Pat Villarreal
Reviews By Author
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British 2-Ton 4X2 AmbulancePublished:
A new tooled kit from Tamiya. It is the British 2-Ton 4X2 Ambulance (Austin K2/Y). A very nice detailed kit, simple to build, and will make a wonderful addition to any 1/48th scale WWII military collection or diorama. In the BoxThis kit has two (2) olive drab colored sprues labeled A & B with 57 parts. Plus, a clear sprue with 4 parts. A driver figure is included within one of the olive drab sprues. The molded detail is exceptional for this scale. Instructions are 13 steps and printed on a foldout sheet with typical good illustrations from Tamiya. This is considered a “curbside” build since there is no motor or any interior detail inside the cab. Doors for the cab are molded shut. ConstructionWhen reading the instructions,… more |
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Acrylic Texture PaintPublished:
Green Stuff World (GSW) is a company based out of Spain. It is specialized in the design and production of tools, paints, and other types of resources for modeling, crafts, and wargames. GSW has provided IPMS/USA two (2) bottles of textured acrylic paint for review. In the BottleThe paint is packaged in a 30 ml bottle and comes in Fluorescent Red and Fluorescent Blue. Inside the paint has a consistency of thick paste with granules mixed in to give it texture. It is water based and can be thinned if needed. Review ProcessFor testing, I applied this to a cardboard strip using a cheap brush from a school watercolor set that had plastic bristles. The paste was then pick up out of bottle using the brush and stippled on the cardboard. This result was as… more |
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Acrylic Paint Set for Luftwaffe PilotsPublished:
ICM is a hobby company based out of Ukraine. They have provided IPMS/USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review. In the BoxThe paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. The following colors are provided:
Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint… more |
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Acrylic Paint Set for WWI French InfantryPublished:
ICM is a hobby company based out of Ukraine. They have provided IPMS/USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review. In the BoxThe paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. The following colors are provided:
Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the… more |
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Military Equipment Armed Forces of Ukraine Acrylic Paint SetPublished:
ICM is a hobby company based out of Ukraine. They have provided IPMS/USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review. In the BoxThe paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. The following colors are provided:
Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint… more |
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F/A-18C Hornet (VMFA-312 Checkerboards 2022 Ferris Camouflage)Published:
A new 1/144th scale aircraft kit from Platz, however, the molded parts are from F-toys with markings for 2 aircraft and one of them is for a 2022 Ferris paint scheme. In the BoxThis is a two (2) airplane kit boxing. The parts are molded from another company, F-toys, and is noted on the website. Each jet is collected in its individual bag. Parts are molded in light gray with 3 sprues, an upper and lower fuselage-wing halves, and a bag with clear parts for the canopy and nose radome. The panel lines are recessed and considered wide and soft for 1/144th scale. There is flash on several parts so sanding will be necessary to remove the excess plastic. On the underbelly of the fuselage there is a large rectangular slot with nothing in the instructions to fill this… more |
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Basic Colours, Volume 1Published:
Green Stuff World is a company based out of Spain. It specializes in the design and production of tools, paints, and other related products for modeling, crafts, and war games. Green Stuff World has provided IPMS/USA an eight (8) bottle acrylic paint set for review. In the BoxThe paint set contains eight (8) 17ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix the paint when shaking. The following colors are provided:
This… more |
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Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIPublished:
A new tooled kit from Tamiya. It is the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II in 1/72nd scale. This is one of those “Must Buy” kind of kits. In the BoxOut of the box, this kit has gray sprues labeled A-B, C-D and are connected by a single sprue frame. There are two (2) F sprues for ordnance and wheels. The upper fuselage-wing is on sprue G and the lower fuselage-wing is on sprue G2. A clear sprue labeled E has the canopy, EOTS cover fairing, and lights. A pilot figure is included, and ordnance includes two (2) AIM-9X Sidewinder Missiles and four (4) GBU-12 Paveway II Bombs. A large decal sheet is provided for three (3) schemes: USAF 34th FS, 388th FW (June 2022), JASDF 301st FS, 3rd Wing (September 2022), JASDF 302 FS, 3rd Wing (September 2022). For this… more |
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Texaco DoodlebugPublished:
A new multimedia kit from Bregrun. It a 1/72nd scale kit of the Texaco Doodlebug fuel tank truck from the 1930s era. In the BoxThis kit has six (6) resin poured part stubs, 1 photo-etched (PE) sheet, 1 vacuum-formed (VF) clear plastic windscreen with & without frame moldings, and 1 decal sheet. Instructions are printed in black and white on a single piece of paper. Print is on both sides and well-illustrated but not much written commentary. The resin parts are well molded with a few air bubbles that need filling. I used Superglue/Cyanoacrylate (CA) as the filler. The recessed panel lines are well defined and somewhat wide for this scale but acceptable. ConstructionAssembly starts with washing the resin parts in dish soap (Dawn) and warm… more |
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EA-6B ProwlerPublished:
A rebox kit from Platz/Dragon for the EA-6B Prowler in 1/144th scale. For 2022, it comes with new decal markings for VAQ-136 Gauntlets and VAQ-137 Rooks and two (2) kits are provided in the box. In the BoxThis boxing has two (2) complete kits. My sample came with 3 sprues (A, B, F). When comparing the sprue count against the instruction sheet, sprue E was missing (which has extra ordnances). Referencing Scalemates.com, the molds were created in 1994. The plastic is molded in light gray and the sprues are wrapped in clear bags. Parts count is over 61 pieces but only 43 are necessary for this review. There is some flash on the clear parts but minor sanding will remove the excess plastic easily. Instructions are color printed on a single sheet folded over.… more |