano class boxing includes the standard Type-41 and Type-98, what is added is the rangefinder and some details parts for the standard turrets to model the Yahagi and Sakawa. The overall surface detail is excellent –as you expect from Hasegawa- and the molds are completely free of flash. The cannon holes need to be… more |
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Luftwaffe WWII Bomber SeatbeltsPublished:
Eduard has released a series of WWII-era seatbelts in the “Superfabric” series. This review covers the following item:
The Superfabric seatbelts are made of some sort of “rubber-like” material. They have volume -i.e, they are not flat like decals- and they have a little bit of texture like if it they were made of ‘fabric’ (pun intended). From what I read in the Eduard website you can either apply the seatbelts “dry” directly on the painted seatbelt or “wet” if the seatbelt has been coated in Future. I almost always like to coat my cockpits with Future (in preparation for a wash), however, in this review I choose to apply the seatbealts over a “flat surface” (i.e… more |
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USN WWII SeatbeltsPublished:
Eduard has released a series of WWII-era seatbelts in the “Superfabric” series. This review covers the following item: The Superfabric seatbelts are made of some sort of “rubber-like” material. They have volume -i.e, they are not flat like decals- and they have a little bit of texture like if it they were made of ‘fabric’ (pun intended). From what I read in the Eduard website you can either apply the seatbelts “dry” directly on the painted seatbelt or “wet” if the seatbelt has been coated in Future. I almost always like to coat my cockpits with Future (in preparation for a wash), however in this review I choose to apply the seatbealts… more |
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"Cartoon Aircraft" Decals for Bf-109GPublished:
Illiad Design has started a 1/32 decal line and their first sheet is a secure bet: a Bf-109G. The recent Revell model is a good candidate for it, but not the only one, as the old Hasegawa kit could be a good recipient for these decals. This decal sheet cover 6 airframes from 7./JG 53, the famous “Pik As” Jagdgeschwader. All the markings cover airframes located in Sicily during 1943 finished in RLM 74/75/76 with mottling on the sides and they have stripes on the propeller spiner. No decal is provided for the spinner, but instructions on how to mask it are provided. The decal sheet is very glossy and the decals look thin. Register is perfect. Opacity is likely to be good too, but I have not tried them in a model. You might want to test that using… more |
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Finnish Fighter Colours. Vol 2 1939-1945Published:
Mushroom Model Publication has released the second volume of the Finnish Fighter Color series. You can find a review of Volume 1 here on the reviews site. This book, as Volume 1, is structured by aircraft type. Each aircraft type has two chapters. The first one is devoted to the historical introduction on each type including how it was procured and how it did perform in Finnish service. In many cases there are plenty of historical details on different missions including date, location, number of airplanes involved and mission kills/losses. There are no… more |
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Seatbelts SuperfabricPublished:
Eduard has released a series of WWII-era seatbelts in the “superfabric” series. This review covers the following items:
The SUPER… more |
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Jet EnginePublished:
ReviewAirfix has released a Jet Engine kit, part of their line of “Engineering Models”. This is an interesting kit, as it intends to explain the basics of how a jet engine operates and it introduces the modeler to some very basic electrical skills. The kit is molded in red, white, blue, clear and silver plastic. It requires no paint and it actually is put together using (dare I say?) screws rather than plastic glue! It even provides you with a screwdriver. There are about 50 parts which are well molded and the parts themselves require little clean up before assembly. The instructions guide you through the electrical connections of a handle, starter button and mini-electric motor/blower which actually spins the engine. Mechanical assembly of the base,… more |
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Understanding Model Math and Scale JumpingPublished:
Richard Marmo is publishing a series of ebooks under the name of “The Marmo Modelbulding Guide Series”. This is the 3rd installment of the series. These ebooks are available in epub, .mobi and/or .pdf format, based on your preferences. I have read this guide regarding to model math and scale jumping and honestly, I think there is good information on it, but the way it is presented makes it a bit difficult to follow. The book mainly deals on how to convert scale drawings from one given scale to a different one. This book includes the “Marmo’s Three Laws”. While the name of them is grandiose, they are accurate from a mathematical point of view and helpful to avoid common mistakes. However when reading the ebook they are presented in a strange order:… more |