What's New on the SMAKR web site

WHAT'S NEW ON SMAKR

SMAKR - Scale Model Aircraft Kit Reviews!!

Email: smakr1@optusnet.com.au

This page is updated every time SMAKR is - telling you exactly what has been added to or altered on the site. A running total of reviews is shown in brackets after the first one in an update. At the end of the month the previous month's updates are summarised into a paragraph and archived to the What's New Archives page as a chronological record of site updates.

Before you send me an email requesting information/assistance, please note the following answers to commonly asked questions. SMAKR answers further questions "Information Requests". Due to a busy schedule of commitments and the volume of emails I do get, sorry but I generally won't respond to questions which are answered here.

SMAKR is a Kit Review site, NOT a hobby store - so requests for searches for a particular kit is something I cannot help with. Try an online hobby shop or search engine to find the kit you are after. Please do not ask me for kits!!
I'm in Australia - so I cannot assist with knowledge on kit stocks, reference or availability in the UK, Europe, USA, etc
This is NOT an online magazine. It is a kit review site so I do not publish articles or answer questions which may be best directed to other sites, online discussion forums. Getting answers from a range of modellers is much better than one person's opinion!
YES - SMAKR has pages dedicated to Tips, Humbrol Cross Reference Chart and Opinion on Kit Manufacturers - these can be accessed through the reference section.
I do not own a scanner. So I cannot scan items for you and I do not keep old instruction sheets or boxart.
I will not do your research. Please do not ask me to check my references to find out a particular piece of information for you. While I would sincerely love to help, I just do not have the time (I work full time and run a business!) and I already contribute hugely to the hobby with this website. I would rather spend time publishing reviews for you! Use Google to find many other avenues on the internet that you can peruse to obtain this information.
Trouble shooting tips - Page Not Found errors; Fortunecity Logos as wallpaper, annoying pop up adverts are just some of the tips and stuff also covered in the information requests page. SMAKR makes no money from the adverts - it is one of the things we must put up with to have a free web hosting service.
Review comments are the reviewer's alone - any review that appears on this site is the work of the author and does not necessarily reflect any opinion of mine.
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Please see NEWS Page for SMAKR position on warning imposed against this site by Google.

22 November 2009

Phew cooler weather, temperatures are less than half than a few days ago. But with it a massive amount of rain - talk of one extreme to another!

KIT REVIEWS (1033) - Xtrakit 1/72 De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2/D.3 - John Armstrong - looking for a kit of this hard to find aircraft, this is a limited run kit but could be just what you are after!

- Redstar 1/72 Anatra Anasal DS - Steve Hedworth - something a little different from the WW1 era and one that gave Steve a few challenges as well as having a bygone era heritage!

20 November 2009

A little bit of time to spend on SMAKR thanks to not being able to do anything else until today! We can get some hot summer temps as many of you know, 42C (108F) is the upper scale, and we get a few of those days each summer. But yesterday's temp of exactly 45C (114F) in SPRING is ludicrous. That's an extreme for summer. Records no longer broken but smashed, just what is in store for us over the next four months?

The heat has set us back with the projects we have around home, so time to get stuck into them as finally we get a bit of a cooler period (although the temps still well above average) particularly over the next 3-4 weeks. But still time to sneak in another update :-)

KIT REVIEW (1032) - Italeri 1/72 Bell AH-1W Super Cobra - myself - a nice little kit this one, enjoyed putting it together and the finished product certainly looks the part!

INBOX REVIEW (626) - Revell 1/72 Lockheed F-22A Raptor - myself - reputed to be the best of the molds for this aircraft in this scale, probably because Revell engineered this kit rather than other manufacturers updating their YF-22 molds. Note that I will add the boxart to this kit in a forthcoming update.

18 November 2009

KIT REVIEWS (1031) - Airfix 1/72 Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV - myself - in a nutshell, my take on a kit that has been reviewed a few times already on SMAKR! But looks to me this kit is well and truly past its "use by" date.

14 November 2009

Well we got past Friday the 13th.....!

Our home based project is moving ahead in leaps and bounds which is great but it is also meaning I am not getting much time for R&R or SMAKR. Bear with me as I know a couple of you are sending in reviews etc. Please remember also I am on dial up internet so any emails you send me over 5Mb are automatically deleted off the server. From my log report it appears two 5+Mb emails were sent in the past week, if it is from you, please make filesize smaller and resend. Sorry for the hassle.

Talking of hassles, there must be something in climate change. In November the record was 3 days over 40C in the same month. We have only had two days under 35C this month and the majority of others 40C or above. Breaking heat records left right and centre! November is supposed to be spring for us....!

KIT REVIEWS (1029+) - Hobby Boss 1/72 MiG-15bis Fagot - myself - two obviously very similar reviews for you today with the building of essentially the same kit with different parts for the single seat and two seat version. Throw away the Airfix kits as this really looks quite good as a finished product. Still some question marks over accuracy but a nice looking model nonetheless. Not really for beginners but at least Hobby Boss provide spares for the small parts!

- Hobby Boss 1/72 MiG-15UTI Midget - myself - obviously in the same mold as the kit above, but also nice to build something a little different than Soviet bloc examples.

7 November 2009

KIT REVIEW (1028) - Hasegawa 1/72 Nakajima Ki-43-ii Hayabusa (Oscar) - Hrvoje �afhauzer - a solid staple of modelling from Hasegawa which means probably in most WW2 modellers collections. Hrvoje has done something a little different by finishing it in French markings.

Hrvoje's last review on the MiG-21 has been updated with some better replacement photos. I've also added boxart to the recent Tamiya X-35 JSF Inbox review.

1 November 2009

As mentioned in last week's update, some work commitments and a massive home project has taken me offline for a while (will be a number of weeks). This won't prevent updates to SMAKR so still send in your reviews, but please understand there may be quite a few days between updates and I will not be very efficient in answering emails or will be able to deal with queries. The home project should... in time... allow me finally to have a permanent home for my models, yippee!

KIT REVIEW (1027) - Academy/Minicraft 1/72 Mikoyan MiG-21F Fishbed - Hrvoje �afhauzer - a simple but basic kit that Hrvoje mentions it's apparent Hasegawa legacy when it joined up with Minicraft, and seems Academy benefited in order to release its own kit. As usual an in dept analysis of the kit and a few photos (some problems with Hrvoje's flash so apologies for blurry pics) to cover the article!

October updates archived

25 October 2009

As alluded to in yesterday's update, today's is a nice chunky one for SMAKR readers but will be the last one for a week or two due to some work commitments away from home and some serious home based projects. I won't be in a position to respond to emails too much, so bear with me. Where I can I will throw in an update or two during the period, but might be a few delays on those sent in.

KIT REVIEW (1026) - Revell 1/72 Albatros D.III - Steve Hedworth - a comprehensive account of this jurassic but simple Revell kit - Steve has also sourced some tips from a modelling magazine and finished off a kit in a striking and colourful sworl pattern that's worth a look by itself!

INBOX REVIEWS (623+) - Supermodel 1/72 Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete - Richard Stracey - here's one from three decades ago from one of those companies many of us seasoned modellers really wish were still around! Dick has provided us with a nice account of what we can expect out of this kit, which if I recall correctly was the only mainstream injection mold of this cute aircraft.

- Hasegawa 1/72 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I (Finnish A.F.) - Hrvoje �afhauzer - another great inbox look from Hrvoje on a very attractive looking alternative subject scheme of a popular kitted aircraft. A photo of the contents and a great rundown as usual is covered.

- ICM 1/72 Polikarpov I-1 - Carlos Giani - a fascinating little subject from this ukranian firm and Carlos has provided us another great insight into a kit a bit from left field that tries hard to be mainstream!

24 October 2009

KIT REVIEW (1025) - Azur 1/72 Arsenal VG.33/39 - Carlos Giani - another early Azur offering which probably needs a few kits under ones belt to put together. Carlos tried to emulate the very interesting colour scheme using Tamiya masking and takes us through what he says was a bit of a disaster - but have a look at the photos, it is pretty spectacular as well!

INBOX REVIEW (622) - Pantera (Heller) 1/72 Fieseler Fi-156A-1 Storch - Carlos Giani - Pantera have produced, shall we say, some rather challenging kits in their time but this one does not look like an original, but the classic Heller kit of the 70's. Carlos takes & shows us through the Pantera offering.

The next update in a day or so (presuming Fortunecity file transfer programs are working and I can access my site!) will be a reasonably large one and will also be the last update for a week or two. Some work commitments outside my town and then some home improvements may keep me off air for a while and I will probably not be able to respond to emails - just letting you know in advance. And also letting you know, obviously if there isn't an update by Monday, Fortunecity gave me problems and today's will be the last one for a little while.

21 October 2009

KIT REVIEW (1025) - Modelcraft 1/48 North American F-82E Twin Mustang - Brian Manning - this is one of those kits that has been much maligned out in the modelling community, and there are a range of different reviews (all saying it is bad) out there. So did Brian think any different...?

INBOX REVIEW (622) - Italeri 1/72 Grumman KA-6D Intruder - Carlos Giani - another nice little preview from Carlos on a kit I still very very often see on hobby shop shelves. So how does it look in the box?

19 October 2009

KIT REVIEW (1024) - Airfix 1/72 Northrop F-5E Aggressor - myself - something a little different in terms of subject and a very easy kit to put together, enjoyed this weekend project!

INBOX REVIEW (620) - Heller 1/72 McD.D F-15A/B Eagle - Carlos Giani - I believe this may actually be a reissue of the Airfix kit when the two companies formed an alliance under the Humbrol brand. Carlos provides us with a nice run down, and it is typical 70's type of technology for an 80's kit, and might have a few fit problems, but also might go together nicely like the Revell version!

17 October 2009

INBOX REVIEWS (618+) - Azur 1/72 Heinkel He-60 - Carlos Giani - this is Azur's first ever produced limited run kit, and even in the images that Carlos supplies it shows - one for those who like a bit of a challenge I would think!

- Revell 1/72 Fiat CR.42 Falco - Richard Stracey - fantastic to welcome Dick back to the fold with an inbox review of this rather Jurassic period kit nowadays but still probably worthwhile getting your hands on if you can. Dick is living overseas and very difficult for him to contribute but he reads SMAKR pages a lot and often comments on kits and reviews, so it is great he keeps in touch. On this note Dick has also provided a small addendum to Carlos recent review of the Supermarine S.6B regarding construction accuracy of the floats.

9 October 2009

KIT REVIEWS (1022+) - Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed C-60 Lodestar - Carlos Giani - Carlos has put together another great review article of a kit which is limited run in name but almost mainstream in nature. An important historical aircraft!

- MPM 1/72 Republic XP-47H Thunderbolt - myself - it's funny, there are plenty of mainstream and popular aircraft and kits alike which have yet to be reviewed on SMAKR, but here is the third review of this limited run kit and aircraft! I enjoyed this project in spite of a few frustrating moments from one of MPM's earlier offerings.

INBOX REVIEW (617) - Tamiya (Italeri) 1/72 Lockheed-Martin X-35 JSF - myself - another reboxed Italeri kit with Tamiya box, bags and instruction sheet but overall looks like another fairly simple modern day aircraft. As usual Italeri's researchers need a bit of a kick up the proverbial, but I look forward to putting this aircraft together down the track.

I've fixed up a couple of problems with the site over the last couple of updates, including Steve Hedworth's images and the link to the AH-64 review, so they should all be working now, any probs please let me know.

7 October 2009

KIT REVIEWS (1020+) - Tamiya 1/48 Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk - Brian Manning - great to see both Brian and a quarter scale review return to SMAKR. This is another beauty from Tamiya - well engineered, fit and everything else!

- Eastern Express (Toko) 1/72 Aviatik (Berg) D.1 - Steve Hedworth - many modellers say that the only decent thing eastern express have done is rebox some Toko kits - and this is one of them. Steve backs up with another great insight into his build experience of this kit, a couple of photos, although a touch fuzzy, still show off his excellent finished work.

INBOX REVIEW (616) - Revell 1/48 Eurofighter Typhoon - Brian Manning - Brian backs up his quarterscale review this update with a look inside what appears to be a winner from Revell.

4 October 2009

KIT REVIEWS (1019+) - Airframe 1/72 Phoenix D.1 - Steve Hedworth - Steve provides us with his recollection of building this interesting vacform kit which provided a few challenges along the way!

- Airfix 1/72 Vickers Wellington B.III - Carlos Giani - this mold is certainly showing its age and I think disappointed Carlos a bit but he was still able to churn out a very good result and has also included an open letter to Hornby reflecting probably what many modellers are thinking too.

INBOX REVIEW (615) - Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Model 9 Orion - Hrvoje �afhauzer - well it has been a very long time between drinks for inbox reviews on this website and it is fantastic to see Hrvoje put one together on this vintage Special Hobby kit of an interwar important historical aircraft, which will no doubt prove to be a bit of a challenge for most builders! I'll have to dig up some recent purchases myself and start ticking over the inbox count too!

Finally, Phil Chapman has added some ripper photos to his recent Airfix Spitfire PR.XIX review for your enjoyment including one close up of the nose art, and the new look Airfix boxart!

2 October 2009

KIT REVIEW (1019) - Hobby Boss 1/72 Hughes AH-64A Apache - myself - the first 72nd review of this important chopper and the Hobby Boss kit is a nice one!

August/September updates archived.

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