PaulR

Love the idea, and this exactly what I had in mind with my proposed 80s NATO/warsaw pact Group build proposal. I too grew up in the area in the 80s, andF-111S, A-10s, F-5s etc would fly directly over my house. Have got Hasegawa F-15Cs, an Italeri A-10, Hasegawa F-111F/EF-111A, Hasegawa F-16Cs with numerous USAFE decal sheets to with them. Am particularly looking forward to seeing you F-16 aggressor project, as this is one my all time favourite F-16 schemes. Will be watching!

Hallo Cliff, I used Humbrol dayglo acrylic (205?), which works well if really stirred and thinned. Regards, Paul

Evening all, A few pics to update this project. Spraying dayglo is a pain; I've found that the obligatory undercoat of white followed by thin layers of the dayglo misted on works. Anyway, all seems to have come out ok; masking followed by tamiya flat aluminium buffed with a soft cloth when dry. I've since given it a coat of gloss and a light oil wash . . then decal time! As well as some practise with photography - these are ropy even by my low standards...

Thought I'd better update this thread! I have decided to spray the white spine and fin first, and then add the black painted canopy afterward to ensure a super sharp demarcation line. I'll then mask the spine, fin and canopy areas before spraying the rest of the airframe. Although I haven't taken a shot, the cockpit is almost done; just need to finish the pilot. Need to improve the photography... Regards, Paul

Well, you live and learn! Thanks for the heads-up on this! Paul

Hallo Rich,Just did a bit of research, and it was the Minnesota ANG that deployed their F-4Ds for a few months to Ramstein under the deployment name Creek Klaxon. Caracal models do the relevant markings in 1/48 just in case it is of any interest! Best regards, Paul

Sounds ideal. Any particular type or squadron you have in mind? Best regards, Paul

Think I might have to jump in with this GB - have Monogram F-4c and Superscale Michigan ANG decals to go with it! Paul

Procopius, am way ahead of you in that regard. Shrine to BoB already built in form of top shelf of modelling display cabinet; Holy Days designated by way of August 18th ( aka the 'Hardest Day' ) and September 15th; Holy Books - too many to mention, but the prophet Alfred Price will be numbered greatly among them; and finally, I was even born on the 10th of July, so am obviously Second Coming... or something...! Best regards, Paul

Welcome in Espantello! A hurricane in 1/48 is also on my horizon! Thinking of building a blast pen dioramas for it to sit in... ) Regards, Paul.

Hallo Procopius!Thanks for the idea, but in this instance would rather keep things historically accurate; I think it would get v.complicated knowing where to draw the line. Essentially, am aiming for airframes/vehicles that would have been seen by spotters or airshow visitors ( or spies if Warsaw Pact side!) - especially the airshows at RAF Mildenhall, a childhood/teen Mecca for cool airframes and markings. On a different note entirely; how is your kit down select going for the BoB GB? Am down to seven possibles personally! Best regards Paul!

Hallo everyone, As this is this GB proposal seems to be going to the vote, I just thought I'd pull together the scope of the build for reference... 1) time frame - Jan1st 1980 to December 31st 1989 2) geographical scope - anything based in or whose theatre of operation was Europe west of the Urals. I would include continental US units deployed to Europe on exercise ( e.g. ReForGer deployments) or ANG units on deployments such as the F-4Ds which covered the Ramstein QRA during the transition to the F-16C. The only proviso here is that it would need to be a specific airframe/unit tied to specific date and location. 3) Aeroplanes, tanks, ships all welcome under the above scope 4) No WHIFs, tempting tho' it would be to have a lightning F6 with Backfire kill marks! 5) NATO (and yes, France would be included even if they weren't in the military structure at the time) or Warsaw Pact- both good! Would welcome any comments or thoughts on the above, esp. by Mish to make sure all is workable. Cheers Paul

Hallo Tom, Thanks very much for the offer of photos. Interesting you should mention that there are few Austrian AF projects to be seen. I have acquired a bit of an interest myself, and indeed have built the 1/72 Revell Typhoon and Revell/Hasegawa Draken in Austrian colours, so this vampire is part of that growing collection. I am going to get the latest Italeri 1/72 F-5e as this has options for an Austrian airframe. My only challenge now is an Austrian tunnan. I do have the Airfix/Heller Tunnan plus Austrian markings, but have recently discovered that this is an earlier version than the Austrians used, and I haven't figured out a conversion yet! Out of interest, have you built any yourself? Best regards, Paul

Sounds great Paulo. Those early Italian tornadoes had some fantastic schemes!

Evening all! Quick update... cockpit virtually done, but just need to do detail painting and straps. The stretched sprue didn't work, so resorted to thin wire for the ejection seat handles, and this worked a treat. Wings and tail booms are all put together, so am now going to get the nose weight in so that the whole thing can start to come together!

Quick update! I am working on the cockpit, so things have been primed and given an initial coat of Tamiya NATO Black for scale effect. I have also drilled out the ends of the Trumpeter Red Top missiles I am using instead of the short shot Airfix missiles. Finally, the essentially complete airframe has been temporarily mounted on the home built stand; the brass needs polishing and the wood staining, but getting there!

Evening all, As a v.excited co-host, it's. Fascinasting to see the rasnge of anticipated projects. With recent releases ( Airfix being the prime contributer) it is (or shortly will be) possible to build virtually every major combatant with an up to date kit... with exception of the Ju-88 A-1! Come on Revell - you know you want to! Paul

Quick update! I am going for an inflight project, and am currently planning on using a wooden base and a brass pole. This has made building the kit a breeze, especially since Airfix now designs all its kits with 'wheels-up' options. To be honest, in more than one way I seem to be going back to childhood; the last 4 out of 6 projects have been inflight! Anyway, the kit is basically complete, so I have been working on installing the brass pitot tube. This involved a 0.5mm drill bit and a steady hand...but well worth the effort!

Right, 23 it is! Oh, and the pitot tube is available from Hannants; think it was a couple or three pounds. Cheers, Paul

Evening all, Well a new job - specifically being Head of one's own school - surely soaks up free time! After not posting for a while, I have made some small progress on my Austrian vampire! Intakes on, and tail booms finished; the cockpit is almost ready for painting. I have drilled out the ejection seats for stretched sprue ejection handles. I have glued them in one side, and am waiting for them to dry before bending them around to form the characteristic semi-circle. Oh, and you're not seeing double; I'm currently doing two of these kits, the other being an RAF 8 sqn example. The Austrian one comes first though!

Evening all, It's been a while since I did a WIP as opposed to a finished project, but I thought I'd pull something from the stash straightforward and exciting to do - hence the lightning! My dominant modelling theme is squadron markings of the RAF, and the lightning is a superb canvas for precisely that. I am going to build it with the addition of a Master pitot, Eduard masks and Xtradecals. Here are a few shots of the kit and aftermarket, and the markings I have in mind. I am minded to go for the white spine and fin of 23 sqn F6 XR753, or possibly a mid 80s grey scheme, but I'll see how that goes!

Top model of a fab aircraft!

Hi Michael, sounds ideal! Paul

Hi, funnily enough I recently raised this on another thread. My understanding is that the non bulged canopy would be appropriate. Thats what I'll be using! Cheers Paul

Hallo Rich, it would be great to have you on board! However, am not sure there were any F-4Ds left in Europe by the 80s, which would be the scope of the build. There were ANG F-4Ds (I'll check which squadron) which were temporarily deployed to Ramstein for QRA when the wing there converted to the F-16C in '86 or '87, so that could be an option! Best regards, Paul!