John B

:) TANK!!! Took you long enough to reply. They say smell is strongest of the senses associated with memory. :) How 'bout the WX in Vida's? Any sunshine? Next Friday you're back down we're going to Black Angus (where one of my co-workers moonlights as a barista) until they close. Then we'll jaywalk across the street to Tio Leo's, El Torrito's or Callahan's. (Callahan's will rock the 17th!) If you don't get arrested for trolling or mauled by a cougar, you're more welcome to crawl to my place and pass out on in the living room carpet or outside on the balcony. BTW - whoever thought u

Brian P hand-delivered a Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18E for a scant $45 and didn't even ask for gas money! (Of course it helps that he works only a few miles from me.)

Why would I know anything about Lemoore? By "harsh elements at Lemoore", do you mean the smell? :lol: (Running and hiding before a certain Marine at Lemoore explodes from that comment.)

Done in 1/48th

Okay I'm stupid, I'll admit that to start. I've looked back at pics of real F9F-2s and F9F-5s and I can't tell the difference in length between them. Sure, I can spot the tail, re-inforced canopy (a retrofit feature?), wingfence/inlets (if not a retrofit feature), and the BuNo (when visible) to tell a F9F-2 from a F9F-5, but I'm not spotting the length-thing. I see the difference in drawings by looking at the panel lines, but I really can't see those in pictures. With the canopy open, I really can't spot the difference in length. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING FOR? I can't tell. As l

Mr Roberts! March yourself directly to the Principal's Office for your corporal punishment young man!

(In Tweetybird voice) Rodney don't know me vewy well do he, eh Sponge? If there's anyone I shoulda expended chapstick for, it would've been RR's Senior MedO about a year ago. Even then, no amount of lip-planting can change reality.

"Shure ting say-lor! Number 1 hi-reg, right?"

Is this thread still going on? Well, since the UNC/BC game is over and I'm not smart enough to leave well enough alone... If anyone wants to read about the nasty properties that Methyl Ethyl Ketone have on the body, google the MSDS for it. While you're at it, look up stripping CARC (Chemical Agent R-something lost to the fog of my memory Coating) paint and all sorts of nice things pop up there, too. All that and I didn't even work with that much composite materials. Not the sort of stuff you want to work with upwind of the orphanage. Okay maybe I'm not communicating this effectively

I know I'm NOT the brightest bulb in the package and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but might I bring up a few points? - IR? Shiny paint reflects all light, even the stuff our eyes aren't sensitive to. - ManPADS? The easier he can see you, the easier he can target you. - Maintenance/man-hours required to apply paint schemes? Composites are goofy. Not to mention the effort. - Enforcement of long-established directives? Sponge already addressed this. The extent to which they are adhered to or enforced is also subject to the whims of certain people. (Example - VFA-2s

Before they dis-established last year, VS-41 paint up a jet for each of the West Coast Viking squadrons. Each jet had the logo/patch of a different squadron. A shamrock was hidden/incorporated in the design of the tail.

"Love is a battlefield...."- Pat Benatar

Da Stumps...

I'm not going to give up my source on this one, but the AESA identifier is the radome. The non-AESA jets (Legacy and Super) have a screw at the tip. The AESA jets DON'T have a screw at the end and the boot at the tip of the nose isn't present. The AESA jets also have a slight bulge where the bulkhead is bigger, but this is barely even perceptable on the jet. Model-wise, paint the radome as one color without the silver tip to represent the AESA-equipped jet. Back to work now....

GO HARV GO! GO HARV GO! - Sorry Harv, I may have watched a little too much college basketball and NFL last weekend -

Very nice finish on both Skyhawks!

I wholeheartedly agree! Beautiful finish, well-built, and panel line wash not overdone. Nice Skyhawk!

- two 1/32 Hasegawa F-5E kits? CHECK! - two 1/32 Black Box F-5E Cockpit sets? CHECK! - reference photos for F-5F? CHECK! - walkarounds and colors of this stellar scheme? (I know it met an unfortunate end, but it looked so cool.) CHECK! - enough 1/32 TwoBobs VFC-13 decals to piece together markings for that F-5F? CHECK! - Harv and me incessantly asking "How's the F-5F going?" CHECK! TALLY! GO GET 'EM FREDDO!!

Have you tried this link? -> Revell F-14D to F-14B Conversion I did a simple conversion a few years ago using a Revell F-14D kit, some Steel Beach parts, some parts I made/casted, and with decals sourced from a few sheets. (This was done BEFORE decals were made for this jet and when Darren Roberts was just getting started with the aftermarket business.) I highly recommend using the Steel Beach parts for the conversion. He's since added BOL rails to his line of aftermarket F-14 updates. Be sure to check out Parches excellent F-14D build -> Link to In-progress thread Hope this helps

It was a wussy light beer. Downed half of it before I even unwrapped the burrito. Yeah, yeah... I know. No need to remind me. So much for "taking better care of myself"...

5 Jan 06 Finish another 40-hr work week (Yes I had Monday off, so you do the math). Grab a Chipotle barbacoa burrito on the way home. Stumble through the apartment door just being glad to not need to go to work again until Monday. Grab a beer outta the fridge and enjoy the burrito in the silence without the sounds of test equipment, phones, faulty equipment, PAs, or supervisors interrupting me. Work on updating resume to find a better paying job. Take break by logging onto ARC. (New software at work prevented me from doing that at work.) Figure out why Brian P wasn't in town and didn'

I casted a vote, but I wish there was an option for a write-in vote. If there was, my vote would be for a "Back in the Day" sheet with VF-124 early in the 1970s (maybe the first Paris Airshow appearance), VX-4, and VF-2 back when the F-14 had the original boat-tails and first IR sensor under the nose. (I'm trying to whittle down the decal and kit stash, but that resolution doesn't go into effect until 2007.)

Time for the idgit to ask stoopid questions - Why are conversion manufacturers molding one-piece TA-4J fuselages this way? Why not mold it from the fueslage break forward? The TA-4J is basically the same as a A-4E/F from the mid-fuselage break aft. EVERY Skyhawk has that break line there since engine access/removal involves removal of the tail at that break. It seems to me that it would be easier to cast just the forward of the fuselage rather than an entire fuselage. I thought that all the differences were in the front half of the fuselage anyway. Am I looking at this all wrong or are

DonSS3 posted a link to an example of a slatless F-4S or "Super J" from VMFA-232. It is painted overall gloss gull gray and this is evidenced by one TER still being white. Don's Post