Tiger331

Very nice...........For some reason, we do not see many of the earlier A-4 Skyhawks in these attractive high-visibility USN/USMC markings. Like others have said, I also like the subtle weathering....not to over the top and a reflection of the good care that aircraft maintainers, at sea, took with any of the carrier-borne assets to combat the effects of corrosion. The staining from the engine outlets is great and the scuff marks around the all-moving tailplane are sublime !. Well Done, Sir ! I also agree the supply of the Hasegawa A-4C does seem to be sporadic. I do recall picking up a couple late last year when it was re-released and it is still available from some outlets although the issue seemed to sell out quickly with some of the bigger MO houses etc.

Nasos, With regard to your question, there is nothing specific to the Tamiya kit on the market right now. Aires, Eduard and others have done a load of their 'standard' resin/photoetched parts for the cockpit, airbrakes, undercarriage, exhaust nozzles etc but nothing specific with regard to avionics bays etc. As I am sure you already know, Aires and Quickboost quite often do small sets for the avionics bays (as they have done for the Academy and Zoukei-Mura F-4 Phantom series) but the company to probably watch out for is Black Dog. I suspect if any company will produce the type of sets you are looking for, it will be them. They have done some extensive sets for the F-4 Phantom, F-16 and soon, the Great Wall Hobby F-15, including the avionics bays, gun bay, radar and upper spine panels. As a near neighbour (I'm in Estonia) we also have this project in common. I am also part way through using this superb Tamiya kit for an IRIAF F-14A and my experiences so far mirror yours. I am doing the three-colour blue-grey camouflage scheme. Anyway, great work so far and I will (obviously) follow your build with some interest ! Mark

Very nice................Agree that KH seem to do better with their rotary wing kits. Well Done, Sir !

Great Job ! Hard to believe this is a 1/144 scale kit. I do like these Zvezda kits of Soviet/Russian Airliners. Well Done, Sir !

Nice job for a WIF scheme !

Kitty Hawk missed a real trick with this kit - They could have well and truly wrapped up the 1:48 Jaguar market if they had applied a bit more thought to the accuracy and construction of this kit. As I understand it the overall shape is pretty good (apart from the leading edge of the wings) and your completed model bears this out. The overly complicated construction with all of those unwanted open panels etc combined with the 'lazy' inclusion of a French orientated weapons fit really let the kit down and have put a lot of modellers off. I applaud your tenacity and determination to complete this challenging kit....hopefully Kinetic will oblige us all someday (as they will be doing with the Mirage F.1....another favourite of mine). Well Done, Sir !

As a previous co-respondent has already stated, Great to see the Gladiator in a different colour scheme. I have a particular interest in this one since I am currently researching military aviation in the three Baltic States as part of my personal development for my next job. Well Done, Sir !. Nice job

NICE job........Love the Meteor F.Mk.8 Well Done, Sir !

Great, great job on that SAR Sea King Well Done, Sir ! (and good luck with your exam results too !)

Very, very nice. It would be interesting to see how the Modelsvit kit shapes up against the more recent Trumpeter kit. I have both but, in reality, can only complete one so it would be good to know what the general consensus is between these two kits. I'm particularly interested in this aircraft since the Soviets used to operate them 'just down the road' (well 2+ hours drive) from where I live right now. It would be cool to get one of these done in due course. Well Done, Sir !

Nice job......I have one of these in the 'to do' pile (OKATS) which I am planning to complete with the well documented damage caused by a Serbian SAM over Bosnia back in the 1990s. Well Done, Sir !

Yes, Caracal Models have a FAP option on their aftermarket decal sheet reference CD48084

Brilliant..........cannot wait

Not sure that I follow the logic that a Limited Edition re-issue of the Tamiya kit as a P-38H variant that is not mass produced will probably lead to the conclusion that Tamiya will not produce the P-38J/L variant in due course. Given the parts breakdown of the original kit and the plethora of colour schemes/markings applied to the later models, I really cannot envisage a situation where they would abandon this idea (unless economic considerations come into force, of course). The P-38J/L was used by far more operators/nations than the earlier models and sported many more colour schemes than the standard Olive Drab/Neutral Gray. Think of all that wonderful WWII-era nose art and those esoteric Post War operators, particularly in Latin America, for which there are already a huge number of aftermarket decal sheets. Sure, we may have to wait some time for the kit (just like the Grumman F-14A+ or F-14B Bombcat) but that is normally how Tamiya roll.

I never read too much into the CAD images but they show a 'break line' towards the forward end of the sponson so maybe they are going to tool the kit with this as a separate item, in order to enable them to box the different (early and late) variants. If not, as you say some good ol' modelling skills should take care of it for those wanting to the an RAF C-130K. I will eagerly await this kit, having spent countless hours on the RAF Fat Albert fleet and others.