Charlie Cheetah

Ok, thats a great find. Thanks Alex! I was suspecting some type of id band.

Thats a big relief finding the second kit so you can finish your build. If you get a replacement body, it would be cool if you could convert it to a 308 GTS.

Thanks Gentlemen. I enjoyed it quite a bit, didnt even mind all the filling gaps and sanding all that much either. having such a nice kit on hand really inspired me to try new things and to really do the best I could. I know I made a few mistakes, I will learn from those so that I wont repeat them hopefully. 1 goal I did have was to score higher than I ever have before in the regional contests. I entered it in a show a few weeks ago and one first place with it in the large scale aircraft category. I gotten a few golds before, but never best of category before. Looking forward to my next 1/32 fast jet.

Well I guess I've been hanging out here long enough, I guess I better post some pics to show what I've been up to. I just wrapped this one up a few weeks ago. I apologize for the lousy pictures, I will be taking some better pictures soon to use in a galleries at ARC and SMA. The kit is the Academy 1/32 F/A-18C Golden Dragons kit converted to a Canadian CF-188A using the Black Box cockpit and tail set, Cutting Edge SJU9 ejection seat, Eduard PE, Orion tail stiffeners and SAC white metal landing gear. Decals are by Leading Edge, I also used thier masking set. The flap hinges were re-worked to position the flaps at the correct lowered angle. I also did some work on the exhaust petals to give them some life.

Great work you have done on one of my favorite special schemes Tom, I built that as well in 1/48 and it now sits proudly on the centre of my Hornet shelf. I used the oranges and red recommended on the decals color cal outs, all Model Master enamels, "Go Mango" which is a yellow-orange automotive color, as well international orange and guards red. I had a hard time with my decals on the contours of the ECM fairings on the vertical stabs. I used Microset and Microsol also. Did you use warm water to dip them in or just room temperature?

Cool, that is a good one Dave, Thank you!

Here on this side of the big cold pond the price would have been binding once the buyer has placed the order and the retailer would have to sell it at that price.The retailer has the right to place a correction notice in a publicly seen place within 48 hours.

Thanks Steven!

Pictures and links saved. Thank you very much gentlemen! That will be a great help. I knew about the flaps normally not lowered on the Spitfires and Hurricanes. I didnt know that the hatch on the sides was an escape hatch and not an exit door. And yes, I already cut the door open.

Anyone have any decent detail or walkaround pictures of Hurricane Mk IIc seat? Im building a IIc/Trop for a special category at an upcoming hobby show and I need to see how the harnesses were arranged, as well as color references. All I have to go on so far is the stock picture of the Ultracast resin seat. (which I should have gotten, using the Part PE set instead). Thanks.

The more I see about these H&S airbrushes, the more I like them. I have to decide if I need a new one, or just an overhaul of my Badger 175. Really impressed with the performance of the Evo 2n1, I've never gotten lines that fine with the 175, even with the fine tip.

Very nice so far. I didn't know about the slight metallic hue of the red paint. Would that be specific to the F60 or would other variants have it. I agree with you guys about the size of the engine, it does look too small but once all the accessories are added on it should look fine. It'll be interesting to see if Fujimi does the F60 kit as well and how its drivetrain looks.

I can make a big difference, the older Leading Edge decals had a tendancy to break and/or shatter once you pulled the backing paper away, especially if you used coolwater, even water at room temperature had that effect. Once I switched to using warm or heated water, I never had that problem again. It does keep the carrier film softer, and they will setlle down better. My Academy decals however are another matter, they just dont want to settle down at all.

I believe it has more to do with the engines. The earlier Mosquitos with the single stage superchargers on thier Merlins had the 5 stub exhausts, the engines were still V-12s but because of clearances the last 2 exhaust ports on each bank shared one stub. The latter Mosquitos with the 2 stage super chargers had the 6 stubs per side.

I use a candle warmer, pretty much the same thing as a mug warmer. I have an old porcelain cereal bowl that sits perfectly on the warming plate. That seems to keep the decal water a nice warm temperature. You can usually find these candle warmers at a good craft shop. The mug warmers can be found in departement stores and some kitchen gadget stores.

I have an old Airfix kit sitting in the stash, I was thinking of swapping the spinners if they fit ok.

Now I havent built the Tamiya kit but a good buddy of mine swears by them. Ideal for a sanity build. I recently bought a Revell Germany Moquito B.Mk.IV kit, it has many more buld options, very nice kit overall. I cant wait to get going on it. Gday Micheal! C.

Great work so far Claire, I have the Revell USA edition of that kit, I really should give it a go one of these days.

Great job on a difficult build. Great weathering also. I've recently aquired a Tamiya F-14A kit and Im collecting for aftermarket items for it, hoping I can make it look that good.

Superb kitty Markus, I love those markings. I did a Revell F-14A in the same markings a few years back. My next Tmcat will be "Queen of Spades", the VF-41 ODS nose art Tomcat.

Wow, I dont remember any Tamiya Corsair kits from the 80's, then again, I dont remember much about the 80's at all. Here's what I know about the WW2 Corsair color schemes. First off, it would depend on if your doing a tri-color scheme or a single color scheme. The tri-color schemed Corsairs used non specular (matt) sea blue, intermediate blue and matt insignia white. While the overall single color schemes used gloss sea blue. The ANA codes you need are ANA606, 608 and 601. The Testors MM equivalents to that are #1717 (Non Spec Sea Blue), #1720 (intemediate blue) and #1768 (insignia white). Looking at paint charts at www.cybermodeler.com and at http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/ I found these matches for you in the model air range. # 087 for the non specular dark sea blue, # 005 for the intermediate blue and # 001 for the insignia white. Now I dont know if the Vallejo Air colors I listed here are gloss, semi gloss or matt. I've only so far had experience with thier RLM colors which I love, Ill assume they are a semi gloss, but be prepared to gloss them over before applying decals and sealing that with a matt coat. USN aircraft inthe pacific started off with semi gloss finishes but the hot sun and harsh sea air quickly faded the oaints to a matt fininsh. Hope that helps. Charlie

Having personally witnessed a CF-18 Hornet doing a tail slide during an airshow demo, Id say it doesnt need one. In my opinion, the avionics and fly by wire system in the Hornets is top notch, the level of control of the system is quite good with the flight computer constantly adjusting the control surfaces to maneuver the aircraft the way the pilot wants. No need for canards. I do believe Nasa has experimented with vectored thrust ona F/A-18B though. linky to my CF-18 tailslide video. Sorry for the image quality, taken with a 5mp 3x zoom digital camera.

Thanks THC, they are unfortunately sold out of the red harness set. I think I still have enough material left from my Modeler's set along with the Sparco logos, so pretty much all I need is the photo etch. What do you think of the Crazy Modeler PE set? http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/product_inf...products_id=434

Hi, thanks for the intel. The version I have is the French GP version with the clear cowl. Ill have to look at the decals again, at first glance they didnt impress me. I'm worried about thier opacity. There's a set of full sponsor (minus Marlboros) decals by Cartograph at Rainbow10. I wasnt sure about where to look for the harnesses, I've used the Modeler's set before, I just cant find it now. Where's a good online shop where I could purchase those goodies you recommend? I prefer using Paypal if possible.

I'd like to add my name to the list as well please, I have been wanting to do a Fiat G.91/F1 for quite some time. Thanks