Ron Bell
Reviews By Author
The Aircraft Carrier HMS InvinciblePublished: August 18, 2021 This is another in Kagero’s series of books that focus on one particular ship, in this case the HMS Invincible. The book consists of one column of text about the ship that is like what you would read on a kit’s instruction sheet and 28 pages of line drawings of just about every aspect of the ship from the island down to the various aircraft that served aboard and the individual defense weapons… more |
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USS Pittsburgh CA-72Published: June 4, 2021 The KitAtlantis continues to re-release some of the kits a lot of us grew up with. This example is the 1954 Revell U.S.S. Pittsburgh. The kit was re-released many times over the years as the Pittsburgh, the Helena and with new parts updating it with Terrier missies as the Boston and Canberra. This release is in its WW II guise. You get decals for every ship in its class (Baltimore… more |
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Mk.IV Male (Emhar kit)Published: April 19, 2021 This set consists of one photoetch fret with parts to detail and/or replace kit parts on Emhar’s 1/72 British Mark IV Male tank. Mainly they are replacement parts for the kit’s un-ditching beam rails, some detail parts for that beam, replacement sponson doors, pistol port covers and parts to enable the modeler to open up the driver’s and commander’s vision ports. There’s also a piece to… more |
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Operation Colossus, The First British Airborne Raid of WW IIPublished: September 22, 2020 Operation Colossus was an airborne commando raid into Italy early in the war to interdict a particular aqueduct vital to the towns in the ‘heel’ of Italy. The operation is not very well known and this book is a welcome addition to anyone’s WWII library as it fills a void not covered in other publications. Author Lawrence Paterson… more |
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Crete, The Battle for Heraklion, 1941Published: September 15, 2020 If you are looking to learn about the battle for Crete in WWII, Crete, The Battle for Heraklion, 1941 may not be the book for you to start with. This book deals almost exclusively with the battle for the town and airfield of Heraklion, only one of three landing areas for the German paratroopers on Crete. However, if you are interested in the stories of those on the “sharp end of the… more |
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M-46 Patton TankPublished: May 17, 2020 The KitRemember these? This kit is from the dawn of armor modeling in the 50's. Aurora had a series of 1/48 tank kits that included the Stalin III, Chi Ha, M-109, Swedish “S” tank, Centurion, M-70, and Churchill, none of which would be modeled in any scale for literally decades. This is the Atlantis re-release of the M-46 Patton. There are 127 parts, including four… more |
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The ColosseumPublished: February 9, 2019 The KitThis is one in a series of architectural models that Italeri is producing. Kudos to them for doing some really different things in modeling, with their Leonardo Da Vinci line and now this architectural one. No number of parts is given, but my guess is around 60 or so, most of those being the columns at the top. The parts are sharply molded in a light tan plastic with… more |
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Blenheim Mk IV Mask Set for Airfix Kit (new tool)Published: June 28, 2021 One of the bug-a-boos of a lot of aircraft models for me is all that glass that needs to be masked in order to paint. I’ve read several tutorials and tried lots of methods, but it’s all tedious and with my skill level brings about at best mediocre results. Then along comes pre-cut masks and my life is changed. Eduard’s mask sets are precisely die cut on the same sort of masking tape/… more |
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Blenheim Mk IV Exterior Detail SetPublished: June 28, 2021 Airfix has released two 1/72 Blenheims, a Mk I and a Mk IV, and Eduard makes several detail and masking sets for both. The subject of this review is their exterior detail set for the Mk IV. Most of the “true” exterior parts are mostly access hatches and panels that are glued to the exterior skin of the aircraft. These are simple to deal with; however, they do stand proud of the surface, which… more |
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The Forgotten War of the Royal Navy - Baltic Sea 1918-1920Published: September 26, 2018 From its title, this book purports to be about the Royal Navy, but only a minority of the text is devoted to that service. There is no mention of it at all until page 34 (Out of 144 pages total, or roughly almost 25% of the way through the book), where the fate of some submarines sent to the Baltic in 1915 is covered in one paragraph. The Royal Navy then does not re-appear until page 46. While… more |