Peter O

Thanks for clarifying that. Since the Amerikabomber is currently twice the price of the original issue, I'll probably stick with my plan to get the original issue plus the German Luftwaffe Weapon Set 3. Otherwise I'd be paying extra for way more weapons than I'll ever use. Thanks for the heads-up on the instruction problems too. Duly noted!

Was that the UA72217 kit, or the "Amerikabomber" one with the Japanese headline? US72217's instructions don't show any ordnance except the large bomb, but towards the end they show other weapons fits with a note that they're available separately. Interestingly, right now the '72217 kit plus the Fritz-X/Hs 293/BV 246 accessory kit on eBay are less expensive than HLJ's "Amerikabomber" price.

Thanks, Iain! I've replied to your PM. Peter

I have the BAe 146-100 STA boxing of Revell's kit, so I don't think I'll need to do any slicing and dicing. However, I'd like to get more information about the various countermeasures protuberances. There are some old BM threads about the CC.2, but many of the images and links are dead. This thread would be partucilarly useful if the images were still there. I'm also on the lookout for the AirDecals RAF BAe 146-100s sheet, so I'll post over in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum. Thanks for any help you can provide! Peter

Some further research shows that the FAIP scheme doesn't denote an actual FAIP pilot/instructor. Apparently each FTS has one Jayhawk painted in a commemorative or special scheme, and this one is from the 86th FTS at Laughlin AFB, TX. This scheme was from 2021/2022, and has been changed this year. There are also at least two OD over Neutral Gray aircraft, one with invasion stripes, as well as overall AMC Gray. Caracal will have plenty of choices for their upcoming set.

I'll definitely be getting the LOBO FAIP. I photographed that aircraft at the 2021 Pease ANGB airshow. (I tried to attach a photo, but I get "The link could not be embedded because of an unexpected error: Forbidden: "Something went wrong. Please try again.".") I'm surprised the pilot was a FAIP though, since the name under the cockpit is Capt Jarod Washington. I would think a FAIP would be a 2Lt or 1Lt. As a USAF vet I hate to say this, but it looks very USN with the black tail and skull and crossbones. Peter

Duh! I've got that (actually 3 different dates/versions) but totally forgot about it. Thanks!

On many aircraft tires, the two numbers are the width of the tread and the diameter of the wheel, with no outside diameter stated. I don't know if the LP meant low pressure, since heavy jet tires tend to be high pressure. The KC-135 and FB-111 tires I worked with in the late '70s were (by my 45-year old recollection!) 160 and 240 psi respectively. We used a different system, with three parts including the "Type" rating, which indicated a speed range.

Are you sure? The 100 is WL (Water Line) 100, which is a vertical datum line. It's on the aft end of the line also. The station numbers are technically Body Buttock Lines (BBLs), at least in US parlance. Having said that, it's possible that the station numbers start at something other than 0, but it normally would have been stated if the nose wasn't zero. And just to confuse things a bit more, manufacturers often add or subtract length in the course of development without changing the station numbers, so just because it says 747.5 doesn't necessarily mean it's still 747.5 inches from the front. Boeing was great for doing that in the 717 (C-135)/707/720 series. Peter

Scaling the drawing from the tip of the nose to the tip of the fin bullet and multiplying by 72 gives an overall length of 88.7 feet. The Martin data table on the next page gives the length as 85.1 feet. Scaling just the fuselage length gives 85.1 feet. So the age-old question (think Testors/Italeri Hustler) is whether the table dimension is LOA or fuselage length. All three of my published sources (Ginter, Wings of Fame and Kev Darling's Martin XB-51 Dragon) show the 85.1 foot length, without saying fuselage or LOA. My presumption is that the 85.1 feet is the overall length to the tip of the fin bullet. There are also some station numbers in inches on the drawing. I checked the three I could read -- 447, 647 and 747.5, and got 1/88, 1/81 and 1/79 scale. The drawing shows several places where it's been pieced together, whether the original paper version or from stitching scans together. So it can only be taken as an approximate rendition in any case.

There is a lot of XB-51 information here: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/martin-xb-51-panther.50493/ More profiles by the above artist are on his page: https://www.deviantart.com/talos56/gallery/10881348/b-51-collaboration

The rotors folded for storage, as on naval helos, so that would be an option. I sure don't have a 2 foot by 3 foot space to display it with the rotors extended! Whether the kit will have the option of folded rotors remains to be seen.

That's a good business strategy for Hypersonic. The upgrades give them an income stream to continue development of the whole kit, and also show the quality of their work.

The Space Shuttle Pilot is cheaper because the default material is the low-end White Natural Versatile Plastic. When Smoothest Fine Detail Plastic is selected, it's $15.00. From experience, the White Natural Versatile Plastic is very rough and grainy, and needs lots of thick primer/filler and sanding to produce an acceptable finish. It's a form of nylon, so it can be difficult to get paint to stick also. The Smoothest Fine Detail Plastic still needs priming and sanding, but not nearly as much, and takes paint much better. Peter

My Testors model has the receptacle closed, so the door must be positionable either way. I’m sure I didn’t scratchbuild it closed. Peter