Tom Pope
Reviews By Author
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Star Trek: The Original Series SetPublished:
For me and all other Star Trek fans/modellers, it has really been great to watch Round2 pull out the old AMT Star Trek kit molds, re-work a few things and then re-release the oldies, in new form, and on top of that release super new kits in the same genre and in comparable scales. In the first quarter of 2013, among several other great releases, Round2/AMT re-packaged the original series (TOS) USS Enterprise with her two primary adversaries, the Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser and the Romulan Bird-of-Pray (BoP) as the newest entry into their familiar 1/2500 scale, Cadet Series. I want to start by thanking Round2 Models for providing this kit for review and IPMS USA for giving me the opportunity to review it. In the BoxThe new 3-ship Star Trek, The… more |
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Klingon K'T'inga-Class Battle CruiserPublished:
IntroductionAs a long time fan of the original Star Trek TV series (I watched it during its original run on NBC), I remember anxiously waiting for the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. After seeing how far Hollywood had come with special effects on the Star Wars series, I thought The Motion Picture (TMP, in fan lingo), with its great story lines and history, had the potential to be a great movie. Then, there in the opening sequences, were the three Klingon K'T'inga ships on the big screen with all the additional hull detail, approaching the big, unknown cloud-ship. Shoot first, ask questions later, right? Klingons... All of us real fans forgave Hollywood for the movie's story, execution, and other issues, but the things we got from… more |
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Star Trek Deep Space 9Published:
IntroductionGrowing up building all genres of AMT/ERTL/MPC kits, it was sad to watch the demise of the company to a shell of its former self. Being a particularly big Star Trek fan and with AMT being the only game in town all those years ago for Star Trek models (before the internet), it was a sad to see them go. Then, a few years ago, along came Round2 – acquiring the AMT/MPC molds, fine-tuning several of them, and re-releasing most of the old kits we all remember. Many are being re-released with Retro-Style packaging, while others are being issued with all-new box art and packaging. In late 2012, Round2 re-released Star Trek Deep Space 9 (DS9) in a new, colorful package with a short history of the space station on the box bottom. Thanks to Round2 for reviving those… more |
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USS Fort Worth – LCS-3Published:
IntroductionThe US Navy's third littoral combat ship (LCS), the USS Ft. Worth was just commissioned in late September, 2012 – a mere few weeks after Dragon released this kit. Designated LCS-3, the Ft. Worth is a single V-hull, and the second of the Freedom class LCS ship. LCS ships are sleek and fast, make a small radar target, and can maneuver close to the shore in only 20 feet of water. Dragon's LCS-3 Smart Kit is an excellent representation of the LCS class ship, in a small size and with excellent detail, that can be displayed just about anywhere. In the BoxThe kit comes in Cyber-Hobby's usual colorful, high quality packaging. The box measures 7.5" x 11.4" x 1.8" and contains 6 sprues with about 116 parts, but you'll only use about 87… more |
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Ooma's Tuna Fishing Boat "Ryoufuku-maru #31"Published:
IntroductionIf you're looking to change things up a little from the armor or naval vessels or historical military aircraft kits you've been building, what about a tuna fishing boat for a change of pace? Aoshima of Japan is offering just such a kit with "Ryoufuku-maru #31". Tuna fishing is the main industry in the north of the island of Honshu, Japan and Aoshima offers this kit of the boat that makes it all possible. The boat depicted by this kit is representative of the typical tuna fishing boat this industry is built around. My thanks go out to Dragon Models USA for providing this Aoshima kit for review and to IPMS USA for letting me review it. In the BoxThe kit has a total of about 375 finely molded parts (don't panic, 132 of those are floats) on… more |
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Star Trek Adversary SetPublished:
IntroductionGrowing up building all genres of AMT/ERTL/MPC kits – cars to aircraft to space ships to monster figures – it was a sad day when ERTL reduced AMT to a shell of its former self. Being a particularly big Star Trek fan and with AMT being the only game in town for Star Trek models (before this “internet” thing became such a big deal), it was a sad time indeed. Then, a few years ago after much finagling, along came Round2, acquiring the AMT/MPC molds, fine-tuning them, and re-releasing most of the old kits we all remember. Many are being re-released with Retro-Style packaging, while others are being issued with all-new box art and packaging. The old Star Trek kits are back, in style. Among those are the Cadet Series – the 1/2500… more |
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Apollo 10 CSM + LM + LESPublished:
IntroductionApollo 10 was launched on May 18, 1969, and was the dress rehearsal for putting man on the moon. The flight took the command/service module (CSM [CSM-106]) “Charlie Brown” and the Lunar Module (LM [LM-4]) “Snoopy” to the moon, where the LM separated, descended and maneuvered to within 9 miles of the lunar surface. The mission of Apollo 10 was to demonstrate the performance of the LM and CSM in the lunar gravitational field and evaluate docked and undocked lunar navigation. “Charlie Brown” and crew returned safely to Earth 8 days later, on May 26th. Like many of us, I was glued to my black & white television, in awe of the whole Apollo program. The Apollo 10 CSM+LM+LES kit from Dragon accurately reproduces the pre-launch ‘mission package’ configuration… more |
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UH-60L BlackhawkPublished:
IntroductionMany of us grew up building the many versions and scales of the utility helicopter of the time – the Bell UH-1 Iroquois of the "Huey" family. Those first flew in 1956 and over 16,000 of them were produced starting in 1960. "Utility" was the key word. They've been used for everything from search and rescue and medical evac to gunships and forward air control to fire fighting and much, much, more. A real workhorse! Any replacement was going to have some big shoes to fill. So along came Sikorsky’s H-60 with all its “utility” combinations, and many of the H-1's were able to retire to their well-deserved place in history, with no loss in capability to the many who counted on them for the last half century. Dragon has produced several varieties of the H… more |
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US Marine Aircraft, Armor, & Landing Craft in Ship ScalePublished:
Stock Numbers / Products
IntroductionGallery Models is a “brand” concept developed by MRC. Their motto is “Only Spectacular Kits” and their first release (early 2010), the 1/350 scale USS WASP (LHD-1) (at nearly 1000 parts), sets the benchmark for this scale for accuracy and detail. The attention to accuracy and detail, from the design of each part through the making of the molds, is unparalleled. That kit and their 2nd release, the 1/350 scale USS IWO JIMA (LHD-7) (at over 1400 parts), represent the ultimate challenge to even the most experienced modellers. Now, Gallery Models… more |
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Stealth Helicopter "Operation Geronimo"Published:
IntroductionMany of us were taken by surprise on May 2nd, 2011, when the President came on TV and announced Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been found and eliminated by a team of US Navy SEALs in a secret operation,"Neptune Spear." In the following days, after the dust had settled, we found that the mission had been accomplished at bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, using then-unknown-to-the-public, radar-evading or "stealth" helicopters. |