Rod Lees
Reviews By Author
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Sepecat Jaguar Wheels and Paint MasksPublished:
A quick “thank you!” to Aires for providing us with this set; once again the excellence of your products is readily apparent! This is a very simple swap out for the Hasegawa Jaguar wheels. As you see in the side by side pictures, the outside rim detail is much more refined than the almost 30 year old wheels in the kit. The brake assembly on the back side (which is not on the kit wheels) is just phenomenal for this scale. The masks are olive green and semi-flexible. My past experience with these masks are that they work very well… when you use them correctly! (Mask the tire, not the wheel.) That may seem obvious, but I’m getting older, ya know. I don’t know about the rest of you, but this upgrade is well beyond my ability to reproduce; particularly for the four… more |
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MHU-191 M Munition Transporter with Aero 58 AdapterPublished:
Thanks to Aires for catering to the AMS in all of us; we appreciate your support! This will save a lot of scratchbuilding time for those who are into dioramas or weapons; the MHU-191 M munition transporter with aero 58 adapter is used for transporting weapons; unfortunately I could not find what type of weapon is used with this adaptor; I did find this excerpt from a Naval ordinance Manual: “The Aero 58A skid adaptor holds a single weapon of up to 30.5 inches in diameter; it can be used wihtthe MHU-125/# platform skid and MHU-126/M munitions trailer”. Bottom line: it’s Navy, use it accordingly! An excellent diorama accessory in the Aerobonus range; pretty soon we’ll have to build additions to our homes to handle the miniature flightlines and flight decks we are… more |
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F-35A Lightning IIPublished:
Thanks very much to Model Rectifier Corporation (MRC) for providing IPMS USA this kit. Up front, I determined to send this item as part of an effort to provide some of the “New kits” to our deployed personnel in harms way, through our POC at IPMS USA, and full credit definitely goes to our long-time supporters at MRC. That means this will be an “In-box” review of this kit. I was at Edwards AFB, CA about two months ago and observed (mostly heard) firsthand the test birds flying. Extremely interesting to watch and noisy, as they are claimed to be louder than the F-22 if that is possible! Nonetheless, a great opportunity and I was pleased to actually see them fly. This newest of the stable from Italeri consists of two separate sprues of standard gray Italeri plastic,… more |
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Gloster Javelin FAW 9/9RPublished:
Couple of thank you notes up front; to Hornby for bringing Airfix back from the abyss and turning it around; an Injection-molded 1/48 Javelin is one we could only dream of in the past, and here it is! And to Hornby America, who provided IPMS USA this great model of an iconic British cold war fighter. (And thanks to Dave and Dick for the build opportunity!) The last time I built a “flatiron” as these were called, was the old Dynavector 1/48 vacuum molded kit about 15 years ago. It had a wealth of detail, and was actually very easy to build. The kit is still viable (I have another one sitting on the shelf waiting to e built), but the Injected version is far better in the full-Monty detail realm. The only tricky part was installing the forest of vortex generators on the wings, as… more |
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Landing Gear for Kinetic's Kfir C2/C7Published:
Thanks again to Ross at SAC for providing IPMS USA this review set. Keep the production line up, many of us will continue to buy them! Pardon a quick interlude on the relative merits of Metal gear over plastic. About three years ago I built one of the new 1/32 JU-88 kits on the market. The proprietor of a now-defunct, not-so-local hobby shop asked if I was interested in SAC metal gear for the kit. I said, “naaa”… I was not convinced of the merits. He purchased one of the Junkers for himself, and asked if I would build it for him. “Certainly” says I. The kit, once completed, looked good in the display case in the shop. However, on my next visit in two weeks, there sat the model with a main wheel broken off, and a sad owner. The plastic axle had failed when a… more |
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Spoked Wheels and Block Tread Tires for MosquitoPublished:
Ultracast is based in Canada, and have been around quite a while, providing excellent resin cast items for the AMS modelers among us… With that, extreme thanks to our friends at Ultracast for providing these excellent castings to us, and thanks to the IPMS leadership for sending them to me for review! These are simple replacement items for the Tamiya wheel and tire sets in their Mosquito kits. I have assembled one of each, one from the Ultracast range, and the Tamiya kit items side by side. What first strikes me are the small details; the air inflation stem on the outer portion of the wheel, the increased depth of the Spoke area, and the excellent tread pattern that makes up the tire. And no seam filling! The tire tread in particular is better defined than the kit… more |
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B-17G Navigator and Bombardier Compartment Detail SetPublished:
This is part 3 of the continuing review of Eduard’s interior parts for the HK B-17 kit. The usual thanks to Eduard for providing us these sets is again stated! This installment covers the very visible nose interior section of the aircraft. I have noted several reviewers take Eduard to task for daring to try to include details that are (1) actually there on the aircraft and (2) are considered redundant since you “can’t see them.” Not so; they will be tough to see, but the Eduard updates certainly add a lot of visual interest to the kit. Having built more than my share of Monogram B-17G’s over the years, that kit has better basic interior detail in many ways than the HK kit, and Eduard is addressing those points. This much detail is, of course, a matter of personal taste… more |
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B-17 Seatbelt SetPublished:
Part 2: Continuing the saga of the new Eduard parts for the HK B-17; again, extreme thanks to Eduard for providing these sets for IPMS USA to review! This set is a basic but necessary item to complete the HK Models B-17G. This set contains one color fret of PE to cover the requirements for seven separate seat arrangements within the kit: the pilot and co-pilot seatbelts, the bombardier and navigator seats, and the seats in the radio operator’s compartment. As you can see by the set, when used on the pilot and co-pilot seat, the “almost operational” level of detail is there. I will note the appearance on the other seats when I get to those particular parts of the aircraft. These harnesses have stitching, male and female buckle components, release levers, leather pads,… more |
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B-17 Cockpit SetPublished:
We at IPMS USA are truly blessed to have the passionate detail experts at Eduard providing us their latest releases. We appreciate your support, and thanks also to the IPMS reviewer corps leadership, (Steve, Dick, and Dave) for having confidence in my abilities to deliver the goods on this most daunting task! Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing some of the primary Eduard sets for HK (Hong Kong) Models’ 1/32 B-17G. I refer to this effort as a “metal storm” because there are at least a thousand little bits and pieces in these sets that I will attempt to do justice to without making a “dog’s breakfast” of the parts. I think I’m up to it, so let’s move on. With the release of the HK Models B-17G kit, Eduard has once again stepped up to fill the detail niche for… more |
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Me-410 Radio RackPublished:
The usual “Thanks very much” goes out to our friends and suppliers at Quickboost for an excellent detail item, in this case an upgraded, simple radio rack drop-in for the Meng kit item. Almost the same as the Aires radio rack, the difference is in the mounting. Check out the photos – on the side-by-side, the right is the Quickboost item, the left is the Meng item, and the manufacturer picture shows the Quickboost item. The QB item facilitates use with the already stellar Meng basic cockpit interior; this alone makes the upgrade worth the cash! Again, a 10 for detail and appearance. Thanks again to Quickboost and IPMS USA for providing these items for review. |