sloegin57

Intriguing thread !! About 25/30 years ago, Hasegawa did as part of their "Parts Series" which also included their weapons sets. I picked up a bunch of them from a small model shop in downtown Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which sold models and etc downstairs and Waterford Crystal upstairs. I never saw them advertised in either the UK or Stateside modelling press. The ones that I picked up are still good for use and the white is spot on, The decals are not thick and lay down beautifully when used. I recently saw an add on flea bay for set 72-014, RAF National Markings, going for around a tenner but thats about the only mention I have ever seen of them. In Saudi, I paid 10 Saudi Riyals per sheet which, at the exchange rate at the time, equated to about £1-66 each. Attached scans of the front and rear of the card on which the plastic bag containing the decals was/is attached - in this instance for the F-8 Crusader :- As far as I am aware, there were only ever 30 aircraft sheets produced together with 9 sheets of block colour and one clear (which I never saw), the "Silver Stripe" being most useful. Example for the B-17F :- The images are straight from the scanner and have not been "shopped" in any way and as you can see, the decals sheets are still. after nearly a quarter of a century, still in very good order Dennis

Just sent by my eldest :- https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/17882944.museum-flight-reveal-plans-new-visitor-centre/?fbclid=IwAR0GTEWc5LQXg3ygPKCzwYLXhOZ_MQrQjRMTh1q_0XDn8RpI207_00Gw76U Hopefully good news Dennis

This small piece appeared in the British Aviation Research Group monograph (No.2) on the type, published in March 1974 . It may assist as the publication was not designed for modellers but for serious amateur historians and concentrated mainly on the history of each aircraft delivered to the Royal Navy :- HTH Dennis

Port side missile was the same Dennis :- HTH DR

Neither did the first batch of GR.1's up to at least XV762. These were slowly upgraded in the Retrofit facility at Wittering. The last 4 went through in the early/mid 70's. They were known as "Mod 9" aircraft. The first batch of AV-8A's (158384 - 158395) were to all intents and purposes Harrier GR.1A being equipped with Pegasus 102 engine. They initially equipped VMA-513 at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina and all were in Gloss finish, subsequent batches were Matt and were fitted with the Pegasus 103 engine (Harrier GR.3 standard [pointy nose]) None carried the Tactical VHF aerial on the spine. After upgrade, I believe that they later served with VMA-231. EDIT :- The 11th and twelfth aircraft from the first batch were both fitted with the Pegasus 103 for trials in the UK and were transported to the USA as such. At least one Harrier GR.3 was equipped with the tactical VHF aerial and associated equipment for trials in RAFG in 1976. This was XV810 "XX" of 20 Sqdn. The trials failed and were stopped but the aerial remained. ALL Harrier/AV-8A/TAV-8A aircraft were built with fittings to be equipped with any assortment of aerial. MCAS Beaufort 1972 7th aircraft, 1st batch VMA-231 MCAS Beaufort Units re-equipment 1972 Harrier GR.3 (Post Phase 4 conversion) XV810 20Sqdn "XX", October 1976 HTH Dennis

According to Modeldecal Set 33, Hunter u/w serials are/were 24inch and Canberra 48 inch HTH Dennis

As far as I am aware, none on line. However, the attached may help, scanned from and credited to Martin Streetly (Author); "The Aircraft of 100 Group", "A Historical Guide for the Modeller" :- Note :- The numbers in brackets refer to Squadron usage Dimensions of the aerial masts are given here on Page 54 of the above publication :- NOTE (1) :- Since the books by Martin Streetly were published in 1984, photographic evidence has come to light of unidentified whip aerials, four in total, being mounted on the upper surface of the rear fuselage, three just aft of the mid upper turret and one just in front of the rear turret. A similar installation can be found on Halifax III aircraft of 100 Group. Additionally on the latter, a stub whip aerial has been observed on the outboard faces of the twin vertical fins mounted centrally and roughly in the halfway position. The use that these aerials were put to is not known to myself. NOTE (2) :- There is evidence within the film "Night Bombers" by Air Commodore Cousins, that the under nose ABC aerial was not always fitted to the Lancasters of 101/635 Squadron. HTH Dennis

Nick Correct - the colours of the tanks were Matt DSG/LAG. I cannot recall ever seeing any Gloss ones. As I said in my mail, trying to differentiate between EDSG and DSG from a photo has proven problematical over the years. Similarly, trying to differentiate between the two colours "up close and personal" is almost just as difficult especially if the Sun is not out. If it is out then it is fairly obvious but still difficult to show in a photograph. As an aside it is a bit like trying to differentiate between Insignia Blue and Black inscriptions and tail serial blocks on (usually) Grey painted USAF F-4's. I tried to photograph the comparison once on a freshly painted 57FIS F-4E fresh from Getafe by using the Armament placard (Black) and the "U" in "U.S. AIRFORCE" (Insignia Blue) on the same slide. The resultant slide when scanned has to be lightened considerably to show any difference. Light Aircraft Grey is another PIA Grey. The bottom photo above put up by John @canberra kid illustrates LAG when lit up from below, probably a reflection from concrete or even a field of corn. There is a famous much published mono photo of a Canberra PR9 where to all intents and purposes the undersurface can only be a very Light Grey and which has led to the misconception that PR9's were DSG/DG/LAG. Not so. The photo referred to is a crop from a larger photo showing the PR9 flying over a brightly lit cloud. It may surprise you all to know but when the fabulous 892NAS finally left Leuchars, the majority of the aircraft had the tailplanes finished in DSG uppers with either White or LAG under surfaces. A few has DG areas on as well At least three had the ailerons finished in DSG/DG/LAG but most had them finished in DSG/either White or LAG. The day they left was typical Leuchars "clag" for April and it was nigh on impossible to differentiate between the two colours. ....And I was "up close and personal" with my cameras. In my opinion and from my own "on site" observations, lightly faded EDSG and fairly fresh DSG are virtually the same colour apart from the "blue haze" in EDSG is slightly bluer than that in DSG - but only by Mk.1 eyeball. Even the late great Dick Ward was somewhat confused over it and on several of his sheets that were reprinted, changed the RN Phantom upper colours from EDSG to DSG and then back again with the third reprinting. Clever Lad - not a word in the narrative - just the upper surface labelled one or t'other. Sorry to have rambled on a bit, must get some Dinner. HTH (a bit) Dennis

The long range tanks (Ferry tanks) consisted of four parts. Front, Centre, Rear and the Tail Cone. The latter was fitted with four fins riveted on with brackets at the front of the fins for riveting on to the rear part. They were permament fit. None of the long range tanks were ever fitted with just two fins. Attached a shot of XV760 in ferry configuration in 1977 for a deployment to Belize. The aircraft was a reserve machine and was not required to go. The configuration of the four fins is shown. HTH Dennis

Alternatively :- https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/frog-airfix-1-72-gloster-meteor-cross-kit-f200-020-t50502.html Dennis

.....just thought that I would pop this in, following on from Canberra kid's excellent series. found on the web, thanks to original poster :- Dennis

I now see what you have been going on about Mike. The header is now spot on perfect with no clutter or spitfires and saying exactly what is in the tin. Well Done all, this is what I call a REAL Header Dennis

June 28th is the forecast release date on Hyperscale but it appears you can pre-order from Lucky Models at 39.99USD. I note from the same site that amongst the markings there are those for Mfg-2. Wish I had known, I could have sent them some detail shots of the aircraft (6 I think), in 43Sqdn markings painted on by a ground crew member using pre manufactured stencils. Just the Fighting Cock - no checks. Taken on a lazy Sunday at Leuchars when I was Duty Eng and nothing to do except photograph Starfighters. Thank you for the info @Giorgio N, I have copied and pasted it for future reference as I can see a few "Stiffs" being built in this workshop, maybe even this year. Dennis

Sorry to spoil your day @Timmas but white intakes for a late 60's aircraft will not be the way to go. The white intakes and leading edges did not come in until the very late 70's/early eighties and then was very slow to appear due to the amount of work involved. Late sixties aircraft had the upper surface camo scheme curve around and in to the intake by about 3 to four inches. On the intake wall, the fuselage colour extended back into the intake up to the boundary layer spill intake approx eighteen inches inside the intake, it exhausted above and below the intake.. From those positions aft, the intake was dull natural metal up to the engine face. HTH Dennis

There was also a further aerial on the forward part of the port flare bay door as shown on my photo of XH168 over my house in Paola Malta in the sixties :- HTH Dennis