Rob Benson
Reviews By Author
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Metal Landing Gear for the Tamiya MosquitoPublished:
Many thanks to Mr. Ross MacMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to try this neat substitute and replacement set for the Tamiya Mosquito FB. I am delighted to report on another sweet add-on and upgrade. The white-metal parts arrived in a blister pack, backed by the distinctive SAC company logo. The weight of the parts is very noticeable. All parts are free of sprues with the exception of some main mount bracing. The parts require very little buffing, cleanup and polishing. I did use a Dremel tool to buff some of the parts and brought a very nice natural metal tone to them. The SAC gear struts directly replace equivalent Mosquito kit parts. SAC provides load-bearing parts, so some of the kit material will still be used. The… more |
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De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI: The Build - Part 2Published:
Thank you to Tamiya, Inc. for providing this excellent kit for review and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to document my build experiences. Sharing this review with the scale modeling community would not be possible without the exceptional support of the IPMS Reviewer Corps. Thank you everyone! The Mosquito is one of my favorite aircraft with its underdog success story and stunning operational history. Tamiya’s representation of the fighter-bomber version of the Mosquito is superb. Please refer to an earlier IPMS pre-build review of this kit that describes the richness of the kit parts, decals, photo etch materials, instructions and research documents. SummaryThe following review details a very enjoyable build of a de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.IV… more |
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De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI: The Build - Part 1Published:
Thank you to Tamiya, Inc. for providing this excellent kit for review and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to document my build experiences. Sharing this review with the scale modeling community would not be possible without the exceptional support of the IPMS Reviewer Corps. Thank you everyone! The Mosquito is one of my favorite aircraft with its underdog success story and stunning operational history. Tamiya’s representation of the fighter-bomber version of the Mosquito is superb. Please refer to an earlier IPMS pre-build review of this kit that describes the richness of the kit parts, decals, photo etch materials, instructions and research documents. SummaryThe following review details a very enjoyable build of a de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.IV… more |
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U. S. Navy Modern Tow BarPublished:
Many thanks to the Hauler Brengun Company and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory. Hauler Brengun is a valued contributor to the IPMS Reviewer system and I am very pleased to report on my experience with this excellent accessory, a modern USN tow bar. USN jets are one of my favorite modeling subjects, and small details such as this tow bar add greatly to displays of completed kits. These towbars are ubiquitous anywhere aircraft get pulled around. The kit components arrived in a 5.5 x 2.75 inch plastic pouch with the resin and photo etch parts individually packaged. A simple and very adequate black and white instruction sheet illustrates the assembly steps. The photo-etched metal is brass and the light-gray resin is not brittle… more |
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Aggressors: US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps Adversary AircraftPublished:
Thank you very much to the wonderful folks at SAM Publications for providing this new title for review. Thanks are also due to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me the opportunity to research and learn more about these colorful adversary jets. Many of these unusual aircraft thrilled me with close passes while I was working in the Nevada mountains years ago. This volume is the first in a new SAM Model Data File publication series described as “scaled down in size and price.” I found this book outstanding in quality and value, so that description is quite modest. In typical SAM style, you will find an excellent balance of detail, data, and superb photographs in a large package that allows for a true appreciation of the subject material. Furthermore, example builds of an F-5N… more |
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Squadron Super Trio Super Glue SetPublished:
Thank you to Squadron Products for providing a new modeling product for field testing. Thank you to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for giving me the opportunity to run the tests. The product performed very well, and I was pleasantly surprised by the glue bottle design. Squadron has recently added to the new products lines with a set of cyanoacrylate adhesives. I tested a bundled set of three 0.705 fluid ounce bottles in extra-thin, medium, and extra-thick viscosities. I did not play with chemistry, tensile-strength, shear strength and all of that sort of stuff, largely because cyanaoacrylate is a pretty proven product. I stuck with performance-based opinions in my tests. All three products are colorless and low-odor. The extra-thin solution flowed exceptionally well into seams… more |
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Hand Sanding Bar SetPublished:
Thank you to Unique Master Models (UMM) for generously providing an excellent tool set for “field testing.” Thank you as well to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me be an evaluator. This tool set consists of 5 sanding bars in polished, machined aluminum with precise, crisp edges in 5 sizes. All bars have the same geometry but have different dimensions. The tools are designed to tightly hold a sandpaper strip across a tool edge to allow using sanding in an otherwise inaccessible area. The different sizes allow you to get sandpaper of nearly any grit into hard-to-reach places. I have used tools similar to these in cabinet making and wooden ship model projects for perhaps half a century. The concept works well. The really big advantage of the UMM sanding blocks over the… more |
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Mosquito B Mk.IV - Part 2Published:
Thank you to Hong Kong Models for providing an innovative and exceptional kit representing a legendary Royal Air Force aircraft, the first kit in a “Mossie, The Wooden Wonder” series. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work behind the scenes, getting us kits to review and publishing our work. This review is last of a two-part review. In this review you will find a brief build summary and conclusion, followed by detailed build log and reference list. Build SummaryThe most striking aspect of the kit is the stunning one-piece molding of the wing, horizontal tail fins, and both forward and aft fuselage components. I can summarize the importance of this molding approach by saying that I had very little seam filling to do, both… more |
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Geometric GLUE Tool JigPublished:
Thank you to Unique Master Models (UMM) for generously providing an excellent tool for “field testing.” Thank you as well to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me be an evaluator. The gluing is a two-part aluminum block with 90-degree intersections. The two parts are screwed together with two flat-head machine screws on the smaller end. The whole unit is about 2 ¼ by 1 3/16 inches. There are many uses for the jig. I used a simple frame assembly example to show how a complex joint could be quickly glued. Three parts were placed on the jig and one application of CA glue secured the assembly in one step. The first attempt was a failure, since glue was applied a little too heavily, with the assembly being firmly attached to the jig! But a light application of thicker CA… more |
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ScriberPublished:
Thank you to Unique Master Models (UMM) for generously providing an excellent tool for “field testing.” Thank you as well to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me be an evaluator. The tool is small, has a nice weight or heft in the hand, and does not flex easily. The scriber is strongly attracted to a magnet, but is not magnetic itself. The surface is highly polished. The longer deburring edge and the shorter scriber edge are sharp enough to start scribing right out of the cellophane package. The cutting edges should be easily honed as needed. The smooth sides moved easily along my steel straight edge. I pushed the limits a bit and found there was no flex in the tool that affected the “groove.” The primary tool design is for scribing lines in plastic, but I expect to discover… more |