Giorgio N

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

And let's not forget the close relative T-38, entered service in 1961 and more than 500 aircraft still in USAF service. Wouldn't be surprised to see the T-38 outlive the younger F-5E

But is there any point in waiting for an Italeri reissue when the Trumpeter kit is easily available ? Now I understand the Chinese kit is one of their first so lacking in a few aspects but it'supposed to be way better than the old Esci offering (that was made when the real aircraft was not well known in the West). The only area where an Italeri reissue would be superior would be a lower price

I would have to check a few pictures, My understanding is that the Italians were completely repainted as part of the maintenance regime. However I have seen a picture of a 50th Stormo aircraft that shows how the belly is still in natural metal so it is possible that the repaint was gradual in Italy too. It's in any case interesting how several users in those same years moved away from natural metal finishes, USAF included. As often happens, finding a picture of the specific aircraft in the specific timeframe is the best thing to get a correct finish

Good point regarding the age of the individual aircraft (although the words "in service are quite different between the B-52s and ATAC's Hunters....). However here we don't know exactly which individual MiG-15 UTIs may still be in service in North Korea or other countries. Some of the UTIs flying in the west were built in 1953/54...

If talking fighters and we mean in front line service, a good candidate is the MiG-19, first flight in 1952 and still in service in a few air forces, although in Chinese Shenyang J.6 form. The later MiG-21 career is also impressive as the Ye-6 prototypes flew in 1957 and the type is still in several countries. It should however be said that the original F and the Bis that most users have today are quite different animals and the Bis dates from 1972. If however it's confirmed that North Korean MiG-17s are still operational, this would make this type the older in service as first flight was in 1950. If we consider fighters now used in other roles I guess the MiG-15 is the oldest as a number of the UTI variant are still in use as trainers. First flight of the MiG-15 was in 1947.. If talking bombers of course the B-52 is the oldest in every sense and will likely outlive all the fighters I've mentioned. Of course there are other old aircraft around, for example the last Mirage III (first flight 1956) are still flying (likely not for long) while the 10 year younger Mirage F-1 is used by several countries. We can't forget the Phantom (1958) is still in service in a few countries but also the F-5 (1959) is still around in first line service. And there are sure others

The Airfix kit is indeed becoming more and more expensive. I've seen early boxes in BOAC markings going for £80. Later boxes are of course cheaper and the tanker in Europe sells for as low as £15. Of course with old kits there's always a chance of a lucky find

Here’s my choice for this STGB: the recent 1/72 Special Hobby kit, to be built in Italian Air Force markings. Since this kit will be very popular here, there's no need to add much. Let me just say that for years we've waited for a kit that was more modern than the old Italeri and Airfix offerings. Nothing happened for decades and then two new kits arrived within months from each other from Sword and SH! Having the Sword RF in the stash I decided to wait for the SH kit.. not that I don't like Sword, I have many of their kits and I love them! However having seen the most recent SH kits I believed this could have been the better choice. Is it? I'll find out. Markings will come from Tauromodel who in sheet 72/505 offer a selection of Thunderstreaks among other aircraft. Really it's not easy to chose one! My mind is now set on 50-19 from 50th Stormo, a unit that is not often represented in model form. In old Tauromodel fashion, the sheet only includes unit markings, roundels and numbers are on other sheets. That I have so no problem here. I wouldn't be surprised to see more issues of this kit so an Italian option from the box may well come from SH at some point. Maybe Tauromodel will also offer new sheets. Looking forward to the start of the STGB!

Losses due to non-combat cases were indeed pretty high for all air forces in WW2. A few years ago I looked into a USAF document looking at losses in the Continental US during the war and these were impressive too. No doubt part of the reason was the need to train a large number of men in very little time. However we should keep in mind how flying was in general a more dangerous business than it is today, with reliability not being particularly high

Most likely they were painted aluminum at some point in their career, same as the Thunderstreaks. My understanding is that when this happened the wheel wells were also repainted in aluminum, this is how I'll be finishing my model.

Thanks ! Actually I have 4 built, my first was a Matchbox kit many years ago, initially built unpainted (the old Matchbox days...) and later painted in generic Israeli markings. Then came a Italeri C, built from the box (one of the first kit I airbrushed): I still have both but taking pictures would mean taking them off the shelves, not the easiest thing with the mess I have in the hobby room 🤣

What more can be said about a fighter that's still in production 50 years after the first flight ? One of the true great in aviation history ! The workhorse of many air forces for decades and with many years of service yet to come. Personally I don't have that many built F-16 models and the ones for which I have pictures are just two, both built from the Academy 1/72 kit (yes, I know it's not the best) and both in somewhat "exotic" markings. Another couple are being built at the moment (Indonesian and US Aggressor) The stash however is quite well stocked, with 15 kits of various quality (ok, maybe the 4 in the Monogram Thunderbirds set will never be built..). To which I should add 2 XLs (they are F-16s after all) and one F-2 (that ok, is not an F-16 but a very close relative). All in 1/72 with the exception of the Skunkmodels XL. Already planned are Italian, Polish, Danish, USAF Lizard and a couple Israeli. I'll sure not have problems in finding markings for the others

Only 2 new aircraft kits but IMHO interesting as the C variant of the F-35 was not done by many. Glad to see the H-19 back (I see I'm not the only one) but also the C-119 and the Academy F-84G with Italian markings. Curious about the 1/72 Re.2002.. guess Supermodel but will it be modified or the awful original? Edit: oh, I had not noticed the 1/32 Mc.200! Now this is interesting too!

Not necessarily... I've seen this happening many times before: someone announces a new kit and someone elses re-releases an old kit of the same subject. That may sound stupid but has some sense: a new kit will generate a certain hype about the subject, hit the market with the same subject and those who are looking for that but can't find the new kit may buy yours. Now I'm not claiming this is the reason for Italeri's decision, I don't know. It is however something I've seen many times before and even with kits that are much worse than the Italeri 410

Actually when Hasegawa launched their "new" Phantoms in 1990 they issued the B/N together with other variants in the same year. I still have the catalogue from that year and all variants were shown together in a single picture. Interestingly the B/N and the EJ seem to be the only ones that have been in constant production in their basic boxes over the years while boxes like the J and the slatted Es have come and gone. The slatted Es in particular seem to be ones with smaller production runs, that is in a sense surprising since they cover many subjects pretty popular here. Guess that with Hasegawa's market being predominantly Japan the local modellers prefer the EJ for obvious reasons while having a soft spot for US Navy subjects. Something that does not bode well for the appearance of a new slatted wing E from Fine Molds.... Personally I'm at a point where I've decided to use the Revell outer wings on a Fine Mold EJ to build a good slatted wing F-4E...

The problem is when a price tag is put on an accident.... There have been several instances in other areas where asset managers have decided that going with an insurance to cover the potential cost of an accident would have been cheaper than implementing measures to increase safety. At least the aviation industry seems to not follow such practices but every time I take a train or enter an underground station I wonder if similar decisions were taken....

The matter of the sabotage on the Macchi factory is debated here in Italy. It is sure that there was a fire at Macchi that damaged a number of aircraft but sources disagree on the reason. Some believe it was an Israeli led sabotage, others are sure that it was accidental. In any case the Israeli were only too happy to let the rest of the world believe it was a sabotage. There were also rumours of pressure from Israeli agents against individuals at Macchi and Fiat, again ever proven and again with no effort from Israel to deny this happened. The reality is probably that the Israeli intelligence network was not as developed and effective as many believed and as Israel let them believe, however it was a story that suited everyone's interest. Behind the end of the Egyptian contract there was not much any fear from Macchi and the Italians (so much that deliveries of various materials continued after the accidents) but mostly disagreements from the between the parties.. as most often happens, it's money that matters. As further proof that Israeli activity did not deter the Italians from dealing with countries in the Middle East, Macchi later sold a number of former Italian Air Force Vampires to what had become Nasser's Egypt, in a deal that sits half-way between a spy story and a diplomatic farce... Please let me know when you're in Milan ! It's always a pleasure to meet a fellow modeller from far away !

There's no need to be secretive, Italeri as a company is registered as "SPA", the equivalent of the British PLC, so a "public company". The final balance sheets of these companies are public by law in Italy, everybody can pop into an office in a major city and request to see them and verify things like revenues and expenses, profit or losses. Same for government contracts, if a company has been given a contract by the Air Force this is public... that brings me to the AMI boxings... these are produced through and agreement with the Air Force and Italeri is licensed to do so, but I wouldn't call them government subsidies since the Air Force does not pay Italeri to make kits of Italian marked aircraft (and Italeri never really did that many...) We can agree that Italeri is not what it used to be for the modeller, at least for aircraft modellers like me. Years ago they had many new kits every year while now they only have very few and their news are mainly reboxes. True that others also have very few real news every year: Revell in terms of revenues is in a different order of magnitude but the number of new aircraft kits they've issued over the last few years is minimal too

Shrunk by how much ? Do you have an insight in the numbers of the company ? At least over the last 20 years it's always been classified in the same revenue range, meaning that at least for the last 20 years they've done roughly the same As for the management, they are the only historic model company that never changed property, having been owned by the same folks since the start. If they are still around it means they must be doing something right... This even if I consider myself very unhappy about many of Italeri choices and I've often been unimpressed by their news over the last years..

Let me be the first to say welcome to the forum Hany ! I'm sure you'll enjoy here !!! Your memory is correct, the aircraft in Milan (serial MM.91818) is a hybrid, that is a MC.202 that was converted to MC.205. The "problem" with the authenticity of this aircraft is that she had quite a life after the war! She was one of the aircraft reconditioned and modified for sale to Egypt however being part of the final batch she was never delivered as at some point Aermacchi and the Egyptians had disagreements that led to the cancellation of the order. For this reason she remained in Italy and then entered service with the Air Force to be used at flying schools. She then served until 1956, wearing the standard overall aluminum scheme of the era. After withdrawal the aircraft was donated to a technology institute in Northern Italy where she remained until 1979 when Macchi started work to have the aircraft back to flying conditions. She flew until an accident in 1983 forced Macchi to stop any flying activity. Five years later Macchi gave this aircraft to the Milan museum in exchange for the one that the museum had owned for a while, MM.92166, herself also part of the undelivered Egyptian order. Being from Milan myself, this means that without realising it I actually saw two different 205s, as I first visited the museum in the mid '80s before the exchange... back then however I did not take notice of things like serial numbers, so never realised this was not the same Macchi I saw later until several years after. As you can see this aircraft wen through several refurbishments, starting with the preparation for sale to Egypt and ending with the restoration done by Macchi in the '80s. It's impossible to say what remains in the original colour and what not and it's likely that actually no part is in the original paint

Sure, you can see several pictures of 50th's Thunderstreaks here: https://svppbellum.blogspot.com/2019/02/il-republic-f-84f-thunderstreak.html I have decals for 50-19 in a Tauromodel sheet so markings will not be a problem. They are not the most colourful to be used on the operational Italian F-84Fs (the honour goes propably to the 6° Stormo with their red trident) but I like the blue flashes on the tail. One other unit I considered is 8° Stormo, that is better known as a long time user of the G.91Y but was a very late user of the Thunderstreak from 1967 to 1971. https://www.aviastore.it/?p=9269 There's a certain fascination in types seen very late in their career.. in 1967 the F-84F was well past its prime but still fielded on... The Thunderstreaks and other "80" fighters were only fully replaced in Italian service in the early '70s.

Looks like a newer style Hase box, has it been reissued ? I have an older box with USAF markings but wouldn't mind adding another to the stash. Built one a while ago and enjoyed this kit a lot. It would also be nice to see some new aftermarket decals sized for this kit, with so many units operating the D in the USAF there are plenty of potential options

Decided on my build: it will be the SH F-84F first ! Italian markings, yet to decide the unit but I may go for a 50° Stormo machine as this unit is not as often represented but their Thunderstreaks carried interesting markings. Being a relatively late user of the type in Italian service, their aircraft were actually painted aluminum with some panels in NM only, that should make an interesting contrast with other shiny NM machines I have in mind for later builds

Great work on what is supposed to be a modern kit but seems to fall well short.. I'm a bit worried as I have two in the stash, not really looking forward to building them now..

That would be really cool! However knowing my build pace I'd be happy to finish one..