Zaggy

@RMP2 - its one of the most useful Hasegawa resources out there, isn't it! And not just that page, but the preceding has48a.htm, has48b.htm, has48c.htm and following has48e.htm pages... So much good info! Dan

Ive had good luck with Kinetic - got a F-21 kit once, that instead came with the Kfir C2/C7 plastic. Contacted Kinetic, they sent me the F-21 unique parts no problem. Took a little while, but they arrived... Dan

The three Brit Phantoms of mine that I can get to don't (Collectors Edition FGR.2, 56SQN red tail FGR.2, and the 111SQN Black Mike FG.1 re-issue) ... But both of the F-4G's I have do, as well as the F-4EJ KAI. From what I have noticed, any Hasegawa boxing that says 'One Piece Canopy' WILL DEFINATELY have the two canopies (opening set and all closed up set), while some of the more recent issues may or may not. I have friends who's FG.1/FGR.2's do have the one piece canopy in them. I'm sure someone here has built one of these kits and has a left over??? But if not, from what I can gather, the kits that DEFINATELY have the one piece canopy (and thus you end up with a 'spare') are: 07206 F-4J ‘Showtime 100’ 07208 F-4E ‘30th Anniversary 131 TFW’ 07209 F-4G Wild Weasel 07210 F-4B/N (one of the raised panel line kits) 07077 F-4S 'VF-161 Rock Rivers' 09805 F-4E 'Korean Air Force' 09859 F-4E ‘Indiana ANG Special’ 07207 F-4EJ KAI Dan

Dave - saw more pictures today of one being review built. I'm becoming more convinced my initial assessment was a) either of early plastic that has since been changed or macro-lense distortion making things look pointier, as what I have now seen looks much nicer and 'righter'. Looking at the thing, it seems to currently model a factory-fresh F-14A-85-GR; so it has no TCS or Concrete Bullet (which looks like it'll be added to a later release), no glove ECM bumps and the early Hexagonal Fintip reinforcing. I think from F-14A-100-GR or F-14A-105-GR blocks, the TCS-compatible mount (which came out of the factory with the concrete bullet in place) was factory fitted, as was the later type of fin tip reinforcing plates (the layered 'T' shaped ones), so I'll be interesting to see what Tamiya does with the Tails for later jets... I reckon its good someone is doing early tails, so I can do an F-14A-95-GR from VX-4, for the AIMVAL/ACEVAL trials, with the TVCS (early TCS), front and rear HMCS sensors on the canopy rail for the motorless AIM-95 rounds they flew with (dual rails on 1A and 6A) and the Splinter Scheme on the 6 jets they got. Looking forward to that... Fingers are still crossed!!!! Dan

I'd kind of like to see someone have a crack at that. As Class377fcc12 says, would not be a tough one... But would be interesting! D

If you havent yet got the kit in hand, go buy the Hasegawa Kit (and if you're like me, track down the WAH-64 conversion too); way better than the Revell and LOTS more aftermarket available for it! If you do have the Revell kit, well there is nothing to stop you winging it with some of the Aires and Verlinden sets... You just may need to get creative in order to get them to fit, if there are notable differences in the kit the set was designed for and the kit you're putting it into... But sometimes this can be fun! Dan

Firstly, I think this chap here is having a go; to that I say, whatever... Tomcat's are an obsession of mine. At least I have the balls to put my name to my critiques of something and also give credit where credit is due! And thus, because I have now seen more of the kit, there is some credit that needs to be given! Wings: These initially terrified me, but now having seen how they go together as well as the surface detail, all I can say is WOW! It appears the wing sweep mechanism within the fuselage, exits as a 'stub' on each side, allowing you to paint the a/c and wings separately, then put them together afterwards. That will make life SOOOOO much easier and is actually a really clever (I thought) way of do it. Then a saw the wing upper surfaces and to be honest, my jaw dropped! SPLENDID is the only word to describe this! My remaining concerns about the wings with have not been answered is, do they go just to full sweep (sad face) or do they go to oversweep (happy face); because oversweep is the most common config that you'll see on the ground. Stabs: appear to be movable, so again, I can pose the jet in it most common on the ground/deck config Config: There are a number of 'not for use' parts so far, including what is obviously a TCS Lense, the Phoenix Pallets are hollowed so a BRU can be fitted, the cockpit panels are all seperate, etc; which one can really only conclude means that later variants of the A are planned. Maybe even B's and D's. There is huge empty area's for optional panels for gun gas vents and etc also! Nose: Still my area of greatest concern, and because what I saw was still on the sprue, really hard to tell (because of the way the windscreen part fits - which BTW is really cool!) if the initial photo's that showed a 'pointy' nose are reflective of the latest test shots. I REALLY want that to be right and as previous, final judgement reserved for when I have plastic in hand AND clipped from the sprue AND taped together. I am getting excited tho! Markings: Didn't have a long hard look at these, as I have so many aftermarket tomcat sheets, that I have lost count! But there are early VF-1, VF-2 and IIAF markings (or was it IRIAF markings), which all look pretty good - never had much in the way of hassles with Tamiya decals, thus I dont forsee issues there! So, I'm still worried about the nose, but the surface detail is AMAZING - especially the wing tops around the Spoilers and Flap guides. That area is a work of art! The only other worry is the Price; Aussie resellers are doing Pre-orders for like $125-ish! I'm hoping that'll just be a bit of cashing on on those 'must have right now' types (as a comparision, my pre-order Airfix Meteor's, cost $55 each INCL. post), and being into the LATE Tomcats, I'm lucky in that I can actually wait and see. But as is, I'm looking forward to this *crosses fingers the pointy nose was just an optical illusion, from a macro lense or whatever* Dan

That intake work - brilliant... Dan

Where might one find the reources folder??? Dan

The Bandai stuff is really sweet actually - but at the same time, it tortures me! I don't like the transforming thing, so I tend to build them just in fighter-mode so I can keep the joins nice and neat... But then I want more than one of everything, so I can then do the same in battleroid-mode! At least the Hasegawa stuff makes that choice for me! Of the list that showed (that should have been a VF-27γ (gamma, not beta) too - the Brera Stern Custom), the VF-27γ is the nicest IMHO. Not sure why, but I just like it... I have a 1/100 YF-29 Durandel on the way, and am looking forward to the Bandai Macross Delta VF-31S 'Messer Custom' (the first of the Bandai VF-31S's is the Hayate Immelmann Custom) and then the 'Mirage Custom'. Later in the year, the Bandai TIE Interceptor will take more of my money as (unlike the FM TIE Interceptor) it looks like it is proper 1/72 - so I am in the DMZ regarding my TIE Interceptor-based projects! I need 4, but I only have 3 FM's The Four are required as per: 2x TIE/I for a TIE Defender (heavily modified ball, and the second kit will donate the required third set of collector panels) 1x TIE/I for a TIE/I Imperial Guard (the remaining set of collector panels should be enough to make the four 'winglets' on this version - and its RED!) 1x TIE/I for a regular old TIE/I So i'll probably get 4-6 of the new Bandai kits. Damn....

Parabat - yup the D-9 is s bit....iffy... But yeah, my impression of the Tamiya Tomcat from the trade fair photos, was that the nose looked very "pointy". Final judgment is reserved until I have one in hands (as that may have been an early shot), but I'm on guard - some ppl also question the toy-swing-wing. But as long as you can get the wings to oversweep and the bags fit, that's not as big an issue. We shall see tho - can't be worse than the Hobbyboss a Tomcat! Dan

And slightly back on topic, to date there are two Ronin FA-18F releases: The original set with 1SQN and 6SQN (every RAAF Super, plus City of Ipswitch) The Op OKRA set (with bomb tallys) Both have full stencils (for two jets?) and I really can't fault them for accuracy, right down to pylon and tank markings. ....and I hear there's a new set in the works with revised 6SQN markings (that I believe will also let you build any RAAF Super). I expect if 1SQN does anything for their 100th, that'll be another release... Plus there's the two Ronin EA-18G sets, the first covering the roll out scheme/flying jets and planned fleet markings for the rest, while the second has the 6SQN jets (301 and 302 at least) and the VAQ-129/6SQN jet - that's pretty cool. And as Tony says, but Australian!!!

Yeah, I'd be keen to hear what you think actually - I'm not a mirage expert by any stretch; I'm just going off what I saw on the sheets when compared to the Motty/Mason and the Stewart books (as well as what others pointed out to me, that then caused me to go "oh yeah!!!")... D

The things that readily spring to mind were the shape of "Charlotte" and some of the Tail 'Darts' (where things were not correctly proportioned on the jets), as they were what I bought the sheet for. The 77SQN Green was iffy to my eye too on the Caracal sheet. When I first got the first sheet, I went over it and just didnt like it - it got filed away. When Ronin's showed, it ticked the boxes that I felt Caracal didnt for the Mirage (but as above, can't priase Caracal enough for the YF-23 sheet, and some of the F-16 stuff). Ronin isn't perfect no (name me a decal manufacturer that is?) - the first F-35's (Southern Sky release technically) were produced with info from the source that was dodgy - to Ronin's credit, every SS sheet with the incorrect number of roundels was replaced IN FULL with a sheet that contained all 6 roundels! The other Ronin issue I remember was the Mustangs, with the Z from CV-Z being blue and not white; but that was a production error and again, free replacements once the error was brought to his attention. And knowing how Ronin works, I can't really say that he rushes his releases (or research - thats a long story there for another time) - but we have an Australian manufacturer, with deep links to ADF and parts of the modelling community, who produces decals that - to my eye - out perform pretty much everyone else. Plus I've yet to see anyone elses inks perform the way Ronin's inks do. Again, are they perfect? Nope - but they're the best stuff on offer out there for RAAF subjects. D

The TIE Interceptor will keep me happy for a while... Can do the standard TIE Interceptor, a TIE Defender by kit bashing two together, and the Red Imperial Guard version (with winglets) using the left overs from the TIE Defender... D

Only GBP2.95? Damn - I was missing the clear parts for my Moebius Cylon Raider (shrink wrapped, from the LHS)... So I too contacted Moebius (email, email, email, phone, phone, etc) and was eventually told something like US$15 (most of which was postage) to get them to me in Australia! Needless to say, Moebius copped a bit of a spray from me about that; never bought another of their kits since and can't say enough bad stuff about their customer service to anyone who will listen. I eventually made my own clear parts for it, but the kit has just languished since then (primed, ready for paint) on the shelf of doom - a good 3-4 years - primarily due to the customer service experience! I don't want anyone seeing my nicely finished Cylon Raider and thinking "Hell yeah!!! I want one of them!" and giving their money to Moebius! On the otherhand, I can not speak Highly enough of Eduard, Kinetic and Verlinden, who have all responded posthaste to contact and been epically helpful (Eduard - Single Seat Canopy for a Dual Seat 1/144 Me262B; Kinetic - Kfir C2/C7 plastic in the F-21A box (that confused the hell out of me for a while!!!); Verlinden was air bubbles through Slats on the Me 262 Slats/Flaps set). Dan

Today, nothing... But this month: Bandai 1/72 Macross Delta VF-31S Bandai 1/72 Macross Frontier VF-27β Hasegawa 1/72 Macross Frontier VF-25G Super Messiah Hasegawa 1/72 Macross Plus VFX-19A Hasegawa 1/72 Macross Plus YF-21A Hasegawa 1/72 Macross 7 VF-22 Fine Moulds 1/72 Star Wars TIE Interceptor (looking for another of these) D

I'd get rid of the Probe and just repaint as an adversary jet...

Unless they fix the nose up and sort out the other smaller issues, the release date wont matter to me I had such high hopes for that kit.... Dan

Caracal, while I love some of his US stuff, always seems to get things wrong with RAAF stuff. The advantage with the Ronin stuff is they have direct access to the a/c, paint samples, personnel and RAAF materials, and thus usually get things right!

You're serious doing a Plastic A330MRTT?!?!? OK, I need one of those for a KC-30A, to save me having to cut up and mod the revell kit! D

Pappy - Ronin's stuff??? Mine are in Grey (a shade about fresh FS 36081) - though I would have liked them SLIGHTLY lighter (closer to FS 36118), but they look OK on the kit! D

No probs Jabba - glad I could in some small way repay all the Telic F.3 help Also, I have the feeling one of the Maverick Armed jets on the Speedhunter sheet had the One Piece Windscreen, so that may just need a quick check. But yeah, I have the sheet because it has 69-7211 on the sheet, which was a former RAAF F-4E... So I'm going to do 69-7211 as an F-4E in RAAF colours, then 69-7211 as a post-Gulf War F-4G and sit them side by side - see if anyone notices the similarities! While USAF stuff ISN'T really my thing, the Speedhunter stuff I have (the SEAD Phantoms and the F-16 sheet with the Have Glass jets) are just top notch - kind of the 'Air Force' equivalent of Fightertown Decals. Dan

The Speedhunter Graphics F-4G sheet has schemes from the Gulf War that flew the Maverick sorties.... D

Yeah BNA was out of Eduard GBU-49's the other day when I looked.... Was after a few for one of the Superhornet projects - whats the going rate with your guy in Brissy (Im in Newcastle) Will have to see what postage is like from the Frenchies. Their stuff looks very promising - just leaves me having to scratch the outer pylons Cheers Dan