72modeler

I have a 1970 Buick Skylark GS350 with 197,000 miles on it, and I would rather drive it across the country than my 2002 Monte Carlo SS...of course, the Buick was my late Dad's car, and has been well-maintained ever since it was new...plus, like most vintage aircraft, they really knew how to build 'em back in the day! Of, course my Buick won't go 700 mph, either, but I could probably use a MB bang seat in it, though! Mike

asst. ROBT: assistant radio operator, ball turret gunner RORG: radio operator, tail turret gunner Asst.Eng.RW: assistant engineer, right waist gunner Enlisted flight crews, depending upon their training, could have ratings for more than one position. Traditionally, B-17 top turret gunners were the flight engineers for their airplane, and many crewmen were trained as radio operators and gunners, as almost all B-17E-G aircraft had a .50cal gun mounted in the radio compartment. I think I'm right, but don't quote me on this! (Just finished v1-3 of We Were Eagles, on the 8th AF in WW2, and these dual ratings were mentioned several times.) Mike

G, I agree with your points, but selected the Hasegawa VII as that's what the Paragon conversion was made for, and my friend who is building one said the conversion bits fit perfectly- I had told him about the fuselage length issues, but he said he was too far along to try to splice in a plasticard spacer, so I told him not to park it by any other non-Hasegawa kits! It's such a gorgeous airplane, I want to do it right....now I'm thinking Eduard VIII with the Paragon conversion- now I will have to see how the cross sections mate up! It's always sumthin'! PM me regarding a Frog Venom. Mike

...and I bought all the Pavla upgrade/detail sets for it, too! Mike

Tim, I pretty much have decided that it might make for a better XII if I mate my Paragon XII conversion set to one of my Eduard Mk IX's, as I have two profipaks, two week end editions, and two overtree kits, plus one of the Mk XVI combos. Good point about matching the quality of panel lines of the resin cowling to the Eduard kit, but luckily, there's not that much in the way of panel lines on the real cowling, and the fasteners already molded on the resin cowling are actually pretty good. The conversion comes with a resin flat piece to replace the radiator which needs to be removed, along with a new oil cooler, but a correctly sized sheet of plasticard would be even easier to work with. Giorgio's statement about the low cost of the Eduard kits was right on the money.....now, what the h--- do I do with the ton of Hasegawa Mk VII/VII/IX kits I have squirreled away? Mike

Just now saw this! Be still my beating heart! Our prayers have been answered! @Sabrejet @Tailspin Turtleget your photo references out! I'm guessing the P-47N is a re-release? Mike http://www.hyperscale.com/2018/reviews/kits/swordpreviewbg_28.htm

Here's one of the videos on the restored Seafire XV- that is one drop-dead gorgeous airplane! Mike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneYPcyGbbY

I just heard about this; pilot ejected but was hospitalized with serious injuries. Appears to have been an FGA9 from the photos. Just wanted you all to be aware of it. Hoping the pilot will be OK and it looks like the MB bang seat worked as advertised and has saved another airman's life. Mike https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a25574604/hawker-hunter-crash-hawaii/

Zach, You might try the F-14 website I posted the link to below. It's a great modeling resource for all things Tomcat! Mike http://www.anft.net/f-14/

IIRC, the B-25 with the angel carrying the bomb nose art was 'Hari-Kari-er' which was not Doolittle's B-25, but Capt. Ross Greening's 40-2249 IIRC. I will look for more definitive information. I have attached a link to the official website which had some very good photos and makes for excellent reading for those interested. The photo Rudy posted is Ted Lawson's 'Ruptured Duck,' 40-2261, which I don't believe carried the nose art on the raid. There is a 1/72 decal sheet that gives the serials and markings for all 16 Tokyo Raid Mitchells. On the second link I posted, you can scroll down to see the serial number, pilot, and name/art (whether actually applied or not) for each of the sixteen Mitchells that flew from the Hornet. It would be pretty easy to convert the new-tool Airfix B-25C/D into a Doolittle Raid B-25B. There is also a detailed WIP for a 1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 that was converted to a Doolittle Raid aircraft I remember looking at a few years back that had an excellent summary of all of the modifications made to the airplanes- it would be worth searching for. Hope this helps getting you started. Mike http://www.doolittleraider.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid DK Decals sheet 72-006 has serials and markings for 8 of the 16 Doolittle Raiders, including Doolittle's 40-2344.

Giorgio, My friend who used the Paragon XII conversion on a Hasegawa Mk IX cut the fuselage at the transport joint in front of the fin and put in a plasticard spacer to correct the too short fuselage- it looks very, very good, and he said all of the Paragon resin parts fit beautifully, especially the resin nose- just have to cut carefully along the panel lines; his is one of the Mk Vc based airframes with the fixed tailwheel. IIRC, he said the Xtrakit prop blades were OK, but he had to reshape them at the root- a very complex shape at that point, especially in 1/72! (See the attached link- modelers take note that the XII's did not have nav lights fitted to the wingtips- in the photo what looks like a nav light is the outer edge of the yellow ID stripe.) Mike https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/210115-griffon-spits-mk-xii-and-xxi-21/

Didn't want to piggyback the Mk XII discussion, but since the Seafire XV was basically a navalized XII variant, I wanted to share some detail photos of the Seafire XV restored in MN as it looked when it served with No. 803 Sq. FAA. It is a beautiful restoration and there are several videos of the restoration as well as in flight on that well-known YT website- beautiful in sight and sound! I hope you enjoy these! (Now I have to figure out how to duplicate that highly polished spinner in 1/72!) Mike http://www.salute.org/albums/Seafire_MK_XV/slides/_MG_9630.html

My eyes! My eyes! Reaching for my Randolph Engineering pilot shades...wow- that is one colorful Panther! You nailed it! Now you need to do a 1/48 F6F-5K to be directed by it! Mike

What the others have said goes double for me! One of the most realistic finishes I have seen on a Rhino in any scale. Awesome job! Mike

The CMR resin Mk XII is very nice, and being one of their earlier kits, does not have the prepainted etched set, but does have nice decals- they can be pricey, though. I guess with only 100 built and only two squadron codes possible, and with such a short service time, I guess they are not as desirable to a kitmaker as they are for the legions of model makers who have been patient but very vocal about wanting one! I have the Paragon and Aeroclub conversions, as well as the CMR kit, but being the lazy sod I am, I am waiting for a state of the art XII....maybe Sword or AZ Models? Eduard would be the best, but not holding my breath for that possibility! Mike