Pablo Bauleo
Reviews By Author
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Polish Spitfire AcesPublished:
Osprey Publishing continues to expand the Aircraft of the Aces series with the installment of Polish Spitfire Aces. This book is well researched and has plenty of black and white pictures, including several images of aircrafts and their pilots. The book is divided in the following sections
In each chapter the author combined both historical and tactical situations in the relevant theater of operations in each period. The narrative of specific aerial battles, most of it coming from personal combat reports, sets the framework and… more |
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Bf 109E-7 trop WeekendPublished:
Eduard continues to expand its Bf 109E line, this time with a Weekend Edition of their E-7/Trop. The kit comes in 5 sprues (one clear), a “superfabric” seatbelt and two marking options. Recently Eduard has started to offer two markings options in their Weekend editions and I appreciate that. Construction starts, as usual, with the cockpit. A simple affair to assemble it delivers a realistic representation of the “front office” of the 109 E-7. Decals are provided for the instrument panel or you can paint and drybrush it. Please note that I built this model using a photoetch fret (reviewed elsewhere in the IPMS/USA website), so the seatbelt shown in the image does not represent the “superfabric” one. Shortly after assembling the cockpit you have to make a big choice:… more |
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Bf 109E-7/Trop Weekend Photo-EtchPublished:
Eduard has released a “Weekend” PE fret for their Bf-109E-7/Trop. This is a simple photoetch fret (13 parts) which will quickly enhance the look of your model. The fret includes 4 pre-painted pieces to create a realistically looking instrument panel, a right side console (electric panel I believe), a nicely detailed seatbelt (5 pieces, prepainted too) and only one external piece, but an important one in the /Trop, as it is part of the air filter. As you can see from the pictures, even with a low part number, this is a simple and effective way to enhance the interior and exterior of your model. It took me about 10 minutes to setup the interior pieces and less than one minute for the air filter. As all the interior pieces are pre-painted it is very straightforward to… more |
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Russian Artillery Tractor T-20 (Late)Published:
Mirror Models has released a full plastic kit of the Artillery Tractor T-20, which saw service with the Finnish, German and Russian and Romanian Armies (Decals provided for the first 3 armies). This kit has over 450 plastic parts and it includes some small PE details. The tracks are of the “individual link” style. I don’t think they will “click” to each other; rather glue should be used in each link. The kit includes a complete engine, engine bay, firewall and transmission. There is no “hull”, it is built from individual pieces, and so careful alignment there will be needed. Once the engine and engine bay plus basic hull is completed, assembly moves into the interior, with nicely detailed seats for the artillery gun crew. The interior includes a driver and… more |
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M1082 LMTVTPublished:
Trumpeter has released the M1082 trailer, which is a welcome addition to military vehicles and dioramas alike. The kit includes over 180 parts on 5 sprues (1 clear), plus a small PE fret and a plastic string, likely to make tie downs for a tarp -which is not provided-. Decals are provided for two finishes: tri-color “european/Nato” and a sand/desert one. Construction follows the typical breakdown of most vehicles, that is, it starts with the frame. Careful alignment of the parts at this stage will pay off latter. Construction them moves to the trailer bed itself and finally to the wheels (with tires provided in rubber). It also includes a trailer jack foot, which would allow the trailer to be shown on its own. Surface detail is excellent all around, with rivets… more |
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Aircraft Pictorial - F4U-1 Corsair Volume 2Published:
Dana Bell has proven over and over again to be one of the best authors when it comes down to aircraft details. This book is yet another testament to that. This volume covers the “raised canopy” version of the Corsair, or the definitive WWII version of the Corsair: the -1A, -1C and -1D, plus the British and New Zealand versions as well. The first few pages of the book have a short (too short if I might say) description of the raised canopy airframes, their main systems and differences with the birdcage and within the A/C/D versions. It also includes a list of every serial number, changes to the airframes within each serial number ranges and manufacturers. This list could be the ultimate source of information for the modeler that wants to ensure his/her model will… more |
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Mirage IIIE/O/R/RD/EE/EAPublished:
The long awaited Kinetic Mirage IIIE was released a few months ago. It is a full package meal as with the parts in the box you can build the IIIE/OE/EE/EA/R/RD/ and very likely the RS version too, although the last one is not listed in the instructions. The box is full with parts (15 sprues) including a fair amount of offensive ordinance (bombs and missiles) plus different drop tanks. The markings include French, Spanish and Australian airframes. Among the French markings there is the option of finishing your model as the airplane flown by Jaqueline Auriol when she broke the feminine speed record. If you never heard of Jaqueline Auriol, you should read about her. She was a female French aviator and test pilot. She set 5 speed records and won the Harmon International… more |
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Sd.Kfz.165 Hummel-WespePublished:
Dragon Models has released a new boxing of their Hummel self-propelled artillery. This is the Hummel Wespe, with the 10.5 cm gun (instead of the typical 15 cm). The smaller gun meant extra rounds could be carried in the vehicle. This kit is based on the excellent Dragon Hummel kit, with new sprues for the smaller gun, a modified fighting compartment, and new racks for the extra ammo. The hull and running gear is based on the Panzer IV, with an excellent level of detail. The road wheels are of the rubber rim style. I was pleasantly surprised to see all the rivets, access panels, and overall surface detail of the hull and front armor pieces. It does look “like the part”. The tracks are of the DS kind and have good detail as well. The fighting compartment has very… more |
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Tiger I – Ver. MID – 70th Anniversary NormandyPublished:
Academy is re-releasing their 1/35 Tiger I, this one being the “Mid” version and in a special boxing for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. Upon opening a large box you are greeted by 10 sprues –many of which are part of the “early” boxing- plus two small photo-etch frets (engine grille covers/zimmerit tool) and plastic tracks, representing the “combat” (wide) tracks. The part count is considerable (over 250 parts) however several pieces won’t be needed. I estimate a bit over 200 parts are required to complete this model. All the parts are crisp, perfectly molded and have no flash. This boxing does not include the full interior –as other boxings- but it has a new tooled turret. I will be honest, it looks very similar to the original one (still included in… more |
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Bort Numbers and Bort Numbers RoundedPublished:
Delta One Decal is a new European decal manufacturer. At time of writing, the Delta One Decal website is not live, but they have an email address: delta1decal@gmail.com. These are limited edition decal sheets that cover generic Bort Numbers (Warsaw Pact nose numbers) in both “square corner” and “rounded corner” versions. For several numbers you get more than one style (see images). Each set comes with red numbers (black and white edges), blue (black edge) and yellow (black edge). In addition you get some generic Red/Russian stars. The decal sheet has vivid colors, with good color density; it is very shinny on the sheet, and has perfect register. There is very limited carrier material, so I would expect them to blend in… more |