Giorgio N

With the interior parts prepared and a quiet weekend at home ahead I decided to try at least to have the fuselage closed. To start with I completed the exhaust parts and the cockpit, then put everything inside together with some lead fishing weights I probably added too much weight ! Problem is that I was not sure initially how much of a tail sitter this model could be so I erred on the side of caution, I'm pretty sure now there will be no tailsitting, I just hope I haven't overloaded the nose gear leg.... With everything inside it was time to close the fuselage...

Ok, time to start with some pictures... As always work started from the internal parts like cockpit, intake, wheel wells and exhaust. My choice of subject affected the work from the start for one reason: the colour of the cockpit and wheel wells changed over time during the service of the Thunderstreak in the Italian Air Force. As my chosen aircraft was a late build F late in the career of the type I went with a grey cockpit and aluminum wheel wells. These I've been told were in natural metal with a clear protective coat but for modelling purposes it's just a matter of using an aluminum paint. Let's first see what will go inside the fuselage: Couple of comments: I used Vallejo Air's grey FS 36231 but I should have used a lighter colour. This is indeed the correct colour but inside the cockpit it looks too dark. Oh well, no time to change now so it will stay this way. The instrument panel was sprayed in grey then the decal from the kit was applied in place. I don't know why companies often think that instruments have a wide white ring around them... I tried to eliminate this using a small brush but I didn't do it too well. It's something I've done before with much better results but again I'm not going to bother redoing it. Fit of the intake parts was not brilliant however a test-fit showed that none of this will be visible so here's another area that I will not bother to improve I haven't painted the wheel wells yet but I started gluing the parts together:

I'm not sure any MB.326 is still operational today. However there are MB.339s still in service and really the 339 is in many ways just an improved 326. If we consider the F-5A and F-5E to be just variants of the same aircraft, then the 326 and 339 are variants of the same aircraft too.

I have built the Amodel kit a few years ago and yes it was not an easy build and needed some work (like removing over 2 mm of plastic at the forward lower wing-fuselage joint..) but other aspects of the kit were nice and the surface detail very good for the times. This one however.. wow! I may buy me one even if I already have what I consider a decent model of the type. The kind of detail in the render is impressive, this promises to be a kit to build regardless of the subject

One day hopefully someone will issue a good proper 1/72 kit of the T-38. That day I'll buy at least 4-5 kits to build all the subjects I have in mind For now the situation is pretty bleak: the Sword kit is hard to find (the T-38C is the variant that appears more often in the various second hand outlets), the other kits (Hasegawa, PM, Starfix) are actually F-5Bs masquerading as T-38s. At least Wolfpack offers a very nice 1/48 kit

The only proper T-38 kit in 1/72 was made by Sword a few years ago and even this had features of the F-5B so would need some work to get everything accurate. It was a short run kit with resin and photoetched parts and it's today long out of production and hard to find. The only other alternative is to convert an Esci F-5B...

Good point Steve, I realize that the way I put it I may have dismissed the existing kits, I should have chosen better words, more so as I have a few Tamiya and Airfix in the stash and I'm pretty happy with both (with their pros and cons). Don't have the Hasegawa kit but looks pretty good too. The reason I'd wait is because if the Eduard kit will follow the choices made for their 1/48 kit (that is very likely) they will offer a complete package with everything for an RAF Mustang IV or IVA including a choice of propellers and louvres for the lower fuselage intakes, all details that the existing kits do not provide and have to be found in aftermarket sets or scratchbuilt. I also expect this kit to be a good build like other recent Eduard kits and, last but not least, competitively priced based on their other kits, that is always a good thing. So nothing against the best existing P-51Ds, that are indeed pretty good, however I'm personally waiting til June to see what the Eduard kit will be like before adding any other D to my stash.

Had one of their Mustangs, a P-51H... fortunately I found someone willing to give me a tenner to take it off me. Never ever looked at any Model News kit since...

Nothing beats an Arma Hobby P-51B but it's an expensive kit. If money is an issue then I'd go with the Academy kit. The decals in this however may or not be of good quality. Decals in older Academy issues were often bad to the point of being unusable (very stiff and almost transparent). More recent issues should have better decals. Otherwise Revell or may better the KP kits, some of which come with RAF decals. I would prefer the KP only because the transparencies in the Revell P-51Bs were already often bad 15 years ago, more recent issues may have suffered further. Revell's decals on the other hands are better than KP ones. For a D I would wait for the Eduard kit. It may take a while to hit the shelves and who knows when a box with RAF decals will be issued but promises to be a very good kit at a pretty good price

Yet some complex kits still manage to be cheap enough, case in point the abovementioned Eduard MiG-21 that comes with a lot of parts offering plenty of detail and in weekend edition guise retails for £13-14. Simple kits have also not disappeared. Yes there are some companies like Arma that are probably bringing injected plastic kits to their limits (with the consequence of each of their kits being more expensive than the previous) but other still offer simpler stuff. All the AZ/KP "HQ" moulds are quite simple kits and generally sell for decent money.. although considering that Eduard often sells the same subject for less while offering more detail I sometime object to how good value for money their kits are... If for better kits from 20 years ago we mean things like Tamiya and many Hasegawa these sure offered a great combination of good mould quality, decent detail (tamiya more than hasegawa...) and fit. The "problem" with these kits is that they are still mostly very relevant today, meaning that the competition has not touched the same subjects yet at that level of simplicity. Academy also has several kits that IMHO fit well with the description of simple kits that still give good details. If only they had made their XIV right... My personal sweet spot is probably with the Japanese kits I mentioned above. I know the Hasegawa 1/72 Spitfire IX is not accurate but I often find myself building one just because it's so easy and quick to build that it's my personal way of "relaxing" after a more complex project. Of course this is only a personal view. Academy kits of the era are maybe even better as they are more detailed while still being pretty simple and easy builds. The Hobbyboss easy-build kits are indeed great for an inexpensive build. Some of the 1/72 ones however don't fit particularly well, something that I see as not great for what is supposed to be an easy kit. Zvezda also has a line of similar kits that are IMHO even better but they are also more expensive. Haven't tried the Airfix easy build line yet, maybe I should but I find them a bit expensive for what they offer

To add some more information I found during my search for information on Italian aircraft... I've been told that a number were received with grey wheel wells, that fits with the information given above by @bentwaters81tfw According to this source, Italian aircraft wells were not much repainted but had the paint stripped and the wells coated with a clear lacquer. That for modelling purpose makes little difference, sounds something quite unusual to me but I wasn't there.. I can confirm that other aircraft were received with green wells

There sure are some pretty expensive kits in the shops today but is it really true that it's impossible to find cheaper ones ? I'm looking here at a few kits I bought over the last few months from various European shops and how much I paid... in no particular order and in Euro notes (I'll let you do the conversion) Bought at full price: Sword RF-8A: €20. Is it expensive for a 1/72 Crusader kit ? To me sounds decent enough Sword G.55: €16.. for a 2-kit box ! Not bad, of course being short run kits they may need some more work than others but can't complain at €8 per each G.55 Sword (I know, I've bought quite a fee Sword kits) Lightning F.3: €20. Ok, the Airfix kit may be better in certain aspects but here we have a kit with resin and PE parts for a price that IMHO is quite good. Special Hobby F-84F: €22.. ok, a bit more expensive than the RF-8 but there's really a lot of plastic in the box! Eduard MiG-21 PFM profipack: €21., for a gr€\4eat kit with the added bonus of PE and masks. The weekend edition with plastic only sells for around1211 €14 Airfix P-40B: €12 delivered... I believe postage for this one was more than the kit Stuff I've bought on special offer... Eduard B-25: €31.. for a Hasegawa kit with 2 PE sheets, resin wheels, masks and a huge decal sheet. Eduard F6F weekend: €6.70... it's little more than a fiver for quite a good kit Fine Molds F-2A: €20. For a modern Japanese kit with a level of detail that it's almost incredible A&A 1/144 C-141A: €19, that for a largish kit is not bad, more so as this kind of short run kits tend to be expensive. Now I've probably been lucky, sure Czech kits in Continental Europe may be cheaper than they are in the UK, maybe it's just because with Black Friday and Xmas offers there's been a surge of kits for sale over Europe but even considering everything I feel that it's still possible to buy good modern kits for affordable prices. To check if this is true in other parts of the world, I just checked Hannant's website and there are 10 pages of aircraft 1/72 kits for less than a tenner. Of course not all these are modern kits but many are while there are also kits from short run manufacturers and some exotic subjects. And Hannants prices are generally on higher side, other outlests may well be cheaper

In Italian language that is exactly what "avana" colour is 😁

No propaganda purpose, the Iranian Tomcats are operational. Not all at the same time of course but a number is always in active service

Sure! Just to show others what we mean, the later taiplanes feature elevators with a compensation horn toward the tip, so their leading edge is not straight but has a step toward the front. Here's the early type: https://www.cmpr.it/MN - Nomenclatore Macchi C. 202 -NL/Macchi C. 202 1a - 8a Serie Catalogo Nomenclatore - NON SI APRE --96.jpg And here's the late (and MC.205) type: https://www.cmpr.it/MN - Nomenclatore MC 205 V/Catalogo Nomenclatore Macchi C205V 1944 1a 2a 3a Serie MM9287-92302 (CA676)_Pagina_105.jpg Both pictures come from the type "Catalogo Nomenclatore", that is a catalogue of all parts of the aircraft with the associated codes for ordering spares. All areas are illustrated by drawings and they are quite useful for the modeller too. The two pictures above come from the always useful CMPR (one of the best known Italian modelling club) website here: https://www.cmpr.it/manuali.htm So back to our models... the pictures already answer one question: the taiplanes to be used on the MC.205 are the late types with the step in the leading edge. They should be those numbered 14 and 15 on the sprues. For a 202 it depends on the construction batch. The compensated elevators were introduced during the production of the Serie XI so these and later should have the late type. If you know the serial number (matricola militare, generally abbreviated in mm) you can find the poroduction series. However.... the concept of "serie" is not really a technical one but rather an administrative subdivision of the production orders. Modifications were introduced in the middle of production series and this means that aircraft from an "older" series could have been built alongside others from "newer" series. If a modification was introduced at a certain date this would have affected the production of every series currently being manufactured. So for a modeller the answer is that every aircraft from series XI forward should have the compensated elevators. Early aircraft (say up to Serie V) sure did not have them. Thos in the middle (say series VI to X)... worth checking ! Some say that the series IX already had the compensated elevators, if possible best check pictures. Until now I've had the luck of building aircraft that were quite early so I always went for the non compensated early elevators. P.S. the matter of the production series not being necessarily consecutive is not an Italian quirk, the same happened in Britain with serial number lots: the fact that an aircraft has a higher serial number does not necessarily mean it was built later than one with a lower serial number, just relates to how the orders were allocated.

I also have both kits (my Italeri is a 205 but it's mostly the same kit) and will post pictures when I take them off the pile to show the difference. Never said Italeri has better surface detail, on the contrary surface detail on the italeri kit is not as sharp as in the Hasegawa kit being the usual Italeri wide panel lines of the era. And the depth in the wheel wells is really just a cheap way to reproduce something that is in reality totally different.. they could have moulded the sand cover in place and would have been a better choice. Oh, not least... the Italeri kit is really just a clone of the Hasegawa kit, the fuselages are perfectly identical... and some may say but of course, both are based on the same aircraft... problem is that the Hasegawa fuselage is incorrect and so is the Italeri one in the same exact way I give you the decals, that in the latest box are nice

I would disagree with that: the Italeri kit has some small advantages over the Hasegawa/Hobby 2000 one but is IMHO overall inferior The mould quality for a starter, as the Hasegawa kit is moulded much better and details are sharper This affects the fit: the Hasegawa kit has some issues (front cowling a bit too narrow for example) but the Italeri kit has alll the same and more as a result of the worse mould quality Detail wise the Italeri kit may look better but doesn't really offer much... the Italeri wheel wells are far from the appropriate depth, they only have a slightly depressed inner section with some moulded-on structural members. The real aircraft was very, very different here The cockpit of the Italeri kit features some wall detail while the Hasegawa kit deoesn't, however these are marred by ejector marks so need work anyway. Where Italeri has a slight advantage is in providing both early and late style tailplanes while Hasegawa only offers the later style.. that is not much of a problem as filler and a scriber will easily sort the matter.

I may be able to help with some aircraft regarding the unit.. The MC.205 at number 38 is from 88a Squadriglia of 6° Gruppo, 1° Stormo (88th Squadron, 6th Group, 1st Wing). The unit received the MC.205 in April 1943 and fought in Sicily, first based on the island of Pantelleria and later at Catania. Can't tell where 88-5 may have been represented Number 4 is a Beaufort Mk.I of 22 Squadron based at North Coates in 1941 (it's the subject of ICM's recent kit, the model may well have been built from this) Number 18 is a Mosquito FB.VI of 418 Squadron in 1944 (suject of an Aviaelogy sheet) Number 23 is an often reproduced Spitfire Mk.V of 145 Squadron, based in North Africa in Summer 1942 Not many options for number 24... the MC.72s were only used in 1933-34 by a unit known as Reparto Alta Velocità (high speed unit), tasked with operating the racing hydroplanes. Base was at Desenzano del Garda

Second from top (number 3) is an Sm.84 of 205 Squadriglia, part of 41 Gruppo. The unit was based at Gadurra airport on the island of Rhodes in 1941 If it's in 1/48 scale, it can only be the resin SEM Model kit, that included decals for 205-4

Will be glad to take part ! Please add me to the list Heller kits were among the best when I started building plastic models in the early '80s, will be nice to build one now. I have a few of their good ones in the stash, like the Ouragan, Javelin, T-28, Magister...

How many of the "politically motivated" RoE against BVR were actually fully politically motivated ? And how many were instead the result of the difficulty in telling what the target was ? While everyone remembers the low reliability figures of the early missiles in Vietnam, many seem to forget that one aspect that the war highlighted was the importance of kowning what everything in the air was. This even if both USAF and USN had invested a lot in airborne early warning systems. Developments in AEW platforms and information distribution make it much easier today to tell if a radar contact is an enemy or not, so making BVR more accetpable. Besides, all aircraft still carry short range missiles. Can these fail ? They sure can but so do other weapons: everybody keeps saying that having a gun is important because missiles can malfunction, but do people really believe that guns go boom everytime the pilot pulls the trigger ? Even so, guns will likely still be carried in the future for a number of reasons, not least the fact that they can be used for a warning shot in peacetime...

It sure could but a faster aircraft still has some advantages so performance hasn't been completely forgotten. Afterall a rocket propelled missile launched from a faster aircraft will have more energy, meaning more range and more capability for manouvering in the terminal phase (but of course ramjet propelled missiles suffer much less from this). The reason companies stopped searching for higher speeds is that once airframes and engine developement allowed Mach 2 to be easily reached it was found that any increase beyond that was becoming more and more expensive in terms of fuel consumption and in complexity of certain areas (the intakes in particular). Heat dissipation was also a problem, so much that the maximum speed of several designs is actually limited by the maximum temperatures allowed in certain areas rather than by lack of thrust. Heat is also a problem with many of the materials used in the reduction of radar observability and since this is considered by many more important than speed we now have fighters that struggle to reach M2. At the same time these have impressive transonic acceleration thanks to the huge thrust available.

That however ended 50 years ago... 42 years ago. Both conflicts may feel quite recent to many of us but really they were fought decades ago and technology has improved a bit in the meantime. While many aircraft from those days are still around (some of them literally the same aircraft), both radars and missiles have improved a lot. The Vietnam War is farther away in time today than the Boer War was at the start of WW2...

Can't comment on the Belgian aircraft. What I can add is that Italian aircraft received a coat of aluminum in the wheel wells at some point in their career (and were also painted aluminum on the whole exterior with the exception of a few panels). However the original interior green paint was found under the aluminum coat during restoration of a couple aircraft.

IMHO the second best course of action would be to have either the shop or the manufacturer replace the parts The best course of action would be buying the correction set made by Mister Kit in Italy that includes a new set of fuselage halves correcting the shape of the hump behind the canopy, a known error of the Hasegawa kit (unfortunately the fuselage is also slightly too short but the Mister Kit set does not correct this), The set also includes a number of resin and PE parts that greatly improve the level of detail in the cockpit and wheel wells and a set of resin control surfaces, including the rudder. It's not particularly expensive (around a Euro tenner) but being only available from Mister Kit in Italy postage to the UK may be expensive They also have a conversion set to turn the Hasegawa 202 into an MC.205, however the set does not include decals