niki

For being such a pig of a kit as you say, you made it look great! Cheers, Niki

Nice to see the boarding ladder included!

Hi Red, In spite of sporting that fairing under the fenestron, the "promising" tail unit in the Kitty Hawk Z-9 kit still has the big diameter 11-blade fenestron: http://www.kittyhawkmodel.com/#!kh80109/c1si2 My solution to obtaining a better looking 'N' tail after buying the Z-9 to use as a basis, was to go through the stash and digging out a Trumpeter Dauphin (I have their 02802 Z-9G kit, but the 02816 SA365N kit works also) and deciding to use the tail unit from this kit. Even though it still shows only 11 blades, the diameter of its fenestron is almost spot on in scale and, most important, the proportions [fenestron to entire tail assembly] look right or at least much better. So, I thought I would cut the plastic immediately aft of the horizontal stabilizers and switch tails. If we are to be even more accurate, then we would still need to "add" two blades to get the 13 required, position the three supporting struts of the fan equally at 120 degrees from one another (in the Trumpeter kit above, the horizontal strut is ok while the other two are aligned along a single axis, just like in an N2...) and see that the main rotor in the Kittyhawk kit does not stand a bit too tall above the fuselage (see first linked pic and compare to a real life Dauphin). Cheers, Niki P.S.: thanks to Gopo (working around some 365N) for pointing out the above mentioned details some time ago

Hi Pappy, There is a chap over on the French "master194" forum which is adding tons of detail to a 1/72 Dauphin aiming at turning it into a MARINE Panther. Even if you don't manage to get in touch with him to ask for reference pictures (perhaps joining that forum isn't what you're after), he quite seems to know what he is doing to that interior by the scratch detail one can see: seats, consoles, it's all there... http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=83621 Cheers, Niki

There were some four (?) Romanian Albatrosses wearing different tail art (click HERE and HERE), but my personal favourite was "143" with its Tweety character, bi-colour tanks & fin tip and Top Gun magazine (Romanian edition) titles. Additionally, I cast my vote for a Hungarian option and the white & yellow GDR tug. Cheers, Niki

Yes, hard for me to believe it came out of a Bilek box. Lovely job you did, congrats! Cheers, Niki

Great stuff, John: model and pictures! Now, off to get some NYC Mulberry Street... paint Thanks for the heads up!

Well, if there are holes in the wing and the pylons still have their locating pins (if they don't, you can always fabricate some from either styrene or some metallic rod) which are a tad smaller in diameter than the holes in the wing, you could just wrap around the pins some Tamiya tape or something else that is malleable and push-fit the pylons into their holes. That would keep them hanging under the wings (not much of a weight to pull them down) and allow you to manually adjust their position after you alter the angle of the wing. It is AFV for example that has such a system (albeit with rubber rings that are supplied in the box) to keep the under-wing stores detachable (check out the "R" items from the parts diagram [the little black parts in the sprue picture] and how they are employed): The difference in your case would be that the "ring" wouldn't be attached to the hole but to the locating pin. I hope that makes some sense Mind you I am not an engineer nor very much technically talented, so maybe there is some easier and cleverer way of solving this Cheers, Niki

Congratulations, Tony! For now, you're most likely the proud owner of a unique item in that scheme and scale. Are the decals home made or purchased? Thanks for sharing your build here! It definitely makes me want to get on with my first one. Will post it here when done. Cheers, Niki Note to myself: possibly need a fourth kit added to the stash

Thanks a lot, Rick! Especially since, given the nature of the pictures posted initially, I suspected that this was going to go straight to press

Even if I know it will brake the bank, I will be getting one of those regardless of decal option.

Nice silhouette! The colours look spot on to my eyes and I like the clean job you did gluing the kit together Exactly! If possible, I'd like to see a couple of shots from exactly abeam, ground level so we can appreciate its stance on the ground.

Ah, rejoice everyone! One of the subjects I was secretly hoping for, coming soon from 26decals: STS44273 Aurigny Embraer 195 STD screen printed decal

I was just thinking that a possible solution would be to get the clear parts out of a J-7G Trumpeter kit: single part windscreen and blown canopy. Maybe someone could measure if these parts are wide and long enough to be adapted? L.E.: as for external changes compared to the standard 21bis, there would be the RWR (?) fairing on the fin leading edge and the counter-measures containers at the upper wing roots; then, depending on the time-frame/ airframe you envisage, it seems that on the right hand side of the nose - simetrically opposed to the standard one on the left side - appeared a second fairing and AOA probe. Then there are a couple of small lumps and bumps in front of the windscreen and on the fin, but I don't know what they are. You can however make out their shape from pictures and scratch-build them.

Another earlier thread on airport accessories/ ground equipment (GSE): http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234930873-airport-accessories-in-1144/

Thanks for pointing it out! No, there's nothing wrong with my example, i.e. that part isn't broken. Because it did brake in so many other instances it may be an issue of packing the fuselage halves, with that corner of plastic being quite fine/ fragile and no sprue around to protect it. Kudos to Special Hobby for offering to provide a fresh, undamaged part although it could be fixed with a bit of plastic card and super glue/ filler. Maybe Special Hobby tries to find a slightly bigger box (so that parts don't push against each other) or protect that front part of the fuselage halves somehow.

Ok, I'll ask: what would be the issue? I haven't done any dry fitting and am genuinely interested in what you guys have found to be a problem.

Thanks, Tony! Keep us posted on your progress. Cheers, Niki P.S.: just as I thought I was alright with two kits in the stash, a third possible project emerged today after I saw this... http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/t50A.html

Wasn't there initially the talk about a 72nd scale kit?

Nice work, Tony! What do you recon: what's the scale size difference between the F-16 wheels and what's needed here? One millimeter in diameter or more?

I had a distinct feeling of accomplishment today after the kit arrived directly from Special Hobby (cheap courier shipping). I mean one gets very much plastic for one's money in the box and by "much" I refer to all the options Special Hobby understands to provide in one go and not chop off parts/ sprues just because they're not relevant for what's painted on the box. I suppose only the two-seater and the South African F.1AZ boxings will come with additional/ specific parts. Anyway, from what can be seen in the boxes of the Vampire, Gnat, Magister and Mirage alone [i sure hope the good impression carries over on to the build table], Special Hobby is my new favorite kits manufacturer. Cheers, Niki

Hahahaha...! Two days... It would take my also two days to achieve such a finish. Two whole Venusian days ... and talent! Great finish of a great looking plane! Cheers, Niki

Hey, that's a great save there! And I really like that U.S. CBP scheme. Cheers, Niki

An add-on decal sheet to what Revell is providing in its box is available from Skyline (DACO): http://www.dacoproducts.com/KSky73.php

Hello again, Encouraged by the information received here I went on to figure out what I could cobble together for this build. In doing so I came across another two earlier Britmodeller threads which dealt with the subject at hand and which eluded me when I opened this topic. Some additional and useful information is to be found therein: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234922591-revell-airbus-a32-query/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234943441-air-india-a320-200/ Then I discovered an interesting table from Michelin listing tire sizes for all sorts of flying things, ranging from Airbuses , Cessnas and helicopters, to MiGs and Tupolevs [see here for a discussion on the 'correct' plural form]: https://www.airmichelin.com/uploadedFiles/MichelinAirDev/StandardContent/Resource/databook.pdf So, what epiphany produced the consulting of that table? Strictly dimensional, the main wheel tires from the Tu-154 are just about the same size as those used by Airbus on its bogie equipped A320. This is particularly convenient as the Zvezda Tupolev has more than enough MLG wheels to donate... and a wheels-up Tu-154 looks pretty on a stand anyway Once the theoretical (i.e. dimensional) issue sorted it was time for real life (i.e. plastic kit) comparisons and some adjusting and proportioning. Indeed, Zvezda's Tu-154 main wheels look proportionately correct when compared to Revell's A320 front gear wheels. Then, dreading the perspective of having to cut/ scratch the main landing gear leg and its bogie I started looking for ready made solutions. You would never guess what I found out! Zvezda's Boeing 767 unit fits the bill almost perfectly: the gear leg is just as thick as Revell's one, it is tilted slightly and correctly backwards and is fine enough to pass as coming from the same kit box. Visual disadvantage here: the tiny Tupolev wheels would look a bit too far apart on the bogie as opposed to their full size Airbus counterparts. Minicraft's Boeing 757 main gear leg on the other hand is a tiny bit thicker than Revell's A320 unit, is tilted slightly but incorrectly forwards and is not on par with the finesse of the part coming in Revell's box. Visual advantage here: Tupolev's wheels would be spaced better on the bogie. In case you are wondering: yes, both Zvezda and Minicraft parts would probably need a slight chop at the top (somewhere around 1.5 mm) to fit the height of Revell's A320 main landing gear leg, taking care though not to overdo it for the 'new' wheels are anyway smaller, accounting for an overall tinier MLG height. Needless to say I am biased as to which route to take but I will report back when I'm getting there. Thanks again for your help! Cheers, Niki