RidgeRunner

No, mate. As Antti @Antti_K says, the rudder was mechanical. When parked it always deflected. Martin

Its great, isnt it. I've watched it many, many times over the past few years. I visited Volkel a number of times and got up close to those wonderful machines. Martin

Bill, You really can’t beat an F-104A/B/C/D/F/G-installed J79, whether at idle or at any moment up to military power/afterburner :). Even the S had some charm My favourite Starfighter base and my favourite aeroplane :). The hairs on my neck stand up from the first second of this video :). Martin

Hmmmm ..... an Indian example

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/hellenic-air-force-f5-freedom-fighter-icarus-productions-ic72015-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=111610 Artin

She's a beauty, mate! I love your fine wear and tear on the anti-dazzle. How did you do that? Salt? Martin

Nice :). She's an Atlantic @Cklasse rather than the much modernised Atlantique. Martin

A bit more done today. Taking Wez's @Wez useful help I made up a "generic" coaming area for the instrument panel. It is loosely based on the Tan Model images that he sent. I used card, rod and some fuse wire. I'm sorry but I didn't realise that my photo was so bad! I then had to contue with the task of adding the "cameras" and the last bits of transparency. I had to make up one camera by cutting and drilling out some sprue. The kit has a part for this but as hard as I tried I couldn't get it to fit. I added weight too! After all this had been done I painted the interior and coaming area matt black again. Then, after cleaning and eliminating as much dust as could I started getting the fuselage together. She now looks like an odd stryrene hedgehog As is normal for these builds (i.e. without locating pins and holes and a more vague idea of precision) this process has taken time, cementing it one bit at a time, working along the fuselage from the fin area. She now needs to sit and cure before I can do anything else. Martin

I see the press are reporting Russian live fire exercises off Ireland in February. This is primarily naval stuff, of course.

Very nice

These were rather tasty https://www.thunderstreaks.com/exercises/larissa-greece-best-hit-airsouth-fighter-weapons-meet-july-18-20-1972/ And https://www.internetmodeler.com/scalemodels/nraviation/Icarus-Decals-1-72-1-48-Hellenic-Air-Force-Freedom-Fighters-Pt-2.php Martin

Never drooped, mate. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. You will find that most Soviet jets were pretty tidy compared to their US counterparts. Martin

“What I would definetly suggest is getting a new nose intake from Renaissance in France https://www.renaissance-models.com/ter/index.php/avions-toutes-echelles/echelle-1-72/produits/923-na-f100d-nez. If there is anyway area of the Trumper that needs attention it is that! ” Erwin @VT Red Sox Fan, I’d definitely go for resin wheels. The nosewheel strut can be fixed. I used the Trumper wing before and really didn’t worry too much about a scale inch here or there. Martin Ersin, PM sent. Martin

Thanks Wez. I got your email and will digest it tomorrow ;). M

In my F-84F excitement today I pulled my PJ F-84F kit from the shelf. Mike @72modeler has warned me that this kit has some dimension issues and I now see what he means. Already we are all aware that the Sword is short in fuselage length and is a little lean around the belly. Well, the PJ is even shorter and leaner!!!! What a let down!!!! It looks like the Airfix is the most accurate, or at least in these two areas.