Rod Lees
Reviews By Author
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Spitfire Mk Ixe Gun BarrelsPublished:
Thanks once again to Quickboost for providing IPMS USA this review item! Consider this a quick, easy upgrade to your Spitfire; The kit items are not as detailed as these in that the QB parts provide just a little bit of “Oompf” ; Why? The muzzles; included are a standard smooth version, with the bore already drilled out, and one with flats to simulate the location the armorer uses to fit the barrel wrench on (also with the bore drilled out). Magnificent! Same for the shrouded barrel; Finely detailed! Add to the set blanking plates for the leading edge to cover the unused outer gun barrels, and you have a worthy addition to your “Spit”. Highly recommended! |
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MIG 23 Flogger Air ScoopsPublished:
Thanks once again to Quickboost for providing IPMS USA this review item! At first you wonder “why” these have been developed… then look closer. The bases of all the air scoops have the diamond shaped mounting flange on them. The kit? Pah! NO! So, there is your answer. The kit air scoops are lacking! These are excellent additions to the basically excellent Trumpeter Flogger kit, and well worth acquiring! Great job Quickboost! |
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SR-71 High/Low Viz DecalsPublished:
Afterburner decal sheets are jammed, literally, with detail. In these sheets are all the schemes you could imagine for this jet. Also, proper, well-researched stenciling is provided for both high- and low-visibility jets. They even have the sled that was operational at my favorite perch, RAF Mildenhall, in the 1984-86 timeframe! Ah, the days of standing in the mist just after sunrise, watching and feeling the dual afterburners blasting everyone out of the rack early in the morning as the bird departed and climbed out at a ridiculous angle! Sheet 48-078 has markings for 11 jets from the mid-1990’s to retirement. Included are NASA and operational combat birds with mission markings/tail art. |
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HMS WarspitePublished:
This model is not a complex build, but it does have some details that are extremely small. Be forewarned: good tweezers, sprue cutters, and an extra fine razor saw blade are mandatory to release some of the over 650 parts of miniscule carpet-monster food that exist on the trees. An exploded diagram with two hull sides, 7 parts runners, one display base, a decal sheet with flags and early aircraft markings, and a PE sheet with crane structure are provided. I opted to do the kit without extra PE or rigging to show what a buyer gets for his money. In this case, a lot! Study the instructions first; as usual, since ships hold some pitfalls if you don’t. Small parts that fit in places which are hard to get to later are the norm. Paint the splinter camo as you go along; otherwise you… more |
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Railings 45-deg. 3-Chain Bars, ShortPublished:
Thanks as usual to Eduard for providing us the latest upgrades for our AMS builds. Eduard’s photoetch is world-class; so here’s a simple upgrade opportunity for the ship builders… the elusive railings for stairways! During my recent IPMS build of the new Academy “HMS Warspite”, I used a section of this railing for one of the stair sections to the upper fighting top area. Simple as can be; measure, cut, superglue in place. Worth every penny… Railing is always difficult to find, and I appreciate Eduard developing this set. 10 of 10! |
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Mig-29A with PE and Resin upgradesPublished:
Eduard continues to lead the pack in taking older kits and upgrading them with PE and resin upgrades. In this case, we have the Academy MiG-29A, which in its own right is an excellent kit, with several items added to bring the basic kit to the next level. In this case, Eduard’s own PE instrument panel and detail set, combined with their in-house “Brassin” resin upgrades. Oh yeah, there is also one outstanding decal sheet included with no less than five variants to finish your model; Two Soviet, one Polish, one Czech Republic, and one Iranian. All are in register, and make for quite a variety of color schemes. The decals also include a comprehensive stencil suite, including missile and launch rail details. Outstanding! Watchagit? First, the complete Academy kit, a… more |
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SU-24M Fencer D Interior SA Set (Zoom) and Seatbelt SetPublished:
Eduard. Say “Almost Perfect Instrument Panels.” Something I cannot do by my own hand…yet Eduard continues to provide excellent detail sets for not only instruments and switch panels, but also seat belts and ejection seat details. Thanks most high to our friends at Eduard for providing IPMS USA a chance to review more of their excellent sets! I did the review of the Trumpeter SU-24 last year; it was a competent out of box build, but I thought at the time, “Too bad Eduard hasn’t released a decent instrument panel and detail set for the kit.” And here they are a year later! Both of these sets fully detail-out the already impressive Trumpeter cockpit for the SU-24. I purchased an Aires cockpit set for the kit a while back, but when the Eduard parts arrived, it was time to go to town… more |
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B-52B with X-15 Experimental AircraftPublished:
One sure way to mess up the kit speculators is to re-release a rare kit. In this case, re-releasing the classic Monogram B-52 with X-15 combination was eagerly awaited, as some on the open market paid over $400 for this particular kit, which was released in the “Young Astronaut” series back in 1992 or so. Thanks to Revell/Monogram for providing us this excellent kit! For those of you who remember when this kit came out, the venerable 1967/68 Monogram B-52D mold was modified to include the cutout on the starboard inboard flap to accommodate the X-15 fin assembly, and the clear parts tree was modified to include the viewing bubble prominently protruding from that side of the aircraft. The tail quad.50 caliber machine gun stinger turret was omitted like on the real aircraft, and… more |
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MIG 23 Packed Drogue Chute and Clamshell doors for Trumpeter KitPublished:
Thanks once again to Quickboost for providing IPMS USA review items; I’m always amazed they find more to detail out, even on the most complex of today’s models… In this case, Quickboost provides a simple replacement for the closed kit drogue chute housing. Three parts; two clamshells, and one drogue chute container. I painted the two clamshell doors RLM 02 on the interior, a medium green on the outside, and yellow/tan on the chute. Detail is superlative; there are even actuator cables and a lock loop on the back of the chute container. (yep, it looks like an ear of corn). Inside the clamshells are open bays and rivet/cable details. You could spend hours doing this from scratch; someone at Quickboost did! This was an opportunity for me to try something on an already… more |
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CVN-65 USS Enterprise Hangar Deck Scale DrawingsPublished:
Editor: Contact Tom Pope for obtaining the drawings. It’s not often I do a review on something before I have fully worked it, but this one deserves the time. How many of you have the Tamiya 1/350 USS Enterprise in your stash? And how many of you have thought of making a hangar deck for the model, but didn’t want the hassle of cut/fit/throw away, repeat? I just finished the Dragon Independence, and can categorically state a hangar deck makes a major impact on the final product… Why not the Enterprise? Although this is not provided in the kit, it doesn’t require too much work; that is, unless you don’t have dimensions and detail. Enter Tom Pope’s drawing. He worked on this for two years, and is now ready to offer it on… more |