Ghostbase

The Royal Air Force Flying Review has a full page photo of Bu.No 138606 in flight in the same white colour scheme and it does look rather smart, I am tempted I could scan it and post here but not sure about copyright, even if it was 56 years ago!! Thanks for the links. Michael

A bit more work today, decided to start scribing the wings. First step is to find an old copy of Aviation News dated 21st November 1980 which has a 'Warpaint' set of drawings of the F11F-1 by Chris Bowley. Using this as a reference I then used a Rotring Finograph 0.5 pen to draw panel lines on the primed wings. To my surprise the Lindberg kit is remarkably similar to these drawings, just a shame about the raised rivets:- I still need to fill in those holes, they were for rocket rails which were never used on the Tiger. The makepiece scribing tool is an old Dentex tooth scraper donated by my wife. I have no idea if this is going to work! Before I start scribing I do notice that there is what appears to be a fairing of some sort where the wingtip fold would have been, I cannot find any photographic evidence of this having existed however I am going to leave it for now as this is going to be a 'what if?' assembly:- The idea is that by using the tooth scraper I can scribe the panel lines and when complete the black ink will have been removed:- And it seems to have worked! Not going to know for sure until I fill those holes and apply another dusting of grey primer however I am quite pleased with this for a first try. Definitely need to consider a purpose made tool such as the Radu Brinzan scriber (thanks Parabat!). So one more view:- A lot more to do yet but I have to admit this has caught my imagination. The next stage is the two fuselage halves and they are not going to be so easy as I have to work out how to scribe lines around the fuselage; my steel ruler is going to be no use for that!! Going to do a search of the 'Tools & Tips' section of this forum and see what I can find. Michael

Thanks for the link, it leads to a very helpful photo of a prototype Tiger in what appears to be bare metal, the kit does look remarkably similar. I don't have any specialist books about the Tiger but I did manage to find an old 'Royal Air Force Flying Review' August 1956 which has a short article on the type and it says there were six pre-production Tigers and that these had extensive modifications which completely changed the outward appearance of the fighter, these included a revised vertical tail surface and redesigned air intakes with boundary layer plates (which this kit has). The Tiger also flew with and without wing fences. Michael

Made a start this afternoon. As engraving or scribing panel lines is new to me I decided to start by sanding down the wings to get rid of all the rivets, also will fill in all those holes. The kit plastic is quite soft: Then cement the wings together and give them a light spray with Halfords grey primer to see what further work is required: This is one of the fuselage halves with the constructed jet turbine placed inside to check for fit and to see what kind of detail is there (A. not a lot!): There is an access panel which can be opened to display the front part of the jet turbine however there is no detail at all inside the fuselage so it would probably look a bit naff. There is no detail inside the air intakes, perhaps a shaped piece of plastic card would help here? The cockpit consists of a large chunky seat in two pieces and a platform for it to sit on. Also think this is going to be a tail-sitter unless I add some weight to the front. Now I need to find some more detailed plans which show the Tiger's panel lines. I also need to find out whether the early short-nosed Tigers had a splitter plate in front of the air intake, am sure I read somewhere that the prototype did not have them. Michael

My next project, a 1/48th Lindberg F11F-1 'short nose' Tiger: I don't know how old this kit is but suspect it goes back a long way to the mid to late 50's, was re-released in 2006 in two boxes; a Blue Angels Tiger and a VA-156 'Iron Tigers' Tiger, both depicting the very early short-nose versions. The Blue Angels definitely did operate the short-nose Tiger, not sure about VA-156 (which later became VF-111 'Sundowners'). I like these old kits, got it on eBay from the always excellent Plastic Past-Times for a total of £4.25 so I can afford to experiment a bit with it. So, what I want to do is this: 1) Sand off all the raised rivets and detail and replace these with engraved panel lines. I have been looking for an engraving tool for a while but they seem to be unobtainable, my request usually met with blank looks. Then Mrs B said she had an old dental care kit and if I wanted to use a tooth-scraper tool I was welcome. I have not tried to engrave panel lines up to now so this is a good opportunity to have a try. 2) To the best of my knowledge the Grumman F11F Tiger was never painted in the traditional US Navy Dark Sea Blue colour scheme, this could be an interesting 'What If?' project. The kit itself is very simple, moulded in white plastic, the cockpit consists of six pieces while the majority of the detail is around the jet turbine of which very little can be seen once the model is constructed. The decals in the upper L/H were very kindly sent to me by our own Pigsty (Thank You!!), they are from an F9F-8 Cougar and will enable me to depict a 'What If' dark sea blue F9F-9 Tiger with VF-13 or VF-61. The F11F Tiger colour diagrams to the left are printed off from the excellent Stahlhart Papercraft website here: Stahhart Website These are really helpful as they will act as a template for rescribing the panel lines on the Tiger. A final view of what I am working with: So that is my project, going to learn a lot hopefully. Have also started a HobbyBoss A-7A Corsair II perhaps I should do that in the traditional US Navy Dark Sea Blue colour scheme? Michael

Alan that is absolutely gorgeous Got to stop promoting the old ESCI kit though, more people will want them! Michael

Just ok? You have 'dressed her up' very nicely! Good to see a different weapons loadout; is that an AGM-78 Standard and an AGM-12B Bullpup? I like the old ESCI 1/48th F-4C Phantom, good move displaying her with the canopies open Michael

Very nice work Gary, thanks for sharing. You have caught the Flight Systems colour scheme and markings well, the 'Hun' looked really good in this scheme. Have never seen that 'bump' on the nose before. I was lucky to see F-100D N405FS and F-100F N404FS at Mojave in 1987, they had the later F-102 type jet exhaust. Also nostalgia for F-100F N417FS which displayed at the 1997 IAT at RAF Fairford. Michael

Well, why don't you put your six Tamiya Lancaster kits up for sale on Britmodeller, say one per month, at the price you purchased them at plus a reasonable addition to make a reasonable profit? The reasonable profit that you would like to see Tamiya making. That way you would be helping fellow modellers save paying these high Tamiya prices, you would deprive "greedy" Tamiya of their excessive profits on six kits, and you would have the added satisfaction of occupying the moral high ground. I don't understand how you can criticise Tamiya for charging what the market will bear for a premium product and then celebrate because it will push up the value of your stash Michael

Thanks for the comments The adhesive used for this was Microscale Micro Metal Foil Adhesive (from a model shop in Little Rock, Arkansas). However I used to apply foil with Humbrol clear varnish, works equally well but the trick is to wait until it is tacky before sticking the foil to the plastic. Definitely going to get some Alclad II and give that a try. Good point made about the Scorpion, Starfire and Shooting Star being 'under repesented'. I have an ancient "1/48th" Lindberg F-94C in the stash as well as an old Monogram F-80C so perhaps one of those would be a good testbed. Michael

After well over two years I finally completed my Revell 1/48th Northrop F-89C Scorpion as part of KUTA IV. The kit is dated 1990; it is big, solid, clunky and went together very well. The wings, tailplane and main fuselage were covered with metal foil from confectionary bars such as Kit Kats (the resourcing phase was hell!) while the remaining surfaces were airbrushed Humbrol Metalcote 'Polished Aluminium' and Humbrol satin Coal Black. The decals were from the kit and were a major problem, they refused to soften, fit or adhere. Brushing with Klear helped to some extent. Finished yesterday and as the sun was out I held a photoshoot outside to see what the foil looked like in natural light. Classic quarter view: A top view showing the different foil shades in the sun: Quite a few areas for improvement can be seen but the sum of the parts ... Nowhere near perfect but it works for me! I originally started her as a 'concept' build to see what metal foil would look like, sadly my aspirations back then were much lower than now. I am pleased with the overall results however I need to consider aftermarket decals for my Revell 1/48th F-89D/J still in the stash as the kit decals are not good. I also need to look at using better metallic paints such as Alclad II, I think mixed with foil the overall effect would be really good. Maybe a Century series fighter next, or perhaps a bomber. So, how many calories does a Kit Kat have ... ? Michael

Finished!!!! Has taken over two years, was only to see if I could foil a model again, the end result isn't too shabby as long as I stay over three foot away In the end I tried reapplying the decals that had lifted with Klear and brushed the rest as well and that seems to have done the trick. I managed to remove the wrinkled 'USAF' decal on the top wing and replace it with a better one, all I did was soak it with several washes of water and it could be peeled away. Added all the irritating little bits this morning, I am not a detail person. Already one gear panel has come off and the tail fin has come loose, this is a problem with foil as a surface, nothing really sticks to it. So, learned a lot, will be starting something else in foil soon. Thanks for the KUTA and encouragement - it works and is appreciated. Michael

Thanks Mish, these decals are a challenge to say the least! They literally have the consistency of thick cellophane and when I applied the wing-tank decals using Humbrol Decalfix they still crumpled up with severe creases on what were flat surfaces. They shouldn't do that! I was intending to apply Klear to the lifted decals with a fine brush, apply to the underside and reapply to the foil. Michael

Had a day off work today and getting very close to finishing, I have to be finished in 8 days! Assembled the cockpit, added canopy frame, then clear canopy on to frame. Add air scoops to rear fuselage. Two problems: 1) The kit decals have no adhesion whatsoever, that rear fuselage black/white band is already lifting off 2) The tail assembly has come loose and tips from side to side. This is mainly due to cementing onto foil covered plastic, it don't stick! The underside is sort of good and bad! The good is that the metal foil effect is very clear in this photo The bad is the placement of several decals expecially the forward fuselage and the wing tank. The red warning stripe decal is already lifting. The geometry of the main gear is a bit wonky! In fact not too much to do now. I just want her finished! Michael

And it worked Never done that before! Now I need a beer Michael

How to foil a canopy? In photos, starting with the clear canopy and how it sits on a canopy frame which has been painted in Metalcote polished aluminium. This makes life easy because I only have to add the overhead canopy frames, not the horizontals: Take a piece of prepared foil and cut a strip approximately double the size of the area to be covered. Carefully wrap around the area to be foiled and press so the surface detail shows through: When this is done remove the foil, you will see the imprint of the canopy rail: I use a technical drawing template to try and find the correct curve, then cut the foil using an exacto knife, very very carefully... and fail!! The knife blade caught the foil and it tore Well try the same sequence again and success Next part to come... Michael

Still plugging away... Added more decals, added a good few of the undercarriage legs and doors, also the exhaust cans and shrouds, couple of final foil patches as well as a few more decals. A closer view of the nose and front fuselage. Still cannot get the decals right, the black band with stars on the nose broke in three places and does not meet underneath. Others have already fallen off! Seems that Klear is a must, I tried to avoid it so as not to stain the foil. Learning point for next time - aftermarket decals! The exhaust cans and shrouds, also the metallic fuselage. This photo does not really flatter it. Now to get the wheels done, seats in the cockpit, and the canopy either painted or foiled. Michael

Thanks for this, since Humbrol discontinued their HU146 'ADC Grey' I have relied upon visits to the USA to stock up on Modelmaster 1731 'Aircraft Grey'. Good to know that there is something available nearer home IIRC some of the the Vietnam based SE Asia camouflaged F-102A Delta Daggers were painted with a different shade of tan which translates as "Butterscotch", some sources quote it as FS20400 in place of FS20319 tan. Either way, the 'Deuce' must have looked interesting in this colour scheme. Not so well known is that a few Delta Daggers were painted silver, I think it was the same silver lacquer that was applied to F-105 Thunderchiefs before the SE Asia scheme was applied to them. I have seen photos of 196 FIS California ANG and 190 FIS Idaho ANG 'Deuces' in this silver scheme. Not sure why they were painted like this. Also don't forget the Sperry Corporation PQM-102A 'drone' conversions for the Pave Deuce programme, these had large his-vis red tail fins and wing tips, I have seen quite a few photos of these Delta Daggers in what appears to be several shades of green, maybe where the butterscotch/tan has deteriorated whilst in storage in MASDC or has been painted over? Michael

That is a nice build and love your presentation Mike. I have got this kit, brought it back in the 70's, often wondered about making it as it is a bit more space friendly than the AMT kit. Had to think about that - Robert McNamara. Michael

*keyboard blindness* tell me about it!! No, no bombs on it. There is a 1957 issue JU.87B Stuka in one of the boxes, has a dirty great black bomb on it! Weird thing is, you pick up these old kits and immediately you can tell that they are so old, the plastic is so heavy and clunky. Michael

Oops! Just to clarify, my late father built them, not me Michael

A second model from my late father's collection, this is a Handley Page Hampden which appears to be made mainly out of wood: Possibly built in 1946 whilst he was based at RAF Fassberg. I have absolutely no idea regards the origin of the kit. Any ideas? The box is back in the loft for now however if anyone is interested I will photograph all the kits when the weather gets better. As can be seen on this photo the models have picked up a lot of dust/dirt and I need to give them a very careful clean up. Apologies to Mike & the Mods if this is in the wrong place. Michael

Had to go up into the loft today and noticed the large box which contains my late father's built aircraft kits so, having just finished reading Arthur Ward's book 'The Boys' Book of Airfix', I decided to take a look. Ready for Inspection - the original Airfix Aircraft kit of them all, the 1/72nd scale Spitfire I 'BTK'. I suspect that he made it in the mid 1950's. Michael

Another update, have moved into the putting-all-the-major-pieces-together phase; this is one of the things I like doing, seeing it all start to come together like this. I was left with a dilemma after applying some of the decals, to remove them or keep going. Not a lot of aftermarket for the F-89C so have decided to keep going, she isn't a show model, she is a testbed (that's my excuse!) Perhaps the photo does not show it but this bird is huge! Wing tip to tip is over a foot and she is about the same length, add the very large flat wing area and you can start to appreciate that the Northrop F-89 Scorpion was a true missile truck, very well designed for her mission ie hacking down formations of Soviet bombers over the frozen wastelands of the North. The problems with the decals is not quite so evident and the natural metal finish generally seems to work. The wings attached well, I have not used any filler, they are not perfect but they do for what I want. That USAF decal on the wing looks a bit tatty So, next steps: complete the decals, tidy up a couple of foil patches, then apply the undercarriage parts and complete the cockpit and attach the canopy. Not sure whether to play safe and paint the canopy or whether to apply foil to that as well. It is a bit high risk as I only have one canopy! I might give it a go... Michael

I was wondering what the mistake was, guessed it was the painting of the arctic red area on the tail fin but then again these were not always uniform from unit to unit. Sorry to hear about the problem with the nose but in a perverse way you make me feel a bit better that I am not the only one who rushes things and does things like this The end result is very good anyway, I have a real soft spot for the old F-89, you have caught her well. Michael