72modeler

Very nice! Bet the decaling took almost as long as the build! Mike

Doggone, CFFU- you are fast! Used the same site, but I'm pretty slow when it comes to the MATS website, as modern weenie cookers aren't my specialty, but you are correct, according to them. I can add that it is an F-14B-150-GR. Whatcha doin' messing around with Tomcats? Get back to F4U's where you belong! Mike

CTM, What a great build of an iconic plastic kit- Monogram was so far ahead of its time; can you imagine what they would be capable of turning out today? Your build looks very good, even with the operating and overscale gear and doors, but good for you for keeping them. I remember building this one when I was in the 6th grade and being sooo careful with that pin that connected the upper and lower gear struts so they would pivot. Fond and painful memories of pressing down on those Monogram decals every five minutes or so for an hour so that they would lie down over all those rivets.....ah, those were the days! Thanks for bringing an oldie but goodie new life! Mike

Peter, Best A-6 build in the scale I have seen so far, for what it's worth. Outstanding weathering- very convincing, and SO hard to do on a modern naval airplane, but you have pulled it off. Well done, sir! Mike

I'm jealous, as I have yet to go, but have relatives a few hours away from Oshkosh I could stay with; I'm hoping I can go when either the P-61B or XP-82 being restored here in the Colonies are completed and attend. My modeling friends usually make fun of me and accuse me of having almost no photos of complete airplanes, as I'm usually flat on my back shooting wheel bays! Hard to get underside detail photos at most museums because the airplanes are either roped off or the staff get excited when you crawl under one.

Yep- the last 86 Douglas-built F models had the chin turret fitted- the B-17F-75-DL block. Mike

Just saw this and thought some of you might like seeing it; a possible diorama project? Mike https://www.pinterest.com/pin/181410691223098043/

Dennis, No problem! I appreciate your thinking about me. When the Collings Foundation's B-17G Nine-O-Nine comes to San Antonio again, I will try to get some for both of us. Regards! Mike

Ooh! Shoot the wheel bays, please! Good profile shots of the nose contours would be nice, as well...still not sure Airfix got those quite right, but they're streets ahead of the Revell kit! Mike

Call me crazy, but those external tanks look like the ones carried by Meteor F8/9's and the NF11-14's. They are definitely not P-38 or P-51 external tanks. Are there any 1/72 Meteor kits or aftermarket sets that have Meteor drop tanks? Do an image search for DH Meteor drop tanks to see what you think. Just an uneducated observation, mind you, Admiral! Mike

Howdy, all! Stumbled upon this while looking for Spitfire XVI's that my good friend's uncle flew while with 695 Squadron, and thought if it hadn't already been posted here on BM, it might be a good modeling reference. The site has the histories of each squadron, airfields operated from, as well as color profiles of the aircraft used by each squadron, and other interesting information. (Mike, if this is not the most appropriate location for this post, please feel free to move it- I took a guess as to the best forum in which to place it.) Mike http://www.rafweb.org/index.html

Larry- I have an acquaintance who is a former AF Spad driver checking his manuals and photos for clarification on the landing lights- says he can't remember offhand, but will try to find a definitive answer. Stay tuned. Mike

I had no idea about the externally and internally mounted arresting hooks, Tony- thanks for the tidbit! (I must have a spare Blenheim motor and prop in my spares inventory somewhere... 'scuse me while I go rummaging.)

Mike, According to written sources, the Sea Gladiator Mk 1's were fitted with a fixed-pitch Fairey Reed prop; I have also seen photos of at least one, on Malta IIRC, that was fitted with the Mercury XV engine and Hamilton Standard variable pitch prop salvaged from a Blenheim. I think it was N5520, named Faith, one of the three famous Gladiator Malta defenders. Mike

Thanks for the reply, Tommy. I was wondering what the reason was for the 'short' fairing door! Mike

Larry, After looking through my two Ginter books on the Skyraider, photos, and a Skyraider Modeling Manual, I think the USAF A-1E's and A-1H's had a retractable landing light under the port wing only. It also appears from written and photographic references, that some USN and AF AD's had a "short" LH landing gear fairing that had a light fitted in its center. Off the top of my pointy little head, I would think a landing light would be of much more use to a land-based Spad than any that operated off of a carrier, as I would think an approach light would be of much more use to them. I don't see landing lights under the wings of any Navy/Marine AD's through the AD-5/AD-6. I'm betting Tailspin Turtle will elaborate if he sees this post. Hope I got this right! Mike

This might also help; do an internet search for P-51D wheel wells images; you will pull up numerous photos of the real airplane as well as photos of the resin wheel well sets in the different scales. You can use these photos as a guide, but be careful, as some of the resin aftermarket sets have the back wall of the wheel well angled to match the opening of the wheel bay, instead of straight across, which is the main spar. If finances permit, you could purchase a 1/32 wheel bay set and scale up the structural and piping details to 1/24- you could then sell the 1/32 set to someone who needs one and recover your costs. I think waiting for the templates that Richard has so generously offered would also get you there, along with the photo search. For excellent reference photos, look at the link below for Happy Jack's Go Buggy P-51D restoration, which is based here where I live, and has been meticulously restored- great detail photos of the cockpit and wheel bays. Good luck on your project! BTW- what scheme and markings have you chosen? Mike http://midwestaero.com/site/Photo_Gallery/Pages/Happy_Jacks_Go_Buggy.html

MitchK, Now that you mentioned wanting to do A-6 and A-8 versions, I would say the Eduard overtree or week end editions would be the way to go. If you order 2-3 kits at a time, the shipping is more cost effective, I think. Mike

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Very hard to do weathering/fading in the larger scales and have it look realistic and not just like a plastic model, but you have done it. I loved the over painting of the rudder stripes, too- very well done! Mike

I would contact customer service on the Revell website- they have a link to replacement parts; enter the kit number, description of the part/s needed, as well as the letter of the sprue's on which the parts can be found. I have had excellent results on the occasions I needed replacements- one was a short-shot wing half for the Shackleton MR2 and the other a broken landing gear strut for the Fw-200C-3. It takes a couple of weeks to a month for the parts to arrive, unless the kit is not in the queue for the injection molding machine. Mike http://www.revell.com/support/parts-request.php Whoops- I forgot to mention that the link above is only for U.S. and Canadian customers- I think you have to contact Revell/Germany for customer assistance or replacement parts if you are in the UK- I know the gentleman I talked to by phone at the USA contact number told me that my parts would come from Revell/Germany to the U.S. site, then to me. PBS- sorry you seem to be having such a poor response. I hope I wasn't just lucky, for your sake! Mike

To the best of my knowledge, and Graham or ToT can confirm or correct, but Mk XII's were not fitted with navigation lights on the wingtips. Don't ask me why! Mike

What scale and which version- P-51B/c or P-51D? I don't have a template or drawing, but if you do a search for resin P-51 wheel bays in the scale you're working in, the photos of the resin sets can be used as the basis for scratchbuilding your own. The rear and roof of the bay would be pretty easy, but the front, with the curvature and lightening cutouts would be a pain! It also appears that the resin sets of the P-51B/C versions are OOP. Very few of the existing kits in either scale seem to get the rear spar/aft part of the bay correct, sad to say. Mike

I echo what Stevehnz said. Eduard has done Fw-190A-5's through Fw-190A-8's, but if you want an Fw-190A-3/4, you would have to look at the Tamiya or Zvezda kits, or a conversion set, although I'm pretty sure Eduard will get around to an A-3/4 at some point, as they have done them in 1/48 already. IIRC, and somebody can confirm/correct me, but if you use the Tamiya A-3, you will need to replace the wheels, as I think they were undersized, and probably get an aftermarket set for the exhausts. The Zvezda A-4 is very nice, as well, and I think slightly better than the Tamiya kit, IIRC. The Hasegawa kits are very good, but have simplified interiors and the wheel bays aren't correct, but fixable. I would think the week end editions of the Eduard A's would be the way to go, as they are very reasonable in price, and would really only need a zoom etched set to enhance them. Mike

RL, I echo what ToT said regarding your Vampire- she's a beaut! I loved the helmets on the w/s...planning to do the same when I do my 8th FBG F-86F, as the Sabre pilots liked to perch theirs on top of the w/s, too! Nice touch, sir! Planning on a Jet Provost in the same scheme to park with it? Mike

Oboy- modeling rule #whatever! When they're dirt cheap and plentiful, you have no intention of building one, but when you get the hots for a kit, it's either OOP or ridiculously priced! Corollary- if you do pay a king's ransom for that gotta-have kit, they re-release it or somebody else reboxes it at a much lower price! Having said that, Mike and Troy, it does appear the kit is OOP- SH did two 1/72 boxings- one in USN markings and the other as a civil-registered racing version. IIRC, either kit had the same parts, just different decal sheets. It's been a while since I've played with my USK and Special Hobby F2G kits, but the SH was better than the USK, except Special Hobby got the resin R4360 completely wrong, molding it as a two-row 18 cylinder engine instead of the four-row 28 cylinder engine; they also only molded three magnetos, as I recall, instead of the seven it should have around crankcase. That famous e-site has a couple, ranging from $22 to $54 USD. I would wait for a re-release, but it isn't all that difficult to convert an F4U-1A/D kit into an F2G-1/2. If you decide to try that, let me know, as I contemplated that route myself and can give you a pretty good how-to. Making an accurate vacform canopy is really the hardest part, as neither of the two injected kits really got the canopy right, and it is a VERY distinctive feature on the Super Corsair. Sorry I can't be of more help. One other tidbit- the F2G had a floor to the cockpit, versus the heel boards and open floor of the F4U-1's. Mike