Jump to content

John B

Members
  • Content Count

    921
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by John B

  1. ...I'm sure Dave, Tank, John Bibay, and others will back me up on this when I say that the elements at Lemoore are pretty harsh....

    ...Just a thought

    Cheers!

    John

    Why would I know anything about Lemoore? :rolleyes:

    By "harsh elements at Lemoore", do you mean the smell? :lol:

    (Running and hiding before a certain Marine at Lemoore explodes from that comment.)

  2. If you go into ARC's gallery under the F-14 under page 4 there is a huge F-14 Sunset special done by Andy Mullen. In part 3 in the back is a VF-21 Freelancers bird dead center.. the one with the rainbow pattern coming straight back from the yellow chevron. I know Superscale did this in 1/72 (obviously) many many years ago but it's long out of productions and has never been done since. Other Freelancer CAG birds have been done but not this one... ...I thought these would be great in 1/48 and 1/32, especially the Tomcat.

    Done in 1/48th

    ss48-363.jpg

  3. 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 long as I'm asking for help, can someone check my math. The difference in length between the -2 and -5 is 10 inches, right? In 1/48th scale it's 5.2916666 mm or 3.33333/16ths in., right?

    Is it easier to tell the difference in length when a -2 and -5 are side-by-side? :)

    Off to work now where I get to figure out how to "fit 6 lbs of manure into a 5 lb bag +/- 0.1 mg".....

  4. Ooh, ooh, ooh, I know, I know! How about 2005? Here's part of the Rippers' line, in all their colorful glory. All their jets were painted with hi-vis markings. Dare I say they were the last squadron to have a full line up of hi-vis markings.

    Mr Roberts! March yourself directly to the Principal's Office for your corporal punishment young man! :beer4:

  5. Well, you're in luck. SpongeBob was a West Coast Aviator at Point Mugu. So, it "MAY" get you somewhere...

    Rodney

    :beer4: (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.

  6. 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...

    Oh, and add in the composite components that don't take to MEK and other chemicals needed to strip paint.

    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.

    This isn't exactly new news either... some of the SH guys were talking about this at the Tomcat Sunset (the 1 high-vis jet per squadron)

    Okay maybe I'm not communicating this effectively enough (I'm not too bright, 'member?), this is OLD news. Does anyone else remember the effects of "only 1 color jet per squadron"... ohh... 15... no... 20 years ago? Can anyone remember when the last year they saw a line of brightly colored Navy/Marine VA/VMA/VF/VFA/VMFA/VMO/HMH/HMM/HMA/HMLA/VS/VAQ/VMAQ aircraft from the same squadron parked on a flightline? 2000? 1995? 1990? 1985? 1980?

    that's actually been the law for, oh, 12 or 14 years now?

    Just don't have the Tomcat guys on their own program anymore. If you look you'll see that everyone except the Tomcats pretty much followed that.

    Helloooooo? Did anyone else not read this post? It was post #2 of this thread.

    ....Then you read thread after thread after thread on this board stating "oh I wish they had done this" or "I don't like that shade of taupe" or "what were they thinking" or "it's B$ they can't have a Langley Stripe" or "their jets look like crap!". I am probably being oversensitive, but it strikes me as the effort the troops are doing is not appreciated. The US Navy (and USAF, USMC, USA) is not like many air forces in the world where the primary effort is to look good at airshows - they are out there in the harshest environments putting good aircraft in the air everyday without a break, and once in a while, yeah, they may only have 1 high-viz paint scheme that may look a little frumpy at times and they can't do what they want for markings because if they swap the jet out some other clowns will have to spend upteen hours hand-rubbing the langley stripes off the jet using environmentally friendly chemicals that couldn't strip cracked Al Clad off of a P-51 model let alone a $67 million jet. At times, there is more important stuff to do....

    Amen to that! Painting five different colors on object takes a LOT more effort than sliding a 5-color decal on a 1:48 model of the same object? Really?

    The ultimate ARC event:

    Chuck Norris doing a Kobra flying a Tweet adorned in Jolly Rogers markings (good ones, with the airwing code on the rudder and a langley stripe) with a Moai copilot.

    At 500ft AGL over the stadium at the Super Bowl to the Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone with twelve AIM-54s slung under the wings and PTIDS on both sides of the instrument panel while doing the puffy-cloud transonic-thing with the flaps down. :)

    Oh and if it seems like I'm kissing Sponge's behind on this subject, get this -> he's a former Naval Aviator on the East Coast. I'm a former enlisted Marine on the West Coast. Putting my lips to his lower cheeks gives me nothing and gets me nowhere.

    Break break

    I'm sorry that my photo stirred up so many ill feelings... :)

    Dude your photos don't stir up ill feelings, my mouth does. Just ask Ken.

    Guess I'll log off and build a model or claim to be the father of Anna Nicole's baby or give Britney Spears a new hair-do now....

  7. 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 low-viz jets were painted by the manufacturer with the big tail design and the Langley stripe. The squadron was made to paint them with smaller tail markings and paint over the Langley stripe. Not all the Langley stripes got painted over, but the tail markings got smaller. More Langley stripes got "magically re-applied", but the tail markings stayed small. Now they're painting over the Langley stripe again. Then there's those folks at Atsugi....)

    Nothing new to see here folks. Move along. :wave:

  8. 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....

  9. Sweeet camo job! :cheers:

    A very attractive Scooter. This is a perfect example of how a beautiful model can still be made from a less than ideal kit with skill, patience,and attention to detail. Well done.

    Mark

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

  10. Ok, Fred...NO excuses now! :D

    ~I've considered the same kitbash, but fabricating the canopy has always intimidated me. Ready to cheer from the sidelines--

    - 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.)

    840456c.jpg

    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!!

  11. Is there a site or online article that outlines all of the changes a Monogram kit would need to make it a proper D or convert it into a B?

    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 - John B

  12. 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't call for New Year's. Laugh at Brian P's thread before realizing he's already having a better year than me.

    Post a smart-aleck post on ARC and get back to work polishing up my resume so that I can find a better paying position as some village's idiot.

  13. 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.)

  14. 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 there resin molding/pouring issues that I'm completely missing? (I know - 'nother stoopid question.)

    John Bibay - aspiring to become a village idiot 'cuz it pays better and there's more prestige in it

  15. Being a "model manager" myself I can assure you it's nowhere near that fun. :cheers:

    It mainly involves doing all the b!tch work so that the "program manager" can look good.

    Why? Because somewhere along the way the navy heard of TQM and now we all regularly get bukkaked with stupid.

    ROFLMAO!

    How the heck did that get pass without detection?

    Sorry Karl, I forgot you were in the land of quota-limited-fun. Guess all we can offer you is a fresh, moist, warm washcloth to get rid of the stupid....

×
×
  • Create New...