Steve Collins

You can find fishing line as small as .001" diameter, with some searching. The smallest I have is .002". It is generally found clear, rather than colored. Steve

I was beginning to wonder if I was missing a sprue or part of one when I couldn't find the instrument panel. I _really_ wanted to do an Egyptian FB.5 with this. Now I have to make an instrument panel for it. Steve

Thanks for the quick update, Colin. Order made. Steve

Colin, Was going to order the Typhoon weapons (rocket rails, etc) set along with the Tempest VI set. I thought I recalled a friend saying he wanted the Typhoon set when it was available, too, so I waited to check with him today. The sets were on the website this morning but weren't when I went to place my order this evening. Are they still available? Anxiously waiting to spend money.... Thanks. Steve

So far as I know, it became known as the Egypt scheme because the F-4Es that were sold to Egypt around 1980 were among the first to be painted that way while going through scheduled maintenance in the US. Steve

As late as 1972, the team picture shows a hard-wing F-4. They only flew them through 1973. I don't think they would have changed airframes for one season, so you're probably right. Every picture I've been able to find shows hard-wing jets. HTH. Steve

Spence, One to post, please. PM sent. Steve

There was also a Kfir C7 done by Italeri. High Planes also did earlier releases of the Mirage III family, using their old mold technology. Pretty accurate, but took a bit of work to clean up and fit. PJ Productions did Mirage IIIs in resin. Very nice kits. If you're looking to do a series of kits, I'd start with the Mirage IIIC/CJ, Mirage 5 and Kfirs to follow, especially including the weapons loading capabilities of the later Kfirs. Please do two-seat versions of the Mirage III and the Kfir. A plastic Kfir TC2 would be lovely. Steve

Thanks, everyone. I'll pass the information along. Steve

Asking for a friend who is building some modern British aircraft - does anyone know what font is used for the lettering for the aircraft serials on modern RAF/RN aircraft? I think he wants to do particular aircraft that are not available on decals and wants to make his own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Steve

Not finished yet, Chris. I recently took over as 1st Vice President of IPMS/USA and I run our reviewer corps of 90-some guys. Haven't had more than a couple of hours a week in the model room since November and that's working on a kit I'm doing for a review. When I get some time to work on the Seahawk, I'll get some pictures up. Steve

Yep. Same issues with mine. It's still gonna look like a Sea Hawk when it's done, though. It will go in nicely along side the Hunter F.5 I'm going to be doing in Musketeer markings. Steve

Looks very nice, Chris. Have a care when mating the aft fuselage with the front. Mine didn't match evenly (could have been my fault) and I oversanded a bit trying to fix it. Now I have to fill the problem I created before I can proceed. I look forward to seeing your build as it progresses. Steve

Mike, Yes, you're correct about the differences between the EJ and the E. Early Es had the short gun muzzle, later ones came with the long muzzle and early ones were retrofitted. As Rhino so ably answered, yes, the kit has both parts. The only kinds you can't build with the F-4EJ Kai kit are a TISEO jet and slat-wing jets. Steve

Mike, It depends on which particular F-4E you are planning on building. Well, perhaps when is better than which. The current release of the F-4EJ Kai that is out can be used to build just about any F-4E except TISEO jets or any one that had slats. It only has the outer wing for the hard-wing jets. And it still has all the parts that the Kai upgrades replaced still on the sprues (outer wing antennas, drag chute door, fin cap, etc). So, anything up to about a 1968 year jet can be built from that one. Steve PS. I'll be happy to help clarify anything about the kit if I can.

I'd have to second the suggestions for the Sopwith Triplane, Nieuport 28, DeHavilland DH4/9/9a, Macchi M.5, Salmson 2, and SPAD VII. As you can see by my choices, yeah, I'm a Yank. but I'd like to see a good Avro 504 series, too. Steve

I believe some of the earlier decals were ALPS-printed decals. You'd have to be careful handling them, as they'll scratch, and put a clear coat over them to protect the finish, but they should work fine. Steve

From what I remember seeing, the opening in the cowlings is too small. Where the cowlings round into the opening, the surface goes too far, making the opening too small. Some work with a file or some sandpaper should take care of it. It's possible the cowlings are too small in diameter, but I didn't have drawings or measurements available when I got a look. As a disclaimer, I'm not an expert (far from it) on the P-61, just going by what I saw. Looks very buildable, and potentially easily correctable. Steve

Engine exhaust afterburner cones are different sized (F-4E's were longer - different variant of the same engine), nose is longer to incorporate an internal gun and a different radar. Some (later, most) F-4Es had slats added to the leading edges of the wings to improve maneuverability. Some variation in the fincap aft end with most F-4Es initially not having any radome, just a position light. Several different external antenna fits, but that's pretty minor. Steve (F-4D/E maintainer 1973-91)

Paulo, I don't know about the medical scissors, but fly-tying scissors (used by the guys who make their own fishing lures) work very well for the same purpose. Most have short blades with one having almost microscopic serrations on one edge to hold the metal in place as you cut. Been using mine for years now. Steve

You can count another 1/72 one, Jennings. And I'm in the US. It's not entirely true there is _no_ market. Steve

A gentleman at the IPMS/USA Nationals last week described WNW kits as coming with a first place trophy and you start subtracting points as you build it. Sounds about right to me. Pete, you didn't subtract many points at all. Great job. Steve

I don't think the Guard F-4Cs had the F-15 style CL tank available in the early '80s. Not certain at the moment, though. By the late '80s they were using them. An alert jet is going to carry the minimum equipment that would allow it to get the job done. It would most likely either have the CL tank or the wing bags. Generally, I don't think they used the old Sargent Fletcher style 600 gal CL bag because of the Mach limits it had. Below 30,000 feet, it was limited to .6 Mach, above 30,000 feet the limit was 600kts. Steve

The fastest way I've found to break the block is to do something that relates to the basic interest that got me modeling in the first place. Since I mostly do aircraft, I'll watch one of the old war movies or some documentaries. I always find my desire to sit at the workbench is raised after I come back from a club meeting or from a model show. I'm really ready after coming back from an air show, can't wait to sit down and start snipping at plastic. But, sometimes, it just requires a bit of time away from it all. Put everything away, read a book, catch up on the latest TV series, spend a couple of weekends doing the touristy things in the area, take the honey-do list and knock out a couple of items (that one is just about guaranteed to get you back to modeling). Good luck with it, but don't worry about it and don't do anything drastic. It'll come back one way or another. Steve

That's brilliant. You put on the top wing without putting on the top wing. I like it. Steve