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KAI T-50B ROKAF "Black Eagles"


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Here is my fourth entry to the GB.

I saw the Republic of Korea Air Force "Black Eagles" at Waddington and RIAT, and in my humble opinion, they are one of the best teams in the world today (subjective, I know!) They put on an exciting and dynamic display that the European and North American teams just can't match.

Here are a few of my shots from a very grey Waddington:

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Here is the kit, bought from modelsforsale.com at a very reasonable price. The box has to be one of the classiest kit boxes I have ever seen:

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I am very afraid of the decals, due to recent GB experiences, but I will give it my best shot!

I will open the bags soon to examine the contents and post some more pictures.

Edited by Alpha Delta 210
Spelling, despite proof-reading - twice!
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Ooooh I so want one of these.

The Koreans were the friendliest, nicest people ever. They interviewed us as we'd seen them before and wanted to know what we thought of them.

I'll be watching this with interest!

Oh and I agree. They probably are the best display team about at the moment.

Edited by khimbar
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I agree, Khimbar, they certainly were very friendly. I am not normally known for making gushing remarks to complete strangers, but each time I saw Team Members wondering around at RIAT, I had to tell them what I thought. They seemed genuinely grateful at the compliments, and one guy said "You really think that we are better than the Red Arrows?" To which I replied "Definitely, and you are better than my previous favourite team, the Frecce Tricolori!" I will cherish the brochure and the poster that they gave me and hope that I do the team justice with my build!

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That's a beautifully-molded kit! It looks like they printed the yellow decals the same shade as they usually do for Blue Angels ... I'd love to see how the shade changes as you put them on a dark base.

Looking forward to this one too ... and I can't believe it's your 4th build just for this GB!

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That's a beautifully-molded kit! It looks like they printed the yellow decals the same shade as they usually do for Blue Angels ... I'd love to see how the shade changes as you put them on a dark base.

Looking forward to this one too ... and I can't believe it's your 4th build just for this GB!

Hi Eric

You're right, the yellow and white decals might look a bit "muddy" over the black. I was trying to think of a solution, but other than painting white stripes under the areas to be decalled (which I would be bound to mess-up!), I couldn't think of anything!

As for numbers, I like quick, straight from the box builds - I'm a firm believer in quantity over quality!!

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D'oh, Modelsforsale sold out!

Dan

That's a shame, Dan. I think Vince of modelsforsale sold out at Waddington. I phoned on the Friday before the show and asked him to hold one for me. I didn't see any on the Wonderland stand at Waddington or RIAT either. I bet that if the team were selling the kits from their gazebo at RIAT, they would have sold out as well!

If you search on "t-50b black eagles" on eBay, you'll find some South Korean vendors selling the kit at less than RRP, but I didn't want to take the risk!

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I agree, these were one of the best of the day at RIAT this year. Absolutely amazing performance they put on. The dynamic manoeuvres and just how quickly they moved formation made them one of the highlights for me. After the Vulcan of course! :)

This will be an excellent model when this is complete! I'll watch this one closely I think and may even add it to my buy list :)

Eren

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Hi All

I have finally managed a few hours on the T-50B. I might use both crew members to conceal as much of the cockpit as possible which has lots of raised detail, that I don't have the skill or pateince to paint! (They certainly seem to be sitting bolt upright due to the scrap sprue superglued in a very delicate part of the anatomy!)

The kit also includes two crew access ladders. So far, it has been a dream to construct. The main gear bay consisted of 13 parts and the cockpit built up from 34 parts.

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I have taken a picture of the poster that the team gave away at RIAT. Unfortunately, it got damaged in my camera bag despite my best efforts!

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Hi All

A little more progress on my Golden Eagle.

I always struggle with undercarriage and true to form, I managed to snap two parts of the main gear whilst trying to attach it. Fortunately, superglue came to the rescue.

I didn't find that the two halves of the air intakes went together too well, but after a smear of Vallejo filler, I was happy. The other minor problem (possibly self induced) was that the intake trunking stood proud of the underside of the airframe, requiring me to shave quite a lot off before fitting the intakes. Finally, the instructions tell you to fit the nose section before the top and bottom halves are joined, so I found that the best solution was to clip the two halves together (as seen in the second picture) while the nose cured to ensure that everything would line up properly later. I also needed a litle smear of filler at this join. Apart from these minor issues, I am really enjoying this and look forward to the next modelling session.

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Hi All

A quick update before I go away fror a few days. Most of the construction is now complete. This is a lovely kit that requires the bare minimum of filler, meaning that the wonderful surface detail won't be sanded away.

I joined the fuselage in two stages to ensure a good fit. I started from the jet pipe to the wing trailing edges and when that had cured fully, I joined the front section. The kit is very well engineered and pretty much snaps together, so there were no dramas. Like a lot of people, I find coloured plastics quite difficult to work with and I wonder why Academy chose black, as the price point of this kit means that it is not likely to be a child's first model.

I dry brushed the seats with Humbrol 67 Tank Grey, but will properly install them and the crew later. The jet pipe is just "resting" in position for the pictures.

The end is in sight, but the decals look very scary....

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Nice stuff.

Having done Revell's stripy Tornado in 1/32, talk to me about scary decals!

My advice would be to choose the aircraft you are going to do and take one of the decals for one you aren't and test apply it to an old kit - this may give you an idea whether you need to smother it in decals softener or not (and even what will happen if you do) before you get to the main decals.

The easiest advice is to take your time with them. If there are some big decals on the sheet have a think about cutting them up into more manageable pieces and if all the decals rely upon eachother for location, then look for the one decal that will be your datum point that all the others relate to and fix that first. I had the same issues with the Tornado and it worked for me.

She will be a stunner when you finish

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This looks excellent! And again, another kit I have the urge to build myself!

I would love to see this display team in action, from everything I've read on them they sounds amazing! Only ever been to one airshow myself back in about '95 with my dad at Woodford. My girlfriend, despite me pretty much begging her to come, was firmly against going to Waddington! I guess it's like an exotic food, an airshow that is, until you try it you don't know if you'll like it. I have strong memories of that day at Woodford being great but trying to enthuse my bird was like pulling teeth! She just thinks I'm a geek! LOL

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