Antti_K

You are welcome troffa🙂 I started my Tamiya F-4J Phantom WIP here on BM some two years ago. The tittle is "I fear no man" as my original plan was to build a 74 squadron aircraft. Lack of decals and especially lack of proper stencils turned my attention toward USN (and USMC) birds. It became clear that in order to show the others a specific point of interest you have to build beyond that step. But my intention is to update the story in the near future concentrating on detailing, painting and finishing. There isn't a single part in the kit that I haven't altered. Now I'm ready to print some decals as I made all the panel numbers and stencils. Luckily the required font is a standard one available in every computer. Cheers, Antti

Hello Troffa! Can you get a pair of Revell jet nozzles from your (or someone elses) spares box as they are perfect for the job. Then of course some re-shaping is required on the rear fuselage as well... Here is my Phantom project after the area around jet nozzles was re-shaped and detailed And here are the jet nozzles. From left to right they are: original Tamiya part, Revell part and resin aftermarket part (same dimensions as the Tamiya part has). My solution was to sand down the resin part's outer surface until I could slide it in the Revell's jet nozzle and attach with CA. The finished jet nozzles in place for a dry fit. Plastic strip and Milliput was needed especially on the lower surface to blend in the jet nozzles. At this point I used close up photos of a F-4J(UK); hence the small reinforcement plates on the fin. I removed them later. A lot of work was needed in this area. I had painted the model (VF-143 1969-1970 cruise livery) using Humbrol enamels when disaster stroke: something went horribly wrong with the Humbrol clear cote. It turned into a thick mass which in turn destroyed all the surface details. It took six months to remove the paint and re-scribe all panel lines, bolts and rivets. The AN/ALQ-51 antenna blister at the trailing edge of the fin was beyond my help and had to be removed (together with all scratch built ECM antennas). Today my Phantom is completely re-painted (VF-101 1968 livery) and is waiting for clear cote and decals. I hope that your project turns up in a less dramatic way🙂 Cheers, Antti

Hello! Some books say that VF-111 used a handful of F-4J:s for a short while. As I was looking for a "striking" paint scheme for my big F-4J as well, I was very enthusiastic about "Sundowners'" colours. However I wasn't able to find a single photo of a VF-111 F-4J. Troffa, have you considered either of the two decal sets from AoA -decals? They provide excellent sheets for BuNo 155887 (#102) of VF-143 and BuNo 155565 of VMFA-334. I have them both and they are among the very best aftermarket decals I've seen (correct size and shape, sharp, opaque, work beautifully with Micro's chemicals and the research is done well). Cheers, Antti

Hello Paul! What a collection! Beautiful work! I didn't even know that there are so many model kits about gliders... "Vasama" (Thunderbolt) is PIK-16. It made it's debut in World Gliding Championships held in Argentina in 1963. It is the Pilatus that has always inspired me as it is made out of aluminium. Because of the rivets it "sings" during flight in a way no other glider does. Cheers, Antti

Good morning perdu, I bought a decal sheet for my 1/48 scale Canberra. The sheet included numerous "Fire Access" panel markings of different styles (with and without white center). The same sheet contains various "Ejection seat triangles", first aid kit and service markings. More detailed information available here: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ML489018 Kind Regards, Antti

Hello all, I've been using "a hot blade technique" when dealing with parts and plastic like this. Use a good quality knife like X-Acto or Swan-Morton (all metal) and hold the blade above a candle for a while. Then let the hot blade "slide" through plastic. Do not use any force nor cut too close to the part. Then clean the part carefully with a knife and a fine sanding stick. Do some practice runs to know when the blade is at right temperature and you are cutting at the right pace. Cheers, Antti

The camouflage demarcation line looks very similar to that seen in the first photo. There is much softer contrast in this picture giving a better idea of the nose shape. Cheers, Antti

I'm with gingerbob. The area looks so dark that it gives a false impression of a bulge on top of the nose. Cheers, Antti

Hello Ian! I can recommend the Airfix 1/48 scale Javelin. It has minor issues with airframe details but those are easily rectified. Firestreak missiles, pylons and under wing tanks are the worst items but again with some sanding and re-detailing they will look good. Check my Javelin WIP: A very nice model of Phantom FG.1 (FGR.2 needs some modification) can be built with some effort out of Hasegawa's kit even if you don't correct the shape of the intakes. Check here for my "North Sea Sports GT Model": I'm about to start building the Airfix Meteor FR.9. Unfortunately one of the fuselage halves is somewhat bent. Well maybe I'll start my Victor SR.2 project first. Or Phantom FGR.2🙂 Cheers, Antti

Very nice work on a classic helicopter and the kit Zebra! I like it a lot. Cheers, Antti

Great info Dana! So far I have been looking only at the engines not the camera windows. Last night I found a good quality print of one the photos John Phillips took of #80 in May 1944. It looks like some white paint has been applied high on the sides of the nose (possibly an attempt to fix the original paint). Thank You🙂 Antti

I found this photo on my computer. Note how different these new(ish) F-4s look when compared with each other. The closest aircraft possibly carries serial 13079 on it's tail.

Great info here! I have an "on-going" project with Tamiya F-4U1A and Hobby Boss F-4U 5 to build a F-4U 7 in Aeronavale colours. So I will watch this closely. Cheers, Antti

Good evening all, when I built my first "Saint-Ex Lightning" with very limited info (I only had a poor quality print of that front view photo I found in a Finnish aviation magazine) I ended up with almost the same conclusion as Jim: I used Olive Drab and light gray. Seeing the colour photo posted above I was convinced that I was close to the real thing. Only then I became aware about "Haze" and "Synthetic Haze" paint schemes. As Hamsterman notes above, Saint-Ex. belly landed Lightning #80 in February 1944. This may have been the incident that denied further flights from him as some high ranking French officers were envious and thought that Saint-Ex was too old, too much an artist and so on. Saint-Exupery retreated to Algiers and spent time there alone and simply waiting. He was well connected and he managed to get a permission for further four missions when he personally pleaded to an American commander. When he disappeared over the Bay of Angels he was already on his ninth mission. I don't recall where I got the USAF serial 41-2363 for this Lightning (#80) and the name "Peggy Back". Hamsterman has found another one that may be the correct one. Can you verify that this aircraft was indeed a F-5 not F-4 as I thought? A photo (not seen here on BM) was published in La Croix du Nord on 31.10.1964 showing Saint-Exupery standing under the wing of a French Lightning carrying a serial 12363 on the tail. It is possible that this not #80 as the wing under surface is light colored from the leading edge; not dark. Heavy paint chipping is visible on the leading edge. Cheers, Antti

Let's hope they really do it. A new Vulcan with complete cockpit and bomb bay interior would be great. Now where's my credit card....

Hello Jim, this P-38 F-4 was called "Peggy Back" and the USAF serial was 41-2363. Would this help us to get further information about the paint scheme? At least we can rule "Synthetic Haze" out I think. These two close-up photos provide more detailed info: note how the paint has chipped. It is also interesting to note that Saint-Exupery is wearing a parachute for the photographer. According to the persons who flew with him, he didn't wear parachute when flying the P-38. Cheers, Antti

Hello Uncle Pete! This "mysterious" part is indeed a wind shield to protect the rear seat occupant during an ejection. It's main function is to provide comfortable conditions to some degree in the rear cockpit if the canopy is either detonated or otherwise shattered. The "wind shield" is fixed to the main canopy in the real thing. Two photos for you: I shot these photos at our maintenance hangar and although I wasn't in a hurry I couldn't get the white balance right. So the colours aren't especially accurate. Cheers, Antti

Hello all, I have been searching the Internet, books and magazines to find out which camouflage and colours Saint-Exupery's Lightning carried. Note that this isn't the aircraft in which he disappeared on 31.7.1944! The photo @Occa posted here is the only one in colour that I've ever seen. Those black and white photos shown here were shot at Alghero AB (Sardinia) by John Phillips (from Life -magazine) in May 1944 after Saint-Exupery had returned to Squadron 2/33 from Algiers (Frederic d'Agay, Saint-Exupery's cousin). It is fair to think that Mr. Phillips used Pan-chromatic film with colour correcting filters. I think the paint scheme is the original (yet well weathered) "Haze" paint because: - top sides look rather dark and undersides light - no hard colour demarcation lines are visible - under the wing a dark paint runs from the leading edge up to the main spar -the spinners have a soft colour demarcation lines All these facts match with photos of other Lightning F4s carrying the original "Haze" paint. Remember that "Synthetic Haze" was a different story! Lightnings painted in "Haze" paint looked very much different to each other; some were very dark others looked almost white. This paint scheme was created in the following manner: first the whole aircraft was painted with gloss black. Then a special white coat was applied in a way that upper surfaces received a very thin coat of white and lower surfaces a heavier one. So a factor fresh Lightning would have very dark blue upper surfaces and light blue under surfaces with very soft colour demarcation. Haze paint weathered quickly and the dark blue turned toward black. Constant "touch-ups" were needed and of course they never matched the original factory paint work. I have a French book that has a whole chapter about Squadron 2/33 but the photos only show later F5s in "Synthetic Haze" or natural metal schemes. Then there are colour profiles showing some "wild" camouflage schemes for the unit's F4s and F5s. Cheers, Antti

My Lord, I would go with the Zoukei Mura kit. It's the newest and probably the most accurate. The contents of the box look very good indeed. There is however one "issue": the rear fuselage curvature looks like slightly out of shape. It should be easy to fix if one so chooses. Unfortunately the decals are for "Showtime 100" only... Cheers, Antti

Good point Keith! Especially if we look at the painting instructions Ilmavoimien Esikunta (the Finnish Air Force HQ) issued; they state that the national insignia should not overlap on the aileron. When I'm thinking other photos of Finnish bf-109s this was however rather common practice. Cheers, Antti

I guess you have seen this photo already: https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109G/FAF/pages/Messerschmitt-Bf-109G8-FAF-3.HLeLv24-MT-462-WNr-200041-Finland-30th-Jun-1944-01.html It looks like a war time censor has "brushed over" the Stammkennzeiche. Cheers, Antti

Hello Larry & Co., MT-462 was indeed a recce version (bf-109 G-8/R5, Werke Nummer 200041). R5 means that MT-462 had a different radio equipment than standard aircraft. There is at least one photo of her showing Warrant Officer Nils Katajainen climbing aboard. According to a fellow Finnish modeller the camera ports were covered with aluminium plates. The whole story of these "specials" is covered in "Suomen ilmailuhistoriallinen lehti 1/2001" (Finnish Aviation History Magazine 1/2001) including three view drawings by Pentti Manninen. At least Finnish Aviation Museum at Vantaa has that magazine in their library. Cheers, Antti

Hello all! Years ago I run a test using ortho film (it was from Ilford range) without colour correcting filters. I painted chips with Humbrol 28, 116, 117, 118, red and blue. So dark green and medium brown were there. I can't find the photos but I have my notebook at hand. Here are my findings: Without filter: red appears black, blue appears medium gray, 116 was the darkest gray although it was difficult to differentiate it from 117, brown 118 was almost as dark as green 117 and 28 was almost white. Films used in the 1930s and 1940s were rather slow when compared to modern films. In many cases ISO readings were something like 64 (today it is difficult to find slower than ISO 400). Unfortunately I can't find any notes about the film I used. I'm somewhat suspicious about using a digital camera and image software for studies like this. The image sensor has wider spectral sensitivity than film (and especially ortho film). The question is: why colour correcting filters were used in the first place? And the answer is simple; to make the pictures look better when printed in books or magazines. Exactly the same reason why Photoshop was originally created. Furthermore image sensor isn't sensitive to UV light when film on the other hand is. Surprisingly some modellers seem to think that is totally good method to scan pictures from books, manipulate them in Photoshop and finally present "scientific" results to fellow enthusiasts about the colours used. Cheers, Antti

Hi Gareth, some more pictures for you. These are all Finnish Air Force Learjets. Here is the cabin. I blacked out the navigator instrument panel (this current lay-out is classified). Note the table in front of the panel. You felt like a V-bomber navigator riding backwards and staring at the radar scope. Here is the cockpit. Note that the control gust lock is still the same as it was in Learjet 23! Just a strap... Here is the one in which I logged in most time. Just to show you all special equipment. This is an interesting one. Because the Finnish Air Force wanted a door on low starboard side, a reinforcement plate had to attached on starboard side of the fuselage. I don't know if the Argentinian examples have anything similar. In this picture the door is removed and a camera fairing fitted instead. This allows two vertical cameras to be carried side by side. Argentinians have much more beautiful solution to achieve the same outcome. The door proved problematic. It was designed for dropping a maritime rescue package. As a navigator you wore a special harness and then removed the door; it was not hinged! Then you simply threw the box out. And everyone sat with their fingers crossed that the package would clear the engine. Well it didn't. The door was never used again. It was a hair rising procedure for the pilots as well. You had to maintain exactly 105 KIAS when dropping something. Only one knot above stall speed. And you don't want to stall a Learjet. Especially if starboard engine is on fire already. This photo clearly shows the reinforcement plate around the camera window. Note also the white window blind barely visible. I remember seeing a photo of an Argentinian Learjet with under wing pylons. Whether it is the same type I can't tell. The fire axe occupies the flight attendant's seat. Above it is the usual fuel table you can find in every Finnish Air Force transport plane. I hope that this gives you some generic data of a modified Learjet and also ideas for further studies. Cheers, Antti

You are welcome Gareth🙂 I loved flying these "fighters without re-heat"; the second best thing is to talk about them and the third best thing is building models of them. Or was it the other way around😉 Yes the navigator's console (or instrument panel) is at the back of the cabin. Look at the photo and you can see the air conditioning duct on top of the console; just behind the oxygen pressure gauges and pipes. The emergency exit's red handle is just visible on the left in the picture. During the mission you are indeed sitting backwards. Of course you sit facing forward during take-off and landing. So the two last seats are modified in a way that they can be turned around. All other cabin seats are standard. The seats are attached on rails and they can be removed easily. Here in Finland for example the seats were removed from starboard side and the hit indicator boxes (when in target towing configuration) were installed with their racks into the seat rails. At least Finnish 35s have white coloured blinds (just like those in passenger aircraft) and at least one time there were also medium gray soft black out curtains for the wind shield. Cheers, Antti