Ron Bell
Reviews By Author
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Honest John Tactical MissilePublished:
OKB Grigorov is a modeling company headquartered in Bulgaria. They do 3D printing, resin and photo etch items. Their inventory includes complete kits, track sets, figures and detail sets. I have now built two of their resin kits and have found them to be of the highest quality. There is no flash, no huge molding blocks to remove and the detail is very finely executed. Don’t go here looking for another Panzer IV or Tiger kit as they specialize in some rather esoteric subjects. The subject of this review is their 1/72 scale kit of the U.S. Honest John missile. This was the first missile the U.S. produced capable of delivering an atomic warhead, although it could also carry a conventional one. It was ballistically “guided”, launched from a truck-mounted launching rail and was used… more |
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JS-2 Stalin TankPublished:
The Stalin tank series was developed in the Soviet Union during WW II to deal with the German Panther and Tiger tanks. It had heavy, well-shaped armor and a powerful 122mm gun that could pierce the frontal armor of nearly any Axis tank at over one thousand yards. Its greatest drawback was that the main gun used two-piece ammunition, which slowed down the re-loading time, thus putting the tank at a disadvantage in a “shoot out” situation. This model is in 1/56 scale, which is not what would be considered “typical” in the usual modeling community; however, it is quite a common scale with war gamers and that is who this kit is targeted for. War gamers want models that accurately depict the prototype, but are easy to assemble, as they are not as concerned with all the possible tiny… more |
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Avro 504 K and LPublished:
It can be argued that the Avro 504 was one of the most influential aircraft of the 20th century. It was in production from 1913 through 1932 and over 10,000 were built and the type was used by 39 nations around the globe. It served as a private aircraft, a trainer, a bomber, a fighter, an army cooperation aircraft, a research support craft on an artic expedition and saw service on wheels, floats and skis. In addition, it used 15 different engines during its development through 30 marks. It was a truly versatile aircraft. For a long time the only plastic model of the type was the old Airfix one that dates from 1967 and like its namesake, it has had a long life still being in production today. Kovozavody Prostejov, or KP as it is sometimes known, is a Czech company that… more |
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F100C Super SabrePublished:
This is Atlantis Models re-release of their old (1956) North American F-100C, one of the iconic American jets of the Cold War. As usual, Atlantis has cleaned up the molds and re-done the decal sheet but this is a typical 1950’s model airplane. Minimal parts (37), no interior except a pilot molded into a seat part that was ubiquitous to Revell airplane models of that era and the ever-popular Revell “Swivel Stand”. The model has the then normal raised decal locators but has engraved control surfaces. The canopy is nice and clear and fits pretty well. The decal sheet is quite attractive and having done many Atlantis kits I can safely say that it is well done and the decals behave. However, The decals are for a natural metal F-100C and I just wasn’t up to that for whatever reason, so… more |
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Statenjacht UtrechtPublished:
HiSModel is a Czech manufacturer of high quality accessories for sailing ship models such as wooden blocks, laser cut wood decks, metal cannons, photo etch detail sets and much else for existing wood and plastic model sailing ships. The Statenjacht Utrecht ,their first complete plastic kit, is a model of an 18th century luxury yacht built in the Netherlands that was used by the executives of the United East India Company. Between 1998 and 2003, a replica was built from the same plans which can still be seen today. There are two versions of this kit, a “Standard” kit and the one reviewed here, the “Premium”. The Premium version has premade fabric sails, a laser cut wood deck, metal cannon barrels, a set of premium… more |
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Operation Market Garden, A Bridge Too FarPublished:
This is a brief overview of this rather expansive operation offered in their Battle Craft series of books. It is in paperback format with heavy stock glossy pages with many illustrations inserted among the text. It starts with brief biographies of the primary commanders on both sides and then has a basic order of battle of the units involved down to the divisional level. Next is a section on some of the vehicles present during the campaign. The choices are a bit odd, however. For the Allies, the Cromwell tank is chosen. This vehicle, while present, could hardly be said to have played a major role in the campaign, that distinction for the Allies going to the ubiquitous Sherman. For the Germans, the Panther tank is the subject and while a genuine threat to all Allied armor, it was in the… more |
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British Escort Destroyers of the Second World WarPublished:
This is not really a full history of these ships. Rather it is a brief overview of their design and development. It starts with sections giving brief descriptions of the various classes, then moves into a section on all the products, kit and aftermarket, available to construct models of these ships. After that are twelve pages of some excellent models of the ships in varying scales. The next section deals with camouflage patterns and has four pages of line drawings of assorted patterns then three pages of photos. Then comes several pages on the different modifications made to the ships, listing each ship and what was done to it, and winding up with seven pages of line drawings of sample ships from each class. This isn’t the definitive book on this subject but does give the… more |
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Scorpion and Scimitar British Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicles 1970-2022Published:
This book is really in four parts. The first is a general description of the development and deployment of these two vehicles. It’s not technical and doesn’t go into the internal working of the mechanical “stuff” but it does give you a good idea of how the Scorpion and Scimitar came to be and why the design decisions that were made were made the way they were and how the design has evolved through various modifications/changes. Rounding this section out is a description of the deployments of the vehicles by the UK as well as other users and some organizational charts of Scorpion/Scimitar units. The second part is a series of 13 color profiles of various examples of both vehicles in service with the UK and other countries. Following this is a listing of all the available kits and after-… more |
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British Bombers of the 1970s and '80sPublished:
This book covers only the Blackburn Buccaneer and the Avro Vulcan. The author was intimately involved with the Buccaneer as a pilot and instructor, so most of the volume concerns this aircraft. In fact, he states that he spent most of his career avoiding the Vulcan so is not really the man to write about that aircraft. It is not really a reference book as no background, historical or technical information is supplied in the text, and the only text besides that on the five pages of the Foreward, Introduction and Appendix consists of the captions of the numerous photos, which are the real heart of this short work. Many of the Buccaneer photos are from the author’s collection and it is obvious that this volume is an homage to that aircraft, with the Vulcan taking rather a back seat. The… more |
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Scapa Flow: Home of the Royal Navy 1939-1945Published:
This volume is from MMP’s Maritime Series and is a comprehensive description and history of the Royal Navy’s base in the Orkney Islands at the Northern tip of Great Britain during WW II, Skapa Flow. It starts with a complete geographic description and a brief pre-WW II history of the base and then goes into a step-by-step description of the base’s development, facilities and defenses, including several maps of the locations of anti-aircraft defenses, mine fields and, anti-submarine barriers I am sure Germany would have liked to get a hold of. There are chapters dealing with the antiaircraft defenses, coastal artillery and barrage balloons, the RAF’s presence, minefields and wrecks, and everyday operations as well as the eventual fate of the base at the end of the war. There is even one… more |