Steve Collins
Reviews By Author
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Warpaint Series 100 - Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F ThunderflashPublished:
This softcover publication is 80 pages of useful information about the swept-wing F-84F and RF-84F jets from Republic Aircraft. It’s also Warpaint’s 100th book, so they’ve put a flashy block at the top of the front cover with a large 100 to let you know. The F-84F and its stable mate the reconnaissance RF-84F were supposed to be Republic’s answer to the fact that the earlier F-84s could not compete evenly with the MiG-15s they met in the skies over Korea. Engine development and reliability issues meant the aircraft wasn’t fielded until after the end of the conflict. Even then, the aircraft was somewhat underpowered and required a very long takeoff roll, ensuring the nickname of ‘Hog.’ This also contributed to the aircraft being utilized more as a fighter/bomber than a pure… more |
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Focke-Wulf Fw190 Volume Three 1944-1945Published:
Have you ever started making a base for one of your models and tried gluing, say, photo matte material to the surface of the base to simulate concrete? After applying the adhesive, you need something nice and heavy and flat to set on top of the base while the adhesive dries, right? Buy this book. It’s perfect for that. I mean, it’s 9” x 12.25”, about an inch thick and weights about a ton. Secondarily, it also serves as an excellent resource for black and white and original color photos of late war Focke-Wulf Fw190s, including factory and construction work. It also includes close ups, drawings, and illustrations of most of the Rüstsatz field modifications and variants plus special and/or experimental weapons used during the period, plus copies of Focke-Wulf factory handbook drawings.… more |
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De Havilland Sea Vixen Pitot TubesPublished:
This is one of a prolific series of very fine brass replacements for pitot tubes and gun barrels from Master Model Poland. They do ranges in 1/24, 1/32, 1/35, 1/48 and 1/72 for aircraft as well as guns in all the major scales for ships and a few guns in 1/35 for our armor-building friends. They are all very well made, being very petite and usually more in scale than their plastic counterparts. And, once installed, they’re much harder to accidentally break off than plastic. Yes, some of them are sharp enough puncture the less than vigilant. Ask me how I know. These pitots were made to replace the pitots on any Sea Vixen kit. In the included pictures, I compare the brass pitots to the plastic ones from the Cyberhobbies recent Sea Vixen kit. As you can see, they are much finer, with… more |
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Vautour Landing Gear (SH/Azur)Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.” This set is made to replace the parts for Special Hobbies (SH) and Azur’s Vautour kits. They directly replace the kit parts and will provide extra strength for what is a fair-sized airplane that will carry most of its weight on the centerline landing gear. The set also includes the bulkheads that… more |
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Mirage III-V Landing Gear (PJ Productions)Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.” This set is made to replace the parts for PJ Productions’ Mirage III and V kits. After comparing the parts to various Mirage kits I have, they seem to match more closely to the High Planes injected kits rather than the PJ resin Mirage I have. The High Planes kits are actually made in conjunction with PJ… more |
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Bristol Blenheim Landing GearPublished:
Scale Aircraft Conversions (or “SAC”) make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only, while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.” This set is made to replace the parts for Airfix’s new-mold Bristol Blenheim, either the Mk.I or Mk.IV. As you can see from the pictures, they’re direct replacements for the kit parts. The level of detail is very similar, though I think I like SAC’s tail wheel a bit better. Of course, being… more |
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SAC F-16 Landing Gear (Tamiya)Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.” This set is made to replace the parts for Tamiya’s F-16CJ. They seem to be direct replacements for the kit parts, providing more strength and should withstand more handling during construction than the kit parts might. They’ll definitely help add to the beefy look of the later F-16 landing gear. … more |
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SAC Hawker Hurricane Landing Gear (2 Sets)Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.” This set is made to replace the parts for Airfix’s new-mold Hawker Hurricane Mk.I. The kit parts are nicely molded and scale thickness but some of the parts are a bit fragile. The SAC parts will stand up to handling better than the kit parts, allowing a certain amount of adjustment if necessary during… more |
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Cockpit for F3D-2/F3D-2T/EF-10BPublished:
This set consists of a cockpit tub, seats, instrument panels and glare shield for early and late instrument/radar panels, control stick, rudder pedals, a couple of boxes for the sides of the cockpit, headrests, and ancillary parts for the back deck of the cockpit. This set is designed for the Sword kits, though Pavla makes a set for the Matchbox version of the Skyknight, too. The parts are well cast in a medium grey resin. I found no bubbles or short molds in any of my parts. The instructions are two pages in the typical Pavla format of line drawings with color callouts and occasionally slightly vague locations. Sword makes two releases of the Skyknight, one a Korean War-era aircraft (F3D-2/F3D-2T), and the second an EF-10B version used as an ECM aircraft during the Vietnam era… more |
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Cockpit for B-57B Night BomberPublished:
This set is a replacement cockpit for the Italeri B-57B Canberra cockpit. It is well cast in a medium grey resin with no pinholes or short casts. Light flash was present on a couple of the parts but was easily removed. It should be noted that care must be exercised when removing the pour plug from the bottom of the cockpit. If you remove the plug completely up to the level of the bottom of the cockpit, the resulting floor of the cockpit is very thin. The set consists of the cockpit tub with detailed side consoles, side walls, and bulkheads, two pretty accurate, well detailed seats, front instrument panel, rear instrument panel relevant to the B-57B, throttle and gear levers (very fragile), a canopy strut jack, and a canopy support bow. This last piece has an extension that rests… more |