Scott retired from the commercial nuclear industry with over thirty years of experience in Maintenance, Engineering, and Training. Prior to that he served on two aircraft carriers during his time in the U.S. Navy. He has been building models for over 50 years with his first kit being purchased with money from his grandparents for his sixth birthday. With a stash that consists of more aircraft than anything else, Scott still enjoys building a little bit of everything (including but not limited to tanks, cars, show cars, military vehicles (aside from tanks), ships, figures, real space, and some science fiction), which keeps his stash growing. Scott and his wife Fern reside in southwest lower Michigan, not far from South Bend, Indiana, and have three adult children and currently three grandchildren as well as a small dog and a large cat.
Scott Hollingshead
Reviews By Author
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F-14A Seatbelts STEELPublished:
Eduard never ceases to amaze me with their innovations when it comes to adding details to our projects. Just three short years ago, I reviewed fabric seat belts for an F-14A ejection seat, and now the company has released a new line of steel PE parts. I would highly recommend this set to folks wanting to dress up the “bang seats” of their Tamiya F-14A, but this offering should also work on other kits in 1/48 scale. This new detail recommends the 1/48 scale F-14A kit from Tamiya, so I put that kit to use and built up the GRU-7A ejection seats in order to conduct this review. The set consists of a single photoetch fret that is pre-painted. If you take your time and follow the instructions, a very nice set of seatbelts will result and will improve the appearance of your ejection… more |
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F-14A Grilles - TamiyaPublished:
Eduard has once again raised the bar for the detail industry with the addition of their steel photoetched parts. This particular set is to add or replace grills on the Tamiya F-14A kit, but the items should work on other 1/48 scale Tomcats as well. I would highly recommend this set to folks wanting to add additional grill detail to their Tomcat. Along with some other recent Eduard releases for the 1/48 scale Tamiya F-14A Tomcat comes a set to dress up the various grills found on the plane. I found the ones located on the underside of the aircraft, inboard of the engine intakes, truly unique as they include what appears to be a fan under the grill. While most of the grills are simply installed over the existing kit grills, which make installation a snap, the aforementioned… more |
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Fokker Dr. 1 EnginePublished:
One of the latest releases in the rapidly expanding line of Brassin products is a beautiful representation of the Fokker Dr.1 nine-cylinder Oberursel engine. Consisting of three resin parts and a single photo-etched part, the engine builds up quickly, and will make a great addition to your 1/72 scale triplane! As mentioned, there are three resin parts in the set, which consist of the engine itself, firewall mounting plate, and a single part that has the intake shaft, magneto, oil pump case, and spark distributor, all molded on. The ignition wires are contained on a single photoetched fret. I found the construction of the engine relatively easy, but on my sample, the opening in the firewall mounting plate and attachment area for the intake shaft and other components did… more |
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Fokker Dr. 1 - Detail SetPublished:
If you are looking to dress up your 1/72 scale Eduard Fokker Dr. 1, a new Zoom set has been released that makes short work of this task. Consisting of a single fret with some items pre-painted, the 32 items provided will dress up the cockpit, guns, engine, and control surfaces. Modelers with some experience using small photo-etch parts should find it easy to add this set to their plane. I was afforded the opportunity to review this PE set when I picked the recently released Weekend Edition of the Fokker Dr. 1 (kit 7438) for assessment. During the build, I used the following items:
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Fokker Dr.1 Weekend EditionPublished:
Eduard re-released their 1/72 scale Fokker Dr.1 late last year, but this time in the form of a Weekend Edition kit that includes the markings for two aircraft (one flown by Lt. August Raben, the other piloted by Lt. Hermann Vallendor). The kit builds up easily enough, and I can recommend the kit on its own. For this particular review, I have added parts from the Eduard Zoom set (product SS 576), which did a nice job of touching up the cockpit, engine, and guns. Going a little off track for a moment, I am dedicating this review to my cousin Brian, who passed a few days ago when I was just hitting the home stretch with this build. Although it had been many years since my cousin built a model, I hope to always remember the fun we had as kids the time that our mothers took us to… more |
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F-14A Wheels Late (for Tamiya kit)Published:
One of the latest releases from Eduard in their rapidly expanding Brassin line are a set of late wheels intended for use on the new Tamiya F-14A (kit 61114). Consisting of eight resin parts along with a set of masks to aid in airbrushing the wheels and tires, the set can be used to dress up the appearance of the Tamiya kit, especially for modelers that like the representation of weight on their tires. This set consists of resin main tires with separate inserts for the outer and inner wheels as well as front wheels, which are cast as single assemblies. The Tamiya kit provides main wheels that are molded as front and back halves, while the front wheels are molded as single pieces. Assembly and installation instructions are provided on the inside of a bi-folded sheet of paper that… more |
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USS Missouri BB-63Published:
When is the last time that you really had fun building a model? Taking a cue from kits like the Bandai Gundam series that my son built several years ago, Academy, and some others manufacturers, are beginning to release kits that are molded in multi-color plastics. The benefit is that without the use of paint, and only a minimal amount of glue, a modeler can realistically create a kit beyond a simple monochromatic representation of their subject. In addition, the fit and finish of kits like this are also beyond what is found in a typical snap-tight kit. In their latest release, Academy has produced a WWII era USS Missouri that really is fun to build, and will bring the joy of modeling to anyone that is able to work with small parts. The USS Missouri (BB-63) was the third of the… more |
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F-14 Tomcat Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions celebrated their Silver Anniversary last year, and now have over twenty-five years of supplying resin and white metal parts to model builders. This is the eighth landing gear set from SAC that I have reviewed, and once again, they have provided an excellent metal option for kit-supplied landing gear. This set is intended for the 1/48 scale F-14 Tomcat that was recently released by Tamiya (kit 61114). The purpose of this replacement set is to provide stronger landing gear that is adjustable if necessary to obtain the proper angles. Even with no previous experience in using white metal parts, this set will provide an upgrade that most modelers will have no issue installing. The beauty of the white metal used by Scale Aircraft Conversions for their gear… more |
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USAAF Fighter Pilot WWII - 8th Army (European Battlefields)Published:
If you are looking to add a figure to your latest WWII fighter plane serving in the European theater, you may want to investigate the latest offering from the Aires Aerobonus line. The figure is posed climbing out of the cockpit of your plane of choice, with a thumb up to indicate a successful mission. With a little care in removing the parts from the pour plug, and some painting, this figure is an easy addition for most modelers to place in the plane of their creation. The packaging for this figure is simple with a clear plastic bag containing the figure parts (body, arms, and two optional heads) as well as a folded sheet of paper that provides drawings of the assembled figure with both heads, and painting recommendations. The build was quick and easy, as the arms and head are… more |
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Devil 501 & Devil 505 USN A-6E Intruders on the Big ScreenPublished:
If you enjoyed the movie "Flight of the Intruder" that was released back in 1991 (and now I feel old), AOA Decals now provides you with the ability to replicate the aircraft flown by the Squadron Commanding Officer, or by the main character. Commander Frank "Dooke" Camparelli (as played by Danny Glover) along with Bombardier Navigator Lt. Carl "Hero" Aldana flew in Devil 501 while Lt. Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton (played by Brad Johnson) flew Devil 505 with BN Lt. Morgan "Morg" McPherson (played by Christopher Rich), and later LCDR Virgil "Tiger" Cole (played by Willem Dafoe). Although the movie was not critically acclaimed, and did not make enough at the box office to offset the production costs, it remains an interesting movie to some of us, and it has plenty of scenes starring the A-6… more |