Ron Bell
Reviews By Author
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Davinci Rolling Ball TimerPublished:
The KitThis is the latest in Academy’s “DaVinci Series”. They are models based on sketches of some of the inventions of this amazing man. All are molded in a vinyl-like soft plastic that facilitates the press fit of the components as no glue nor paint is required. All are ingeniously engineered to go together easily and to function smoothly. The subject of this review is a rolling ball timer. It doesn’t time the rolling ball, rather the rolling ball serves as a sort of escapement mechanism for the machinery. You may think that this is a bit “Rube Goldberg” just for a timer, but remember there were no readily available clocks at the time and those that were, were not particularly accurate and were insanely expensive as well. There are forty-one parts, four of which… more |
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Ships of ColumbusPublished:
The KitsThese are Round Two’s re-release of the Lindberg company’s re-release of three old Pyro molds that appeared under many guises, such as the Nina was once boxed as a Barbary Pirate and the Santa Maria appeared as the Mayflower. They were part of a series of kits called “Historic Sailing Ships” that included twelve ships, many actually duplicates with different names. When first released, the kits were of a standard box scale, but “The Ships of Columbus” are touted as being 1/144. In reality the three ships varied in size yet the kits have all the same dimensions, so the scale issue is “iffy” as each ship has a hull about 4.5 inches long. As to accuracy, they are as accurate as just about any other rendition of Columbus’ ships as there are no pictures nor plans nor very… more |
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Car Door Typhoon Canopy MasksPublished:
If you’re like me, you hate masking canopies/windows. The advent of the canopy mask has made it possible for me to attempt many kits that I otherwise would never try due to large expanses of glass. But even in the case of kits with relatively limited glass, they certainly make life a lot easier. Hauler Brengun is a Czechoslovakian model company that produces a whole series of accessories for their own kits such as resin detail parts, masks and oddly enough, replacement canopies for their own kits. The subject of this review is their set of masks for their Typhoon IB (car door) kit. Included are a set of masks for the canopy, masks for the wheel hubs and finally for the wing landing lights. They are made out of the same type material as Tamiya masking tape. They have a good… more |
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Caravelle French AirlinerPublished:
The KitThe Caravelle was the world's first short/medium-range jet airliner, first flying in 1955, and was produced by the French Sud Aviation firm. The Caravelle was one of the most successful first-generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with an order from United Airlines. The Caravelle established the aft-mounted engine and clean-wing design that has since been used on a wide variety of aircraft. This is another… more |
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U.S.S. SpringfieldPublished:
The KitThe kit is of the U.S.S. Springfield, one of 27 Cleveland Class light cruisers built by the United States during the Second World War. Her primary role was to provide anti-aircraft protection, but she also served in a shore bombardment capacity. After the war she was laid up but in the late 50’s she was one of three Clevelands to be converted to a guided missile cruiser of the Providence class. Her rear six inch turrets were removed and two twin Terrier SAM missile launchers were installed. She served in this capacity until being decommissioned for the last time in 1974. This is model is one of the Revell Select Subject re-releases from long ago. Originally issued by Renwal, Revell acquired this companies molds and over the years has re-released these kits… more |
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U.S. Navy TankerPublished:
The KitRound 2 Model Company purchased the rights to the entire Lindberg line and they have been releasing selected kits gradually. In the past, “real modelers” disparaged the Lindberg Line as being inaccurate and simplistic, but these kits were never designed to be the be all and end all of accuracy, even at the time long ago when they were released. They were designed to generally represent the subject and do so in a kit that was easy to assemble and reasonably priced. By today’s standards, they are not what most ship modelers are looking for, however if you’ve got a youngster you’re trying to get involved in the hobby or maybe a Brownie or Cub Scout group, they would make great projects and teaching tools. Or, maybe you want to try out some new techniques. These kits… more |
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Combustion EnginePublished:
The KitThis is one of the kits in the Airfix Engineer line and is designed to teach, so it’s not really a model of a real combustion engine. Rather, it is a representation, and as such is much simplified. That being said, the kit consists of 92 parts, excluding screws. No glue is required for assembly with everything either being pressure fitted or screwed into place. In addition, no painting is necessary. As a matter of fact, it may not even be possible as all parts that are pressure fitted are of a soft, almost vinyl plastic and getting paint to stay put on them could be problematic. But again, this is a representation, not a model of a real engine and the parts are modeled in several colors to make them stand out. The kit is motorized and has many moving parts and… more |
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Blenheim Mk I Detail SetPublished:
The AircraftThe Bristol Blenheim was a fast day bomber designed for the RAF in the early to mid thirties. In its day, it was a fast, excellent aircraft. Unfortunately, its day was past when WWIl broke out. It was hopelessly outclassed by most modern fighters and was shot down in droves when un-escorted. It was quickly relegated to night intruder and naval strike missions and usage in less threatening environments. Despite attempts to upgrade it with new engines and other changes, it's performance remained sub-par and it was phased out as soon as was practicable. The SetThis is one of Eduard's "Big Ed" sets that bundle all their PE sets and masks for a given kit in one package. In this case it consists of their exterior, interior, landing flaps and bomb bay… more |
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Lindberg Tabletop Navy - Two pack All American WWII Ships (U.S.S. Intrepid & U.S.S. North Carolina)Published:
The ShipsU.S.S. IntrepidAlso known as The Fighting "I", the U.S.S. Intrepid is one of 24 Essex class aircraft carriers built during World War II. She participated in several campaigns in the Pacific, including The Battle of Leyte Gulf and participated in the Vietnam War. Modernized in the early 1950s, she became an antisubmarine carrier and served as the recovery ship for both a Project Mercury and Project Gemini space mission. Decommissioned in 1974, in 1982 Intrepid became the cornerstone of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. U.S.S. North CarolinaThe namesake ship of the North Carolina class and the fourth warship in the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the state of North Carolina, she was build under the restrictions of… more |
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M42 "Duster"Published:
The VehicleDeveloped from the M-41 Light Tank with which it shared many parts and features, the M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," was an armored light air-defense gun built for the U.S. Army by the tank division of the General Motors Corp. from 1952 until 1959. The vehicle had a crew of six, weighed 25 tons fully loaded, and was armed with two fully automatic 40mm Bofors guns with a combined rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute (rpm). For close in defense, it also carried either a .30 caliber or 7.62mm pintle mounted machine gun. The 500 hp, six-cylinder, Continental, air-cooled, gasoline engine was located in the rear of the vehicle and via a cross-drive, 2-speed Allison transmission, could attain a top speed of 45 mph with a range of 100… more |