72modeler

I wasn't going to say anything, as i did not have both sets of drawings, just the ones by Cox, but I was not very confident that they would be very good; you have saved me the money I would have wasted on the monograph. Mike

Yeah, I can see where a slatted wing Sabre would not be nearly as profitable for them as slapping a new set of decals into a Buccaneer kit and generating new box art Thanks for trying, but if they can't take advice from somebody like yourself who is a recognized authority on the subject and an accomplished modeler, then there's not much hope. I really pushed the same idea to the SH people at the IPMS National Convention in August, along with how they could engineer a kit to allow for several variants, with the modules being done at natural panel lines or breaks for the most part. It sounds to me like my suggestions were similar to the ones you also made. (I even included how they could do Gunval and RF-86 variants. (They can't say we didn't try!)

OK, I was able to get up to the hobby room/kit mausoleum yesterday to compare the SH F-84F to the other kits I have and my sets of scale drawings. I don't have my 1/72 Airfix, PJ Productions, or Italeri F-84F kits anymore, but I do have the Italeri and Sword RF-84F kits. According to the dimensions that Frank@bentwaters81tfw so generously provided, here's what I have discovered. I hope somebody who has accurate drawings or the kits listed above can do comparisons to either confirm or correct my findings- there's too much interest in the 'Streak and the SH kit for me to spread any disinformation- here goes! According to Frank, the real airplane measures 38' 4" from the LE of the nose to the rear edge of the tail cone;, and 42' 3.5 " from the LE of the nose to the TE of the rudder. The SH kit measures the same for both, within 1mm BTW, The tire measures 30" in diameter, and the wheel hub measures 21" in diameter on the SH kit When the SH fuselage is laid on the 1/72 profile drawing in Aerofax 15 on the F/RF-84F, it matches. When the SH fuselage half is laid against the Sword RF-84F fuselage half so that both match at the tailpipe, and just looking at the areas common to the F and RF, the fin of the Sword kit has excessive sweep, and the cockpit appears to be 9" too far to the rear. When the Italeri RF-84F fuselage half is laid against the 1/72 RF-84F Aerofax profile drawing, it matches perfectly, when the Sword RF-84F fuselage half is laid against the same drawing, the fin sweep is excessive ,nd the cockpit is 9" to the rear of the location on the drawing.. When the Sword RF-84F fuselage half is laid against supposed 1/72 scale drawings by C.G. Cox, it matches the sweep of the fin and the location of the cockpit perfectly; when the fuselage half of the SH F-84F fuselage half is placed on the same drawing so that the tailpipes line up, the SH kit has less fin sweep and the cockpit is 9" forward. It appears that the Cox drawings might have been used by Sword, as their RF-84F kit fuselage matches the drawings perfectly. Hope this information is useful and accurate. With that being said, the SH kit does appear to be very accurate and nicely detailed, compared to the real thing, and the optional parts also seem to be very well done. and a useful addition to the kit Mike

OK, in order to atone for my previous transgression, I offer this link to an outstanding collection of text and photos of the 4th FG F-86A Sabres in Korea, Many of the details described by @Sabrejet above are clearly seen in several of the photos. Some great early Korean War Sabre modeling details! I hope this has not been posted before- I need to get out of the doghouse and back to the Naughty Corner where I belong! For you, too, @Courageous! Mike http://yocumusa.com/sweetrose/images/1950-53fr336/1951rocketeers.htm Duncan- can you look at the photos of FU-319? It appears the photo was taken in theater, but it also appears to have the gun ranging radar fitted in the intake lip. if this is indeed correct, would it also have the later gunsight? (I am sooo confused!) Mike

Very nice build! I especially liked the way you dirtied up the landing gear assembly. If Italeri had only used more restrained panel lines, but it's still a BIG improvement over the previously released kits. Now, if we could get an equally good new-tool Halifax to go with it! (Somewhere TonyOT is smiling!) Mike

Wow! Beautifully done and nice detail improvements. Very realistic and subtle weathering and fading. Museum quality all the way! Mike

What the others have said! Very subtle and realistic weathering and scuffing. Guessing the pilot also served in the Legion Condor? Only one small suggestion to take this outstanding model up another notch- whitewall tires for heat dispersion- fairly commonly done in North Africa. You should be proud of this one! (As the others have said- attention to detail on the upper and lower fuselage panel lines!) Mike

I ran across some photos just now of the F-86A in display at the Air Force Museum. Included in the collection of photos is one of the best closeup photos I have seen of the V-shaped windscreen fitted to A's and IIRC, early E's. (Now, if we only had a state of the art F-86A/E kit in 1/72 and 1/48 to go with it!) I'm sure it's old hat to Duncan @Sabrejet! Click on download hi res and then circle + to see a larger image for each of the 37 photos. (The larger image of the windscreen is especially nice!) Mike https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196118/north-american-f-86a-sabre/ '

You are welcome to borrow mine, but you have to come to Texas to get it! Mike

Maybe the diameter of the main gear tire and the hub, or have you given us that previously? If so, I apologize, but I have been trying to catch up on all that has transpired over the past year that my internet provider had blocked my access to BM! BTW, BW- hope you and yours are all safe and well! Mike

Oh, boy- where to begin? Having just received my two SH pre-ordered F-84F's, and being the proud owner of an Airfix F-84F, Italeri RF-84F, and not so proud owner of the resin PJ F-84F, I began the search for accurate scale drawings and published dimensions in all of my 'Streak references... I will be trading info with my esteemed modeling mate @RidgeRunner to try to work out something of use to all interested parties, but here are a few early observations: Published dimensions are ALL over the place, with some obviously being rounded off! Be very careful, as wingspan is pretty easy to nail down, as there's not much opportunity for error, but the overall length is another matter: tip of the nose to the end of the tail cone? tip of the nose to the TE of the rudder? tip of the nose to the TE of the horizontal stabilizer? Very few print sources describe how the oal was determined. The most common figures seem to be 33..6 feet for the span, and 43.3 feet for the overall length, measured from the LE of the nose intake ring to the TE of the horizontal stabilizer, which are the figures listed in Aerofax Minigraph 15 on the F-84F, which are also the dimensions of the 1/72 scale 3-view drawings in that reference. There are also scale drawings in Squadron In Action 1061 and 1224, but they are not only not to 1/72, they are not done in the same scale! I have three other sets of scale drawings, but I don't know the source, and they are not to 1/72 scale I don't have the Warpaint on the F-84F to make a comment about the scale drawings, but depending upon who did them, they might or might not be accurate! I will be taking all of the drawings I have to our local office supply to get them enlarged to 1/72 scale, using the dimensions listed above, which I am hoping are the actual ones; if any of you have definite information as to the accuracy of those figures, please let me know! I can then use the corrected drawings to examine the SH kit as well as the others. Until such time as I have a decent set of drawings, I am going to hold off any comments on the SH kit or comparison to the Airfix, PJ, or Italeri kits; I will say it looks to be well detailed and looks very, very nice! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that SH has already designed the tooling for the RF-84F to be released at some point, but until then I'm hanging onto my Sword and Italeri kits! Hope this helps- stay tuned! Mike

Late to the party, as usual! I don't recall seeing any Tomahawk photos that showed the fishtail exhausts, just the tubular ones and the suppressed exhausts pictured above. As stated by others, Xtradecal doesn't always research their chosen subjects consistently. You know what that modeling savant and all around good guy, @Troy Smith always says, "Never trust a profile without a photo!" (He paid me to say that! ) Mike

Giorgio, That's quite an archaeological treasure you have there! My thoughts on some of them are: F-80 is the old 1/48 Lindberg kit The Russian jet is the infamous 1/48 Aurora Mig-19 kit The Ju-188 is most likely the 1/72 Italeri/Revell kit The Do-217E is not the Italeri kit, but is the Airfix kit- the way the stabilizers are engineered makes me believe it's not the Italeri kit, as the stabs were not separate, L&R, but one assembly The Canberra is not the Revell box scale kit, as the Revell issue was for a B-57B only The G8M-1 is definitely the old Hasegawa kit (Wish they had done this one when they did their series of new-tool Japanese multi's!) The Ju-88A is most likely the old Revell kit, going by the props and spinners Best I can do! Mike

Very, very nice model, Z! Looks like the ground crew need to pay some attention to that oil cooler! What the others have said goes double for me! 'Mike

Why the F9F-4/5 has never been done as a new-tool boggles the mind, Foghorn! You have really done a nice job on the old Matchbox/Revell kit, which is still the only game in town in 1/72 scale. I have been pestering the nice people at Sword to do one, as the dash 5 has always been right up there on wish lists. You can make one, with a LOT of work from a Hasegawa or Hobby Boss dash 2/3 kit, but the splices you need to do on the forward fuselage are beyond my abilities! I'm thinking, if we ever get one, it would be from Sword or maybe Valom. That being said, if/when one is released, we will have you to thank for it! That's a very nice model- you should be proud of your effort! Mike

What a great example of crosskitting! I have both kits and I never thought of doing what you have done.The replacement panel in mismatched paint really adds a touch of realism. Well done, G! Mike Maybe Special Hob by will get around to one at some point!

Rick, Had to look the turret up, as I couldn't recall what it looked like; I wish I could be helpful regarding which Lancaster kit/s included this turret, but in my research, I did find a very interesting video on the turret, it's installation, and operation that I thought might be of interest to you and others contemplating a Lanc model with this turret fitted. I'm sure that one of our resident Lancophiles will be along to answer your question. (Like the similar turret fitted to B-17's and B-25's it seems doubtful that it would have been nearly effective as a manned ball turret. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! (Guessing you are asking about 1/72 kits?) Mike https://youtu.be/QV6XjOdGCy4

Mike, I thought I was the only one who had horrible luck with clear coats; I feel your pain, my friend. I do believe you have a slight fondness for Hellcats! You still did a very nice job on this one. Mike

I vaguely recall reading an article on the history of the Curtiss Electric propeller, and it mentioned that both the pitch and deicing of the prop blade cuff was done electrically. Electric deicing propeller systems use either heating wires or a layer of etched foil embedded inside rubber boots, which are attached to the inner part of the leading edge of each propeller blade. When activated by a pilot-controlled switch, the boots receive an electric current from a slip ring and brush assembly on the spinner. The electrical energy is converted to heat energy to heat the internal heating elements inside each boot and break ice from the surface of the propeller blades. Typically, a timer or cycling unit heats the blades in a sequence to ensure balanced ice removal.y, so I am guessing there must have been wiring in the cuff that gave off heat when an electric current passed through it. I didn't save the article and of course, I can't find it, now! Best I can do, mates! Mike This just in! I found the following description of electrical prop deicing on the Hartzell Propeller website; sounds like maybe the same system was used on the P-47B/C? Thermal-electric deicing propeller systems use either heating wires or a layer of etched foil embedded inside rubber boots, which are attached to the inner part of the leading edge of each propeller blade. When activated by a pilot-controlled switch, the boots receive an electric current from a slip ring and brush assembly on the spinner. The electrical energy is converted to heat energy to heat the internal heating elements inside each boot and break ice from the surface of the propeller blades. Typically, a timer or cycling unit heats the blades in a sequence to ensure balanced ice removal.

That is one well-traveled Hellcat, Mike. I really liked the ferry numbers on the cowling, too! Mike

Heather, Good to see you are still building! I've been away for a year or so due to some internet provider issues, but I'm back and catching up on everything that has transpired since. Great job on one of my favorite RAF bombers, and I look forward to seeing the rest of your 1940 bomber projects! (That's going to be some family portrait!) Mike

I have read that 150 P-47's were delivered from the USA in 1951, but no mention if they came from storage or after depot overhaul; in view of the date, I would think that they went through depot after being taken from storage. I then also found on the RAF Museum website mention that P-47's were delivered to the Oklahoma City Air Depot/Tinker AB February, 1950, and under the Mutual Assistance Pact, 150 P-47's were delivered to Yugoslavia from there November, 1951. Best I could come up with, but I bet @Tbolt would not only know, he's probably got all the serial numbers! Mike

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Mike

Incredible finish! Are you sure you're not related to Tony O'Toole? The ICM kit looks to be outstanding- how was it to build? Mike