Habu12

Hey, I just used whatever rocket pods came with the kit. So blame Airfix for that one!

Yes it is pretty small. That’s why it goes together so quickly! This build took less than 49 hours.

On the kick, and I had this in my stash. Totally OOB. No Skyflash this time

Onward.

Good for you! Paint it whatever color your heart desires on your next build

Well seeing as how the belly is LAG, those look a lot lighter to me. I’m fine with my choice of color.

Nope, no issues with the tops of the intakes. Just glued together and sanded flush!

In 1/72, they’re near as makes no difference. Ref pics show Skyflash/Sparrow loaded on the jets.

Airfix’s latest Phantom release. I used the Xtradecal sheet to make Faith, which had the gray tail, instead of white. Standard fare, OOB except for the AIM-9s, since the kit didn’t come with AIM-9L, only AIM-9J. So I raided my spares. The only issue was the closed canopy. I had made some custom ejection loops, and they would not allow the canopy to sit. So off they came and it still didn’t sit right. So it has those big ugly gaps on the left and shims on the right. Other than that, lovely kit. I’m still developing my scoring system, and this is a relelease anyway, so no scores on this one.

The sheen only shows up in oblique lighting. The rest of the time, it’s flat like any other fighter. Same with the F-35. However, you managed to catch the sheen quite well.

I’ve got the new release on the way, so stay tuned!

I think the DA Falcon has a bit more detail, but as far as fit and speed of build, it’s Bandai all the way.

Those ash and mud stains Dirty!!!

Enamels. Rock solid. It’s almost too easy. The fit is phenomenal.

And yes, I did notice that the rear weapons pallets are on backwards. Only I realized it waaaay too late to change it

From the last cruise. A Tomcat sunset. KA Models cockpit, pitot and wheels. Fightertown Decals. TMM and Tamiya enamels all around.

None. Whatsoever. Left them bare. You don’t see in there at all. In fact, unless the lip has a distinct color demarcation, like an F-16, I don’t paint inside any of my intakes. To me, it’s a waste of time.

Tamiya weathering sets and The Detailer wash.

Such a pretty, pretty Dak!

Many times when I build a subject I gain a new respect for its shape. And I thought I couldn’t appreciate the beautiful lines of the Hunter. But wow, this is just such a gorgeous jet! Definitely one of the best of all time. Anyway, I’m coming up with a new rating system for kits. It’ll be based on Doug Demuro’s “Doug Score”, if any of you are YouTube car guys. But it’s a dual block, five category system, of 100 points. Sounds complicated, I know. I’ll elaborate more later since I’ve nailed down all the categories but general impressions are the usual for new Airfix kits, very good fit, some good detail, but could use a bit more. Not that it matters much in the cockpit, as it’s black anyway, so you done much past the seat top. No major fit issues.

Added a resign prop and a Coffman starter bulge from the spares box. Extradecals. This is my second new Spit kit build. Love it! Dunno what was up with my camera this time, but when I processed the images originally, they looked terrible. So sorry for the crappy background, but I wanted to the colors to be more true.

Never head of Arma kits. The SBS decals are nice though.

I’m currently converting Tamiya’s new kit to a Mk.II and also have not seen this panel line on any of my references.

Now before some of you comment that this is or isn’t a a Finnish built Blenheim, I couldn’t confirm or deny it in my research. So it is, a Mk.I from the initial batch, as seen in 1942 as far as I can tell. If not, I don’t care. I wanted something different with this new release. The kit is very nice, not quite as crisp as other recent releases, but pretty close. No issues encountered.

Being an Aleutian Cat, there wasn’t the same fading as you’d see on a tropical Cat. My refs showed a lot less wear on Alaskan PBYs. Having spent the last three months there, I can see why. The sun isn’t out much in the winter.