J.C. Bahr

Oh no way, those kits are long overdue for replacement! The Hobbycraft molding is not even what they represent on the outside of the box! The Pantera (Italeri?) is alright, but suffers it's own issues and not well detailed. We've been needing a good Fitter series for a long time.

So is an Su-22 like Libya used, ever going to be released, or have I missed it somewhere?

Negative, the radar fairing on the TBF's is different in that it squares off at the back on top of the wing. I believe OWL did a resin conversion for this that included the night exhausts, but their stuff is pretty limited run and it's probably hard to find now. Would take some work to properly modify a Corsair radar fairing to be acceptable.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but has anyone heard if they plan to release the early small tail PF?

Where does one buy this brand of kit on-line?

Wonder if there's any video of it flying?

So what was wrong with version 1.0 of the La-5FN?... er, nevermind, just saw at one of the links above that information was vague at best.

AMEN to infinity on that!!!!

Okay, so I'm understanding that the old Revell PBY kits have correctly sized cowls and nacelles?

I've apparently missed this post for a while and got caught up after posting last night. Lots of good information and drawings that would have been nice to had at the time I was planning mine.

Thanks guys! James, the Cyberhobby kit is heavily influenced by the MPM/Xtrakit... (bizarre seeing a short-run kit show up as mainstream really) but they did change a few things for ease of construction and a bit better detail in places. I particularly liked the intake/exhaust arrangement the best of any kit, thus the unique way of splicing things together the way I did. They have since issued it with pinion tanks too, which would have saved me time and money when I did mine... although I do not know if they have the same issue of overly thick noses to the pinion tanks like the Xtrakit did. I had to fill them with resin and sand them down on the sides, as you can see in the unfinished photos above where the white resin shows through. As for accuracy, I'd say they got decently close with the wings, booms and rear lower fuselage. The vertical stabs I think are a bit thick in chord (can't remember if I used the Highplanes for comparisons here or not, but probably did), so I did some filing and re-profiling to shorten their leading edge and also had to build up the base leading up to them a bit. The wing fold lines are not correct, so those had to be changed with half-round Evergreen strip and re-scribing. Also had to do some changing with the rear fairings on the wings and the fuel dump pipe as moulded stock in the kit and you can see that in the photos above. Had to add bulges to the main gear doors and reverse the NACA intakes on the sides of the booms. The Barracuda book on the Vixen came in very handy during the build. I'm not sure on exact dimensions, for the booms as I've heard varying information on their length, so I ultimately Mk.I eye-balled it in comparison to panel lines and photos and am fairly satisfied. I don't recall changing the stock kit length any there. The wings seem to be pretty close to those found in the Highplanes and Xtrakit, but I don't know where all these manufacturers pulled their dimensions from. The kit provided main gear struts and wheels were used, but the resin piece provided for the nose strut and wheel from Highplanes was used as the Cyberhobby is too small/short in stock configuration. I think I also used the Highplanes resin ejection seat in the cockpit. One thing for certain though, the Highplanes kit is not nearly as accurate as once believed. Their nose section, upper fuselage and canopy areas are 2nd to none IMHO (and perhaps their wings too), but past that, the rest is a train wreck! The rear of the booms and vertical stabs are way too fat and bulky in width, leading to the pinion tanks also having the same problem through most of their length. There is an excellent pic in the Barracuda book of the flyable one, taken from the ground looking up at it and when comparing the Highplanes kit to that profile, it becomes PAINFULLY obvious it is bloated behind the wing trailing edges! It's lower rear fuselage is okay, but the Cyberhobby is much better defined and sharper on the details in that area, except for the missing bulges to the main gear doors. I kind of felt that perhaps the Highplanes booms may have been a bit too short, thus probably compounding the bloat problem. I used three different kinds of filler = 3M Acryl Blue, Mr. Surfacer and Cyano, so some of the light blue you see is not parts from the Highplanes plastic. Obviously from my photos it was a heck of a lot of work, but I think this might have been the most fun kit-bash I've ever done. I've seen some beauties made from the old Frog Vixen, but again we're talking another complete train wreck with a lot of work needed. I think the way in which I went about this kit-bash is the best option for the moment, unless Airfix finally delivers, which I hope they will. If they do finally do it, I would really love to take a crack at it and put these kits side-by-side to see how mine compares. May not be totally accurate, but I'm happy with it... given what the alternatives were going into it! 🙄 Thanks again guys and hope it inspires! Gotta love the Vix for it's unique and asymmetric style! 👍

Re-posting the original finished photos:

Between Botophucket and forums changes, it would seem some of my original photos are gone, so let's try this... The main gray airframe parts are Cyber-Hobby... the light blue is Highplanes... and the pinion tanks are from the MPM/Xtrakit. A LOT of engineering, dry-fitting, fettling, filling, scratch-building and scribing went into this one... probably more so than any other model I've built to date. Still surprised Airfix has not done this one justice yet... but lets keep the faith! Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Holy sheep ****!!! "90 hours?!" 😮

Shapeways and Click2Detail are the way to go for all things Monogram B-36. Pricey, but worth it IMHO: https://www.shapeways.com/product/LSMJ8JHT2/1-72-b-36-closed-bomb-bay?optionId=64891433 https://www.shapeways.com/product/DVF3ZF2JM/1-72-xb-36-and-early-b-36-apg-3-antenna?optionId=64896305 https://www.shapeways.com/product/EWYH46Q22/1-72-b-36-early-style-main-wheels?optionId=70301080&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/EWNXW9R6R/1-72-b-36-an-apg-31-wide-radome?optionId=70301620&li=marketplace They have more stuff for the XB/YB-36 and the NB-36 as well, both in 1/72 and 1/144.

Surprising that Quickboost has not done the earlier pipe now to convert the most recent kit BACK to what it had originally been released as! So irritating that these manufacturers don't just release all the parts they have instead of gating them off like they do!

One thing to bare in mind with that last pic... the window closest to the door I am pretty positive was a field mod and not a standard window. Couple that with putting a gun in the doorway and there should not be the problem of potentially firing through the wing if not placed in the third window forward of the door. I had often wondered about this too and this is where my research had lead me. This is where pics are worth a thousand words on individual aircraft and their gun arrangements.

If an accurate Vixen is a must-have in 1/72nd, I'm afraid that the best route to get there is cross-kitting the Highplanes with other existing kits, as even the Highplanes has it's own issues... the pinion tanks and rear booms being a bit too chunky. Reference my build here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1741&p=34919&hilit=frankenvixen#p34919 https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=6420&p=41207&hilit=frankenvixen#p41207

Yeah, I wouldn't waste time like that and just go with the AZ kit. Another difference I haven't seen mentioned is that the P-36 and P-40 side windows were different in length IIRC.

My first thought on seeing that photo is that it's an older period airshow photo of the Commemorative Air Force's P-40N that has been painted as a Flying Tiger for YEARS!

Another option would be to use the M parts that were in one of the Revell of Germany issues of the Lightning. Funny that you mention the flyable M-models... I seem to recall somewhere seeing one that I think was CAF and was to replace their first Lightning called "Scatterbrain Kid" which had crashed... it was in a two-tone sand/green camo like the first one, still had it's second seat behind the cockpit and for some odd reason I'm thinking it had the big bulbous glass nose that looked like it came off an AT-11 Kansan. Was definitely one weird setup.

Not entirely true... Academy dropped the ball with the lower cowlings and made the intakes below the spinners too deep and throwing off the lower side profile. Quickboost makes two alternative correction sets for this, but I suggest getting the latter of the two sets which has the entire cowling as one piece. The early set was just the intake face and requires back-filling and re-shaping of the lower cowl profile to be accurate. The latter set is a proper cut and replace option.

I agree, very much need it in 1/72nd also please! I have the MPM kit, but not sure if I'll ever get to it, as just not happy with the fuselage on it.

I have the RU-8D and am very satisfied with the quality. Before this there was really no option (supposedly an old die-cast 1/72 U-8 "toy" was once released, but never laid eyes on one).

Do you have just the intakes, or the entire cowling? Quickboost initially did just intake pieces to fit below the spinner, but people thought they were moulded "too small" as they don't fit correctly in place of the Academy pieces (not plug-n-play)... but I think QB intends for the modeler to back-fill and remove part of the lower cowling to match the correct profile (a lot of work)... but then QB issued the complete cowling that has all that work completed (a much better option). I have both and would HIGHLY recommend seeking the entire cowling option.