Stefan Buysse

Hi, Here's my old friend that has been in the stash since the mid-1990's. I'm going to attempt to keep this simple and finish in time. I have the Xtra decals set for the FG1. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, Here she is, with 25 year old decals for the instrument panels. There are some gaps and steps. Maybe I could do better with one of those new Fine Molds kits... I have one of their F-4J's. I considered adding that one to this GB, but for a British forum we're a bit low on the Spey-engined Phantoms. I think I'll add a 1/72 Fujimi F-4K which has been in my stash since the mid-1990's. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, I love Phantoms and I wouldn't want to miss out on the GB. I'd like to finish in time, so I won't be going for one of the big 1/48 projects. Here's my beloved Hasegawa kit, straight from the 1990's and still wrapped in plastic. This box-art is in my top two of Shigeo Koike's work, the other one being the Bicentennial F-4N's that are on some boxings of the 1/48 F-4B/N kit. For the decals I'll use the VMFA-314 option from this microscale sheet. I've always wanted a VMFA-314 F-4B. I wish there were more 1/72 decals for USMC Phantoms in Vietnam. If they turn out to be too old to be useable, I'll switch to another squadron. I'm aiming to keep this simple and finish on time. Cheers, Stefan.

Thanks, Good ideas. I will do the catapult hooks like that on my next Hellcat and the blu-tack sausage technique for those lights starting with this one. Cheers, Stefan.

Thanks, guys. One thing that amazes me is that in the photograph, it looks like the colour of the Eduard plastic is visible through the paint. There are several layers of paint on there and I never got that impression when I looked at the model with the naked eye. The small antenna mast on top of the tail will be the biggest challenge ahead. It's a very flimsy attachment and wonder if I'll ever attach it firmly enough to put some tension on the anttena wire. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, As you can see, I have made good progress over the week-end. But there is too much left to do on the model to put pictures in the gallery. The antenna wire, better exhaust stain, more stencils, re-attaching the pitot tube... Probably the thing that made me realise that I wasn't going to make the dead-line...I sprayed the wrong side of the wheelhubs. It's been a pleasure to participate and I have a satisfactory model within my grasp. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, Here's how she looked in the last daylight of saturday. Since then, I've added the landing gear and sprayed on some more Gloss Sea Blue. It's definitely not going to be the best Hellcat in the GB. Some parts have been ommited. For example, I was not able to install the tiny catapult hooks (part G45) although I had a magnifier and tweezers. Maybe it wasn't my best day, but they are quite small. Today, decals and a bit of weathering. I've seen in another thread here that the Furball decals are nicely opaque. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, Lately, I haven't got around to do a lot of modeling. So, today is make or break day for this Hellcat. Covering the rear windows with putty didn't go really well. It's not truly awful but noticeable if you know it's there. I'll perform one more sanding and puttying session on that area. Cheers, Stefan.

Thanks, I too am glad that there is an IM kit of this beast. Until a few years ago, there was a modeller who had served on C-133's: Phil Brandt. After the C-133's, he flew F-111's and his name was on the original box-art of the 1/48 Monogram F-111A. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, Is there any difference in the plastic contained in the C-133A and C-133B boxing? Cheers, Stefan.

Nice! I see a lot of things that I like in the update parts. Would these be available separately for those that already have an AH-1G? Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, Great progress, Rich. I wonder when the Bullseye sheets will be available from the 48'ers. I was really keen on the Bullseye A-4C sheets and waited months for the 48'ers to get them. In the end, I became worried that they might get sold out without ever getting to the 48'ers and ordered them from Spruebrothers. Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, A VF-31 F-4B decal option will soon be available: sheet 48-019 from Bullseye Model Aviation. It's Bu No 151450, AC100. Cheers, Stefan.

Thanks, guys. My pc was away for a couple of days. Kevin K, That must have been spectacular! Cheers, Stefan.

Hi, This is my 1/144 Blackburn Beverley. They were slow, but they went everywhere. I know a couple of guys who have jumped from Argosies, but no one who has jumped from "the Bev". On the Beverley, it was possible to jump "from the second floor" through a hole in the tailboom. That must have been "interesting", but I gather it wasn't done often. Cheers, Stefan.