Phil Peterson
Reviews By Author
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The Marmo Method Modelbuilding Guide #15 Building A 1/25th Scale Love’s Fuel Tanker TrailerPublished:
Richard Marmo’s 15th e-book is a build of the AMT Tanker Trailer kit but it goes a slightly different route and actually ends up with a What If even though he doesn’t say it. Is inspiration for this build is the Love’s Truck Stop bright yellow fuel trucks but what makes it a what if is that Love’s uses Beall tankers but the AMT kit is a Fruehauf design. This bit of knowledge just tickled me so what is in this e-book? This is a build he did back in 2013 and where things have changed as far as availability, he offers more modern options. I really like that in a build. Once he had his inspiration he needed to get more data, especially to make the decals so what did he do, he reached out to Love’s directly and they sent him a nice set of drawings so he could create… more |
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The Marmo Method Modelbuilding Guide #13 Building The Munsters Living RoomPublished:
Richard Marmo is one of the founding members of IPMS/USA, member #2, yep, 2. He has been creating ebooks on how to build kits, photo journals and other stuff for a while. This time for issue 13 what better project than the Munsters Living Room. Now you younger lads and lasses may not know The Munsters but those of us with a few more years under our belts are very familiar with this show that ran from 1964 to 1966 and then syndication. You can still find it on television today or watch it for free on Peacock. The Munsters Living Room kit was originally released by Aurora back in the 60’s and then rereleased by Polar Lights in the late 1990s. Round2 picked up the license after Polar Lights went under however it is not currently in production. As usual, Richard… more |
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Spooks From the Beach – USMC F-4B/F-4J Phantoms in the Vietnam WarPublished:
The United States Marine Corps were a major operator of the F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam war flying both the B and J versions. AoA’s very comprehensive set covers six Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons with more than 15 possible schemes. There is also a full set of stencils included for one aircraft. The squadrons are:
There are left side profiles and top views for all aircraft and multiple pages for the stencils which cover all sides of the aircraft… more |
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VF-154 Black Knights - USN F-4J Phantoms in the Vietnam War & Cold WarPublished:
The United States Marine Corps were a major operator of the F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam war flying both the B and J versions. AoA’s very comprehensive set covers six Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons with more than 15 possible schemes. There is also a full set of stencils included for one aircraft. The squadrons are:
There are left side profiles and top views for all aircraft and multiple pages for the stencils which cover all sides of the aircraft… more |
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Operation Crossbow 1944 Hunting Hitler’s V-weaponsPublished:
Operation Crossbow was the Allies attempt to destroy Hitler’s new Vengeance weapons, the V-1 and V-2. This book focuses on the bomber campaign rather than the defenses deployed in England to counter the attacks. The usual soft cover book consists of 94 pages filled with Mr. Zaloga’s usual well documented and written information. There are lots of photographs of not only the allied attacking aircraft but also the German weapons and their launch sites. The photos are supported by some colored artwork, drawings, diagrams, and charts and tells the story in a fitting manner. The book contains an Introduction and Chronology chapters before giving the Attackers and Defenders Capabilities. The Campaign Objective is followed by the bulk of the book in the Campaign chapter. An… more |
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Republic F-105 ThunderchiefPublished:
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was designed to deliver a tactical nuclear weapon against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, it gained it’s fame over the jungles of Vietnam where they flew 159,795 combat missions from which 334 failed to return home. This hard cover book contains 300 pages and 575 pictures in black and white and color. It covers the full history of the plane from preliminary designs and competitors through the Vietnam War, and ending with the Thud Out which was flown at Hill AFB, Utah, about 45 minutes north of me. The chapters are broken down mainly by version with Chapter One covering the development and the YF-105A. Chapter Two takes a look at the initial Production version, the B model, and it’s brief usage by the Thunderbirds. Chapter… more |
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25PDR Field Gun & QuadPublished:
I built a lot of Airfix armor in my youth but never had this one before. Airfix has rereleased this kit as part of their Vintage Classics series and the kit is unchanged from the original 1963 molds except for newer decals. There are 71 parts molded in a dark green plastic but there are no clear parts. There is very little flash which is nice but there are some seam lines that will need to be cleaned up, especially if you decide to use the crew. More about them later. The color scheme is shown on the back of the box and represents a vehicle of the 6th Armoured Division probably in Italy though it is not spelled out. The interior is pretty basic but does include seats for 6, steering wheel and a driver. The body goes together quickly, and the fit isn’t too bad… more |
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U.S.S. Defiant NX-74205Published:
If you are reading this review I am guessing you know what Deep Space Nine was and the Defiant but just in case, the Defiant was a prototype vessel designed for Star Fleet to battle the Borg. If you need more detail there is plenty on the web. The Polar Lights kit continues their series of 1/1000th scale snap-together Star Trek universe ships. The kit has 27 parts including 13 in clear plastic and their normal 3 part stand. It also includes a plethora of decals to cover the panel colors so you don’t have to paint much other than the base color. Construction is quick with little to hinder smaller hands from getting the ship ready for combat faster than you can say “Today is a good day to die”. There are a couple of smaller clear pieces representing the Phasors (I… more |
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Berlin WallPublished:
Those of us of a certain age remember well the Berlin Wall and what it stood for and probably still remember when it was torn down in 1989. Those of you who are younger may never heard of it. If not, it is worth an internet search. The kit has already been reviewed here and a very nice job was done so I went for a less weathered look, partly to be different and partly because I haven’t decided how I want to display it yet. It yearns for a vignette or diorama setting. The build is pretty simple. There are 3 sections of wall each made up of 3 parts. There are also 3 pieces to place on top of the wall… more |
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Horten Ho 229 Set, Part 2Published:
This is the 72nd scale build from this box. John did the 1/144th scale one a bit earlier. Zoukei-Maru are known for very detailed kits with interior parts in 1/32nd and 1/48th but this is the first time they have delved into the smaller scales, and on this 72nd scale kit they have decided to go for the full interior structure as well. While I haven’t seen any of their larger kits in detail, I was a bit disappointed in the molding of this kit. There are lots of molding seams and bits of flash throughout this kit. While that isn’t a real problem, as it cleans up easily, it was just something I was not expecting. One other thing that caused me and my fat fingers issues was trying to… more |