Starfighter

Well, what can I say ? just a superb model of my favourite airplane. 😍

Thanks for that, Lawzer. However, I've just bought the Eduard " Zoom " instrument panel, and it has PE seat straps included, which are pretty easy to fit, so I'll not bother with the Quickboost seat, although it does look rather nice !

Hi guys, Just collecting " Extras " for a forthcoming build of the Tamiya 1/48 P - 47D "Razorback " and I have a quick query regarding the resin seat which is available. It looks very good, with the harness moulded in, which I prefer as it's less fiddly than PE seat straps , but can anyone tell me if it fits the Tamiya kit ? I presume it will, but no point buying it if it doesn't . Any help would be much appreciated.

That's just what I suspected. Vlad, so I shall put the bare minimum decals on when I get to that stage.

Many thanks for your very detailed reply, it's much appreciated, and nice to have some background info on the pilots themselves. As " White 6 " was an F 4 and not an F2 I can use the deeper oil radiator , and not the smaller one as originally intended to depict a later F 2 with the rounded wheel wells. Luckily the kit I have is for an F 4 that includes both types of radiator, so I'm good to go. I know there's a lot of debate as to the actual camouflage colours, with the Airfix instructions for this kit ( Although I'm building the Eduard model ) and Montex masks stating the colours as RLM 70, 71 and 76, so that's what I'm going with. If it turns out later to be wrong then hey ho, I can live with that !

Hi guys, I'm building the Eduard BF 109F 2 as "White six " of 7/JG54 , as flown by Werner Von Hofe in Russia during 1942, and I'd like some info regarding colour scheme. I believe this airplane was painted at unit level, and i have a picture of the camo pattern from a Montex Mask instruction sheet which tallies up with a photo of this machine, but there doesn't appear to be any stencilling on it, such as oxygen filler, etc. The photo is not the best quality, so I'm wondering if the factory stencils were painted over when the airplanes were painted " In the field " as it were ? Any help would be gratefully received.

This is an F- 100C of the 32nd. TFS, 36th. TFW. This squadron was based at Soesterburg in the Netherlands and the tail bands were green with white trim. Like the other a/c of the 36th. the bands finish short of the fin leading edge ( maybe to avoid it wearing away in the slipstream ? ) HYH

Thanks for the extra info, Patrick . . . very interesting. As an aside I spent many school holidays watching the F-100's at Wethersfield, which is not far from my home, and it was very sad when they moved to Upper Heyford , due, I think. to the expansion of Stansted airport. PS : LOVE your avatar

Just one more little bit of tail code info : When the 20th. TFW 's F - 111E's were first coded their tail codes were JR. JS and JT ! 🙂

When I was an armourer on 17 squadron in Germany ( 1971 - 74 ) all the gun pods were an olive drab colour. I think they changed the colour when Phantoms relinquished the strike role and became air defence . If you have a search on the internet I'm sure you'll find more info. One other point : If you're doing an early FGR 2 then the gun pod has a longer tail section, as opposed to the shorter version seen on later photos. HTH

I think you're right, Vlad . . . Your model looks nearer that shade then RLM 02, so I shall play around with a lighter green and see how that looks. I'm thinking of possibly humbrol 120, which looks not far off your version. Superb photo, by the way.

What's that phrase " A can of worms " ! Thanks for your help, guys, I guess it's whatever colour you feel is " Right " so i shall experiment and see what I come up with. If only the Luftwaffe had kept records of ALL the paints they used life would be so much easier ! 🤣

Hi guys, I've just bought an Eduard 1/48 Bf 109F 4 to build, and I've decided to build Hans Philipp's machine from the Russian front. I've also bought the Authentic Decals set , which has the relevant markings, but I'm not sure the colour info is right. The decal instructions suggest RLM 70 and RLM 71 for the camo, but I found a photo on the net of this particular a/c, and although B & W there is more contrast between the colours than I would expect with RLM 70 / 71, so my question is does anyone have info on the correct colours for this machine ? Any help would be much appreciated.

That's even more impressive, then !

Absolutely brilliant, Miguel. I bet it was fun masking the canopy and nose glazing. I built the ICM 1/48 Do 17Z last year, and that was fun masking up, so doing that in 1/144 scale must have been tricky.

Beautiful, just beautiful . . . Thanks for sharing. 😍

I have the Daco book " Uncovering The T/F - 104 Starfighter " which has excellent photos of both the MB and Lockheed seats, and while the MB seat handles are a spiral black and yellow the Lockheed seat has a yellow handle with seven black bands. HTH.

I spent two and a half happy years there ( 1971 - 74 ) as an armourer on 17 Squadron Phantoms, and it's sad to see the base now deserted. I often thought about going back for a visit, but it wouldn't be the same. Great memories, though.

They were U S weapons, and were guarded by armed USAF and RAF police. I think the weapons were either B57 or B43 ( Not sure, it WAS a long time ago ) We very rarely carried Sidewinders, as the main task was nuclear strike or ground attack.

This also applied to British Phantom FGR 2's I was based at Bruggen in Germany in the early 70's and our QRA aiegraft had the special weapon mounted on the centreline, with two live Sparrow AAM's mounted in the forward missile bays.

Humbrol do a bronze green ( No. 75 ) if that's any help ?

Further to what Selwyn said I was an armourer in the bomb storage area at Honington in 1970 - 71, and I can confirm that the bombs were bronze green as stated. They were stored in rows outside, so consequently became rather weathered after a while, so every so often we would bring them in and re - paint them, adding the 2" yellow band ( H E ). As stated, the tail units were seperate, and although they too were bronze green they were more glossy , although in 72 scale that wouldn't matter too much. As well as the practice rounds in saxe blue we also had "Drill " rounds which were painted Oxford blue , which was a darker ( Royal? ) blue. These were mostly used for loading / unloading practice, but may also have been carried in flight for training purposes. HTH

Me like very much ! Thanks. for the link, 72modeler

What a beauty ! you've done a superb job on my favourite airplane

I have another colour query regarding Scharnhorst. I also have the 1/700 Gneisenau kit and it occcured to me that with a bit of cross kitting I could build Scharnhorst as she appeared ( open type bridge, etc. ) as she appeared during the " Channel Dash "as I quite like the interesting colour scheme with the mottled superstructure. My question is : What was the colour of the turret tops ? I've seen depictions showing a blue colour, and also dark grey, so which is more likely to be correct ?