11bravo

Any update on this one? Thought the AH-6J was rumored to be out around Christmas.....

I think I read on another site that when they went into combat, the fuel cells in the doors were supposed to be drained. Keep in mind, the cell in the M113 was mounted inside the troop compartment, adjacent to the ramp, so I'm not sure the US APC was any safer in this regards.

Always had a thing for the BMP-1. It truly was revolutionary. Introduced in the late 60's, it offered a full-spectrum IFV, giving it's crew the ability to fight at night, engage tanks, hard targets and troops from under-armor, also had full NBC protection. Compare this to what US / NATO troops were using! Anyway, this is the Trumpeter kit, which is very nice. It's still missing a good number of details, which I replicated. Also also used the SP Designs BMP-1P upgrade kit (new turret, corrected hatches, doors and a host of small parts) and their AT-5 ATGM. I can't recommend their products highly enough. Great detail and the price is incredibly low. Also used Archer decals for my subject, a BMP used in Chechyna. By rough count, I added / replaced approx 40 parts of the kit. During construction, showing some of the SP parts and some of my scratchbuilt details. More construction, I added all the wiring to searchlights, headlights, etc. Also scratchbuilt tool brackets along the hull roof. Some finished shots:

Looking good, any idea if the kit will include cabin doors? I really want to build a particular version that had doors installed. Any info on when the MH-6 would be released? Lastly, will we be getting PE seatbelts?

Hope he's successful, the kit will really suffer if they don't include a full set of PE belts. Even the horrible Dragon kit had these (and they were actually quite nice).

Looking really nice, can you confirm that the kit will provide PE seatbelts, not only for the pilot's seats but also for the troop seats in the back? Really looking forward to the late version UH-1H, for a short amount of time before Blackhawks became prevalent, that was "my ride'. Any ETA on the release of that version?

Nice looking nukes! So if I was going to build the Eduard -21SMT with a nuke based on the IAB-500, it would be an earlier 70's circa RN-24? That would limit me to overall NFM instead of the later tactical camo - correct? Or was the RN-24 still in frontline use in the 80's? BTW, you may already be aware of this but here is a great site that goes into detail on Warsaw Pact special weapons (both the bombs and their storage / handling facilities). http://www.16va.be/3.8_armes_speciales_eng_part2.html

That's a great picture, never knew it was even possible for an aircraft that heavy to take off without the assistance of a catapult. Did they require the entire deck or did they start from the normal catapult launching spots?

Yeah, I highly doubt you will see many modelers rush to bang out many of these Pretty much a labor of love for the reasons I mentioned above. Thanks for all the nice compliments guys!

Also, I think the loadout in that pic was very much just a PR exercise. The range in that configuration was probably all of 25 miles!

On a related note, I've looked but have yet to find any decent interior pics of the rear gunners station on any cold war aircraft, B-52 or the Russian designs. If anyone has any links, please post!

Nothing more than touchup work using either a slightly different spec paint or (more likely), just painting fresh tan over faded tan. Look at pics of USAF F-4's, you will see plenty of examples of similar variations. There was never an intentional 4 color SEA topsides paint scheme. That being said, the weathering and touch-up paintwork on this aircraft definitely makes for an interesting model.

If anyone is interested in the story of 176's final flight, check out the "Aftermath" section in the November issue of Flying Magazine. Peter Garrison took a different route than my narrative over on ARC, I really like his approach. Did a small bit of additional work on my model, I'll try to post a few last photos when I get a minute.

Wasn't implying that their overall designs were conservative, that's hardly the case. Just that some of their designs continued to feature certain "conservative" features. IMO, the tail gun is one of those.

Good luck hitting ground targets while flying backwards at high speed. The inclusion of these weapons just shows the conservative aspect of Russian aircraft design. They add virtually nothing from a self-defense standpoint, whilst increasing weight and drag.

I'm going to be doing the same thing. My understanding is that the Brassin IAB-500 is an identical shape. Doubt you will ever see a picture of the real thing, let alone the real thing loaded on an aircraft. Good luck, post your build - I'll be following along. John

First just remember that late war German colors are very, very convoluted. Their were multiple shades of RLM 76 and the color often referred to as RLM84 (which some have suggested was just a poorly produced RLM76, with off-spec color due to shortages of pigment). I'm not sure if you are looking for just a late war RLM 76 which by then could range from a very whiteish light blue to slightly green tinted or a true "RLM84". When I built my very late war G-6, I just used standard Testor 76, added approx 25% yellow and a touch of white. Seemed to come out ok. From the one good color pic of the real thing, it appeared that the fuselage sides were painted with a darker version of this color, so I simply did a very light overspray of RLM81 to darken it down a bit. The bottom line is that unless you have color pics of your subject, just go with the shade you think is most appropriate. You can't be challenged by any of the "experts".

Planning on building a cold-war SMT with nuke. Not thrilled with Eduard's decal options. 3 of the 5 are second line or training machines. Any aftermarket decals out there for the SMT? Also, any good reference on SMT camo color schemes? Ideally something a bit simpler then the one shown in the Eduard instructions. Did these fly in 2 or 3 color schemes? Last question, would any frontline (Warsaw Pact based) SMT's still be in NMF by the mid-80's? Regards, John

moved to correct forum

This is the Kinetic S-2E Tracker kit, backdated and modified to represent the US-2B utility version. Not a very exciting subject but it's got some sentimental value. I used custom decals to represent a Tracker that crashed in a nearby town when I was a kid. The pilots deliberately put it into a wooded area to avoid nearby residential buildings. Lots more to the story, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request and went through the full crash report. Turned out to be a fascinating saga. The full story and build log is here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=245577&st=0 I've got a few small bits to add but after close to two years of off and on work, she's pretty much done.

What a great project and a nicely built model. I'm doing a similar build over on ARC as a memorial to the crew of a US-2B Tracker that crashed near where I live in 1978. The crew put their aircraft down into some woods to avoid hitting nearby apartment buildings. Today, they are completely forgotten. I'm glad to see projects like this.

I'm usually the first one to voice annoyance about the sheer number of WW2 German models being built, as I mostly prefer to build much more obscure subjects. That being said, I've always had an interest in German aircraft and armor, especially late war subjects when you could see some very unique and unusual paint jobs. So when Revell released their 1/32 Bf-109G-6, I started thinking about taking the plunge and building a late war -109. First order of business was to find a subject. As noted, I lean towards subjects that are a bit uncommon. Whilst surfing through a very nice website ( http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.se/) I came upon a profile of "Yellow 5" a very unique looking very late war G-6 that was captured by US troops in Kassel, Germany at the end of the war. The profile in question is a couple of pages in on the above referenced website. For some reason, I can't post a direct link to it. Yellow 5 is painted in a very unusual (for a G-6) mix of late war colors - brown violet (RLM 81) / dark green (RLM 82) uppers and the yellowish lower color also somewhat incorrectly referred to as RLM 84. What makes the aircraft even more interesting is the mismatched cowling that is painted overall light blue (RLM 76) with some random dark green / brown splotches. After corresponding with the man behind this great website (Anders Hjortsberg, who graciously shared some previously unpublished pictures with me), I discovered that Yellow 5 apparently had a replacement wing added. The starboard wing appears to be painted in standard mid-war colors - green grey (RLM 74) & grey violet (RLM 75) topsides, RLM 76 undersides; while it is believed that the port wing was painted in late war brown violet & dark green topsides with natural metal undersides. A perfect subject, it's definitely not your average 74/75/76 Gustav! Here is Yellow 5 after capture and in quite a bad state of disrepair. I used the Alleycat corrections / upgrades (including a replacement cowling and buele and the fantastic Barracudacals resin wheels. Both aftermarket kits are wonderful, can't recommend them enough. I also went with the Aires resin cockpit. Fantastic detail but the fit was horrible. Many hours spent trying to correct the problems. Don't think I would ever use this set again. Anyway, here are some pictures of the completed kit, starting with a couple of cockpit shots while under construction (can't see that much of the cockpit once it's installed). General shots: URL=http://s285.photobucket.com/user/11bee/media/IMG_6618_zpsb51c15a1.jpg.html][/url]

Old build of mine, it's the Dragon AH-6J with lots of extras added to represent one of the first "Littlebirds" that flew with the 160th SOAR (Nightstalkers). I got a great deal of info on this helo from it's pilot who was one of the first members of the Nightstalkers. The full build log is here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=188856&st=0

Sorry, forgot to mention. It's the 1/32 Revell kit with a ton of aftermarket items to address that kit's issues. By the way, if she happens to look familiar, it's because Brett Green of Hyperscale fame modeled her and put her on the cover of "How to Build Revell's Bf-109G-6". Brett went with a slightly different interpretation of her colour scheme. Not sure if he had access to the same photos I have, I'm sticking with my version (even though Brett did a better job building his) Here's the one colour pic of Yellow 6 that exists. I've got some B&W shots that show her in better condition but don't feel it's appropriate to release them.

Here is my latest build. A late war G-6 in a very unique scheme. It was documented after it's capture in Kassel in a well known colour photo, more info on this one is found here (2nd profile down): http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.se/search/label/Bf109G-6 I used the Aries cockpit, Alleycat (RIP) upgrades and Barracuda wheels. The project took much longer than I ever could have imagined, primarily due to fit issues the Aries kit and some of the Alleycat parts. Happy with the results but soooo glad it's over. If anyone's interested, the full build is over on ARC. Regards, John