Paul Bradley
Reviews By Author
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Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions provides resin and white metal parts for scale model aircraft, most of which are drop-in landing gear replacements. The Airfix 1/72 Buccaneer S.2 was released in 2019 and this set from SAC is a direct copy of that kit’s landing gear. The set contains both main gear legs and the nose gear leg, with the actuator strut for the nose leg also included. This set departs from the kit in that the lower forks of one side of each main leg are included as separate pieces, presumably to aid with construction as the original legs are in two separate halves. No instructions are provided, as the use is fairly self-explanatory; being copies, the legs have the same attachment points as the kit parts and should be drop-in replacements. Despite being… more |
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Modern Luftwaffe Vol.1 Acrylic Colours SetPublished:
This is another paint set by the prolific Ammo by MiG concern out of Spain. I’m sure many of you already use these acrylic paints and so are familiar with their ease of use with both brush and airbrush. The featured colours come in the familiar yellow-capped 17ml dropper bottles and include those colours needed for a range of modern Luftwaffe aircraft in the NORM 72 and 83 schemes, such as the Tornado, F-4F, F-104, Alpha Jet and UH-1H. The bottles are contained in a tray inside a sturdy card box that features a summary of the paints included and a nice colour profile of a Tornado. The colours themselves look good for the applications required, and have, apparently, been slightly lightened for scale effect. The names of the paints don’t match the proper RAL names, because – as… more |
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Messerschmitt Bf109E Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions provides resin and white metal parts for scale model aircraft, most of which are drop-in landing gear replacements. The Airfix 1/24 BF109E was first released way back in 1973 but has featured in their range on numerous occasions since, most recently as part of the ‘Vintage Classics’ range in 2020. As such, the model lacks detail compared to modern kits and any enhancements for the kit are most welcome. The Emil’s landing gear legs are pretty simple units, and the SAC parts reflect this. With just a little clean-up, these parts are drop-in replacements for the kit parts. The only parts you’ll need to use from the kit are the tyres and outer hubs. SAC didn’t add brake lines down the main gear legs, but in this scale, the modeller is best… more |
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Clarkat Type B Royal Navy Deck TractorPublished:
The Clarkat Type B was a flight deck tractor used by the Royal Navy on its carrier fleet from 1942 until the mid-1950s. They were first seen on HMS Illustrious following her repair and refit in the USA in 1941-2 and served right through the Korean War. It was developed from an existing commercial tractor and was also used by the USAAF in the UK, so the possible uses for this kit go beyond an RN flight deck diorama. Brengun has been releasing its aircraft-related accessories in a variety of media for some years now; they released a 1/48 resin kit of this type a couple of years ago, so it was natural for them to release it in smaller scales. Both kits come in their standard mid-grey resin with a small PE fret that includes the various small controls and instrument panel/dashboard… more |
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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 |