IPMS Number
33811
Steve Collins
Reviews By Author
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SB2C Helldiver Wheel BayPublished: June 19, 2014 This Aires accessory wheel bay set is made for the Academy SB2C-4 kit. As you can see from the photos, the kit’s molded-in wheel bay details are found on both the top and bottom halves of the wing. The resin replacement bays are single pieces with additional detail inside each bay. The instructions will have you remove the molded-in details on each upper and lower wing and replace them with a… more |
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Dassault Mirage III/5 Pitot TubePublished: June 18, 2014 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… more |
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F-4E Phantom II Cockpit SetPublished: June 18, 2014 The Aires F-4E cockpit set is typical of most of their cockpits. The set is made up of resin, photoetch, and an acetate sheet. Cast in a medium grey resin, the detail is very sharp and very complete. Included in resin in the set are the cockpit tub with both side consoles and the rear bulkhead of each pit molded in, side panels for each side that have detail for both pits, the rear instrument… more |
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Messerschmitt Me109 Part 4Published: June 17, 2014 I like the way Lifelike does their decals. They pick a type of aircraft and give you markings for several variants of that aircraft, rather than four or six of one type. This sheet contains markings for four Me109s. They are an Me109G-6/AS from 10 (N) Moskito/JG300, a high-altitude version with a yellow comet on the nose, a Bf109E-3 flown by Oblt. Hasselmann, the Geschwader Adjutant of JG26,… more |
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Messerschmitt Me109 Part 3Published: June 17, 2014 I like the way Lifelike does their decals. They pick a type of aircraft and give you markings for several variants of that aircraft, rather than four or six of one type. Personally, I don’t think I’ll be doing four Bf109E-1s, but I might do an E-1, an F-2, a G-6, and a G-6/R2. That’s what’s on this sheet. You get markings for four different variants of the Bf109 (or Me109, depending on when).… more |
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Micro Mitre BoxPublished: June 7, 2014 The UMM Micro Mitre Box is a useful little tool if you’re scratchbuilding or adding detail to a model. Made of aluminum, it’s designed for cutting wood, metal, or plastic using their JLC razor saw. As an aside, it also works with other brands of razor saw, so long as they’re not over .12” thickness. This version of their box allows cuts at 45°, 60°, and 90°. They have recently released an… more |
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Naval Fighters 88 – FJ-3/3M FuryPublished: June 4, 2014 The FJ Fury series of aircraft has always interested me. I think mostly that’s because they were initially developed along with the F-86. Early decisions by the Navy resulted in their first version having straight wings, but they got their jet first. Of course, research into the information gathered from the Germans at the end of World War II showed that the swept wing was the way to go and… more |
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F6F-5 Hellcat Weekend EditionPublished: November 13, 2020 Everybody probably knows that Eduard has a series of Hellcats available in 1/72. Everyone probably also knows that one of their competitors has released a similar series. The question arises as to which kit is better. In my opinion, the answer is a qualified neither. Both kits have strengths and weaknesses. I’ll be discussing those of the Eduard kit. Please note first that this build… more |
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USN Carrier Deck 1942-44 Lift AreaPublished: February 26, 2014 This product is a prepainted photoetched flight deck section from a US carrier between 1942 and 1944. It is made of a fairly heavy gauge brass. It partly includes one of the hangar deck lifts in the full up position. It has good texture showing the planking on the deck, the tiedown strips and the metal areas surrounding the lift, as well as some of the deck markings for the carrier.… more |
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Chinese J-11BPublished: February 16, 2014 The J-11B (NATO code name Flanker B+) is a Chinese version of the Sukhoi Su-27SK. The first 100 J-11A aircraft were built under license from Sukhoi. After those were completed, the license was suspended. Soon thereafter, the Chinese announced they had developed a multi-role version known as the J-11B. The Trumpeter kit seems to be a scale-down version of their larger kit. It covers the… more |