tony.t

Beautiful paintjob. Especially love the jetcans — wow! It's probably not important but IIRC Phantoms provided all electrical power to jamming pods so they didn't use the nose turbine on the ALQ-71. That was more for F-105 Thuds. ALE-40 pylon chaff/flare dispensers were not fitted to USAF RF-4Cs, but you could probably get away with it. Sorry to be a PITA. Tony

Aah, the agony and the ecstasy. After four years of uncertainty, is this thing going to pop up and disappear all within a short time ? Aah, snooze and you lose, like the dawg's nose ain't been sniffing for nigh on thirty-forty moonths The hell of it all. And nostrils flared as two Tamiyaas wheeled past the beastie's nose. and noo a thing from the Great Wall beckons. I was digging down towards China, thinking the wee kitsets might pop up in ma face, but alas nought. Oh, the agony, the sheer agony. The horror of it all.

Hi Eli, there are two ALQ-71 pods in the Hobby Boss F-105G kit HTH Tony

F-111B was cancelled in July 1968 and the F-14A prototype first flew in December 1970, twenty-nine months later. About as long as it takes me to build a kit these days. This AMK creation is worth buying as a piece of history: as controversial as TFX, longer to come to fruition than the real VFX, and may be the swan-song of the company. Tony

And seated aviators in the S1030 etc David Clark spacesuits. Starter looks absolutely great. Agree about the boarding gantry. Now just need a good Habu — please keep up the great work! Tony

SAC makes a 1/32 resin and white metal kit of the very similar Douglas D704 buddy refuelling pod. Tony

Looks great, and very nostalgic Tony

I thought that was boat building ?¿. Does the draft 5 AMK Tomcat come with a seaplane option? Thought pussycats hated water (but lve fish, and lasagne) Tony

Looks great. Tony

AMK aren't Tamiya, who can do as they please and still sell. There's been a deluge of good MiG-25 kits over the past two years from ICM with more on the way. Market flooded, at least for the next few years. But if AMK spend 4-5 years developing a MiG-25 kit the market might open up again by then. Personally, I'd rather they did something that really needs attention, like the Su-15 Flagon, or something else with swing-wings like an accurate F-111F or MiG-23UB Tony

There is a rumour of some kind of collaboration between AMK and GWH; with, say, AMK doing an F-14D and GWH an F-14A but the kits sharing a degree of common CAD and hard metal. Truth or myth? The Czech bloke who's been fondling AMK Tomcat bits is not their spokesperson: so really, that whole story is a tangential red herring about a visit to a Chinese plastics factory and a yarn about some moulded missile parts not fitting the intended box - whoops! But we know there is a Mi- helicopter kit coming out next under a European label. At this juncture the only and/or relia

If the Czech guy is giving AMK design & moulding work they will obviously give him something to fondle to gauge quality. Tomcat bits fondling. I suspect they are working hard on whatever makes money and the Tomcat will be ready when it's ready — though there is a rumour, albeit rather unreliable and woolly, that there is some cross-breeding going on with the GWH Tomcat. I don't see the point of the 1/48 MiG-25 project now that ICM has flooded the market; not only under their own brand but also reboxed in Revell and Hasegawa editions: eight boxings, with one more confirmed for n

The Marines are retiring some of their F-35Bs in 6-7 years due to structural defects, around the 2,100 hours mark. To its misfortune the A380 came along in a world recession, so it looks like a bunch, if not converted for cargo, will get parked in the desert next to those F-35s. The nuclear mission might be coming to an end in Germany. Better building more Eurofighters and developing the sixth gen fighter with France. Tony

So, either the Kinetic hood is slightly rolled to the left in the pic or was pulled from the mould too soon, resulting in different L & R curling of the omega? Is this a QC issue or just a bad photo? How does this compare with the KH Su-35? And isn't there supposed to be another Su-33 coming from China — Hobby Boss, with the skew whiff MLG wheel bays? Is that kooky arrangement being fixed or is it recurring throughout the HB Flanker series? Really got the Kinetic Su-33 as a place holder pending the 1/32 Tan Model Sea Flanker, but decided it's good for multipl

That sounds scary! Those things must have creaked like an old galleon. The Pacer Plank effort reskinned a lot of them but the one at the American hangar at Duxford has got real cellulite issues. Tony

So much wasted emotional energy. Invest it in what's out there and available. The Kinetic Sea Flanker is a fantastic place holder, as are the Tamiya Tomcats. As are the three Trumpeter Flagons I have which ain't going nowhere before GWH or another firm produces an accurate kitset. Tony

Chrome Dome was the airborne alert system AFAIK, ended after the Thule and Palomares incidents. There was also the Christmas Tree ground alert system (hardstands and taxiways arranged like a pine tree to feed bombers onto the runway and get all aloft quickly) All completely barking mad. Would be cool to do one of those super-wrinkly black bottomed Ds from the SAC bomb comps circa mid-1970s. Wonder if the kit will have stressed fwd fuse panels as an option? Tony

I have seen a couple of photos of AIM-4Ds attached to L-41/42/43 rails on JASDF F-4EJs. Probably in 1970s era Koku Fan magazines, though there was one drifting around the internet a few years ago. Serious omission from the Tamiya 1/32 F-4EJ kit. At least Hasegawa include something approximating the L-41/42/43 rails in its 1/48 F-4E/EJ kits and missiles can be had from one of its missile sets. But strictly 1970s AFAIK. Tony

It's just a thing that is designed to slip through missile defences and bomb the cr@p out of something - it's not Miss World Tony

No, the spine is part of the upper fuselage part A40. I actually wonder if the profile was turdified in order to fit the mould depth limits? Had it been engineered as a separate part it most likely would have been accurate, ditto the rear canopy hood frame to match. Beryllium copper moulds? I thought they were commonplace in Asia. One reason I don't lick wet 'n' dry - cissy bowl of water is preferable. Tony

Looks like a hybrid kitbash between the Trumpy and Revell might be necessary — though I don't want a Hornet E costing £190 which leaves a lot of land fill. If you live to see it the F/A-18F release may be the one to wait for. Think the Blues are getting the E/F variants during 2021, so that would be a good time for the Revell F to emerge. Tony

Needs going over by an expert, but £70 is much less money than the Trumpeter.. LG clearly needs metal inserts, the bracing or retraction strut oleo replaced by a steel pin, and the spine tweaked. Not sure what's wrong elsewhere (e.g. engine bumps and nozzles) but it'll likely generate AM which the bland Trumpy failed to energise. Really waiting to see the Blue Angels fly this variant, which I thought was not far off — best colour scheme for an E IMHO. Tony

Glad to see Airfix do a new brick. Will go nicely with its FG.1 Waiting on Tan Model too, not least for its big 1/32 Sea Flanker which might be released later this year. Tony

Sounds like a hemstitch sewing machine needle. HTH Tony

Looks absolutely great Nikolay. I've just bought two of the full F-101B interior sets (plus the RF-101C zoom versions, plus "steel" seat belts for all four Voodoos). Very indulgent purchases when you have four Kitties to outfit with accessories. (Bought one of the D-Mold recce noses too — kerching again! The other will be a plastic nose job to match the D-Mold.) Waiting for something like Aires Quickboost for the missing F-101B SAGE dara-link antennae, though that can be found on a Quickboost set for the 'Six. Tony