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Litvyak

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Posts posted by Litvyak

  1. Thanks very much everyone for the replies, I think I will buy a 9-13 afterall!

    Three companies made decals for Ukraine Tridents. They all missed the zaps I put on them.

    Nice build Ken, the Tridents had applied for a raffle license to sell tickets to win a ride in the UB. Transport Canada would not allow it (later in the tour it was permitted). So to start they had a media ride, where they drew names from a hat to see which reporter would go along for a ride (for publicity purposes and to promote the tour). The first name to be pulled was a female reporter and the pilots absolutely refused to allow a female to fly in their aircraft.

    I have so many stories about this tour, I should post a photo essay with all the details. I documented this visit well.

    You should! I'd love to see it.

    Funny they didn't want to let a woman fly, considering by then the CF allowed female combat pilots...

  2. This.

    Also because I'm curious... aren't the baby boomers who's parents fought (just one generation removed) the ones who burned their draft cards free love, hippy types and are going to suck up social security long before I ever get a taste? Oh and are a massive voting demographic that basically calls the shots? Not that they are entitled or forgetful or anything

    Like I said... you made us.

  3. Some of us don't forget. Usually the Vets and historians and the families of those lost. The rest? The last two generations are largely concerned with themselves and what you can do for them. They subscribe to some philosophy to entitlement that exempts them from acknowledging, or even, remembering the sacrifices made, by so many, so they can enjoy the lifestyle they're currently pursuing. Ask them! Mention the Doolittle Raid, D-day, Iwo Jima, Coral Sea, the Bulge, Remagen, Hurtgen Forest, Chosin Resevoir, Pyonyang, Scorpion, Tet, Ia Drang, Grenada, 9-11, Desert Storm, Shield, etc. and they'll look at you like you have two heads. "Whaaaat???! How does this affect me?!! This is history and I've NEVER met a participant of ANY conflict who demands pedestalization. They just wish to be remembered. For their efforts and sacrifice. But this is America. Regrettably, we're selfish, and we forget, especially if it hasn't happened in the last 15 minutes.

    afoxbat

    Hey cut us (this 'last two generations') some slack, we do remember things (at least, some of us do). And if there is blame to be placed it's not *entirely* on these two generations, but also on the generation(s) that raised and taught (?) them/us. Short form, in part, you made us.

    I had no idea today was the anniversary of the Doolittle raid, though I am aware of what it is. I'm aware of most of the events you list (no idea what Hurtgen Forest, Scorpion or Ia Drang refer to, and I'd definitely *not* include Grenada on that list, but that's just by the by).

    Conversely though, does October 23 mean anything to you? The Arad Martyrdom? Beaver Dams? Oka? All just as important...

  4. Bob Hoover has made a legacy that can be equaled by very, very few. His post military career is not easy to match...While at North American/Rockwell...IIRC he flew an Aero Commander from Wichita, KS to DC to show the FAA it was indeed everything with one of the props locked in the luggage compartment. Don't try that a your local airfield.

    As I said, people like us, those interested in aviation, *we* know this... but my original point still stands: ask ten random people off the street, I doubt any will know who he was, whereas most will at least recognise Yeager's name.

  5. Per the book, it was indeed he and Hoover (IIRC) who worked out the flight test plan and then submitted it for rubber-stamp approval. By all rights though he *shouldn't* have been the one to fly that day given his broken ribs, but he got lucky that his broom-handle idea to close the door latch actually worked. If it hadn't, though, the sound barrier would still have been broken that day - except Bob Hoover would be the one everyone knows about, and Chuck Yeager would be just another post-war test pilot only aviation nuts know about.

  6. Of course, I'd like that to be the case. We shall see. In 30 years I think there will be a new form of hipster trying to impress his friends with an ironic source of 'fun' derived from "building those old plastic thingies."

    ...and then it'll go mainstream again - just like has happened with vinyl (in North America anyways, it never really went away elsewhere). A decade ago vinyl was just a hipster thing, now everyone is releasing vinyl again. even mainstream artists...

  7. I think, all the doom-talk aside, because that's been around in every hobby since the advent of the concept of hobbies, the best way to promote it?

    Don't necessarily have to go out of your way to 'recruit' new converts - simply encourage those who show an interest. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.

  8. Not really what that customer base is looking for, though; the ones who buy a completed die-cast model aren't going to want to have to paint it. Also, for paintability's sake, it'll have to come not completely assembled, etc... and which point you may as well just buy an unassembled kit. Which isn't really what that customer base is looking for.

  9. Incorporate more 3d modeling to physical modeling and it may survive for a little bit longer...

    Hahaha.

    Modelling will survive a *lot* longer. With all the improvements in 3D design/printing, CAD/CAM/CNC/allthatotherstuff, modelling is IMO in a better position than ever... and it's getting progressively easier for everyone to build the model that *they* want, down to details specific to a particular thing on a particular day.

  10. Oh jeez...

    In progress or stalled I've got...

    RHKAAF Spitfire F.24 (Spitfire GB) - Legato 1/72

    Soviet Yak-1 (Lydia Litvyak's plane) - South Front 1/48

    CAF CH-178/Mi-17V-5 - Hobby Boss 1/72 kitbash (stalled... can't convince myself that the interior is finished enough to close up)

    1/72 Trumpeter Sea Fury - will be probably RCN but possibly RAN

    a couple of 1/72 whiffy builds, one based on the Bristol Belvedere, the other on the Chieftain tank

    Stuff in the queue:

    Fujimi 1/72 F-4EJ (for Far East GB)

    Hasegawa 1/72 F-4EJ Kai (for Far East GB) - 8 Sqn two-tone blue

    three Tamiya 1/72 MiG-29s to use in the Far East GB

    a Fujimi 1/72 F-4E earmarked for the Hellenic AF GB

    a Hasegawa 1/72 F-4J kit (with suitable parts from other kits) to do a ROKAF F-4D

    a Hasegawa 1/72 JASDF RF-4E (earmarked for the Far East GB)

    Czechmaster 1/72 Seafire Mk. XV RCN (for the Spitfire GB... but kinda intimidated, never built a resin kit before)

    Not really 'scheduled', but I'd like to do get my Italeri 1/72 F-5B done in the not-too-distant future - with this completed I'll have one model built of each type of fighter used post-war by the RCAF completed (types that entered squadron service - I don't have an Arrow yet).

    I have a couple ofpersonal Themed Builds I've started/want to start, of squadrons that have a special meaning to me - RCAF 407 Sqn, I've got a Hasegawa 1/72 P-2H kit that I want to do soonish, and then expand to cover other stuff flown by 407 Sqn. The other is RAF 111 Sqn, for which I have a Lightning and a Tornado ready to go...

    And also lots of other Phantoms and Fulcrums...

  11. An alternative to the Tamiya weathering master sets that's both cheaper and offers a much broader range of colours is eyeshadow. Don't need to go to Sephora of course, just cheap supermarket/walmart eyeshadow will work just as well. Note of advice though I would strongly recommend using the eyeshadow last, and not putting any clear coat over top, because that will kill the effect completely. It's pretty durable even under a bit of handling (which I don't imagine is going to happen very often), and if necessary can always be touched up.

  12. If you want larger rusty patches then you can use spots of rubber cement in the same sort of way as with the salt technique. The salt technique can be even better if you mix fine and coarse salts... I'd suggest like, putting some coarse salt right touching the edges and near to the blotches of the rubber cement, then fine salt near/around the coarse...

  13. ...and several thousand dollars in printing costs. You kinda left that part out.

    "the most popular scale in global terms" doesn't necessarily translate into "the most popular aftermarket decals" from a business standpoint. It's not just Speed Hunter, a number of AM decal companies have stated as such.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of printer costs there is a break point around 500 sheets. Oh, they will print 250, or even 25, but the cost is about the same as for 500 sheets, and the decal company pays all of that up front. He might sell 100 sheets right off the bat and then he's left sitting on 400 sheets.

    It's a business, not a charity. You do the math.

    Sure, I understand it's a business, and it's entirely his call.

    But quite a few other decal makers seem to do very well with 1/72; the reluctance to producing sheets in this scale seems to be an allergy that primarily affects American publishers.

    But that said, this isn't an argument I'm very interested in prolonging; I've got a plethora of other options to choose from. If Jake ever does decide to print some 1/72 Phantom sheets I'll happily buy them, if not... like I said, I've got other choices.

  14. :sunrevolves:/>

    Do you really think a snarky response is going to help the cause?

    Oh, probably not, but after seeing answers like:

    Hi, Fred. Great question. I have no immediate plans for 1/72. That certainly doesn't mean they won't be coming down the road, but not before the end of this year.

    for like 3 years now (about both the RF-4 and ANG Phantom sheets you told me and others they'd be coming in 1/72), one gets jaded, y'know? Have you ever released a 1/72 sheet?

    It really does surprise me you'd ignore what is probably the most popular scale in global terms, when all it'd really take is resizing the artwork.

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