fox1_BE

From what I could find: apart from the different ejection seat types and tail wheel differences, the USAF versions also had a retractable landing light in the (port) wingtip. There may be other differences that I missed, but I will likely restrict myself to these 2 or 3 items as they seem the most prominent ones. Regards, Patrick

Very realistic finish - great work on your Sea King 👍

Great job on that Intruder Tanker - very nice finish 👍

The ordered aftermarket items have arrived, so I am set to start on this one as well. The kit I use is the well-known Hasegawa one: As far as I know, Hasegawa's Skyraider boxings are all basically A-1H versions. I have these AM products to help adapt it to an A-1J: I will likely not use the Eduard PE, but the Airwaves set instead: this contains items for both the A-1H and A-1J versions. US Navy Skyraiders (mostly) used the bucket style seat - instead of the Yankee ejection seat that is molded in the Hasegawa kit - so the Airwaves item seems a good starting point for this. The Master gun barrels and Reskit wheels look pretty nice as well, I just need to change the tail wheel, as these were of the smaller type for US Navy A-1J's. Another observation, when looking at the kit's clear parts: although the canopy and windscreen appear very clear they also look a bit thick. So I may replace these with some AM clear parts, will check later in the build. That's it for now, more to come soon! Cheers, Patrick

Thanks again guys; much appreciated your friendly comments!! Happy new year! Patrick

Thanks for your kind comments all! Cheers, Patrick

Hello all, This is another 'Easy-Assembly' kit from HobbyBoss, again a very straightforward build: the kit only uses some 25 parts but shows nice detail overall. I wanted to use it as a painting exercise, specially for the worn NMF look that reference pictures of VNAF Bearcats typically show. I added spare PE seat belts, some simple sidewall cockpit structure (the cockpit & seat are molded all-in-one into the top fuselage), IP decal and a gunsight. Also the main gear bay received a bit of tubing and detail. A few lines of rivets were added around the engine compartment and I replaced the kit's gun barrels with brass tubes. Decals are bits and pieces from the spares box. I used several Alclad metal paints and mainly oils for weathering. Hope you enjoy the pics - thanks for looking. Have a great end-of-year all! Patrick Credits background picture: designed by Freepik, photo by mrsiraphol: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/maldives-island_1122944.htm#query=maldives palms&position=6&from_view=search&track=sph

This was a 2020 project: Hasegawa 1/72 F-4EJ Kai, with Verlinden resin seats and further modifications from the box (correct fin cap, dragchute housing, wingtip fairings and spine antenna). Reworked the pilot's IP coaming a bit to better show the difference in shape vs the conventional F-4E. DXM’s JASDF markings for 8th Hikotai F-4EJ Kai at Misawa AB (Japan), with this particular aircraft being the winner of the 2003 ACM contest. Tamiya/Gunze acrylics were used for this submarine/ship hunting aircraft, I also used ASM-2 missiles from one of the Hasegawa weapons sets. Cheers, Patrick

Hello all, Joining for my second GB: again a very interesting theme to participate in! My plan is to build an A-1J Skyraider, from VA-145 “Swordsmen”, aboard USS Intreprid in the Gulf of Tonkin, ca. 1967. During the Vietnam war, US Navy aircraft carriers operated in open waters from a location known as “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of Vietnam. Carriers at Yankee Station were referred to as being “on the line” (i.e. in combat), while conducting air operations: initially strikes over North Vietnam, but also CAS and Rescue Combat Air Patrol (RCAP) missions. U.S. Department of Defense, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons - Public domain The above map shows the designated targets for operation “Pierce Arrow”, ordered in August 1964 in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, with Vietnam torpedo boat bases and an oil storage depot being targeted. Among the first wave of the strike sorties were A-1 Skyraiders from VA-145 Swordsmen at Yankee Station. The unit was already present in the region, flying RCAP missions in South Vietnam and Laos. VA-145 remained operational throughout the conflict, switching to the A-6 Intruder from 1968. The below picture shows two of the unit's Skyraider: an A-1H (back) and an A-1J (front), aboard the USS Ranger in 1966 in the area. U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons - Public domain I will be using the Hasegawa 1/72 kit, with a few small modifications. Decals for VA-145 are already in house (Printscale & Microscale), just waiting for some aftermarket stuff to arrive, then I will post some more pics. Thanks for looking! Patrick

Great to see this GB making the bunfight! I would like to join in with a US Navy A-1 Skyraider, operating from 'Yankee Station' in the Gulf of Tonkin, ca. 1967. Likely a VA-145 Swordsmen aircraft, I will be using Hasegawa's 1/72 kit with some other bits & pieces. Thanks, Patrick

Thank you, gents! Much appreciated!! 👍

Hobbyboss 1/72 P-38L - Fuerza Aérea Hondureña, ca. 1950. Added a few scratchbuilt and spare PE items in the cockpit, corrected one of the pylons by removing the camera fairing and added a few lines of rivets. As the HAF P-38L apparantly were not equipped with nose guns, I used a spare nose tip from a RS Models kit (also used its turbocharger intakes). Decals from LF Models and Aztec, with resin MLG wheels also taken from the LF set. WIP:

Absolutely - I finished this one today! Decals went on without any fuzz: squadron badges (nose), small stars (wingtips) and a few stencils are from the Aztec sheet, with the larger stars (rudders) and numbers are from the LF sheet. I also used some spare stencils from an old Superscale sheet. All decals were weathered by carefully sanding them down until the print started to degrade. This was followed by a semi-matt clear coat over the full model to dull down the finish and final weathering with oils and a little bit of pigments. Below are a few pictures of the finshed model, I will add some more in the gallery!! This GB has been a really enjoyable experience. Very broad and interesting builds here, I picked up some great ideas for the future. Thanks to moderators @trickyrich and @81-er for keeping an eye out and encouraging along the way! Cheers, Patrick

Oh yeah, that just looks great! Love the final finish and the gallery pics are very nice!! Well done on this one 👍 All the best, Patrick

Thanks again, mate!! Well, I got the whole thing painted and chipped, ready for decals! State of play per today: Had a bit of an issue when applying the metal coats (all Alclad): I started off using White Aluminium which dried to a fairly dusty and bobbly appearance - not good at all. As this is only my second or so NMF aircraft, I was pretty concerned preparing the best I could, but somewhere I must have gotten things wrong. Anyway, out with the micromesh, polising it all down and starting over again. The second time gave a much better look. Next, I added Dark Aluminium, Magnesium and Stainless Steel on spots and selected panels. Tamiya acrylics were used next for the blue/white national markings and the olive drab sections. I then used the hairspray method for carefully chipping away the coloured parts and finished off with a gloss layer. Next up are the decals. Not a lot to apply on this aircraft, but looking at the reference pictures (as per the links in the posts above) I do have to find a way to also make these look a bit worn and 'chipped'. Cheers for now, Patrick

Thanks guys! Some further progress was being made in the mean time: I painted and weathered the turbochargers and also finished the spinners/props. I came across some usefull reference pictures for this build: https://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/Honduras---Air-Force/Lockheed/P-38-Lightning/504/3754811/ http://wpalette.com/en/pictures/56789 Both of these colour pictures are for aircraft no. 504. What is interesting is the colour of the nose tip: in both cases it seems to be a light grey. I have decals for aircraft no. 503 and 506, where both decal sheets indicate a different colour for this nose tip: white and yellow. Looking at the pictures, I will likely use a light grey instead - and I have applied this on the top of the spinners also. Talking of the nose tip: P-38L of the Honduras AF were not equipped with guns in the nose, as can also be seen in the above 2 links, so I replaced the Hobbyboss nose tip with one from an RS Models kit. This obviously required a bit of reshaping, filling and rescribing to make it fit, but looks good so far I think: I will be using the turbo charger intakes from this RS Models kit as well, as the Hobbyboss kit does not include these. Working on putting the airframe together now ... Cheers, Patrick

A bit more progress being made here: I got the cockpit parts painted, weathered and dryfitted (I may rework the backside of the pilot's seat panel a bit). The pylons/fuel tanks and insides of landing gear doors are done as well. Landing gears are also ready, with the wheels fitted: nose wheel is from the kit, MLG wheels are from the LF Decals set: these are nicely casted resin bulged wheels. Some pictures of where I am: Cheers for now, Patrick

Great finish on this one, Dragan 👍

Hello all, and in particular to @ModelingEdmontonian and @PattheCat: apologies for not updating this thread earlier, but there has been too little time and (too) little steps to report!! I have been working on the kit's cockpit, adding a few PE bits & pieces and some spare seatbelts. The radio compartment behind the pilot's seat has also been scratchbuilt. Droptanks on their respective pylons are also ready, with the camera fairing on one of these deleted (the kit has both pylons fitted with these). Finally, I have been adding a few rows of rivets along the fuselage, vertical tails and engine nacelles, to add a bit of visual interest (hopefully) once painted: I hope they show in the below picture. Currently working on the landing gears, wheel wells and props ... more to come soon! Cheers, Patrick

Great looking finish, very realistic 👍

Great work on that camo! 👍

Top job, Russ 👍

Excellent work on your warthog. Impressive paintwork on the sharkmouth: I also attempted this on one of my 1/72 builds, so I know this is not easy - yours looks really great👍

Terrific work, good eye for detail and very neat finish 👍

1/72 Hobbyboss P-38L in Cuban AF markings: