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  1. Source: https://www.facebook.com/mikro.mir.dnepr/posts/pfbid0jBNCRjD3Yut17hgUoNM49mMEzzQeM4dyhnZn3AtrstTbrdQBQTMTgX2TkH7Hfp2ul V.P.
  2. DB-8A/3N ‘Outnumbered and Fearless’ (SH72465) 1:72 Special Hobby Designed and developed by Northrop as the A-17, the aircraft was a ground-attack type that initially had fixed gear, but was later given more modern retractable undercarriage to improve aerodynamics. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engine, it had a crew of two and could carry up to a ton of bombs in a small vertical bomb bay, and on a pair of racks under the centre wing section. They were built in small numbers for various customers, with fewer than 400 made in total, the US Army Air Corps. taking delivery of the initial batch, and a number of foreign operators including the French, although their airframes were diverted to other customers after the fall of France. By this time Northrop had been taken over by Douglas, hence the D at the beginning of the aircraft’s designation. The Netherlands took delivery of eighteen airframes that were designated DB-8A/3N with a more powerful 1,100hp R-1830 engine, but the British assessment of the type as “obsolete” was pretty much on the mark. In Dutch service they were pressed into service as a fighter aircraft despite being poorly suited to that role, but in the absence of better options, the pilots were forced to make the best of it, fighting bravely against the Nazi invaders. When the invasion began, a squadron were on duty, and all but one managed to get off the ground to face the enemy. Most of them were shot down by the more agile Bf.110s and Bf.109s, although they did manage to shoot down a few transport aircraft of the enemy before a few returned to base, where the remaining aircraft were rendered unusable by further attacks by the enemy. Their numbers were effectively reduced to zero by the end of the first day, with the Netherlands being completely over-run a few days later, on the 14th of May 1940. The Germans took an airworthy airframe, probably from the stored aircraft, repainted it with German markings and assessed it after transporting it back to their homeland. The very last A-17 was struck off charge in the US in 1945, after a short career as a coastal patrol hack. The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit from the Special Hobby stable from the early 2000s, as is evidenced by the shiny surface area of the external parts, and time has been kind to the moulds, with little in the way of flash, and two pairs of fuselage halves, engines and cowlings showing that there have been other versions in previous boxings, although the fixed, spatted wheels of the initial A-17A aren’t present. The kit arrives in a top-opening, blue/white/grey themed box, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, a large resin belly insert in another Ziploc bag, the decals and Photo-Etch (PE) in a re-sealable clear foil bag, and the instruction booklet, printed in colour on glossy paper in portrait A5 format, stapled down the spine. The sprue diagrams on the inner front cover have red Xs on parts that aren’t used in this boxing, although the two fuselage halves aren’t even present on the diagram, possibly due to a lack of space on the page. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the seat, which has an inverted-U support added to the rear, and PE seatbelts over the pilot’s lap. The front cockpit is separated from the rear, and this flat rectangular part has a rear bulkhead, control column and a small instrument package on the floor in front of it. The rear cockpit consists of a tapering floor, and a trough in the rear of the area with half bulkhead and a rack of boxes fitted to the front. This and another box are inserted into the rear cockpit and are joined by the rear gun on a semi-circular pivot, showing the correct orientation that includes the instrument panel with decal at the front, all from the side with arrows showing their part numbers. The gunner’s seat also has a pair of lap belts, and it is dropped into position in the rear, separated from the pilot by a curved cowling, which is installed as the fuselage halves are joined together, creating two separate openings for the crew. Once the glue has cured and the seams are dealt with, the centre section of the lower wing with its smoothly dished wheel bays and perforated dive flaps moulded-in. The open space between these features is covered over with the resin insert that depicts the bomb racks and aerodynamic fairing that extends around the rear of the gear bay cut-outs. The upper wings are full-span, and fix to the visible portion of the centre lower section, and are completed by the outer lower panel, giving a strong, overlapping joint to the wings. The elevators however, are butt-joints and would benefit from being pinned in position with some brass rod, which should be relatively easy because each elevator is a single part. A small square insert slots into the leading edges of the root once the glue has cured. The engine is next to be installed, having been built up earlier in the instructions. The Twin Wasp engine is moulded as a single, well-detailed part that depicts the front of the engine, and is trapped on a ledge in between the two cowling halves after painting the interior aluminium. It plugs directly into the tapered flat front of the fuselage, and has an intake added to the top of the cowling as it rolls down toward the lip. The canopy is a single part, and is glued over the two crew stations and the separating fairing, adding a tubular gun sight on the deck in front of the cockpit, and a tall aerial is later fixed to the centre of the canopy. Under the fuselage, two exhaust stacks project from the cowling sides, and an intake is added into the gap between the gear bays. Further back, the bomb racks each have eight triangular shackles fitted into shallow grooves in the resin, then it is time to build the landing gear. The main struts are inserted into holes in the outer end of the bays, and the two-part wheels are fitted to the short axles perpendicular to the strut, while the tail wheel is attached to the yoke in the rear, with a single wheel part slotting onto the axle. While the model is inverted, the clear window and fairing under the gunner’s area is attached to the fuselage, leaving the centre section clear, but it would be sensible to paint the interior with the blackest black you have to hide the fact that the window goes nowhere. The last job is to fit the three-blade prop that is moulded as one part, with the optional spinner that is used on three of the four decal options, the four gun barrels in the leading edge of both wings, and the pitot probe in the port wingtip. A tiny part is also fitted to the starboard fuselage side behind the engine cowling. A rigging diagram shows three wires in total, two of which lead to the wings just in front of the ailerons, and a third that leads from the starboard wire to the base of the aerial mast, leading back to the radio in the cockpit. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, three in service of the Dutch Air Force, one in captivity following the fall of the Netherlands. From the box you can build one of the following: No.390 (C/N 540), 3_V-2 Luchtvaart Regiment, Militaire Luchtvaart, 1940, responsible for shooting down two Ju-52 transports before being shot down. No.382 (C/N 532), 3-V-2 Luchtvaart Regiment, Militaire Luchtvaart, 1939 No.382 (C/N 532), 3-V-2 Luchtvaart Regiment, Militaire Luchtvaart, 1940, responsible for shooting down a Ju-52 transport before being shot down. KK+UI ex-No.394 (C/N 544) Captured by the Nazis & tested at Erprobungsstelle Reichlin, Germany in June 1940. The Orange Triangles with black outlines were painted after delivery to indicate that the Dutch machines were neutral, as the original roundels that were applied by Douglas at the factory could have been mistaken for British or French roundels. Not that the Nazis cared in the end. The decals appear to be printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Not a well-known aircraft type, but this boxing pays homage to the brave Dutch pilots that took to the air knowing they were both outnumbered and flying an out-dated machine, probably to their doom. Outnumbered and Fearless sums it up well. Detail is good, and the application of some modelling skill should result in an attractive replica of this aircraft. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  3. source: http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=77712&p=1957514#p1957514 FRROM FR0034 - Northrop Gamma - Chinese and tested by RAF - April 2017? SPECIAL HOBBY - Northrip Gamma different version used by RCAF - fall 2017
  4. Fellow modelers my Work Health and Safety Certificate Course is nearly finished, one more assignment to hand in. Time to start a new kit and finish the backlog of kits started. I want to start a new kit because I have missed the smell of glue and the joy of cutting plastic, most of the kits I have started I have forgotten where I am up to. I would like to build Ellsworth's Antarctic Flight Northrop Delta but can only find 2 pictures of this plane. There is also VH-ADR I could do or the more colourful A61-1 of the RAAF. A61-1 will be my choice (all 3 are the same aircraft), unless I can find more photographs and I will attempt Ellsworth's Delta Enough Waffle here's some pics of the bits and bobs box art parts and decals Thanks for looking. Stephen
  5. Source: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.859839390730689.1073741846.134774536570515&type=3 V.P.
  6. I have never built a Resin kit and I have bought some from Russia. I have paid for them and have heard no more!!!!!!!! If and when these kits turn up I would like to have built a resin kit so this will be the first. I wonder if Moa has built one of these? Box and instructions. Decals. Kits bits still in their plastic bags. I will take some better shots when the parts are removed from the bags. Thanks for stopping by. Stephen
  7. My next Hobby Boss kit. I like USN aircraft and I especially like all things Northrop so I gonna give this one a go. Box art. Paint schemes. I am going to do the USN scheme Decals. Bits. Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Stephen
  8. Northrop Delta 1:72 Azur FR.ROM The Delta was designed by Jack Northrop alongside the the Gamma in 1932 when the Northrop Corporation was set up with as a joint venture with The Douglas Aircraft Company. The Gamma was to be a mail plane where the Delta was to be a passenger transporter. It was a low wing monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The wings were common to both aircraft with the Delta having a wider fuselage for the passengers with the pilot being seated upfront behind the engine fighter plane style. Space behind was for 8 passengers. The Delta flew in 1933 but suffered from a change in the regulations in the USA which prohibited single engined aircraft from carrying passengers at night, or over rough terrain. Only three aircraft were made before this regulation came into place with the first being used by TWA, the second by Pan-Am's Mexican subsidiary and the third to AB Aerotransport of Sweden. A single example was built for the US Coastguard and 7 more were built as executive transports. Of these three were purchased by the Spanish Republicans for use in the civil war there. Two of these were captured by the Republicans and used by them. The third was later used by the Republican Airline LAPE until the end of the war when it was also handed over to the Air Force. In addition to the US Built examples the Delta was built under license by Canadian Vickers where it was used as a photographic survey aircraft by the RCAF. The first example was supplied to Vickers by Northrop part assembled, and 19 examples were then built by them. This would be the first all metal stressed skin aircraft to be built in Canada. These aircraft were capable of being used with wheels, skis and floats although the latter was not a success due to corrosion issues. Delta were used for anti-submarine patrols in early WWII, but were withdrawn to training roles by 1941. The Kit The kit has 4 main sprues of injected plastic , and a clear sprue. The plastic is more limited run than main stream, the parts are well moulded with restrained panel lines, however there are a lot of ejector pins to clean up, all though on unseen surfaces. Construction starts without any surprises with the cockpit. The single cockpit for the pilot sits in the middle of the fuselage slightly higher than the main cabin floor. The rudder pedals are moulded to the cockpit floor, the side consoles are added along with the pilots seat. The instrument panel is then added along with the control column. Next up the 8 passenger seats are added to the main cabin floor. The cockpit and main cabin floor can then be added into the main fuselage along with the rear cabin bulkhead. Lastly before closing up the main fuselage the cabin windows need to be added. One correction here is that if you are building C/N7 then this aircraft had an enlarged door with one of the cabin windows removed to make way for it. Ffrom provide details for filling the window and door panel lines, along with a template to scribe a new door in. Once the main fuselage is together the engine is added to the front of the fuselage. The wings can now be added. These have a main full span lower wing with left & right uppers. Once the main wing is on the tail planes can also be added. The Spats and enclosed wheels are then built up and added to the main wing. To finish up the exhausts, tail wheel, aerial, pitot tube and propeller are added. Decals - Civilian Version This boxing of the kit gives three choices of markings, all in BMF. C/N 7, SE-ADI "Halland" used by AB Aerotransport Sweden, 1934-37 C/N 3, X12292, TWA 1933, LA to Kanas City C/N 4, X-ABED, Aerovias Centrales (Pan-AM) 1933-34. LA to Mexico City. Decals - Delta Over Spain This boxing of the kit gives three choices of markings, all in BMF. C/N 7, ED-AGC LAPE airline, Spanish, ex AB Aerotransport Sweden. 1937-1938 C/N 7, ED-AGC LAPE airline, Spanish, ex AB Aerotransport Sweden. 1938-1939 C/N7, now 43-18 Spanish Air Force 1939-45 All decals are by Aviprint, look to have good colour density and be in register. Conclusion This is another left of field release from FFROM of an lesser well known but good looking aircraft from the earlier years of civil aviation. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  9. Delta 1D/ E US Transport plane (72329) 1:72 Special Hobby The Delta was designed by Jack Northrop alongside the the Gamma in 1932 when the Northrop Corporation was set up with as a joint venture with The Douglas Aircraft Company. The Gamma was to be a mail plane where the Delta was to be a passenger transporter. It was a low wing monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The wings were common to both aircraft with the Delta having a wider fuselage for the passengers with the pilot being seated upfront behind the engine fighter plane style. Space behind was for 8 passengers. The Delta flew in 1933 but suffered from a change in the regulations in the USA which prohibited single engined aircraft from carrying passengers at night, or over rough terrain. Only three aircraft were made before this regulation came into place with the first being used by TWA, the second by Pan-Am's Mexican subsidiary and the third to AB Aerotransport of Sweden. A single example was built for the US Coastguard and 7 more were built as executive transports. Of these three were purchased by the Spanish Republicans for use in the civil war there. Two of these were captured by the Republicans and used by them. The third was later used by the Republican Airline LAPE until the end of the war when it was also handed over to the Air Force. In addition to the US Built examples the Delta was built under license by Canadian Vickers where it was used as a photographic survey aircraft by the RCAF. The first example was supplied to Vickers by Northrop part assembled, and 19 examples were then built by them. This would be the first all metal stressed skin aircraft to be built in Canada. These aircraft were capable of being used with wheels, skis and floats although the latter was not a success due to corrosion issues. Delta were used for anti-submarine patrols in early WWII, but were withdrawn to training roles by 1941. The Kit The kit was first released in 2017 under the Azur FFROM label. The kit has 4 main sprues of injected plastic , and a clear sprue. The plastic is more limited run than main stream, the parts are well moulded with restrained panel lines, however there are a lot of ejector pins to clean up, all though on unseen surfaces. Construction starts without any surprises with the cockpit. The single cockpit for the pilot sits in the middle of the fuselage slightly higher than the main cabin floor. The rudder pedals are moulded to the cockpit floor, the side consoles are added along with the pilots seat. The instrument panel is then added along with the control column. Next up the 8 passenger seats are added to the main cabin floor. The cockpit and main cabin floor can then be added into the main fuselage along with the rear cabin bulkhead. Lastly before closing up the main fuselage the cabin windows need to be added. Once the main fuselage is together the engine is added to the front of the fuselage. The wings can now be added. These have a main full span lower wing with left & right uppers. Once the main wing is on the tail planes can also be added. The Spats and enclosed wheels are then built up and added to the main wing. To finish up the exhausts, tail wheel, aerial, pitot tube and propeller are added. Markings Decals are printed by Aviprint and look in register with good colour density. There are are three markings in the kit 1. Aircraft purchased for use in Elsworth's Antarctic flight of 1936, then bought by the Australian Govt for war use. Earth & Foliage Green Camo. 2. Ex US Coast Guard Aircraft used by the US Corps of Engineers in Eritrea 1942. Dark Earth & Olive Drab camo 3. The previous aircraft as a US Coast Guard machine. Conclusion It is great to see more boxings of this esoteric aircraft being released. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  10. Northrop Gamma 2E "Bomber in China" 1:72 Azur FR.ROM The Delta was designed by Jack Northrop in 1932 when the Northrop Corporation was set up with as a joint venture with The Douglas Aircraft Company. This was developed alongside the Delt, the Gamma was to be a mail plane. It was a low wing monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The wings were common to both aircraft. The Gamma 2C was a proposed attack version to compete with the Curtiss A-12, with the 2E being a development of this but with a 1600lb bomb load. These were used by the Republic of China Air Force with some being built in China from kits supplied by Northrop. One aircraft K5053 was supplied to the UK and was tested by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath. Two aircraft were also supplied to the Japanese for testing. The aircraft was eventually developed by Northrop into the A-17. The Kit The kit has four sprues of plastic and a clear sprure. The detail and moulding quality are as good as ever. There is also one small photo-etch fret. Construction starts off unsurprisingly with the cockpit. The pilot seat, front & rear bulkheads are added to the main cockpit floor. The centre console and control column are also added. PE seatbelts are provided for the pilots seat. For the rear gunners area there is the rear gun with its mounting/seat to make up and add. Ammunition stowage is also added into the fuselage half. The instrument panel and a few other items are added to the fuselage half's and then they can be closed up around the cockpit area. The engine is fitted to the exhaust ring and fitted into it's cowling and once complete this can be added to the main fuselage. The tail planes are made up and fitted, along with the main wing. The single part canopy can then be added after adding in the PE gunsight. To finish off the wheel spats are made up and added to the wheels. The completed assemblies then being added to the underside of the main wing. The bomb racks are added which sit under the fuselage between the spats. The lower observation window is also made up and added at this time. Lastly the propeller is added. Decals This boxing of the kit gives four choices of markings; White 901, Chinese Air Force, 9th Chungtui, 2nd Tutui, transferred to 14th Volunteer Sqn, Hanklow 1937-38. K5053, British Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, 1937-38. Black 14, unknown Chinese Unit 1937-38. Black 1412, transfered from unknown Chinese Unit to 14th Volunteer Sqn, Hanklow Jan 1938. Conclusion This is another left of field release from FFROM of an lesser well known but good looking aircraft from the earlier years of aviation. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  11. I haven't started a WIP in a while, I haven't finished a kit in a while. This is what I might need to get over the duldrums, mmmmmm. My son's leg has become a problem again. The hospital staff lost his ct scan that he had done on Tuesday, on Friday they told him to come back in 6 months. Two trips to Brisbane in a week for nothing, it is a 3 hour drive each way. A simple kit with a simple paint job, what could go wrong. NOTHING, 34 parts nothing to go wrong. First issue I thought this plane had a NMF, then white finish but I am thinking it was painted a light grey. Anyhow post this, finish my coffee, chop plastic and read the instructions sometime. Thanks for looking Stephen
  12. F-20A Tigershark 1:48 Freedom Model Kits In a programme spanning two decades and costing $1.2 billion, Northrop's F-20 was perhaps one of their most expensive failures, mostly due to policy changes and political pressure. They were looking for a replacement to the lightweight and low-cost F-5 Freedom Fighter that would keep costs low while giving much improved performance to keep pace with the Mig-21s that were being exported to Soviet aligned nations at the time. Eschewing the twin engine format of the original, it had a large GE F404 engine installed in a suitably reshaped rear fuselage, while the wings, forward fuselage and empennage stayed very similar to the original. Under the Carter regime it was decided that leading edge technology shouldn't be included to prevent it from falling into Soviet hands, but after the Reagan administration took over, policy soon changed to giving allies modified versions of the F-16 and even the F-15, which rapidly eroded its market. Add to that the total lack of interest in selling the aircraft by the Government, and the customer base dwindled away until in 1986 the project was finally cancelled whilst circling the drain. As an aircraft? It was well-liked, well-tested and although two of the prototypes crashed killing their pilots, it was found that both were due to the pilots losing consciousness from excessive G-forces, leaving the aircraft's reputation unblemished. With one prototype left intact and another only partially completed, the remainder was shipped off on cancellation to Los Angeles where it hangs in the California Science Centre. It seems to have been yet another Cold War Warrior that got the first three of the four dimensions right, but fell foul of the important fourth – politics. The Kit Freedom Models announced their intention to release a kit in 1:48 of this dead-end development of the F-5 some time ago, and they have been fine-tuning their tooling with the assistance of the modelling community until they were satisfied with their work. The box that arrived has a nice satin finish with a dramatic painting on the top, and inside you will find four larger sprues and eight smaller ones all in the same mid grey styrene that is reminiscent of a KittyHawk pressing. Perhaps they use the same factory? There are also two small sprues of flexible black grommets, a clear sprue, a tiny nickel-plated sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) metal, two decal sheets, fan-fold instruction booklet and separate fan-fold colour markings guide. Apart from the rather flimsy bags that protect the sprues, the overall impression is of a quality product, and the detail that is moulded in backs this up. Addition of the removable pylons via the wing-mounted grommets is a nice touch, as is the addition of PE parts, although the sheet is very small. The two decal sheets should provide plenty of grist for a What-Iffer's mill too, having lots of markings from many nations. The cockpit tub is a single part, into which a nicely detailed ejection seat is added, although no belts are included. The main instrument panel is well detailed, and there is similar detail on the side consoles, with decals supplied for them all. Rudder pedals sit behind the panel, and the control column slots into the floor, after which it can all be fitted within the nose section of the fuselage. The nose gear bay is a single part, but nicely moulded given the constraints, and when you fit this to the nose, there is a scrap diagram to guide you in its correct orientation. There are a couple of holes needed in the nose if you are fitting some RWR sensors, and then the nose section can be closed up. Oddly, there are some panels on the inside wall of the nose that are shown but not referred to, and these seem to imply that it was the original intention to allow these to be opened to show the bay inside. It looks like this was later canned, as there is just a single T-shaped insert added to the top of the nose with the cannon troughs moulded in, to which some stub barrels are added. The coaming is a drop-in part onto a slot in the top of the nose, and you can then decide whether you want to model the prototype with the long nose or the short – the long one being seen on the first prototype before it was lost. The instructions then flit to the engine, which is made up from two halves of the exhaust trunk, plus a depiction of the rear of the engine. With that done, the inner halves of the intake trunking are made up, with a small insert on the backside, and three PE strips inserted into grooves on the splitter plate. These are then inserted into the lower wing halves, which also contain the lower fuselage. A long plate and two grommets are also inserted on the centreline for the pylon that is fitted later. Two more grommets per pylon are added to each wing after drilling 1mm holes where indicated. With two pylons per wing, you'll need eight holes and a corresponding number of grommets, but take care because the two sprues of grommets are of differing thickness, with the shallower ones used on the outside pylons where the wing is thinner. Get this wrong, and the fit of your top & bottom wings will be testing! The exhaust is trapped between the two rear fuselage halves, and the outer intake trunking is added on each side, then mated to the lower wing/fuselage section along with the separate vertical fin. The exhaust is also added, and is a little thick on the outer lip, which when compared to photographs should be wafer thin. Perhaps an aftermarket F404 exhaust from an F-18 could be adapted to fit if this bothers you. The cores of the wings are now completed, but flaps and slats need to be added to the leading and trailing edges, all of which are individual parts, so can be posed according to your wishes by leaving the hinge tabs or cutting them off. The tail-planes are also single parts, and you'll need to drill out the some 1.2mm holes to accept their stubs. A pair of missile rails are added to the wingtips, and these were sometimes fitted at a slightly downward angle to the wing as shown in the scrap diagram, so check your references. Now you can fix the front and rear halves of your Tigershark together, at which point it starts to look like an aircraft. The landing gear are next on the agenda, and nicely detailed they are too. The nose gear leg is in three parts with a separate yoke-half to allow you to add the single-part wheel, and an optional extended oleo that changes the sit of the aircraft to a nose-up position. The main nose door can be posed open or closed by removing the hinges, while the smaller door must remain open while the gear is down. The main gear legs are single parts with the slim brake discs moulded in as the rear hub, to which some small PE linkages are added before the two-part wheels are added and they are glued in place at the wingtip end of their bays, which are moulded into both the lower and upper wing halves due to their shallow nature. A retraction jack is situated inboard on each leg, and the outer bay doors are captive to the leg, resting against them in positions described in a scrap diagram. The inner bay doors can be posed open with the addition of retraction jacks, or closed by leaving them on the sprues and using two different door parts. The rest of the work under the fuselage includes a profusion of aerials and sensors, the belly mounted air brakes and the arrestor hook with its aft fairing. A small scrap diagram shows how the airbrakes are fitted in the open or closed position. The canopy is crystal clear, and the windscreen fits to the edges of the coaming with the addition of a tiny piece of PE that is best added using clear gloss rather than glue, while the opening mechanism of the canopy is built from a different set of parts for open or closed, and it then attached to the rear of the canopy, with a set of PE rear-view mirrors fix to the front horseshoe. As a nice extra, there is a two-part crew ladder provided that could be used to give the aircraft a more candid look in your cabinet. At this point your built may well stop if you're planning on portraying one of the prototypes bereft of weapons, but if you want to depict the weapons test aircraft or go down the hypothetical in-service aircraft route, there are plenty of choices supplied in the box on the small sprues. As well as additional fuel tanks, there are a variety of weapons, as well as the appropriate pylons for ach, all of which press-fit into the wings, care of the grommets within. In the box are the following: Weapons: 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinder 2 x AIM-9M Sidewinder 4 x AIM-120C AMRAAM 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow Launch rails: LAU-115/B/A pylon LAU-115C/A pylon LAU-127 dual launch rail LAU-127 single launch rail A table shows which weapons and tanks fit to which pylons, but you'll need to check your references to get an idea of what constituted a realistic carry for the prototypes, or what was likely to be carried in action for the What-If route. The weapons themselves are nicely detailed with slide-moulding used to good effect on the exhausts and launch rails, and separate fins adding to the detail. The fins are a little thick, but that's to be expected with injection moulded parts at this scale. Markings There are two decal sheets as previously mentioned, but the smaller of the two is devoted entirely to different roundels/flags to assist the Whiffer, with countries such as Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Latvia, Spain, Japan, Singapore, USA, and Germany featuring, some of which are in lowviz as well as hiviz styles. The main sheet holds the decals for the prototypes, with a large proportion taken up by the cheat-lines used on the most colourful scheme used at the Paris Airshow in 1983. From the box you can build one of the following: First Prototype at Paris Airshow, 1983 – Red/white with black pinstripe demarcations. First & second prototypes 1983-1985 – FS36375 grey over light grey with grey anti-dazzle panel. First, second & third prototypes 1984-1986 – All over dark blue (FS16076). The FS code stated seems quite elusive outside the Gunze range, and is stated as Engine Grey, with a different FS code FS16081. Xtracolor 128 uses the same name and FS code however, if enamels are your thing. The decals are printed on pale blue backing paper to a good standard with registration, colour density and sharpness up to standard, and the stencils legible under magnification. While banding is included for the weapons, there are no stencils, which will be difficult to source by other means. Conclusion If you aren't interested you'll probably have sloped off chunnering about how they should have done a "insert favourite neglected subject in any scale here", but you're still reading, which is good. While hardly an important dead-end, the Tigershark was a good-looking aircraft, and will make an interesting end-point for any collection of the various F-5 derivatives. It is nicely tooled with raised and engraved rivets making an appearance, and enough detail included to satisfy most modellers. A set of crew belts on the PE sheet would have been welcome however. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of
  13. Hi This is my first gallery in this forum, so maybe few words about me. I'm from Poland and I'm mainly building americans planes. I like putty for plastic and send paper , so my last model is Northrop BT-1, which released VALOM. The build thread can be found here. Bye for now, Jaro
  14. Anigrand is to release in April 2016 a 1/72nd Northrop YC-125 Raider resin kit - ref. AA-2127 Source: http://www.anigrand.com/future_releases.htm V.P.
  15. Technically this is not 100% done given I still need to add the photoetched seatbelts, the mirrors and the navigation lights. But I won't be able to get back to it for a couple weeks (deep into finishing up an Eagle Transporter right now for a convention), so I felt it was decent enough to post it as is. I took on this project as a quickie build to get my modeling mojo back. Lately I didn't feel like working on much of anything as the long projects just seemed to get longer with not much reward to show for it. I also recently picked up Trumpeter's NASA T-38C kit and while it is a good kit, it still needed some modifications and I didn't feel comfortable with doing the work just yet. What I needed was an out of the box build. So, I ended up with this to help my creativity and help me get a handle on what was needed for when I tackle the NASA T-38N I want to build later. I know, the Wolfpack kit is better. But this one fit together very well and looks good. The canopies are the biggest issue, but their shape problems aren't as noticeable with the canopies open all things considered. The rest of the model captures the classic T-38 lines rather nicely and I am more than happy with the results. Tamiya Fine White primer was used and over that I sprayed on Gunze Mr Base White 1000 as a base coat. Before adding the gloss coat of Tamiya Pure White spray TS-26, I used a mechanical pencil to draw on the panel lines and a Sakura Pigma Micron black pen with a .005 tip to accent the control surface splits as a form of pre-shading. It worked reasonably well as you can see it far away, but it is visible up close. The markings I used came from SuperScale sheet 48-905 and I selected this scheme because my local club was having a SAC contest at the next meeting. I finished it for the meeting and it took first place. T-38s were used by the 9th SRW as both proficiency trainers and chase planes and they looked good in the yellow striped livery they wore in the late 1980s. But, the decal sheet I used had some problems as the colors weren't quite right for the yellow, the stripe shape was off and even the USAF titles and national insignias weren't right. So I ended up having to use some proper lettering from other sheets. The national insignias came from a Testors F-5A kit. The decal instructions also had some errors, meaning I had to really scramble for references (which are surprisingly few for these specific planes). But I think I pulled it off. All the markings went down just fine with Microsol. Even the candy stripe decal on the pitot tube isn't quite right as it is too skinny. But, live and learn for next time. One thing I am very happy with though is the off-white coloring of the windscreen border. I know, it should be inside, not outside. But, application of a little 0.7 mm Aizu tape (same as Tamiya, just cut into finer widths) represented it nicely. I brushed on a little thin white glue to keep it from curling up with age. I was going to paint it in a pale tan coloring, but the yellow coloring of the tape looked close enough and I kept it as is. Now I'm on a T-38/ F-5 kick, so expect a few more builds of Northrop's nimble birds in the not too distant future, starting with a NASA T-38 or two.
  16. Recently finished the nice little Williams Brothers 1/72 Kit of the Northrop Gamma converted by Ellsworth for his (ultimately unsuccessful) Antarctic Expedition. It's a fairly simple kit which comes with various versions but, curiously, didn't include the skis which can be seen on the real plane in the Air & Space museum. However, after using few slabs of plasticard to make the leg spats I worked out that the "park bench" style ailerons which come with the kit (but aren't used on this version) were about the right size for the skis, once they'd been bent up a bit. Normally a dedicated foiler, I went with ratllecan chrome silver on this one, partly because there were a lot of compound curves which would have made foiling difficult but mostly because I was feeling lazy. It came together nicely in the end: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96171173@N05/albums/72157665960630706
  17. This is likely my first or second post here on Britmodeller, and it concerns an F-5 model that is already being built by a number of fine hobbyist's in this campaign. None-the-less, this is the most peaceful, relaxing, and enjoyable hobby I can think of, and I don't feel the duplication should bother anyone. I'm doing mine in the CAF lizard scheme as shown on the boxtop. I have a reference with a pair of decent color photos of that exact aircraft. So mine will be built OOB using the kit decals. Here the prerequsite photos: I'm starting the model this evening, so progress photos should be forthcoming soon. I've been lurking for quite awhile, admiring the outstanding modelling skills of those who frequent this forum. I certainly hope I can hold my ground in the face of the skilled workmanship I see throughout this forum. Glad to be here. Guy
  18. Over the last 12 months I've managed to acquire 3 of the old LS 1/144 F-20 kits. They're great little kits that need a few corrections but no major surgery I'll be finishing 82-0062 in it's grey scheme and N3986B in both grey and anthracite schemes.
  19. Hi Guys, This is my latest completed model the excellent F-5F by AFV Club. This really is a fantastic kit and has lots of detail straight from the box and I only added a few extra bits in the cockpits and replaced the kit seats with resin Martin Baker seats as fitted to iranian F-5's and scratch built the extra canopy breakers which are fitted to the front seats. I really enjoyed building this kit with one exception, the decals! They are very good at shattering and that's about all they are good for. I built this as part on the ongoing F-5 Group Build and here is a link to my build thread:- http://www.britmodel...force-finished/ You really should pop along and have a look at the great builds on this iconic aircraft. Anyway here are the pictures.... Hope you like her. Craig.
  20. Hi, In addition to set of Northrops, which I posted recently along with BT-1 I've just cleaned a bit from dust my very old model, which was not posted yet - Northrop P61B Black Widow from Airfix. I did this machine sometime in 1981 or 1982. So a while ago... These days I painted transparent parts with varnish, which came to yellow with years, I am sorry to say. Markings are from 418th FS, USAAF, operating on South Pacific, 1944. The individual markings are home made, in particular there is a hand painted "nose art", which I still like - and perhaps this is the reason to show it... Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek
  21. Hi, I've just finished it. The last (so far) of series of Jack Northrop designs of all metal single engine monoplanes from 1930. - which all are related, one to another. This is BT-1 - the underpowerd dive bomber and then advanced trainer of US Navy, a precursor of BT-2, which then became a very scuccessfull SBD Dauntless (when produced by Douglas, not Northrop). Basicly its is OOB build (Valom "BT-1, 1942" kit) - I made a small difference in decals. I made machine as perhaps looked later in 1942. But anytime I can add red circles in middles of white stars to go back to begining of 1942...The markings are from NAS Pensacola. I only increased height of aerial after analyes of some photos it seems to me neccesairy. Photos are with halogen lamp - day is too short to catch good daylight. Sorry for this... And two photos of whole set of Jack Northrop's single engine monoplanes from my shelves: from left and aft: Spanish Gamma 2d (scratch conv. from Williams Bros. Gamma 2a/b), Chineese Gamma 2e (scratch conv. from Williams Bros. Gamma 2a/b), Iraq DB8-4 (MPM), US Navy SBD-3 Dauntless (Aifix), first row, also from left: US Navy BT-1 (Valom), US Army Northrop Delta (scratch conv. from Williams Bros. Gamma 2a/b), RNoAF/RAF N3PB (Contrail vacu). The contrail N3PB has shorter chord of the central part of wing, but the construction of wing looks so similar to others (especially Gamma/Delta/A17 or DB8 - BT-1 and SBD have shortered outer parts of wings) - I wonder if it is not a mistake of Contrail? Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek
  22. Sources: http://www.mpmkits.eu/2015/06/sh72250299-n-3pb-in-172-scale-first.html http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951591-172-northrop-n-3pb-by-special-hobby-released-new-boxing-announced V.P.
  23. Well here is my build for the new year for this GB. I was originally going to do the P-47 that you see on the War Thunder loading screen. However I am still waiting for the decals for that. So here I am, with this set. Pictures to follow. What do you think of my bed sheets?! I have decided to build the F-5E and F at the same time, however only the F will be part of the GB. Saves me messing around with the paints at a later date for a second time. I think this is a really attractive scheme for the popular F-5, can't let the MiG's have it all their own way eh?! The lovely kit I will be using, I did have the decals for this... God knows where they have gone to. Just as well I am not going to use them huh? Not too sure if I am going to bomb it up or not, need to find some proper pictures of this wee beastie before I make that decesion. Not expecting the build of this model to take too long at all... it must have about 20 parts total... Gotta love those classic Dragon "Melted Robots"... I believe in protecting them for future generations to laugh... I mean wonder at. For this reason I will be ordering a Retrowings cockpit resin replacement for this kit. Not sure if I want the cockpit to be piloted or empty. I will make that decision when it comes to painting and depending how lazy I am at the time Well thats build number 1 written up, hope you all enjoy my cockups that will happen aplenty. I welcome any advise or comments. Kind Regards, Dazz
  24. Hi, Another very old, archive model - Northrop N3PB made from vacu Contrail kit. Markings are from 330 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF, Reykjavik, Iceland, April-May 1941 I made her more than 20 years ago, in early 1990s, then after some time I changed lettering from red to black when photos of confirmed that code letters should be black... Regards J-W
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