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Had the exact same thing happen to me with AK Extreme Metal and Tamiya masking tape. I ended up getting almost all of it off with q-tips soaked in Formula 409. Lots of rubbing, but it was the only thing I found to do the trick without destroying the paint. -Ryan

Nothing from any other branch or squadron approaches the notoriety of the Jolly Rogers. For USAF probably a close comparison would be the 23rd Wing “Flying Tigers” with the tiger mouth on their A-10’s. For the USMC, maybe VMA-214 “Black Sheep” due to being popularized by the TV show, but the markings aren’t especially significant in the way the skull and crossbones are. -Ryan

Sorry, I have nothing to contribute directly to the discussion relating to the A-6E, but I was wondering if anyone can describe the different warheads on those Zunis? Thanks! -Ryan

Let’s hope it’s as well done as the AH-1Z. An A-10C has been high on my list for a while.

Excellent work, Chris! Always liked the MO-coded Thunderbirds Bones! That belly full of bombs looks awesome, too, even if they are for practice. I second your feelings about scaling up to 1/72, we sorely need a new tool B-1B in that scale. -Ryan

Or, if maintaining full-length pieces isn’t of concern, could long test-tubes and a test tube rack be suitable? Even left uncapped to fit longer stock you could pull and dump a single tube with relative ease to get to shorter bits then refill and return to the rack. Something like so:

As a dual hobbyist (model railroading) where I do a lot of scratch building of structures, I’ve come up against this same frustration. Whether kept in their packages, or stored vertically in a tube-system, invariably I’d run into the same situation almost every time of having to dig out the four-centimeter piece I need, or end up impatiently cutting a small chunk off of a new one… leading to a bunch of short chunks. You mention wanting to store “20-25 things”… I arrived at a similar number of sizes that I like to have for on-hand for my various projects, allowing for a few extra cate

Gene, thank you for the offer! If I run into trouble on the above route, I'll definitely reach out.

Thank you, Seawinder! Wife has a Cricut, might just have to give this a go.

Does anyone out there produce masks or decals for the US Navy style 60° lettering? I'm specifically looking for 24" numbers in black for the Modex number as seen on the upper wing surface of some F-4's. I've looked around online, but I'm not finding much available. Thanks!

Thank you for the replies, fellas. I'll keep waiting and hoping I suppose.

I find myself being tempted by the coming release for Tamiya's F-14A. There's really no shortage of great schemes available for any era of Tomcats, but for the life of me, I can't seem to find any VF-31 markings for the mid-late 80's timeframe aboard USS Forrestal. Has anyone produced them in recent history? I think some mods to the kit might be necessary, so maybe that explains the lack of options? I was a young and impressionable kid when my mom took me over to see a VF-31 Tomcat that flew in to South Bend, Indiana in that timeframe (for what reason I don't know... Notre Dame fly

I had sent an email to the volksusa people back in early June asking about a restock on the F-4D, and their reply was: "Currently, we do not know when the 1/48 F-4D will be restocked. Due to the limited nature of our products, we may be unable to provide estimated restock dates for items that have sold out. If we ever receive news from our HQ regarding a rerun for this particular kit and option parts, we’ll be sure to make an announcement on our Social Media and Email Newsletter." That might be a standard canned answer, so it's hard to say if they h

The bottoms were only black on a few F-4D's based on their mission. Look up the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron. There may have been others, but that is one that used black undersides on the F-4D for night strike missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail. One of their jets was depicted in the F-4D released by Zoukei Mura. -Ryan

Looks great, Chris!

Hardcore History. Hours... Days... Weeks... MONTHS worth of material, which is perfect for my glacial building pace. Also, Fighter Pilot Podcast for sure, JRE, Jocko Podcast especially episodes where he interviews various authors - riveting stuff. -Ryan

Were you able to source these, or are you still looking? I have a set that I'm not going to use.

I got a sheet for a B-1 photo, too, LOL. I have a passion (obsesssion?) for scouring the corners of the internet looking for great photos of obscure things like SAC aircraft and facilities in particular, so I'm just elated to have others who apparently share my affliction. As for Kursad, he is very generous indeed. I feel pretty spoiled to begin with just by virtue of the subject decals offered. -Ryan

That is a far better image than those I submitted. I'd like to humbly forfeit my prize to Gator52. -Ryan

These are not my photos, but these are probably the best I've ever seen to illustrate the Malmstrom tail flash in any detail. It was one of the nicest looking in SAC in my opinion, but unfortunately one of the most elusive too since this era of the 301st was so short-lived. -Ryan

Should be a 32. Looks a little smaller since it is set back further on that outboard pylon without the BRU55.

Just ordered your GBU-32's to model this jet last week, LOL... Guess I know where to get my BRU55's from now! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/170607-N-FE442-006_(35183312286).jpg/1280px-170607-N-FE442-006_(35183312286).jpg

Not my photo, but from Bill Word on Flickr. I only now realize that the keeper is clutching lightning bolts like the SAC fist, only with wheat stalks instead of olive branches... AWESOME!

Threw this suggestion out a couple years ago, and I'm so excited to see it come to production, thank you, sir!

Excellent, Dave! I'll be looking forward to them. You just haaad to post this a few days after I was lusting over those Blacklions bomb trucks from OIR. -Ryan