72modeler

Thanks, Troy! Great links- I will study them. I even forgot I had the MMP Mig-3 book! until you attached the photo of the cover! Duh! Mike

That's one of the few internet references I do have, Chris! Just not sure how accurate they are. Mike

I just got the new-tool AMG kit, and it is very, very nice! Numerous choices on the decal sheet, and there is a colors/markings guide that has color profiles for each choice, and there is an upper and lower color plan view that shows several variations of the camouflage patterns, but no reference listed for each color profile as to what pattern applies. I am not very well-versed in VVS camouflage and markings, nor do I have a ton of references on the subject. Is there someone out there that can direct me towards a good reference source? Thanks in advance for assistance- it's such a neat-looking little spud and such a nice kit, I would like to do it justice. Mike

Hard to find fault with a NZ Corsair! Echo what the others have said about the colors and weathering. Best NZ Bent Wing Bird I have seen for a long time. Bet @LDSModeller will have a big smile on his face when he sees this one! Mike

Martin, This is your best Mustang yet, and you have given us some beauts! What a great scheme, and done to perfection. Yes, I noticed you nailed the correct 'sit' of the open canopy. Panel line washes and penciled detailing look very realistic, especially in this scale. Loved the late radio fit, too. Tony O'Toole would be proud- not only for the model, but also for the history and backstory that accompanied it. Well done! Mike BTW- how is your Invader coming along?

You could try telling Lady Martian the Mariner was a combo kit, like the recent Eduard releases! Mike Good to see some the old gang back in the Naughty Corner; it was getting pretty lonely and quiet around here!

I'm not sure about a possible difference in flight suits, but IIRC, PTO pilots would likely have worn a deflated Mae West life jacket, and a one man life raft would have been incorporated as a part of the seat pack parachute. Maybe a khaki version of the standard gabardine flight suit? I'm sure somebody will know the correct answer. Mike I did find this discussion and photos- best I could come up with; I hope it will be useful. https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/276795-usaaf-flight-uniform-help/ G'day, mate!

Dave's comments regarding the Tokyo tank vents on the Hasegawa B-17 kits are correct; you need to fill them if you are doing an F, and depending upon the block number of a G, you can leave them or fill them. The kit engines are simplified, and the props have undersized hubs; the wheel bays are open and lack any detailing, I seem to recall reading some comments regarding the forward shape of the windscreen, but I can't recall where i read that. I can re-visit my kits on that score. That being said, it is a whole lot better than the Revell kit,. If Academy hadn't molded solid all the intakes in the wing leading edge on all of their B-17 kits, they would have been better than the Hasegawa B-17F and B-17G kits.. Mike

Great photos- thank you for sharing them with us. MH434 with invasion stripes? Guessing that is to celebrate the 80th anniversary? If so. they should be full stripes, I would think. Mike

All I was able to find was this link to the 27th FW that he commanded in Korea; Not sure if any of the F-84's pictured on the site were Blakeslee's, but it's a start! Best I can do, sorry! Perhaps @RidgeRunner might be able to help, as he's hog wild about Hogs! Mike https://charlevoixemmethistory.weebly.com/book-pages--27th-fighter-escort-wing-memory-book.html

I have read accounts that the radar was frequently turned off by pilots because it was constantly going off; no way to differentiate friend from foe, especially when large formations of friendly and enemy aircraft were intermixed. I did find this linked discussion, and while it doesn't answer the query posted, it does have a factory photo that shows the location and appearance of the radar's control panel. I hope it will be of use. Mike https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/87564/tail-warning-radar-on-the-p-51

I agree with Graham; the Halifax and its crews have never gotten the same adulation or recognition as the Lancaster, and the new-tool Revell kits were a real disappointment; I really hope Airfix will do a state of the art new-tool kit in God's Own Scale, and with some clever engineering, they could easily get all of the major versions out of a basic set of sprues, but I doubt we will ever see another Halifax kit in the smaller scale. For my fellow 1/48 modelers, I hope that maybe HK might consider doing one, but that would be a pretty esoteric project for them. Mike

WIP is correct- so far as I know, ,late P-38J's and all P-38L's were the only variants that had the compressability flaps.

Then I guess it's that Gawdawful tailwheel mounting, as I have seen some builds where the model sat 'way too high.- will have to try to find those build photos to see if the tailwheel om them was too far up into the bay or was cemented at the wrong angle. I seem to recall, thought, that when I compared the struts to the ones in my Hasegawa and Tamiya kits, the Edujard struts were a little bit longer. I can go back and check them again and report back this week end. Mike

No problemo, my friend! Mike

Aww, cut it out, Fuad- now yer just showin' off! Yet another magnificent model! Mike

Mama Mia- atsa some spicy meataball! Mike

Aviation Usk did a very nice 1/72 B-32 kit that had vacform and injected parts; it was better than the Anigrand kit, but is long OOP and probably goes for more than the Anigrand kit when one comes up on an auction site. I have one, and it is a very, very nice kit. If I don't build mine, I can always wait a while, and get enough for it to make a decent down payment on a new car! Mike Here's a build article: https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/usaaf/bombers/grosb32.htm

Monogram did a 1/72 snap-tite kit that was pretty accurate, shape and dimension wise, but needed cockpit, bomb aimer's and tail gunner's positions, and wheel bay detailing; they pop up now and again on that well-known auction site Valom also did one, which had much better detail parts and transparencies, but had a horribly fat fuselage and fuselage/nacelle shape issues aft of the cockpit. I have both kits, and I think the easiest , but not the most economical way to get there is use the Monogram kit airframe and the detail parts from the Valom or the Airfix B-26B kit. I sure hope, but not with very much faith, that somebody will give is a new-tool kit in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales....are you listening, ICM? Here is a link to very fine build of the Monogram kit- not in RAF colors/markings, but you get a good idea about what needs to be done to the kit. Vacform B-26 transparencies are available from Falcon or Squadon. Hasegawa stopped short- they could have easily done a revised tooling of their B-26B or B-26F/G kits. https://www.arcair.com/Gal13/12801-12900/gal12886-B-26-Dedig/00.shtm Mike

I thought I was the only one who always seemed to fall in love with a modeling subject for which there are either no decals available or that require a conversion! So glad to see you're still in the game, my friend- it's been rather lonely here in the Naughty Corner without you and CC! Best to you and Lady Martian! (We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming!) Mike

That might have been the issue, as I have seen builds of the Eduard P-51D where the tail wheel was definitely up into the bay, and that would make the model sit higher on its main gear. Have to watch out for that when I start the build. Thanks to all for your assistance! Mike

I doubt that the rockets would be mounted on a folded wing; I am guessing that the weight would be too much for the hinge assembly and the jury strut and latch that held the wingtips against the horizontal stabilizers.. Mike

Great! Thanks, Bob! That means Eduard did not repeat the gear strut issue on their new P-51B's and as you said, they are incredible kits and extremely well-researched, as the number of part options attests! Mike

I'm not a 1/48 scale modeler, per se, but I did want to get the new-tool Eduard P-51B combo, as I have always wanted to do 'Princess Elizabeth' in the larger scale. I seem to recall reading discussion that Eduard's 1/48 P-51D kits had landing gear struts that were too tall, as the Mustang they studied was suspended from the ceiling, so the oleos were extended, and Eduard molded the struts this way, making the sit of the model too high. Has anybody who has purchased the P-51B combo measured the landing gear struts to see if Eduard corrected this error? I can always use the struts out of one of my 1/48 amiya P-51B or P-51D kits, as they are the correct length, but I hate to trash perfectly good kits just for the struts if I don't have to. (I know I can always cut and shorten the oleos to the correct compressed length on my two 1/48 Eduard P-51D kits, but I was hoping Eduard had corrected this flaw on the new-tool P-51B's.) Just curious! Mike

Jure, Yes, that is the blister I was talking about. After looking thru my various Bf-110 references, including Kagero, Classic, Jadgwaffe, and Aero, it appears some had the blister and some didn't; I'm guessing that maybe late production F's had them- I know not that many F's were produced, and with the G coming along so closely, perhaps the late F features were the same as the early G's? I guess I need to do some more research! Mike