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Hi guys, I will do an old Airfix F15E that someone gave me years ago, along with a Two Bobs decal sheet which is a vast improvement over the kit decals. Fingers crossed this goes ok. Cheers, Dave

I cannot believe it has been nearly four months since my last build! During that hiatus, I retired, packed up my workshop and stash, sold my house in Alabama, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin! I had the good fortune of finding a place with a spare bedroom in the finished lower level, which I converted into a bigger, better workshop 🙂🙂🙂. I have also hooked-up with the local IPMS group (Mad City Modelers), which is very active and has a quite a few highly-skilled builders among its members. Mad City Modelers is doing a group build on the theme "Vietnam", with models due to be shown at the January meeting. That gives me barely two-months to build something, so I must control my appetite! I have decided to do Col. Robin Olds's "Operation Bolo" F-4C (S/N 37680) in 1/72. For those not familiar with Operation Bolo, here is a summary from the USAF Museum's website" Led by Col. Robin Olds, OPERATION BOLO used a brilliant deception tactic that destroyed half of the North Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter force, with no USAF losses. In late 1966, the USAF was not permitted to bomb North Vietnamese airfields and could only destroy enemy fighters in the air. Complicating the problem, enemy MiGs focused on bomb-laden F-105s and only initiated combat when they had a clear advantage. Col. Robin Olds, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) commander, and the wing's tactics officer, Capt. John "J.B." Stone, devised a masterful plan to lure and trap North Vietnamese MiG-21s by mimicking an F-105 bombing formation. On Jan. 2, 1967, 8th TFW F-4s entered North Vietnam from the west using the same route, altitude, and formation as an F-105 bomb strike. They also carried and operated electronic jamming pods used by F-105s. The North Vietnamese took the bait, and the MiGs came up to intercept what they thought was an F-105 strike. At the same time, 366th TFW F-4s came into North Vietnam from the east to block the MiGs' escape to China and to orbit their bases, preventing the MiGs from landing. Despite some problems caused by the overcast weather, OPERATION BOLO was triumphantly successful. During the 12-minute engagement, seven North Vietnamese MiG-21s -- about half of their operational force -- were shot down with no USAF losses. Four days later, another ruse, this time mimicking an F-4 reconnaissance flight, shot down two more MiG-21s. These crippling losses greatly reduced MiG activity for several months. Aviation artist Keith Ferris has memorialized Operation Bolo in the painting "Mig Sweep", shown below: The first decision I had to make was to choose which Phantom kit from my stash to use. The options were: Accurate Miniatures (ex. Monogram) F-4C/D or Fujimi's F-4 C/D/J both kits have their pros and cons, which I will get to in a bit. But first, I would be remiss not to acknowledge Giemme's and Gene K's excellent Hasegawa/Monogram "kit bash" F-4C build, whose WIP ran over 1000 posts! Let's get started! Monogram's Phantom is exceptionally-well detailed -- surprisingly so given its age. The only significant drawback is its raised panel lines. The Fujimi kit has scribed panel lines, but is less well detailed in certain key areas. The below photos compare the two kit's panel line treatments (Monogram first): Monogram's cockpit is beautifully detailed, Fujimi's not so much: If the bland cockpit was Fujimi's only shortcoming, I would be tempted to graft the Monogram office into the Fujimi fuselage, much like Giemme did in his kitbash. However, there are other areas where Fujimi's detailing falls short. The F-4 is an ungainly beast, and one of its "attractive" features is the industrial plating behind the exhausts: Monogram does a much better job of capturing the above: Monogram also includes more detail underneath the airframe, especially in the wheel wells, speed brakes, and engine cooling panels: Given the above, I have decided to go with the Monogram kit. The question then is, what to do about the raised panel lines. My scribing skills are not up to the task of re-doing the entire aircraft -- much less given that I must be finished by January. Fortunately, opus999 has demonstrated an alternative approach that gives very realistic panel lines in his excellent re-do of Monogram's old P-51B kit: The technique is simple but elegant: remove the unwanted panel lines and lightly pencil them back in after painting is done. This will be my going-in plan. Starting with the fuselage, I used a fine-grit sanding sponge to remove the raised lines. I used tape to protect the exhaust plating area: While I was at it, I removed the RHAW antenna over the rudder and the IR sensor pod beneath the radome: There is a fair amount of controversy about whether the radome on Olds's F-4 for Operation Bolo was of the podded or slick variety. Most photos of F-4C's from that time period show podded radomes. However, it is a fact that slick radomes were also used, and a given aircraft's radome could vary from mission to mission. There is some evidence (not conclusive) that 37680 carried a slick radome on January 2, 1967. The below photos are asserted to show 37680 before launch and after returning from Operation Bolo -- it is clear the aircraft in the photos have a slick radome. Whether or not this is indeed 37680 on Jan 2 '67 is up for debate. Whatever the truth is, Ferris's painting shows Olds's Phantom with a slick radome and without the fin-mounted RHAW antenna. So, that is what I have decided to go with. Now, it's time for me to get back to sanding off those dang panel lines!

Well, I must be insane but I feel the need to build the Revell kit alongside the Hasegawa one. I have a Braz replacement nose and the plan is to do it in the 16 Sqn 1990 black scheme as it looks pretty cool. Work starts asap...

Hi guys, I guess I should be building a Spitfire in homage to my old squadron but will console myself with the fact that they are portrayed on the box. Instead I am in with this old girl, and I must admit that I am looking forward to it. I bought the kit in Glasgow when it was first released (hence the price) and it has been sitting in the stash ever since. I know the subsequent Eduard release is better, but from the pictures I have seen of built models this one still looks pretty good, and as a lover of Matchbox kits I can cope with the panel lines! Dave

An old Airfix favourite as time marching on in this group build, this came top of the pile which consisted of an Airfix B24, C130, Halifax mk3 an the 1/32 matchbox Puma. Let's just say I had one of the best paid paper round in my town allowing me to by such kits. So onwards once more, I prefer RAF bombers to be molded in black styrene just seems right You can see where Airfix altered the tooling from the Mk1 turrets to the mk3 and they also upgraded the pilot and engineer figures. Oh dear some good old wing warping going on! I think the decals maybe beyond saving! Who was a member? I was and I won a C130 in one of their competitions! That's enough for nowback again tomorrow

Well after finish the Air Anglia Dakota I decided to have a little experiment with this one as its big 1/24 brother sits unfinished in the corner of my shedquarters so it's going to be done in the markings that probably didn't get used very much, so here goes Now the give away thecrew ready to assume their positions dressed in tropical uniform

I am in with a Korean War machine included in the Italeri kit. I understand there are accuracy issues with the kit but it will look like a Corsair so that is fine by me! I may be late starting as I have others to finish first but I shouldn't be long. This should be a fun one! Dave

Hi guys, I am supposed to be taking a break from GBs due to the massive backlog I have causing me to start to not enjoy the hobby. However, as I have been making quite a dent in my unfinished pile (and actually having fun in the process), I couldn't resist this one. After watching 633 Sqn in (I think) 1982, I had to immediately build a Mossie, and as luck would have it, the local paper shop had one in stock. I rushed out to buy it and had built, painted and decalled it by the end of the following day, resulting in a very happy 9 year old! I love Matchbox kits for their simplicity and my nostalgia. There are issues with this kit but I am not going to go overboard in resolving them. I have replacement wheels, a replacement canopy from a Falcon set, and may use some etched brass from the Airwaves set if I can get them to fit. I am looking forward to getting started as it has already rekindled some happy memories! Dave

After the success of the Jaguar I though I'd crack on with another build. This one had been started a few months ago and had sat on the bench as a spectator. I'll see what result I can get from it also I don't want to steal Rafalbert's build elsewhere on this GB. It will be built as the Bix 105sqdn at Marham as I live only 10 miles from the place, so here goes. Released from its tupperware tub of doom Well the matchbox crew weren't up to it so a couple of Airfix bods volunteered their services This it so far, basic airframe assembled and the dangly bits painted aluminium

In for a penny...... A friend gave me this one too, having started on the cockpit but given up. If the decals survive I will finish it in the ex-Luftwaffe Qinetiq scheme.