Giorgio N

Thanks Stephen ! I was aware of the Neomega cockpit (and of the OZ-Mods one) but for some reason I believed it was OOP and impossible to find (probably because none of my usual sources had any left). Looks like it's still available on their own website fortunately

Andy, if you have an airbrush it will not be difficult to achieve the same kind of finish if not better Gunze's, if applied properly, can give finishes smoother than Vallejo's. Tamiya's AS12 can also be sprayed to a very smooth finish. Regarding the process, it may be worth applying the decals before the semi-gloss coat. On a semigloss finish decals generally work well enough, but on a gloss one they work better

There are many ways to reproduce this colour, being in the end an aluminum/silver paint means that even if you don't have access to a specific paint brand you can still have a good reproduction by using a suitable aluminum/silver paint followed by a semigloss coat to tone down the shinyness. For example, my latest build of a British type in silver was of a Vampire (Italian markings but the finish is the same). I used Vallejo Model Air Aluminum overall as it was a paint I had and was light enough. The resulting model however was too shiny for this kind of finish To

This kit would indeed benefit from a more detailed cockpit, even aftermarket items today seem to be hard to find. Hopefully this reissue will prompt someone to offer a new cockpit Decalwise, this selection is maybe a bit safe but makes sense as they are all markings that tend to attract quite a lot of interest. Would have been nice to have something a bit more "exotic", I'd have probably sacrificed the Italian grey aircraft for something different

Yes, seriously ! Ferrari is one of the most difficult and most expensive companies to deal with when it comes to licensing (and not only...), yet plastic model companies are happy to pay them whatever their license fee is because they know that kits of Ferrari cars sell ! Similar story for other sports car brands and reason why there's no lack of these in model form. If model companies do not offer kits of a "insert name of everyday car here" it's not because of the fees they have to pay, it's simply because these would be kits that would not sell enough to recover the investments, with

Veeery nice! Well done!

That style of wings was introduced at some point during the evolution of the Standard SAM missiles, it was not used on the AGM-78. Whatever is being tested on that F/A-18 it's derived from a SAM

It's not an AGM-78, look at the relative position of the front and rear flying surfaces.

This does not seem to stop model companies from offering kits of supercars and race cars of various types though: just pay whatever fee the car companies ask and make the kit, at least if this has a decent potential market.. it's the lack of such potential market that keeps companies from offering all kinds of "normal" cars

For Australia, the main ally is the US...

While there is a TAV-8A in NASA markings, I have not found evidence of any aircraft of this variant serving with the Agency. That aircraft is Bu.No. 159381, that was struck off charge after a crash while serving with VMAT-203 in 1983 (her second crash). I've never seen any picture of this aircraft in NASA markings and she's not included in any list of aircraft that served with them. I believe she was repainted in those markings only after leaving service, probably to "commemorate" those Harriers that were actually used by NASA in their distinctive livery

USMC units follow the USN practice of having training variants only in the designated training units, so no two seater trainer in active units. It is a system that makes sense considering the way these forces deploy. The only other units that may have traning variants are test units and land based units tasked with various support roles (aggressors, utility etc). This means that VMAT-203 was the only unit operating the TAV-8A. Other test units may have had one or two for short periods (NATC maybe ?). Not seen any pictures but I can't be sure none exist.

A quick check on a certain online auction site shows that in my corner of the world I can get an Academy B-24 for €45-50 delivered. In that same corner of the world I can get the recent Airfix B-17 for around €45 delivered... that is pretty much the same as the cheaper B-24 options. Based on this I'd expect that a new B-24 from Airfix would not be any cheaper than the existing Academy B-24 kits, most likely it would be more expensive (IIRC the old B-24 was in a higher price series compared to the old B-17). Again all this applies in my corner of the world, other corners may see diffe

I remember the discussions that accompanied the original selection of the M1 tanks for Australia, and it was clear that among the resons was the idea of interoperability. That of course meant being able to operate along US forces in operations like Iraqi Freedom and similar. That makes sense, afterall this is the kind of mission that are most likely to be accomplished by Australian armoured units, so why not have the same tanks of the most important ally, so to be able to work closely together when in operation. This of course means that whatever technical advantage any other tank (read L

That picture shows XF515 when she was flying in the warbird circuit as G-KAXF. She now resided in Holland and is painted as N-294. IIRC the restoration was considered very good at the time, but I don't know if all colour and markings details were 100% accurate

I can't consider myself a beginner but as a modeller with an affection for the Hobbyboss easy-kits, this one looks pretty interesting ! Clearly detail is not up to the level of its "proper kit" brother, but if the price is right it looks like an ideal way to show a good number of colour schemes quickly, an aspect that some modellers like. For the cockpit, I'd probably go hunting for the early Eduard Zoom sets, the ones that can sometime still be found for £3 or so. Will have to check if any of them fits of course. I realize that even £3 may be some money compared to the cost of the k

I do not know the answer but I do have pictures from that time period that show the upper surfaces in enough detail to show these markings... Among these are pictures of 1st TFW aircraft taken in 1988 that still feature yellow stencils. At the same time pictures of ANG aircraft taken in 1985/86 seem to show black stencils. All have black outline national markings while the tail markings differ from unit to unit My feeling, based on these pictures, is that the stencils went black around that time. It is possibile that ANG aircraft had received a repaint before being assigned to their

The MiG-19 may be a short run but it's far from old, first box was issued in late 2019

Actually his word confirm this inability: not having enough fuel for a second attempt at landing is something that procedures in peacetime make not feasible. Really in aviation most of the times when something is defined as not possible it is because it can't be done following the rules in place. Most sources that mention this also explain how the problem was that it meant having a dangerously low fuel reserve. Even so, there seems to be no record of this configuration having been used in wartime, There are rumours that some of the aircraft involved in the "interception" of the Achille La

Let's clarify a few points here.... The Tomcat always had the possibility of launching the Phoenix missile from the wing glove pylon, however the underbelly launchers produced less drag, reason why for air-to-air missions these missiles were generally carried in that position. The exception was the rare occurrence of a 6 X AIM-54 load, for which both the underbelly launchers and the glove pylons had to be used. This configuration was not used operationally from carriers because the Tomcat could not be recovered on board with all six missiles for weight reason. This meant that one or two m

Small correction: there was no Mk.IV rifle, the one used during WW2 was the Rifle No.4 Mk,I, correctly included in the set. The Mk.III was the Rifle No.1 Mk.III, first introduced in 1907 and used through WW1 but still used in WW2 (and still produced in Australia and India during WW2). Two variations of this are included in the set. I know, it's nitpicking...

The prototype AIM-54C was only delivered in 1979, with first production rounds delivered in late 1981. In 1978 the AIM-54A would have been used

Ok, i'ts a different primer but from the same family, in theory should work the same. I wonder if the problem is in how smooth you can get the primer coat. This may explain why the same paint sprayed on bare plastic is shinier. Mind, the Metal Colours can also be sprayed on bare plastic, so this could be an option... however if you are building a kit that requires filler, then any area covered in filler will show badly. I would try to polish the primed surface using a cloth or a very fine sanding sponge, may improve things considerably. even in You could but it

Which gloss primer did you buy ? I use this one under the Metal Colours and it's IMHO a very good primer https://www.amazon.it/Vallejo-Polyurethane-Primer-Black-VAL74602/dp/B004BMZVMK Regarding the metal colour themselves, personally I find them very good and I've completed several models using them. The paints are also very robust and I've only had a very small speckle of paint lifting on a model, model on which I had to mask around a dozen times to add variations to some pretty small panels. Couple of examples from this same forum: a WIP of a 1/72 F-104, with fus

The cost of a kit depends on many factors and different companies may need to have different suggested retail prices to make a profit on similar products based on the company organisation, market size, strategies and so on. And of course the location of the company may have an impact, as different countries would have different production costs (of which labour cost is only one aspect).. Airfix have their reasons to chose certain companies to make moulds for them, cost will likely be a factor (but likely not the only one) and I'm sure they will set target prices for their products to meet