Brian J

Many thanks, Tom, for taking the time to respond to my questions. Well...at one level the photos are very helpful. On another level, they raise more questions relative to the photo on page 136 of Mike O'Conner's book. When the airframe in question carried the 205 modex it had the black panel over the gun ports in the inflight photo from the cruise book. I hope that the gentleman who produces Furball Decals can add his take on the decals he did on his F-8 sheet. I get as much pleasure out of digging up the truth as I do in building models. Actually, more so! Thanks again.

I am interested in clarifying several points concerning the markings of F-8E BuNu 150349 flown by Cdr. Guy Cane when he was credited with shooting down a MiG-17 on July 27 or 29 (references vary as to the actual date), 1968. A photo of this aircraft, the only one I've ever seen, can be found at the bottom of page 78 of Steve Ginter's 'Vought's F-8 Crusader, Part Four', with the modex 205, where the photo caption indicates, "A replacement metal panel can be seen behind the cockpit." This same photo can be found on page 140 of 'MiG Killers of Yankee Station' by Michael O'Conner. All reference

I failed to mention in my initial post that I planned on doing my build-up in the early markings of natural metal or aluminum paint so a lot of those Viet Nam type modifications would have to be eliminated.

This may well have been addressed in the past...darned if I know where to look, but I would enjoy reading comments on the accuracy of this kit. I have long had the highly regarded Monogram kit in my stash but have thought of doing some kit bashing and use some of the better parts of that kit. I recall reading several years ago that the Hobby Boss kit had vertical tail issues as well as a few others. Comments and advice would be appreciated.

Would all F-4B's and later N's have those small upper wing bumps above the landing gear pivot point? In some photos they appear quite clear but in other photos they appear to be absent...or at least very difficult to make out. Were they possibly later modifications?

I noticed that Zotz Decals has recently released this new sheet which has markings for four Viet Nam MiG Killers. Has anyone seen what this sheet looks like and what aircraft are depicted? Images on the internet just show one aircraft from VF-51 on the cover of the sheet.

Thanks to those gentlemen who took the time to respond to my question. From my experience in the past I have found that indeed one can thin enamel with lacquer thinner but it will deteriorate after a few weeks. As I indicated in my original post, the lacquer thinned enamel went on smooth even after eight or ten days. It just seemed to change shade to a darker blue. I have other gloss finished subjects on the work bench but plan on using enamel thinner in the future. Lesson learned!

Hope I'm on the right form...here goes. I've been painting a 1/32 Fisher F9F-5 Panther with MM Gloss Sea Blue enamel thinned with lacquer thinner, hoping for a faster drying time and possibly a harder finish. Every thing went well until I had to touch up several areas due to over zealous polishing. My problem is that when I pulled off the masking tape I found that the shade of blue had changed! It was noticeably darker. This is from the same bottle of paint. I had let the paint sit for a week or so. Does lacquer thinner affect the enamel pigment some how over time? The paint was still g

Perfect! Couldn't ask for more. Many thanks for the help. Brian J

Many thanks, Sowar, for the constructive comments. According to the photo captions that I am using for my reference, the subject P-40-CUs that I am considering were photographed in the second half of 1940 which suggests they lacked the bullet resistant glass. The photos seem to indicate the same. I would be grateful if you are able to send that drawing of the ammunition access door. When I started this project I thought it would be a snap and it would be off the modeling bench in a week or so...and then I realized how much I don't know!

In my initial posting I should have mentioned that I too have a copy of Dana Bell's 'P-40 Warhawk' book. I agree that it is an important addition to the early P-40 story. I was hoping that other members who have this book would comment on their interpretation of the photos and text. I have taken a second and third look and have come to the following conclusions. The colour photo on page 37 shows a detailed close up of a P-40-CU from the 8th PG numbered 3 on the port wing leading edge. While there is no wing gun there appears to be an outline where the gun hatch would be located outboard o

Thought I'd check in before I proceed any further with the above titled conversion. The Airfix kit comes with twin mounted machine guns in each wing. The earlier version had only one gun per wing. Which gun should I eliminate, the outer or inner one? Also, would the bullet proof glass panel behind the windscreen have been mounted in this earlier version? The subject aircraft I plan on building is one of two aircraft that can be found on page 15 of the Squadron/Signal 'Walk Around Number 8' from the 33rd PS, 8th PG. The photo captions indicate these aircraft, #21 or #22 are P-40B's but th

Thanks for the reminder, Rex. Duh, I never even thought of using that Starfighter photo etch rigging for the three Pro Resin F6C-2, 3 and 4 kits that I have. To tell you the truth that set of photo etch is much more delicate and realistic than that offered for the F4B-4.

Thanks to Aurora Mark for taking the time to add informative comments. From the large photos that I have access to it is clear that navy birds from the mid-30's on had the streamlined bracing wires suggested by Cub2jets. It is the aircraft from the 1920's that give me pause. I'm thinking of the Curtiss Hawks, such as the F6C-1 to the F6C-3 and the Boeing FB series up to the F2B's. The early Vought observation aircraft such as the UO-1 and O2U-1 come to mind as well as the Curtiss SOC Seagull series. The bracing on the vertical and horizontal tail areas always seemed much thinner than the

Many thanks for the detailed response to my question by Cubs2jets. The last response starts with, "By the 1930's..." Does this imply that flying wires and landing wires were different before the '30's? I mean were aircraft from World War One e.g. DH4's, Sopwith Pups and Camels for example rigged with a different type of bracing. Aircraft from that era, as late as the late 1920's seemed to have a lighter, thinner type of bracing, like wire.

Before I dig into my stash of 'Golden Age' pre-war navy bi-planes I thought I'd better check in to get opinions on the colour of the wire bracing. I doubt they would be left unpainted. Would they be painted aluminum like the fabric wings or grey like the metal parts of the aircraft after the mid 1930's? Also, would the bracing wires on the tails be in the colour of the tail i.e. the colour identifying the carrier it was assigned to or would they be the same colour as the wing bracing wires? Colour photos from that era are hard to come by.

While cross referencing these two decal sheets with photos of the subject aircraft I came across several errors that can be corrected. The style used for the numbers and letters do not match with a photo of 5-F-10 on sheet 32-003 for the F3F-3. The numerals 5, 6 and 10 can be replaced by more accurate ones. A photo of this aircraft can be found on page 43 of 'Grumman Biplane Fighters in Action, Aircraft Number 160'. The unit insignia of a diving eagle should be upside down! A photo caption on page 43 and other photos on page 42 in the Squadron Signal book explains, "The unit marking was ap

I'd like to hear opinions on the engine or its replacement for the 1/32 Trumpeter F4U-4 Corsair. Vector makes an expensive resin version. I see where Quickboost offers a resin R-2800 (QB32038) for a P-47D. Would that be the later R-2800 that was used on later Thunderbolts as well as the F4U-4? For that matter, is the kit engine all that bad?

My daddy was right when he said that the more he learned the more he realized he didn't know very much! Hats off and thanks to Mr. Thomason (and Mr. Hinton) for sharing those helpful photos. It makes sense that the Canopy Defrosting Tube running up the port side of the ejection seat would connect with the piping on the rear canopy when closed. The first three photos from the Tailhook Topics blog indicate they were of a slightly different set up as there is a thin dark (metal?) framework just behind the canopy reinforcement strap. Is there a chance that the clear plastic sheet was not inclu

Thanks to the gentlemen who responded to my inquiry. After studying the drawing and photos provided by Mr. Thomason I have come to the conclusion that this Radio Compass Sense Antenna is attached to the sides of the canopy frame and sits a few inches below the canopy glass. The second photo shows a thin dark arc to the rear of the fiberglass reinforcement strap and gives the impression of not being part of the canopy glass. The last photo, taken from overhead, shows the proximity of these wires to each other. All these years I was led to believe that these wires were in the canopy glass.

The very nice 1/32 Fisher F9F-5 Panther includes a photo etch piece for the radio antenna that is glued to decking behind the seat. Photos of this area are difficult to find and it is hard to tell if this antenna was found on all Panthers. I'd appreciate opinions or photo reference help before I progress much farther on my build-up.

Don't know if it matters to you but the 1/72 MPM A-20G kit has nicely done fabric control surfaces. The 1/48 AMT A-20G's had smooth(metal)surfaces. Vector does a very nice fabric control surface set for the AMT kit.

I am working on a F9F-5 Panther from VF-154 during its last war cruise in 1953. Most photos (I've only found one exception so far) indicate that Panthers either carried an all rocket load out or all bombs, sometimes of various sizes. Would a weapons load of two ATAR (anti-Tank Aerial Rockets) and one 250 or 500 pound bomb on each wing be realistic? Opinions and/or photographic verification would be appreciated.

I would appreciate it if fellow members could inform me of the availability of airliner decals for the Heller Constellation. I am considering picking up a couple of resin correction sets from Fisher Models but want to be sure there are decals available first. I have the kit decals but it has been in my stash for decades and do not trust that they are usable.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions, gentlemen. Over the decades I have tried to collect as much reference on the 8th Air Force as my wallet permits and have observed that aircraft markings seldom stayed the same for more than a few months. The same aircraft often had changes made especially during the last six months of the war. Recognition markings e.g. black I.D. bands were deleted at times, depending on the unit. What frustrates me is that kit companies and aftermarket decal outfits usually fail to include references as to the markings. What are they based on? As