Giorgio N

Thanks John! Sounds like my plan is sound then. An Ajeet would be nice too but I'm happy enough with a Gnat if no change is required. Would you know what sizes was used for the various roundels?

A very conservative choice of markings but I can understand this, VF-84 and 111 are very popular. Both aircrafts proposed however should have no ECM on the beavertail. At The same time if there's an ECM antenna on the tail like shown by the model there should be 2 small bulges under the fixed part of the wing. I hope the kit includes parts for all configurations, if not it's an Easy thing to eliminate the antenna on the tail

I'm now getting back into building models after having stopped for a few months (something that unfortunately affected my participation in the group builds... sorry 'bout that!) and was looking at some kits in the stash when I was attracted to this one: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/957530-special-hobby-sh72322-folland-gnat-f-mk-i Now nothing wrong with an RAF aircraft and I love the EW-5894, however I'd like to build an aircraft serving in the Indian Air Force, as it was in India that the single seater Gnat really shone. Special Hobby has announced an Ajeet a while ago but as this has yet to come I'm thinking of building the F.1 as an Indian aircraft. Should I want to build one of these aircrafts, what kind of changes would be involved ? I believe that nothing really should be changed in terms of details, with the decals being the only things to find. Is this correct ? Speaking of decals, looks like all operational aircrafts were in overall silver and carried only roundels and serials. Is this the case or did they carry other markings ?

Best way is to buy this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tornado-ADV-Last-Cold-Interceptor/dp/0752459368 A section of the book contains information on all F3s built, with unit assignment and codes carried In addition to the information you want, you'll also have the rest of what is a very, very nice book

So Qatar has ordered 24 Rafales a couple years ago, with aircrafts being built and pilots trained at the moment for delivery in 2018. Then they ordered 36 F-15Es in June of this year. Now they are also ordering 24 Typhoons ? Sounds like a lot of aircrafts for a country that small, I understand that Qatar is today at the centre of a very hot area (and of a diplomatic crisis) but going from the current force of 12 Mirage 2000 and 6 Alpha Jets to a total of 80 combat aircrafts is not something seen very often

Checked the various references but unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of that aircraft. Thinking about it there should be a picture in the decal sheet instructions, but not having these decals I can't check the various features. I've checked several pictures of VF-111 F-4Bs and all seem to have slotted tailplanes. All also seem to have the antenna arrangement on the top of the fin with spikes looking both front and rear (can't remember the exact designation), the Hasegawa kit also include this part (and other types of fin cap)

Totally missed this, maybe because 1/32 isn't really my scale and I'm not sure I'll ever buy such a kit. I'm glad I found it though, I wish this new venture the best of luck ! Their kit looks very nice and I like the attitude that the manufacturer show in the comments... sometime speaking Italian is a good thing

Martin, I'm only reading of your health problems now, I wish you all the best ! Glad to hear that regardless of your problems the big cat is progressing, this is one kit I'm really looking forward to

No, this variant was not used by the F-104 IIRC Italy never used the M, retaining the L until its integration (and later replacement) with the IRIS-T currently used on the Typhoons

Israel did not use the Mk.22, Egypt and Syria did. Israel used only Mk.IXs, first with a good number of former Czech aircrafts and then a number of former Italian ones. Then there was a small number of captured Egyptian aircrafts.

GLad to help ! If you can give us the Bureau Number proposed by the decal sheet you have, I can check if I have any info on that particular aircraft. I have a few references on the Sundowners, maybe there's a picture of your subject in these

No problem Martin, will do !

Can't believe how expensive it seems to be today, even on that famous auction website I can only find copies for over £50.. Got mine from a non specialist shop for a fiver, guess I was lucky

Yes to removing the fairings on the intakes, no to replacing the tail planes... the N has slotted tailplanes, the early B have unslotted, the later B have slotted. So depending on your aircraft, you either keep the N stabilators or add unslotted ones. Burner cans remain the same as engines were not changed in the N. As Nigel said, the Hasegawa box includes parts for both variants, however IIRC there are no unslotted stabilators, only the slotted ones. Speaking of VF-111 Phantoms, this unit used both the B (from 1971 to 1975) and the N (from 1976 to 1978). They were supposed to receive Js in 1975 but in the end went to the N. As they received the B quite late, I believe that their Bs had the slotted stabilators and the pictures I have of aircrafts from that unit show this features. VF-111 also had some Ns without the fairings on the intakes, these are sometimes erroneusly captioned in pictures as being F-4Bs. The most famous was Bu.No. 151000, a CAG aircraft carrying the most spectacular "sundowners" marking. This is the subject for example of the Academy 1/48 F-4B kit... but it's not a B it's an N. Or better, it was an N when serving with VF-111. Of course at some point this aircraft was a B as all Ns were rebuilt Bs.

Martin, my source is not secret but simply this book: https://www.amazon.com/Republic-P-47-Thunderbolt-Chapter-American/dp/0962586013 It's only 64 pages but even if P-47s and Latin American air forces are not really my main interest, it's a book I love, packed with information and very well researched. It's one of those books that show the love of the author for the subject. Unfortunately it's OOP, got mine some years ago at a second hand book shop. In the appendix are known serials for all P-47s serving in Latin America (including the Portorico ANG aircrafts), with correspondance between local serial and the original USAAF serial number.