Rob Benson
Reviews By Author
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HU-16A AlbatrossPublished:
The wonderful folks at Stevens International Hobby Distributors deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new products to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published. The Albatross was a common utility amphibian aircraft in the post-WW2 era, carrying a number of designations and operating with the USAF, USN, USCG and many foreign services. The distinctive high-wing, twin-engine plane worked mostly in the search and rescue role, with some examples serving… more |
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Premium 3-bar RailsPublished:
Many, many thanks to Mr. Richard Harden of Tom’s Modelworks for providing this beautiful ship model enhancement set for review. I am also deeply appreciative of the IPMS Reviewer staff who tirelessly support a very large group of reviewers. I am delighted to report on my experience with this neat product. Description and UseThe set consists of a single 7.8 x 2.8 inch photo-etched and polished brass fret with more than 1000 scale feet of railing and about 300 feet of ladders. The railings are mostly the 3-bar variety with several stanchion spacings represented. Canvas dodgers or screens are represented well on a row of 2-bar rails. The ladders have densely-spaced tabs that are designed to be bent for standoffs, holding the ladder off its attachment surface. The brass… more |
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Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu - The FinalePublished:
Again, many, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the last stages of construction! Construction commentsAfter completing the main wing subassembly I needed to rework my initial approach to completing the Uhu review series. I intended to write a series of 8 construction reviews for each of the steps in Chapter 3. As subassemblies converged in the final steps, it became apparent that I needed to blend the final steps for effective painting and assembly. For example, the… more |
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Metal Landing Gear for HK B-17GPublished:
Many thanks to Mr. Ross McMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to try this neat conversion and replacement set for a recently released kit. I am delighted to report on one of the many aftermarket sets that are becoming available for a groundbreaking release, the Hong Kong Models B-17G in 1/32. The 4 white-metal parts arrived in a blister pack, backed by the distinctive SAC company logo. The heft of the parts is very noticeable. The struts are nicely polished and require little buffing and cleanup. The gear struts of the HK B-17 are directly replaced with the SAC parts. The main mount actuators and scissor links from the kit are used, and they mate very nicely with the replacement parts, which have very nice and crisp detailing . The… more |
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The Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu, WingsPublished:
Again, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the next stage of construction: the main wings. Overall ImpressionThis next construction section has only 65 parts and 8 subassemblies! I encountered very few problems. However, I will reiterate my earlier caveats again: this is a very precisely made kit, and all parts need to be exactly aligned, fitted, or in some cases lightly sanded. After completing a lot of very beautifully engineered subassemblies so far, I think I can say… more |
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The Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu, FuselagePublished:
Again, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the next stage of construction: the fuselage. Overall impression: This next construction section has only 105 parts and 19 subassemblies! As daunting as this may seem, I encountered very few problems. However, I will reiterate my earlier caveat: this is a very precisely made kit, and all parts need to be exactly aligned, fitted, or in some cases lightly sanded. I consistently discovered that even a slight dusting… more |
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The Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu, CockpitPublished:
Many, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the next stage of construction: the cockpit. Overall ImpressionA personal challenge continues with this next subassembly. I want to keep blazing along, trying out all of the options available in the entire kit before settling down on how the final configuration will look. The cockpit assembly will be the last assembly where I have any wiggle-room before committing to the end vision! Forty parts are included in this section, and… more |
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He 219 Uhu, Monographs 49 and 50, 3D editionsPublished:
Thank you to the wonderful folks at Casemate Publishers and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review these two very timely detailed volumes describing the He-219. The Heinkel 219 Uhu was a highly effective but under-utilized Luftwaffe night fighter, with a variety of innovations including obliquely firing guns and the first operational ejection seats. The two Kagero monographs described here provide an excellent resource for any modeler constructing and replicating this extraordinary aircraft.
These two monographs are paired, yet can be considered as standalone publications. Volume 1 focuses on a thorough… more |
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The Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu, MotorsPublished:
Many, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the next stage of construction: the motors. MotorsAs described in my first review of the SWS Uhu, the construction is staged over 7 groups, or chapters. The first part of the instruction chapter concerns preparation of a pair of Daimler-Benz inverted V-12 motor look-alikes for later installation in the wings. As I expected, the part fit was excellent throughout. All parts runners were washed per modeling good practices, filling… more |
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The Super Wing Series He-219 Uhu, First ImpressionsPublished:
Many, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He-219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. The Heinkel 219 Uhu was a highly effective but under-used Luftwaffe night fighter with a variety of innovations including obliquely firing guns and the first operational ejection seats. An excellent summary of the Uhu’s history may be found on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s webpage, along with restoration photographs of the Uhu in the Museum’s collection. InterviewI had the unique privilege of interviewing Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta and… more |