Jon Bryon

Thank you! Looks like the book is wrong Cheers Jon

I'm making Hasegawa's 1/48 Phantom FG.1 as a Royal Navy airframe from 892 NAS, and in the earlier form without the RWR at the top of the fin. I have KLP's e-publication on the FG.1 written by Geoff Couglin, which makes the claim in several places that RN Phantoms did not have refuelling probes and they were retro-fitted to FG.1s when they were transferred to the RAF. However, in other publications I own, I have at least two photos of 892 Phantoms in flight taking fuel from RN Buccaneers, and a further photo of an 892 FG.1 on the ground with the refuelling probe extended. So what's going on? Is Mr Couglin wrong? Or were RN Phantoms retro-fitted whilst still with the RN? Or something else entirely? Many thanks for any help Jon

Croydon WH Smiths still has a shelful of issue 613 as of today. Jon

I have no idea what it should be, but mine is duraluminum. Jon

Interestingly, the Yak-52 first flew in 1976, and the CJ-6 first flew in 1958... The tails are completely different so they're easy to tell apart! Jon

Hello All, A quick build that took around three and a half weeks over Christmas into the New Year. This is Trumpeter's little 1/48 CJ-6 with some scratchbuilt cowl intakes, tail lights (above and below), and housing-thing under the rear fuselage. I moved the step as well to a more accurate location. Other changes were a pitot from Albion Alloys brass tubing and seat belts from some generic Eduard set. Quite a nice kit that goes together pretty well, and finished in a scheme I found a couple of photos of. Kit decals were used for the national insignia and stencils; the white numerals are all masked and airbrushed. There's a fair amount of lead in the nose... This is being published in next month's SAM with in-progress photos. Comments welcome and thanks for looking Jon

I forgot that AMP have already released a 1/48 OH-6A a good few years ago: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amp-401-oh-6a-loach--130475 I wonder what the relationship between that and the new one will be? Jon

Sorry, I was referring to another company just to make the point about how difficult (in my case, apparently impossible) it is to buy products direct from Russia. I was trying to get something from AMUR Reaver. Jon

I've been trying to buy a product from a Russian aftermarket company for a while, and it's proving impossible. You just can't make payment. Annoyingly they only sell outside Russia via the 48ers, and their UK minimum spend is 150 euro...! Jon

Thanks for your comments everyone. Much appreciated Jon

Hello all, I finished this last year and I heard yesterday it will be published in the March issue of SAM, which will have plenty of in progress photos (I hope!). In the meantime, here are some images of the finished product. This is Kinetic's first kit which I've modified quite heavily. The tail has been shortened and the large parachute housing replaced with a scratchbuilt keel. The nose was replaced with the more accurate resin QB version and the wingtip lights removed for smaller versions to be added. The nose pitot is brass tubing. The markings are based on decals provided by SuperScale. It's a rough enough kit, but I enjoyed making it and I think it's a superb looking aircraft. Thanks for looking and comments are welcome. Jon

Still waiting for the first boxing to arrive in the UK! Jon

Thanks Martin - sounds reasonable, and since I'm making a block 40 airframe, I've gone with the further aft location. Cheers Jon

Well which is it? You can't have it both ways... Jon

Hello all, I am making Tanmodel's 1/48 RF-84F Thunderflash and have come across a few omissions. One is what I presume is a fuel vent pipe on the aft lower starboard fuselage. I'm making 53-7551 from the Mississippi ANG in the SEA scheme. I've noted that the location of this vent varies, e.g. further forward, just at the lower left of the fuselage national insignia: And sometimes further back, like here: Indeed, in this photo both styles can be seen on the lower two aircraft: 373 has the vent to the fore; 381 has it to the rear. I don't have a photo from the right angle for the aircraft I'm modelling, and will probably go with the further aft position, but does anyone know if there is rhyme or reason for either location? Thanks Jon

Hannants have it too. Jon

UK shipping has now been added. It cost £104 including postage for the kit. Jon

The HGW rivets are definitely a lot smaller. TBH I don't mind if they are barely visible - the Archer ones are too big really. I'd like to see how the Quinta ones behave - make sure you post your test with the AH-1 Jon

I tried to order one, but the website only accepts US addresses. Has anyone from outside the USA managed to order one? I've sent them a message to ask... Jon

Thanks Alain. I'm going to try using the HGW resin rivets on my Academy CH-53E later this year. They have no carrier film so it will be interesting to see how they work. Jon

I think the title is wrong? The post indicates it will be 1/35. A shame, as I never got the KH one when it was available... Jon

Thank you all for your kind comments. Much appreciated. Jon

Hello all, I finished this before Christmas: Academy's first boxing of their H-46 Sea Knight range of kits in 1/48. Quite a lot was done to it: Eduard BigEd set (although quite a lot of it was unused), ResKit wheels, decals by AOA and lots of various additions from the spares box to make it more like this particular airframe. Nearly all of the surface detail was filled and replaced with resin rivets from Archer - certainly not a replica of the real thing, more like a blurry (but better) representation. The blades were drooped using boiling water, but a little bit too much. This will be in the February 2023 issue of SAM which will have further details and in progress photos. Comments welcome and thanks for looking Jon

Thank you all Display stands slow me down...I've got a stash to build! Jon

Thanks Andrés. I have a few in-progress photos here:https://jonbryon.com/revell-1-48-supermarine-spitfire-lf-xvi-sam/ Cheers Jon