72modeler

Crikey, Dunny- she;'s a beaut! Very nice work- colors and weathering are spot-on! BTW, in the period photo you posted, the prop looks like it was feathered- I don't recall any single engined aircraft having props that could be feathered. Do you or maybe @Chris Thomas know? Mike

Yowzah! That is one awesome Hurricane build! Looks more like their 1/48 kit...well done! Mike

I'm on a roll! I found another outstanding video that shows F-106A six shooters engaged against t target sleeves and what I think was a Mace missile. Either the pilots flying the gunnery tests were very good or the M61A-1 gun installation was pretty accurate...or both! Enjoy! Footage via YouTube. Mike

Wow! That's a gorgeous model...even if it's not in American Airlines livery. Seriously, a museum quality build! Mike

Very nice build of the most beautiful floatplane ever! As stated above, looks fast sitting on the trestle! A blue and silver rocket ship! Well done! Mike

DT, Welcome to Britmodeller! My 20th attempt didn't look this good! Very nice work. Keep building and watching and learning form the accomplished builders here on BM, and you will get better and better. Waiting to see your next RFI! Mike I wasn't aware that Hasegawa did a 1/73 GR3- that's my favorite Harrier variant! (See, you learn something new every day!)

Wow! A type we don't see modeled all that often, despite there being pretty good kits in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Very good conversion work, and as already stated, not one I had given any thought to, Given the wonderful lineup of Scorpions you posted, you not only exhibit as slight fondness for the type, but outstanding modeling skills, as well! A beautiful classic weenie cooker, and a VERY big airplane, as I have been up close and personal to the one we used to have on display here at Lackland AB where I live! Well done! Mike Here is the history and photos of the F-89A that used to be at Lackland AB; it was converted to an F-89B, and later on was used to test a nose turret. A shame it was moved to Stinson Field, disassembled and allowed to rot- she;s the oldest F-89 in existence. I hope the AF Museum takes her back and restores her, but that's probably not going to happen. https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=69777 @RidgeRunner Martin, I'm afraid this is another one of the airplanes that you saw on your U.S. trip that has been allowed to deteriorate.

I can't add much to what has already been said, but I can certainly echo their comments. A superb build, and I am very impressed with the work you did to correct the wheel bays and finish them correctly, as well as to improve the landing gear. The paintwork and weathering were very well done and representative for the type. If Academy had molded correct wheel bays, upper cowling contours, and the arrangement of the gun ports, it would have been the best P-51B/C in scale until the Arma kits were released. Well done! Mike

Way to go, Mikey! Those camouflage decals really worked great, and the end result is outstanding, from the antiglare to the correct wheel bay and cockpit colors. I am sooo jealous! Happy New Year,, friend! Way to start the new modeling season! Mike

As already stated, that is a very unusual but attractive color scheme, Very, very nice build of the new-tool Airfix kit, which is not all that new, now! Mike

OK, Giampiero- now yer just showing off! I agree with the comment above- this has to be the 1/48 Eduard Freidrich! But seriously, nice to see a scheme other than the Afrika Corps one for a change.. The yellow leading edges are very unusual- did this pilot have them painted to prevent his airplane being shot up by friendly flak crews, or was it common in the staffel? Very nice job, and thanks for sharing the improvements you made to the already outstanding Eduard kit. Mike

Wow! For such a nice kit, you see so few built along with the Martin Maryland. Very nice model! Thanks for sharing your work. Mike

Roger that!

What the others have said; it's not an easy kit to build, and time has not been kind to the molds, but you ended up with a pretty nice model of an Airfix classic; I have no idea why they have not done a new-tool of this one and the Bristol Bulldog. Mike

What the others have said- If you hadn't identified the kit maker, I would have been tempted to believe it was the 1/28 scale Revell kit. (Yes, I am that old!) Well done! Mike

As the others have said, all three are beauts- I really find it hard to pick one above the others, but RN Korean War aircraft are all beautiful, regardless of type! Some observations: the Seafire 47 is such a brute, compared to the earlier variants- very nice weathering on this one! the Sea Fury is so handsome in Korean War markings; I had read account that Carmichael's kill might not have been the first, but appreciated your research and narrative; the backstory always gives the model a real life connection;; you also nailed the color of the primer that Hawker used on late Tempests and Sea Furies.. you just need a Firefly to go with the Seafire and Sea Fury for the RN Korean war trifecta! Mike

What a horror! That you were able to turn those awful lumps of resin into something that can be recognized as an He-116 is a tribute to your skills and tenacity! This 'kit, and I hesitate stretching the definition of that word in this case, makes a Mach 2 kit look like a Tamiya release! A real shame, as the real aircraft was an attractive design. Wondering how many bottles of alcoholic beverages it took to get you through this disaster? Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations with us- we feel your pain! Way to hang in there! Mike I bet you felt like this all through this build!

A beautiful build of an airplane that is one of the most beautiful prop aircraft of all time! Incredible workmanship made all the more incredible by being a vacform. Gordon Stevens would be so proud of what you have done! Museum quality in all respects! Mkie

Graham, I don't know it this one would interest you,, or even how available the kit might me, but Revell of Ger,many did a 1/72 Fw-200A first released in 1991, and it appeared as a civil airliner and also as a Lutfwaffe Fw-200c transport. I had the Revell Luftwaffe transport boxing, and it was a pretty nice kit, but I sold it. See the link to a build article. Happy New Year to you and yours! Mike https://www.hyperscale.com/2023/features/fw200a72rs_1.htm

I think I stated that in my first post, but it ,might not have been clear; as stated on the F-106 website, only 75 of those F-106's that had the tape instrument panel upgrade received the M61A-1 cannon and the other associated changes listed. I can edit the first post if you think that would make things more clear. Mike

Jim Rotramel, an ex-F-111 WSO, is regarded by many to be THE modeling authority on the F-111. He has posted an eight part series on the F-111 which has all of the information you might need to model any and all variants of the Aardvark. I have posted a link to the first installment below, titled F-111 in Detail, Part One. IIRC, all eight parts can be found on the Hyperscale website, but you can also do a search for each installment on the internet by typing F-111 in Detail Part Two, Part Three, and so on. This should get you started. Hope this helps; we can sure use more F-111's around here! Mike http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/f111indetailjr_1.htm You can also go to this website to download a copy of the EF-111 flight manual that also might have some useful information: http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/2020/02/general-dynamics-ef-111a-raven-flight.html

This just in! After repeated internet searches and after changing the wording of the search a couple of times, I found a website that has detailed photos of the optical gun sight fitted to the F-106A six shooters! I don't think I have ever seen any photos of this sight, so I was one happy camper! Had to share it with all of you that might have an interest in building one. The 1/72 Meng kit comes with a very nice M61A-1 cannon that can be inserted in the rear weapons bay, or with the modified doors also included, you can model the doors closed, with just the fairing covering the gun barrels exposed. The kit also has two canopies, one of which is the frameless hood fitted to the six shooter Delta Darts, as well as what looks like a very simplified representation of the gun sight, part E1. I hope this information will be useful- especially to @Hook and @Jure Miljevic! Mike. https://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/PIC PG F-106 gunsight.htm

We had a discussion a few years back on the Project Six Shooter program, which was a 20mm Vulcan cannon fitted in the armament bay of those Delta darts that had the tape intrument upgrade; the mods included the cannon, ammunition tank, NACA ducts on the armament bay doors to purge gun gasses, an optical gunsight, and a blown canopy. Just this evening, I found a video that shows the gun in operation during testing. I thought some of you who have the Hasegawa or Meng F-106A kits might be interested in the footage as a reference for building six shooter Delta Dart. Mike video via You Tube You can also go to the F-106 website for photos, text, and serials; an excellent site for all F-106 variants: https://www.f-106deltadart.com/

Thomas, Not much help as to colors of the weapons bay doors/launch rails, but e pretty interesting short video on their operation! Mike https://packaged-media.redd.it/97cqbzo6lc9a1/pb/m2-res_360p.mp4?m=DASHPlaylist.mpd&v=1&e=1703628000&s=9f365248767237ddc8af0aac6113833c928fbfac#t=0

I am no expert on USN aircraft colors and markings, but almost all of the color photos I have seen of the first one built, BuNo 37970, show it to be in overall insignia red, FS11136, and in the photos the red bar of the national insignia matches the red of the airplane; I also have been to the NMNA at Pensacola where the 1st prototype is on display,, and it is finished in insignia red. I have seen in some color photos that it looks to be a red-orange, but that might be due to lighting, film, or camera filter. The second one built, BuNo 37971 was also painted in insignia red, and was destroyed in a crash, and the third and last one built, BuNo 39792 was delivered to NACA and was finished in gloss white overall, and was placed on display at the Marine Air Ground Museum after its retirement, IIRC. If he isn't too busy with other projects, maybe @Tailspin Turtle could shed more light on the finish. Red or white, it was a very handsome airplane! Mike