Bobski

Sorry, no I don’t.

I think it depends on the standard of the aircraft. Your best bet is to look online for references of the aircraft you are looking to build and see.

Hi Andy, F-16Cs began in a three-tone camouflage, with FS 36375 on the lower surfaces, FS36270 on the lighter grey upper surfaces and FS36118 for the dark grey. That's 'factory' paint, which over time has become FS36118 and FS36270. Radomes vary in shade depending on weathering, a bit like on a Typhoon. Your best bet is to check photos and then try to match them. If you're mixing then FS36270 as a basis with maybe some darker grey and a touch of brown will probably work. Pylons and fuel tanks would be the same colour as the jet - so FS36270 - however they also would have been repainted more slowly than the jets themselves. You could, therefore, have a mix of FS36270 and FS36375. Hope that helps.

A Falklands GR3 would be semi gloss or matt, so I'd go for a satin or a matt finish. The T4N would probably be matt, and the GR9 would definitely be matt (albeit with a glossy tail as the disbandment schemes were applied shortly before the aircraft was withdrawn from service).

I'm not sure to be honest. You could go with the Spanish grey, but photos of it appear lighter (almost RAF camouflage grey). Unfortunately there's no way to check the aircraft and determine what is correct because it crashed...

As has already been said, the aircraft are all FS36118 Gunship Grey. It will appear lighter in some photos because of a combination of lighting and older paint fading, particularly if it has been deployed into the desert sun for a while.

I'm not aware of any need to do this, but other opinions may differ.

Related question from me - does anyone make a B43 or B57 bucket of instant sunshine in either 1/72 or 1/48? I fancy building a QRA bird...

If you want a good F-35A then go for the Meng kit, which is superb. If you want the F-35B or F-35C then you need to go with Kitty Hawk as they are the only game in town for those variants.

The outboard pylon on the folded section is a launch rail for a SRAAM, which would be AIM-9X on an F-35C (as only the USN and USMC have ordered it). I haven't seen any pictures of it loaded and folded, but given that this is done as a matter of routine on F/A-18s I would not be surprised to see it done with F-35C.

BS 381c-626 is RAF Camouflage Grey. Mr Hobby do RAF Camouflage Grey as a standard colour within their range that is very good and I have used it on several models to date. They refer to it as Barley Grey, which is an unofficial name for RAF Camouflage Grey. It is H334.

Yes, but not by much. The specified colour was "ash grey" (if I remember my Horikoshi book correctly) which was a sort of grey/green that sometimes also had a slight brown tint to it. It is a fascinating subject but a nightmare if you are looking for 100% accuracy because it just isn't possible.

Can of worms being opened over the colour of early war Zeroes - you could write a book about the subject. The Grey Green paint is, arguably, still not correct but it is a lot more accurate than white. Nick Millman is the man for this kind of thing.

Contact Hobbylink Japan (www.hlj.com) as they may be able to help.

TIALD was still in use up to the mid- to late-2000s, when it was replaced with LITENING III. It was still in frontline service during Op. Telic. As far as colours go, from looking at photographs I would hazard a guess at either Medium Sea Grey or Dark Sea Grey.

To clarify the colour question, Spain, Austria and Oman are all FS36231. Italy is FS36280. I’ll correct the error in the original post.

If you want a kit that is easy to build but has some minor inaccuracies (particularly the seat) then Hasegawa is the way forward. Hasegawa also has all the weapons pylons and most of the weapons that an RAF Typhoon can carry, except for Paveway IV. Problem is it is very expensive in the UK and only has the exhaust nozzles in the closed position, which is only correct for an aircraft under power or in flight. The Revell kit has a better seat and an option to have the exhaust nozzles open (position when parked) or closed, but is a pain to build and lacks some of the pylons and weapons that are in the Hasegawa kit. It's also between 1/2 and 1/3 of the price of the Revell kit. I have both and have built both, and rate them fairly equally.

Not really, because the aircraft move between squadrons on a fairly regular basis. Most don’t even have squadron markings anymore. Even when they do that’s no guarantee that the markings match the squadron actually standing QRA or operating the jet. Best bet is to look for photos of a QRA and go with that. Only thing to note is that if you want to load Meteor you’ll need to model a Tranche 2 or Tranche 3 jet. Most (but not all) of the ZJ9XX aircraft are Tranche 1 but the ZK3XX jets are Tranche 2 and 3.

Someone should probably tell that cadet squadron that neither of the bombs they have used for that slide are 540lb bombs, hahaha! The photo is a 1000lb bomb. The profile view looks like a Mk.82 with the wrong tail.

The new tal codes are literally the last three from the aircraft's serial number. A lot of the aircraft don't carry squadron markings anymore either, a combination of being on ops and being swapped between squadrons so often it's not worth the hassle of changing them.

If the price is the same I'd go for the Great Wall kit. It's stunning. If money is an issue, I'd go with Revell if you can get one.

4. The only ones I'm aware of are Eduard, and they are very nice. 10. Reskit have just released some, and DACO do a very nice one as well. Flightpath is good but a bit fiddly. 11. Only one I know of is Flightpath but I'm not sure if it is a UK PWIII or a GBU-24. Only UK PWIII that I know about in 1/48 is in the Revell Typhoon, but the tail is a bit ropey. 1, 2, 3 and 16. I don't know of any aftermarket option for these...

Those aren't correct - 36231 grey is way too dark. The Mr Color set is the best option, alternatively MRP do a set of the blues. Not sure about other alternatives.

Great photo. Worth looking carefully at the Meteors though if anyone is planning to add them to their builds, as they are oriented differently depending on whether they are on the front or rear stations (look at the two intakes on the sides of the missiles). Right rear is the same as left front, left rear is the same as right front.

The avionics bay was corrected for the 1/32 single-seater, although I'm not sure if they've used the same fuselage halves for the 1/32 twin-seater (which would make them incorrect). The IRST is fine, its the tiny lenses underneath that on both sides of the nose that are missing (although I'm not sure if any of these are fitted to the German aircraft).