Camus272

I think watching the F-22 demo last year was one of the biggest gee-whiz moments of my life. From getting buzzed by Zeke as I was driving to the airport to getting up close and personal with a Raptor at Nellis I think the F-22 is always awe-inspiring (although I understand that the lack of demos this year is a major let down). I really want to build one. Having said that, I just can't get myself to buy a Hasegawa kit. The overdone detail is quite disappointing and the price is simply outrageous. Brian

Extra points for the Marillion reference! Brian

Extra points for the Marillion reference. Brian

I just read that all the Raptors evacuated. Certainly an interesting conundrum - they can't fly and they can't sit there. It's probably good that they get some flight time though (as well as the pilots). Brian

Uh-oh, looks like this story is starting to leak out to the mainstream press. Wired.com had a headline story about it today, and that's being picked up by sites like Fark. Maybe its good we stopped the F-22 at 187, before this gets out of hand. The F-35 will have to take the heat in the future. Article: Wired Brian

Ken , those are absolutely amazing shots, thanks for posting! I can't wait to get the camera out again for the Blues in Fargo, hopefully I can improve some of my shots to get closer to this level. Brian

I've heard the Super Hornet referred to as 4.5 generation quite often. The Boeing website even calls them 5th generation. In everything I've read about the Typhoon, people seem to rave about its capability. After meeting the Typhoon Pilots at Nellis, it seems to be a pretty impressive, gen 4.5 seems to be fairly accurate. Brian

Here is the IPMS article in an archive of the old Habu site: http://replay.waybackmachine.org/200412250...s/xl/index.html

I've done some test shots with the Raptor Sheen, but I've haven't found the mix I'm happy with yet. Yeah, I suppose they're not as shiny on the ground, the strong sunlight does matter. I have watched the color change as clouds passing overhead cast shadows.

I believe I still have the newspaper article from that day. I could scan it, but it just looks like a black blob. Kind of like the AMT F-117 kit. Brian

Yeah, those of us the Fargo airshow will be missing out on the F-22, although I'm excited to see Viper West instead, as I just saw the F-22 twice this year. Brian

Are you looking for any specific pictures? I have some, but only a few of the block 50s, my settings were all off this year. Brian

Thanks for the picture. I just built this one and I have only seen 3 pictures of it. Brian

Does anyone have any recommendations about storing Lifecolor? It seems to dry out much faster than any other paint. I like to stock up when I make orders since they have some great colors that no one else makes. But, sometimes I'll get a new bottle and when I open it a year later, it is dried out. I have bought bottles of thinner, and when I take them out of the drawer they are completely empty. I am considering trying to shrinkwrap the bottles. Any other suggestions? Thanks, Brian

I hope not, after 25 years of using them I can identify the color by smell. I don't want to lose that talent. Brian

For generation 4.5 I would actually vote for the Super Hornet. Brian

I'll vote for the YF-22. Brian

I find Lifecolor thins nicely with water, but it needs a decent primer coat first. I prefer to have an enamel layer base coat first and then apply the Lifecolor. Brian

I can't answer and I don't find much to read there, but I know that there are worse model forums out there :) Brian

I just wanted to point out that New Blue has 35109 and not 35190 which is in the Old Blue scheme. Brian

As long as the boss is flying they will use as many planes as they have. This year I saw the Blue Angels do 4 and 5 plane performances and the Thunderbirds do a 5 plane performance. Brian

The Air Force has already cut $34 billion and the Navy has cut $35 billion. They will both be lucky to have planes flying in ten years. The Army and Marines will still have troop strength higher than four years ago. If we could actually achieve troop withdrawals then we wouldn't have to worry about them being so busy. I'm not sure what the last sentence has to do with anything. Brian

I had a heck of a time trying to make bulkheads for a T-38, then I remembered a tool my dad had, turns out its a contour gage. I found mine at Home Depot. Brian

Although it will probably be some time before I get to my F-22, I've done some test shots with it, but I haven't got it to work the way I want yet. Brian

Didn't someone report (I think it was here at ARC) that there were only 8 F-14s left that hadn't been scrapped. Very sad. I really wish they would just keep the last 3 flyable for airshows someday when conditions are better (that's the number I heard was necessary to keep a demo going). It's odd to me that every airshow I go to has an F-4 demo, but its next generation replacement is gone. In fact I think the Navy or Air Force could get the F-4 back into combat easier than the F-14. Bian