82Whitey51

The prototype (or the first couple of prototypes??) had a shorter speedbrake as well as squared off wing tips. The first 1/72 Monogram kit has these features a swell as Keith Ferris' painting "Air Superiority, Blue?"

Man...that's a cool as F paint scheme...

NO YOU DON'T!!

Man...does that look like a P-51H? Do you even model, bra??

Yeah, out of the factory they would. Now, one thing to be mindful of, the original speedbrake was of aluminum construction so you wouldn't put the "Honeycomb" type "NO STEP" marking on it like you would a later one. Note the difference in the stenciling; Early speedbrake:

Hey, alright, too bad I didn't get to meet you. The DC-130 didn't place, and I was certainly not surprised...it's big, it's eye catching but from a judging perspective I knew it had a few "dings" here and there...notably (to me anyway) I had issues with the cockpit glass framing chipping away...paint just didn't want to stay on that clear plastic. Also, I incurred a rub spot from the journey that I had to touch up on the forward fuselage. But all in all I just want to put stuff on the table that's a bit different and tells a story. Had a great time over the four days we were there.

Nice to hear!

1/48 C-130s?? 🤷‍♂️...in "hi viz...USN, USMC, USAF 70s/80s. I only suggest this because after recently completing the Italeri 1/48 DC-130, finding decals for it in the hi viz scheme (Warning/Caution, Data etc.) was a huge pain! There are lots of Italeri/Testors 1/48 C-130 kits out there in folk's stashes but the ability to do a 70s/80s USN or USMC, USAF (hi viz type like the "Weather chasers" or "MATS) or even the markings for what is shown on the box, is virtually non existent. The decals in these kits were horrible to begin with; poor print quality, colors that were off, and a dull, thick finish to them that made silvering a guarantee. Add in the age factor and forget it! The sheet in my DC-130 kit was in great shape (that's not them shown above!) but even laying them down on a Gloss Gull Gray surface they were just not usable...I had to resort to using stencil data from an Australian decal maker, "Novascale". They weren't much better, and are ALPS printed...huge suck factor. I used the "star and bar" from the Caracal "Blue Angels Fat Albert" as they are they only game in town for the proper size National insignia for a C-130.

Navy guys like to blab about stuff, if there were any flying...we'd hear about it, especially after a few beers.

Niiice! Looks real good man.

Nope.

Exactly...I mean, as a 17 year old in high school back in '87, TOPGUN was the most awesome movie ever! Fast forward to 10-15 years later while I was in the Navy, and the plot of the original is hokey at best too (a pilot ["Viper"], just decides he'll be Maverick's RIO? What about all that NFO training you'll need???)...BUT IT'S STILL AWESOME!! 😂

Haaaaa!! Thanks man. I'm sure you could have pulled it off. I don't think I'd do all the interior work if I did it again.

Great job! My SR-71 sheet just showed up yesterday, and they look fantastic. On a side note, the reference page for the SR-71 was not working last night. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OK, thanks! I have a sheet of the new decals from Revell's more recent release (with ENOLA GAY on the box art) that look pretty nice, they're not thick as hell like the original issue decals. I also have a "Loon Models" Silverplate conversion set...although, I've heard that "Resin2Detail" is supposed to be in work on a Silverplate mod so I may wait and see what they produce.