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Given my normal focus on non-grey British and European naval aircraft, you may not be surprised to hear that this is my first attempt at building a Hornet model (of any type), albeit that there are two more in the stash after this one! This is the Tamiya release of the 2007 Italeri kit. As supplied it comes with some rather plain demonstrator decals, so these are Superscale markings for a more recent operational aircraft onboard the USS Ronald Reagan in 2006. As is often the case, Italeri rushed this one out to be firs ton the market, so it has a number of features that didn't make it to the production aircraft. Most noticeable is the air brake between the tails, which I filled. I also added the BAE SYSTEMS "pizza box" IFF in front of the canopy. I gave up on the individual vents between the tails, although I have a possible plan for a future update. The pilot comes courtesy of an Airfix kit and hides the otherwise sparse cockpit. The kit-supplied weapons are a mixed bag. I had wanted to use the SLAM ER missiles, and to create an asymmetric weapon load (as is typical for the F/A-18E) but the kit ones are a variant that I cant identify and certainly not in service (they are far too long for SLAM ER). Instead I went for a more simple double Harpoon loadout, with two AIM-9s and two AMRAAMs. This is a reasonable kit to build, albeit that the intakes and fuselage are definitely tricky to assemble. FredT

#22/2021 And my dad has finished the next one. Hobby Boss F4F-3 (late) kit with Superscale decals. The wing walkway decals came from the sparesbox. The kit and also the Superscale star decdals for the wings were to small, took suiting decals from a Czech ROP decals sheet. Painted with a selfmixed blue-grey (Tamiya XF-18 + XF-2) and Gunze H51 Light Gull Grey. Engraved the little camera door on the right belly side. Replaced the awfully molded kit guns with plastic rods. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235097445-flying-leatherneckseyes-in-the-sky148-grumman-f4f-3p-wildcat-vmo-251-usmc/ The F4F-3P was the first photo reconnaissance variant of the F4F fighter aircraft which had entered service with the Navy and Marine Corps in 1940. The basic fighter versions were made famous by VMF-211 defending Wake Island and later VMF-223 at Guadalcanal with the “Cactis” Air Force. The aircraft was a single seater, with non-folding wings powered by a R-1830-86 engine. It earned the distinction of being the first modern photo reconnaissance aircraft to enter service with the Marine Corps and see combat action. The first Marine Corps F4F-3Ps were transferred from the Navy at San Diego and assigned to VMO-251 in June, 1942 after undergoing modifications at the North Island, Ca aircraft support facility. This modification involved removing the reserve fuel tank behind the pilot and installing two aerial cameras with necessary wiring and controls. The normal fighter armament was retained and put to use by VMO-251 upon arrival in the South Pacific in July, 1942. According to several records a total of 18 aircraft were converted to the 3P configuration but its not clear if all were deployed with VMO-251 in July of 1942. The F4F-3Ps were range limited and did not deploy with external tanks so were of limited utility in supporting the initial Guadalcanal operations which began on 7 August 1942. Consequently, the aircraft were mainly used for air defense of their base at Espiritu Santo some 300 miles South of Guadalcanal. Beginning in October 1942 the longer range F4F-7P replacement aircraft began to arrive and began operations from Guadalcanal. (info taken from mcara.us) Wikipedia info: Marine Observation Squadron 251 (VMO-251) was commissioned December 1, 1941 at Naval Air Station North Island, California. In mid-1942 it was transferred to Tontouta, New Caledonia and then to Turtle Bay Airfield on the island of Espiritu Santo in the British-French Condominium of New Hebrides prior to the invasion of Guadalcanal. While flying the Grumman F4F Wildcat during World War II, the squadron participated in numerous Pacific campaigns including Guadalcanal, Southern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Luzon, and the Southern Philippines. In 1943, the squadron transitioned to the F4U Corsair, and was re-designated Marine Fighter Squadron 251 (VMF-251) in February 1945. 22 F4U Corsairs from the squadron landed on Samar on 2 January 1945 as part of Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) and continued operations in the Philippines until May 1, 1945 when it flew its last combat mission of World War II while supporting clean-up operations at Leyte. On June 1, 1945, VMF-251 was deactivated at Samar, Philippines Island. Thirteen months later on July 1, 1946, VMF-251 was reactivated at Grosse Ile, Michigan as a ready-reserve squadron. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

To quote an old Rap song from the early 90ies....Whoomp, there it is! After the Lancaster this is the second 4-Mot my dad built. Revell USA kit with Superscale decals and Gunze/Tamiya acrylics. Regarding that the molds are 39 years old the fit was surprisingly good, only the clear parts aren´t the best anymore. The model shows an aircraft of the 416th BS in Italy 1944. Respect for those young men who climbed into these flying coffins mission for mission.....the Luftwaffe was not that threat anymore but the Vienna area (to which they often headed) had the second dense flak defence after Berlin. After being awarded with a Distinguished Unit Citation while serving with the 12th AF for a mission during the Big Week, the 99th BG earned a second one with the 15th AF for a successful bombing mission against the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke (20km away from our hometown) on April 23 1944 without any losses. After a fellow modeller pointed out that the oil streaks in the hot air outlet area on the upper wings don´t go with the openings but the small space between the openings because the oil gets divided by the air, I did a quick fix with the help of Tamiya´s weathering sets. Does not look optimal but ok. Gotta fix this maybe someday with airbrush.