Rod Lees
Reviews By Author
|
A-20G Havoc CowlingsPublished:
THANK YOU to our friends and suppliers at Aires/Quickboost (“QB”) for this excellent improvement set for the re-release by Italeri of the old AMT/ERTL A-20! And thanks also to the reviewer corps leaders for making them available to me to review! This set takes the kit components and improves them by saving the modeler the trouble and frustration of trying to drill out all the radial exhausts on the A-20G series. The exhaust stubs on the kit parts are separate triangles of plastic as we would normally find from a mid-1990’s kit, remove and place on lightly-marked locating lines. Hmmm… and in each case, the exhausts are not drilled out. A great way to slash your fingers and test your patience. Moving into the new century: 20 years later, the Italeria kit is the only game… more |
|
SU-25 (Frogfoot) - Pitot TubesPublished:
Another in a long line of excellent turned metal (brass) and resin items from Master Model. IPMS USA sincerely appreciates Master’s support of our reviewer corps! Up front, Master provides turned-metal pitot probes and a resin vane set for the ultimate Su-25. As usual, Piotr provides a highly-detailed, more scale pitot replacement for the kit item. Metal and resin combined make for an unbeatable combination! In side by side comparison, you can see the difference in the Master pitots and vanes verses the Kit provided plastic versions. The Master pitot is far more scale in appearance, and since it’s extremely thin, it pays to be careful with this set. Bend it and cry…. But at least it won’t break off! This package contains two turned metal probes in a double-bag… more |
|
Late Wheels and Tires for the Eduard Mig 21Published:
A new company to me; Resin Improvements (RES IM)… THANKS VERY MUCH Lukas for sending IPMS USA this wheel and tire set to review, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for trusting me to use them on my model…. This is a well-executed improvement over the Eduard Mig-21 kit wheels and tires. Three fully-assembled wheels and tires! The wheels are extremely well done with fine details. Bolts, brakes and associated wheel bits are there. The improvement over the basic kit items is welcome. The kit tires are injection molded in two halves in plastic, and the wheels are separate items in the Eduard set. I personally like the separate wheels and hubs as I can get a clean, clear paint job if I am careful while cementing them into place. The Res IM wheels and tires offer a simpler… more |
|
Wheels and Tires for Trumpeter SU-25 A,B,C or DPublished:
A new company to me: Resin Improvements (RES IM)… THANKS VERY MUCH Lukas for sending IPMS USA this wheel and tire set to review, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for trusting me to use them on my model…. This is a very simple set for the Trumpeter 1/32 SU-25 kit. Three fully-assembled wheels and tires for the kit! The wheels are extremely well done, with deep radial treads on the main tires, and extremely well done wheel details. Bolts, brakes and associated wheel bits are there. The improvement over the basic kit items is extreme; the kit wheels are injection molded plastic and, although detailed, do not come up to the same level as the RES IM parts. Also, the vinyl tires are a very loose fit on the plastic kit wheels, and hollow to boot, so that means over time… more |
|
Metal Landing Gear for Hawker TempestPublished:
More metal gear from Ross at SAC; another winner set… THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review…. This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Airfix newest releases are just fantastic, and easy to work with, but the landing gear, being part of the new plastic as well, tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has 11 parts; two main struts, two retraction links with extension rams, four gear strut arms, and a tail wheel and strut combo. The tail wheel and strut turn three parts into two, and adds requisite strength to this very vulnerable area on most models This set takes a bit of care to install, because the Tempest… more |
|
Vickers Valiant - Pitot TubesPublished:
Another in a long line of excellent turned metal (brass) items from Master Model; IPMS USA sincerely appreciates Master’s support of our reviewer corps! Up front, Master provides turned-metal pitot probes for the excellent Airfix Vickers Valiant. As usual, Piotr provides an excellent, more scale pitot replacement for the kit item. Metal is the answer! In side by side comparison, you can see the difference in the Master pitot verses the Kit provided plastic version. The master pitot is far more scale in appearance; and since it’s extremely thin, it pays to be careful with this set. Bend it and cry…. But at least it won’t break off! This package contains two turned metal probes in a double-bag system; first, the outer protective card with details on the contents,… more |
|
F-16 (Heavy) Landing Gear (Kin)Published:
More metal gear from Ross at SAC. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review. This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Kinetic’s F-16 series are most excellent, and easy to work with, but the landing gear, being part of the new plastic as well, tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has 11 parts; two main struts, three retraction links, two main gear extension rams, a nose gear and separate nose tire along with a torque link, and the set includes a replacement back bulkhead for the kit main gear well. This installation was a bit more involved; I did not use the SAC aft bulkhead, as I was using an AIRES F-16 resin… more |
|
Metal Landing Gear for Airfix Boulton Paul DefiantPublished:
More metal gear from Ross at SAC - another winner set. THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review. This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Airfix newest releases are just fantastic, and easy to work with, but the landing gear being part of the new plastic as well tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has seven parts; two main struts, two retraction links, two torque links, and a tail wheel and strut combo. This was another “only takes five-minutes” installation once I got to the point of being ready to install the gear. The gear struts and drag link fit right into place, superglue and finished. Same for the… more |
|
Halifax B Mk. III canopy masksPublished:
Thanks to Eduard for providing more of their excellent aftermarket parts for IPMS USA to review, and to IPMS leadership for sending it to me! This set is simple to use; Kabuki tape masks for all the clear bits! Included are masks for all the windows, canopy parts, and gun turrets, and wheels. One benefit of these sets is the ability to mask off VERY tiny windows; in this case, all the 1/8” round porthole windows, and some of the intersecting canopy window bits. These can be less than 1/16” across, and are VERY difficult to mask; same with the turret frames, because of the complex curves. Eduard utilizes multiple small tape masks to make sure you cover all the areas without wrinkling, which leads to paint creep under the tape. After you have installed the canopies and… more |
|
Halifax B Mk. III ExteriorPublished:
Thanks to Eduard for providing more of their excellent aftermarket parts for IPMS USA to review, and to IPMS leadership for sending it to me! This set seriously improves the appearance and detail of Revell’s 1/72 halifax B III; consisting of all the requisite improvements for the landing gear bays, and a few sundry other bits and pieces like the aft fuselage between the tail turret and mainframe, plus details for the landing gear frames. This set is simple to use and improves the kit exterior. Main gear bays are improved with front and aft bulhead details, stringers, and detailed sidewalls. The gear doors have interior lamentaitons added for detail, as well as positive-attachment hinges. I used thick superglue to attach everything on this set. Using a curved #11… more |