Paul R. Brown
Reviews By Author
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Spotlight on Dassault Mirage III & 5 (#19)Published:
This is a new publication from Mushroom Models Publications. The book opens with a brief description of the operational use of the Mirage III/5 family of aircraft. Like the F-104 Starfighter, the F-4 Phantom and the MiG-21, the Mirage III/5 was widely exported to nations around the world ranging from Argentina to Zaire and has participated in many conflicts over the years, in some cases on both sides of the fight. There is also a note from the author about the profiles he included, which are intended to illustrate aircraft from the nations that flew Mirages. Most of the schemes are for operational aircraft with a few commemorative schemes and test aircraft included as well. Each page has a side profile of one aircraft with a brief description… more |
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Eurofighter Typhoon - Flying with Air Forces Around the WorldPublished:
This is a new publication from Duke Hawkins Books and is the sixth volume of a series of books that they have recently published highlighting modern jets. This volume focuses on the Eurofighter/Typhoon. When the book was published, the Eurofighter/Typhoon was operated by 7 countries – England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Saudi Arabia and Oman and the volume includes at least one photograph of a jet from each country. There is text scattered throughout the book, however, to be honest, most of it is expanded captions discussing the photographs that it accompanies. The strength of this book are the stunning photographs in it. I counted 290 images. All the photographs are in full color and are beautifully reproduced. The photographs are from several photographers and… more |
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Per Ardua - Training an RAF Phantom CrewPublished:
Both Philip Keeble and David Gledhill have written books about their experiences as front-line RAF aircrew in the Cold War. In Per Ardua they explain the process each went through to become Phantom Phlyers. Phil reviews the fast jet training program he went through to become a RAF pilot while David discusses the navigator training that he went through to become a F-4 navigator giving he reader an insight into what it took to become RAF aircrew in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. Phil went through pilot training in the late 60’s before the Phantom was adopted for the RAF. He takes the reader through his experiences in primary flight training and fast jet training as he earned his commission as an officer and eventually his pilot wings. He discusses the different trainers he flew… more |
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AV-8B NozzlesPublished:
This set provides replacement nozzles for Hasegawa’s AV-8B Harrier II kits. The set includes two sets of forward and rear exhaust/lift nozzles and are direct replacements for the kit parts. As is expected with Brengun/Hauler, the castings are excellent and a huge improvement over the kit parts. I soaked the parts in Simple Green overnight to remove any casting residue, then rinsed them off I with water and used a fine razor saw to remove the nozzles from the pour stubs. The front “cold” nozzles include the interior vanes that are conspicuously absent on the kit nozzles, and as they are single piece casting, there is no seam down the middle of the nozzles to fill. One of the nozzles had a couple of small airholes where the casting block was attached, but these were easily taken… more |
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Skybolt - At Arm's LengthPublished:
In the aftermath of World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union were not the only powers who pursued and developed nuclear weapons. Both France and England pursued the development of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons after World War Two. The problem came in developing reliable and effective methods of deploying these weapons. In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, prior to the missile age, the only option was the manned bomber. Unfortunately, as antiaircraft systems became more effective and sophisticated, questions began to arise with respect to the ability of the manned bomber to penetrate these defense systems and reach their targets with gravity bombs. While the 1950’s saw the development of England’s V-Bomber force with the Valiant, the Victor and the… more |
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CH-53 Seats Upgrade SetPublished:
This set provides a pair of replacement seats for the pilot and co-pilot of a CH-53 or MH-53 Super Stallion/Sea Stallion and includes seatbelts/harnesses, the tubular frame the seat is mounted on and what appears to be add-on side armor plates for each seat. The seats and mounting frames are cast in light grey resin. The castings are very detailed and delicate, a little too delicate as I will discuss below. The seats include a lot of details on the seat backs that could be visible if you leave the main cabin door open. I compared the seats and the mounting frames to photos I found online and ResKit did their homework as it looks accurate and in scale. The casting includes a very tiny slot at the top of the seat that the upper section of the shoulder harness passes through, but… more |
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Messerschmitt Me 209 Main WheelsPublished:
This set provides a set of resin replacement main wheels for Special Hobby’s recent Me 209 kit. As expected from CMK, the wheels are very nicely cast with good detail including the bolts on the wheel hubs. The tread pattern on the tires is also very sharp and distinct. The tires are easily separated from the pour stubs and the pour stub and any flash are easily removed and cleaned up as show in the attached photos. I painted the wheels Tamiya NATO Black and the hubs Tamiya Black as I do other Luftwaffe aircraft wheels, but I will need to do some drybrushing to bring out the hub details as they sort of disappear under the black paint. This is a nice set and presumably the wheels are drop on replacements for the kit wheels (I still need to pick up a Me 209 kit to… more |
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Spotlight on Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (#21)Published:
This book is one of MMP’s Spotlight series and deals with the Me 163 Komet. The book begins with a brief two-page history of the development and deployment of the Me 163. The bulk of the book consists of 40 color plates illustrating many of the color schemes used on the Me 163 with a couple of plates for the DFS 194 development aircraft and the Me 263. The Me 163A test aircraft and many of the Me 163B prototypes were painted in overall RLM 76. Several of the plates show different prototype configurations and some of the aircraft have dark red anti-corrosive paint patches on them evidencing either repairs or places where the paint has worn through to the underlying primer. The plates also include Me 163B V41 in overall RLM 23 Red flown by Maj. Wolfgang Spate. … more |
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Top Drawings #83 – Sukhoi Su-27/Su-33Published:
The Su-27 family was originally designed as a heavy interceptor to counter US fighter designs such as the F-14 Tomcat & F-15 Eagle. It originally entered service as a long-range interceptor against American heavy bombers such as the B-52 and the B-1B. The design has been refined and has resulted in several variants such as the SU-30 multi-role fighter, the Su-34 bomber and the Su-33 shipboard fighter. This TopDrawings book provides a very brief history of the Su-27/Su-33 in both English and Polish. There are twelve pages of line drawings of the Su-27 and Su-33 variants in both 1/72 and 1/144 scale and the primary air to air weapons carried by the Su-27 family. The color side profiles illustrate markings for Ukrainian, Russian, and Angolan Flankers, but only provide one side… more |
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Naval Fighters Number 110 – Douglas A-4C/L in Marine ServicePublished:
This book is the seventh book in Ginter’s Naval Fighters series and looks at the 23 Marine Corps units that flew the A-4C/L Skyhawk. The book opens with a brief discussion of the development of the A-4C as an all-weather version of the Skyhawk and some of the structural changes that were made to accomplish this. While the A-4C was intended as an interim design, 638 aircraft constructed. The bulk of the book consists of brief squadron histories of the USMC units that operated the A-4C, many of which can trace their origins to Marine fighter squadrons of World War II and Korea. The unit histories also include brief descriptions of aircraft losses for the unit. Each history also includes an illustration of the unit’s patch or patches and multiple photographs of the unit’s aircraft… more |