Kit review vol.22: USS New Jersey BB62 Platinum Edition

Subject:	USS New Jersey BB62 Platinum Edition
Scale:	1/350
Manufacturer:	Revell
Price	US$ 200,00 + Shipping
Description	Injection molded in grey plastic. Two photo etched frets and a two part pre cut wood deck. You also get brass main and secondary guns barrels along with masts.
Comments	Usually, if you consider building an Iowa class battleship, the World War Two or the modern version, you will probably go with the Tamiya offering. Despite a few problems with the superstructure, overall these kits are nice and well detailed when compared with Revell's offering. The German manufacturer kit is also nice, but much less detailed and some parts look off scale. Now Revell released a new version of the kit trying to turn the table against Tamiya. The plastic is pretty much the same, but you get a lot of extras. There are 2 sets of photo-etched parts, all the wood deck areas represented with nice self adhesive planking and brass metal main and auxiliary guns. This brings the total number of parts to 1375! You will end up with a lot of parts in your spare box and a very detailed Iowa class battleship. The price tag however grew a lot, much more expensive then Tamiya's New Jersey. But, if you consider buying and the shipping for all these extras, getting them all in the same box may be a good choice for a super detailed warship project.

Experimental aircraft walkaround vol.5: Granville Brothers Gee Bee Model R

Subject: Gee Bee Model R

Location: Fantasy of flight Museum, Orlando, Florida, USA 2013
Comments: The 1932 R-1 and its sister plane, the R-2, were the successors of the previous year's Thompson Trophy-winning Model Z. Assistant Chief Engineer Howell "Pete" Miller and Zantford "Granny" Granville spent three days of wind tunnel testing at NYU with aeronautical engineering professor Alexander Klemin. The aircraft had a very peculiar design. Granville reasoned that a teardrop-shaped fuselage — especially as seen from directly above — would have lower drag than a straight-tapered one, so the fuselage was wider than the engine at its widest point (at the wing attachment point). The cockpit was located very far aft, just in front of the vertical stabilizer, in order to give the racing pilot better vision while making crowded pylon turns. In addition, it turned out that the fuselage acted as an airfoil, like the 'lifting-body' designs of the 1960s. This allowed the aircraft to make tight "knife-edge" turns without losing altitude. It was, in effect, a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine with wings and a tail on it.The R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle. He also set a new world landplane speed record of 476 km/h (296 mph) in the Shell Speed Dash. The distinction of a landplane record was noteworthy because, at that time, specialized speed seaplanes outran landplanes (see Schneider Trophy). The Springfield Union of September 6, 1932 quoted Doolittle as saying, "She is the sweetest ship I've ever flown. She is perfect in every respect and the motor is just as good as it was a week ago. It never missed a beat and has lots of stuff in it yet. I think this proves that the Granville brothers up in Springfield build the very best speed ships in America today."The R-1 rapidly earned a reputation as a potentially very dangerous machine. The small wings, very low polar moment of inertia, and tiny control surfaces made for an aircraft that could rapidly get away from all but the most skilled pilots. This shortcoming was common to most air racers of the day. During the 1933 Bendix Trophy race, racing pilot Russell Boardman was killed, flying Number 11. After taking off from a refueling stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, the R-1 stalled, and crashed.The R-1 was later repaired and now incorporated a fuselage extension of approximately 18 inches, creating the "Long Tail Racer." It was decided not to rebuild the wings but to use the original wings from the R-2, which had been removed in February 1933 when a new wing with flaps was built and installed. This aircraft crashed in a landing overrun incident soon after it was built but Roy Minor, the pilot, was not severely injured. After another rebuild, the Long Tail Racer was sold to Cecil Allen. Allen, against the advice of the Granvilles, modified it by installing larger gas tanks aft of its normal center of gravity, which apparently made the aircraft unstable in pitch from tail-heaviness. Allen took off with a full fuel tank, crashed, and was killed. After this final crash, the aircraft was never rebuilt. A flying replica of the R-2 was built by Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin that first flew in 1991. Benjamin flew an aerobatic routine in this aircraft at numerous airshows until he retired the aircraft in 2002. This aircraft was sold to and is on display at the Fantasy of Flight museum.

Experimental aircraft walkaround vol.4: Granville Brothers Gee Bee Model Z

Subject: Gee Bee Model Z

Location: Fantasy of flight Museum, Orlando, Florida, USA 2013

Comments:The Granville Gee Bee Model Z was an American racing aircraft of the 1930s, the first of the Super Sportster aircraft built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts, with the sole intent of winning the Thompson Trophy, which it did in 1931. However, it soon suffered a fatal crash during a world speed record attempt, starting the reputation of the Gee Bee aircraft as killers. Suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, the Granville Brothers decided in July 1931 to build an aircraft to compete in that fall's Thompson Trophy competition at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. They hoped that a victory in the prestigious race would lead to additional orders for their line of sporting aircraft. Constructed in less than five weeks at a cost of under $5,000 USD, the Gee Bee (for "Granville Brothers") Model Z, named City of Springfield, was a small, tubby airplane. It was essentially the smallest possible airframe constructed around the largest possible engine, a supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-985 "Wasp Junior" radial engine, producing 535 horsepower (399 kW). First flying on August 22, 1931, the Gee Bee Z quickly proved to be tricky to fly, but fulfilled every expectation with regards to its speed. Flown by pilot Lowell Bayles, the Gee Bee Z attained the speed of 267.342 miles per hour (430.245 km/h) at the National Air Races during the Shell Speed Dash qualifying on September 1, then went on to win the Goodyear Trophy race, run over a course of 50 miles (80 km), the next day at an average speed of 205 miles per hour (330 km/h). On the September 5, the aircraft's engineer, Bob Hall, flew the Gee Bee Z to victory in the General Tire and Rubber Trophy race, then won again the next day in a free-for-all event. In the Thompson Trophy Race on September 7, Bayles was triumphant, winning with an average speed of 236.24 miles per hour (380.19 km/h), winning over competitors including Jimmy Doolittle, James "Jimmy" Wedell, Ben Howard, Dale Jackson, Bill Ong, Ira Eaker, and Hall, who finished fourth in a Gee Bee Model Y. Following the Thompson Trophy race, the Gee Bee Z was re-engined with a larger, 750-horsepower (560 kW) Wasp Senior radial, in preparation for an attempt at establishing a world speed record for landplanes atWayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan. Unofficially clocked at 314 miles per hour (505 km/h) on a trial run, it surpassed the previous record of 278 miles per hour (447 km/h) by attaining 281.75 miles per hour (453.43 km/h) on December 1, 1931, but the margin was too small for the record to be officially registered. A further record attempt on December 5, 1931, would end in tragedy, the aircraft suffering a wing failure and rolling into the ground, killing Bayles. Two reproductions of the Gee Bee Z have been constructed. One, a faithful reproduction of the original aircraft, was constructed by Jeff Eicher and Kevin Kimball of Mount Dora, Florida, and is housed in the Fantasy of Flight museum

Spacecraft vol.5: Little Joe I Mercury program LES test vehicle

Subject:	Little Joe I - Mercury Program LES Test Launch Vehicle
Scale:	1/144
Manufacturer:	New Ware models
Price	US$ 24,00 + shiping
Description	Resin casting with photo-etched metal parts and decals
Comments	This is another great kit from New Ware models. The Litlle Joe I was a solid fuel rocket design used to test the escape system for the Mercury spacecraft. New Ware´s kit is nicely produced with yellow resin for all the major parts, with photo-etched metal parts for some airframe details and the escape tower. Fit is very nice and construction is simple. There is a fantastic decal sheet the performs beautifully over the recessed details of the model . The base was scratch built.

1) Instructions and model parts:

2) Construction:

Note the fantastic surface detail on the spacecraft. Remember this is 1/144 scale!

3) The finished model:

Both Little Joe rockets with Mercury and Apollo capsules for test

Modelling series project vol.1: The Mercury Space Program

This is a new series of posts that will be related to a single subject. I will be building a series of kits on one specific subject. The first will be the Mercury Space Program, United State's first manned orbital flight spacecraft. The kits are listed bellow. Every subject will be posted individually, and, when all were concluded, a new post with all the kits , references and videos will be published. Stay tuned for updates!

1) The Busters:

New Ware 1/144 Little Joe 1

 New Ware 1/144 Mercury-Redstone

New Ware 1/144 Mercury-Atlas

Revell-Monogram 1/110 Mercury-Atlas with launchpad

2) The spacecraft:

Revell-Monogram 1/48 Mercury Spacecraft

Atomic City 1/12 Mercury Spacecraft

Classic kits vol.2: U.S. Tactical Missiles Set: Little John & Dart "s" Kits

Subject: U.S. Tactical Missile Set: Little John and Dart

Scale: 1/40

Description: 1958 injection molded kit in two color plastic,with waterslide decals.

Price: US$100,00 in good conditions

Comments:This is the 'S' kit issue from 1958. Note that the the kit is called 'Tactical missile set' instead of the 'Tactical Rockets set' used in the last issue around 1963. These missile models are well detailed. The Dart includes four missiles, one launcher, three stands, decals, one optical guidance unit and a crew of three. The Little John includes a detailed launcher with elevating rails, movable support legs, decals and crew of three. Little John was a light-weight free-flight rocket that was highly mobile. It could be pulled on it's launcher or transported by helicopter. Length was 12 feet long and the warhead was atomic. The Dart was a very early 5-foot long wire guided anti-tank missile with a solid propellant rocket motor. An optical rangefinder was used for guidance. 

Military Landmarks vol.2: Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen

Subject: Ludendorff Bridge
Location: Remagen, Germany

Comments: The Ludendorff Bridge (also known as the Bridge at Remagen) was in early March 1945 one of two remaining bridges across the River Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces during the closing weeks of the Second World War. Built in 1918 to help deliver reinforcements and supplies to the German troops on the front, it connected the villages of Remagenand Erpel between two hills flanking the river. The town of Remagen is located close to and south of the city of Bonn. At the end of Operation Lumberjack (1-7 March 1945), the troops of the American 1st Army approached Remagen and were surprised to find that the bridge was still standing. Its capture enabled the U.S. Army to more quickly establish a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Rhine. After the U.S. forces captured the bridge, Germany vainly tried to destroy it multiple times over the next two weeks. While it stood, the bridge enabled the U.S. Army to quickly get 25,000 troops, six Army divisions, and thousands of heavy tanks, artillery pieces and trucks across the Rhine. The bridge collapsed on 17 March 1945, ten days after it was captured, killing 18 U.S. Army Engineers. It was never rebuilt. The towers on the west bank were converted into a museum and the towers on the east bank are a performing art space. (Ref. Wikipedia).