Paul Bradley
Reviews By Author
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The Auster in British Military and Foreign Air Arm ServicePublished:
Auster Aircraft started in 1938 as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) license building the eponymous US manufacturer’s light aircraft. During WWII, the company built over 1,600 high-wing Taylorcraft Auster air observation aircraft for the British armed forces, and in 1946, changed their name to Auster Aircraft. Based at Rearsby Aerodrome in Leicestershire, the company continued to develop incrementally the basic high-wing monoplane design, eventually building a total of over 3,800 aircraft for both military and civilian usage worldwide. Auster Aircraft was bought out by the new BEAGLE company in 1960. The 131st work in the prodigious Warpaint series focuses on the Auster in military service worldwide but, as might be expected, the majority of the book concentrates on British… more |
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ZorroPublished:
Swish, swish, SWISH! The mark of Zorro! Fear naught, freedom-loving peasants, the masked swordsman is here to protect you from injustice and tyranny! Well, in 1/12 scale anyway…. The character of Zorro dates back to a novel written in 1919; films and radio programs followed, but it was in 1957 that Zorro really entered American popular culture with the premiere of Disney’s TV series featuring Guy Williams in the title role. The show played out like the popular cinematic serials of the period and last for 78 episodes over three seasons. In 1963, Aurora, seeking to capitalize on the popularity of the show with kids, released a kit of the masked one on his trusty steed, Tornado. This kit hasn’t been released for many years and had become quite a collectors’ item, fetching a rey’s… more |
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Wings of the Weird and WonderfulPublished:
Captain Eric Brown is the doyen of test pilots; a former Chief Naval Test Pilot and Commanding officer of the Aerodynamics Flight of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Brown is in the Guinness Book of Records as the pilot-in-command who has flown the most types of aircraft – over 490 and they are all listed in the front of this book. His career in test piloting started back in 1942 after a spell on combat operations over the North Atlantic, and lasted through to the 1960s. He is therefore the ideal person to write about many different types of aircraft from a pilot’s perspective and compare them to each other. This book is a revised and expanded combination of two books previously published in the 1980s and the result is a terrific book. Brown presents, in his own… more |
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The Cinderella Service: RAF Coastal Command 1939 - 1945Published:
In 1936, the Royal Air Force reorganized into a series of task-specific commands; the most famous were Fighter Command and Bomber Command, which played very public roles in the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, another, perhaps more vital battle was being fought by an unsung command over the frigid waters of the North Sea and North Atlantic – Coastal Command. Its role in defeating the U-boat threat and keeping the seas open for vital supply convoys to reach Britain enabled the beleaguered country to weather the nadir of the war in 1941-2, allowing the US to resupply the British armed forces and build up her own troop strength on British soil prior to the liberation of mainland Europe. That important role has been largely unsung over the years, earning the Command the nickname of the ‘… more |
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Panavia Tornado ExhaustsPublished:
The Revell 1/32 Panavia Tornado is a nice kit, but now approaching 20 years old, it is somewhat lacking in detail. Various resin and PE detail sets have been created for it, but until now, no-one has tackled the complex exhaust area – Aires have come to the rescue with this new set. The exhaust detail in the kit is not bad, but the jet pipes are a bit short and the detail overall is a bit soft. The Aires set solves both these issues and then some! Each exhaust comes in three parts – the burners, the jet pipe and the can and externals. Detail is excellent, even deep down in the internals of the afterburners. The jet pipes are at least half as long again, and the external detail is excellent. Fitting these into the existing rear fuselage framework will require the… more |
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Home is the HalifaxPublished:
The Handley-Page Halifax was one of Britain’s best 4-engined bombers but, like the Hurricane to the Spitfire, was overshadowed by the Avro Lancaster as a media darling. It didn’t help that no original Halifax airframes existed in the world, outside of a sorry example pulled from a Norwegian fjord in the early 70’s and displayed in an un-restored state at the RAF Museum in London – a pitiful state of affairs. In the early 1980’s, a nascent aircraft enthusiast group in Yorkshire, heard about a section of Halifax rear fuselage being used as a chicken coop in the wilds of the Shetland Islands off the Scottish coast. Following its recovery the daring plan to create a complete Halifax facsimile was conceived. This book is the story of that project, and the museum that was born from… more |
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British Browning Mk.2 .303 Calibre Machine Gun BarrelsPublished:
Airfix’s 1/24 Mosquito is a large model, but is a little lacking in detail in places. One of these is the rather Spartan 0.303-inch Browning machine gun installation in the nose. Master Models has released a fine set of replacement parts for this area. Each gun barrel is represented by 5 pre-formed brass pieces; the parts simply slot together and are secured with spots of superglue. Surgery is performed on the Airfix machine guns, with the whole of the plastic barrels being removed. The completed brass assembly is then glued to the plastic body of the gun. Simple! The new barrels stand out head and shoulders above the plastic parts and when glued in place, they form a striking introduction to the aircraft. Highly recommended. Master Models’ website is located at… more |
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De Havilland Mosquito NFII/FBVI Part 3Published:
My apologies to Airfix for this kit having to take a back seat to life for a little while, but I am in the home stretch now. With the basic airframe completed, it is now time to start adding some of the minor sub-assemblies. Up front, the machine gun bay was added. The detail in here is fair – like the engine bays, a lot more pipework and wiring would need to be added to be thoroughly convincing, but it looks OK when done out of the box. The machine guns themselves are somewhat lacking in detail, and the addition of Master Models gun barrels really helps – see my separate review elsewhere on this website. Assembly is a little fiddly and care needs to be taken to correctly align all the parts – any deviation from what is needed will result in some awkward moments getting the… more |
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De Havilland Mosquito NF.II/FB.VI - Part 1Published:
The de Havilland Mosquito really needs no introduction, beyond the fact that it was one of the most versatile aeroplanes ever built, fulfilling an amazing variety of roles with air forces and civilian organizations across the globe from 1941 until the mid-sixties. This new kit from Airfix continues a tradition dating back to the early 1970's for large-scale kits, starting with their still-relevant Spitfire I. Rumour has it that Airfix even considered a 1/24 Mosquito back in the early 1980's, but decided to use their research to create a 1/48 kit instead, one that is also still relevant despite newer, more detailed (but not always as accurate) and always more expensive rivals. A couple of years ago, wistful thinking had the newly-reborn Airfix resurrecting those plans, and Lo… more |
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De Havilland Mosquito NF.II/FB.VI - Part 2Published:
Despite there being over 600 parts and 52 stages in the instruction manual, this doesn't seem to be an overly complicated kit; however, there are places where care with assembly will be needed to ensure that there are no fit issues later on - I'm thinking particularly of the undercarriage, which will probably be the most fiddly part of the build. The amount of detail seems reasonable for the scale, and bearing in mind the fairly simple nature of the actual aircraft, but I am sure there will be some who wish to go the extra mile and add more; I am planning on doing this build OOB, but I reserve the right to change my mind as I go along. For those who wish to upgrade their references in preparation for the build, I can recommend SAM Publications Aviation Guide 2 - Mosquito FB.VI by Dave… more |