William Carrell
Reviews By Author
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F-4S Phantom II “Vandy 75” Limited EditionPublished:
The Hasegawa F-4 Series Phantom II models have been a standard for the modeling community for a number of years. They have offered virtually every variant ever produced and flown in all services around the world. This specific release is Celebrating the dawn of carrier landings. On January 18, 1911, the first successful aircraft landing on a ship occurred when pilot Eugene Ely landed his plane onto the USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4). In 1986, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four (VX-4) celebrated the 75th anniversary of this historic occasion by adding special "Vandy 75" insignia to select F-4S Phantom IIs. The kit is molded in a light grey, somewhat brittle plastic on 7 sprues, 1 sprue of clear and 1 small fret of photo-etch. A single sheet of nice looking, high quality decals… more |
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Metal Landing Gear for Hasegawa F-104Published:
Scale Aircraft Conversions continues to release high quality aftermarket gear sets and this one is no exception. This is a 3 piece white metal kit that utilizes a few of the actual kit parts. Once removed from the blister pack one cannot help notice how “weighty” The SAC gear is. Additionally, one sees the added detail with the better relief and how it will be much more realistic upon painting. The kit provided gear is actually not too bad. Biggest problem I see is that the main gear is molded in 2 parts and requires a supplied pre-formed wire insert to ensure it can hold the load of the kit. It construction suggestes the kit supplied gear is going to require considerable work to hide seams after being assembled. You will NOT have that problem with the high quality SAC white… more |
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Metal Landing Gear for Revell/Monogram F-104Published:
Having a few of these kits on the shelf and recently reviewing the kits most recent release I thought I could provide a good perspective on this offering from SAC. Scale Aircraft Conversions continues to release high quality aftermarket gear sets and this one is no exception. The 4 piece white metal kit is supplied in the standard blister pack and one can immediately see it is far superior to the kit supplied gear in detail. Upon removal, the gear is has some weight to it so it will be sturdy. The kit supplied gear was adequate, but required considerable work as the halves are not properly aligned to one another. Additionally there are a number of sink holes and ejector pin marks that are quite time consuming to fix. The SAC gear kit is soooooooooo much better in… more |
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JAS-39A/C GripenPublished:
The Gripen entered Swedish AF service in 1997 and has since equipped the air arms of the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, and Thailand. Brazil officially ordered in Dec 2013 and Sweden is to vote on their order in 2014. Rumors are also swirling that the US could be interested in the 2-seater as a replacement for the T-38. Kitty Hawk released this 1/48 new-tooled Gripen and upon opening the box it appears to be a reasonably nice kit. It is molded in light grey styrene and is presented on multiple parts trees. There is also a tree of clear and a small fret of PE. The kit features and options include:
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A3D-2 Skywarrior and Landing Gear SetPublished:
The A3D-2 Skywarrior strategic bomber, commonly referred to as “The Whale,” was the heaviest operational aircraft to be operated from an aircraft carrier. It’s service as a bomber was sort-lived and it became a successful refueling and electronic warfare/ reconnaissance platform serving the US Navy and its defense contractors for many years after most aircraft of its age had already been retired. There is little info actually available in print or online for this aircraft, but from what I could see the kit carries the lines well and appears to be, for the most part, an accurate representation. The KitMolded in a soft, light gray plastic, it consists of approximately 370 parts on many sprues. Also included are two spues of clear plastic, three real rubber tires,… more |
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SR-71 Blackbird with D-21B DronePublished:
The SR-71 was the third and final version of what is still quite possibly one of the most famous and recognizable aircraft in the world. Its predecessors, the CIA’s intelligence-gathering A-12 and the Air Force’s interceptor YF-12, were responsible not only for the SR-71’s ultimate success but were also the launch beds for so many other aircraft designs and weapons systems. This success allowed the United States to be the leader in military systems for so long. There are a number of good publications available and a great amount of web-based data available via simple search requests. I had always wanted to build a model of this epic aircraft and can now say I have. Having the luck to get a Hasegawa kit with the drone was just icing on the cake. When I opened the box, I removed… more |
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F-104G Starfighter RCAF/USAFPublished:
HistoryAnother of Kelly Johnson’s modern marvels in aviation history, the F-104 truly lived up to the many nicknames it was bestowed. The “Missile With a Man In It” is probably the most reflective of this great machine. It was a plane that was produced in greater numbers for foreign use rather than US use. It was, however, a major leap forward in technology that led to multiple advances that allowed the US to be the leader in high-performance aircraft. A quick look at the main gear configuration and wing thickness can lead one to see how the F-16 was influenced. KitDon’t kid yourself, this is an old kit. I’m pretty sure it is the original 1978 Monogram (MMI molded into the lower flap was a dead giveaway) release that has been repackaged for many years in both… more |