Joe Hegedus

I'll admit, I haven't been to Z5 in many months. I kinda gave up on it when I'd check in to the "see new posts", and there be something like 10 or 15 posts since the last time I visited - which was at the time approximatly weekly. It seemed the traffic just dried up, and what was being posted was of no interest to me. I guess my interests just parted ways with the direction the site was going.

Gerry, you oughta know better. BRU-32 is the Hornet parent rack, and supports 14 and 30 inch suspension. The BRU-33 racks are only 14 inch suspension. But the rest is spot-on. As an addendum, the Air Force BRU-57 racks were converted from standard BRU-33/A VERs, so have the racks vertical, but the actual ejector racks are different than those in the BRU-33 as the AF doesn't use that particular rack.

That’s one possibility. The other would be that the name was removed (airplane assigned to a new pilot) and the checkers painted over the red/yellow tips. The Hasegawa 1/48 P-51D canopy will sit correctly in the open position, but that kit has some other things that might turn you off it (shallow main wheel wells and raised flaps), but it builds up pretty easily overall and doesn’t look bad when done. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200132330627690&set=a.10200128978503889&type=3&theater

Considering all the photos you post showing checkers on the wingtips also lack the name on the cowl, it is obvious that the markings changed over time. I'd go with the Eduard instructions unless/until you find a photo with the name on the cowl that contradicts them.

Pretty sure that the steam cat was a post-war development, like the angle deck. At least for WWII US Ships, the installed catapults were hydraulic.

That looks like an interesting kit. I’m not much of a car guy, but kits like this are the kind of cars that I do take an interest in, for reasons similar to yours. They’re what you see in normal life; the cars that we own and use. I would like to see kits of “normal” cars, as I would like to have some models of what I owned and drove. Stuff like a Pontiac Sunbird, Chevy Corsica, VW Jetta, Suburu Forester-even basic, bog-standard pickup trucks. No custom, no lift kits, just a normal, 2WD truck.

I missed that bit; that's interesting.

FWIW, Osprey Combat Aircraft #92, "P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force", has on it's cover a painting of your subject as well as a color profile inside. While the only photo inside of this airplane is the one you posted above, the profile shows a wavy paint demarcation all the way back, curving up to meet the stabilizer. Curiously, both the cover painting and the profile show both wings in NMF, and the text implies that both wings were replaced following damage caused by flying through a bomb blast in January, 1945 (evidently, he fragged himself), but doesn't state that outright. That doesn't change what the photo shows regarding the landing gear color, but it is possible that both wings could be NMF. While I understand the limitations re. using paintings and profiles as reference, I trust the author of this book to have done his research. If you are on Facebook, check out the group "Modeling the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt". There are several knowledgeable people there who might have more information.

Bear in mind, "Oh Johnie" is a bubbletop (appears to be a D-25 owing to the H-S prop), and all P-47s after the D-21 were delivered in unpainted natural metal. So any bubbletop in camo will have been painted in the field (the exception is the XP-47K, the original prototype bubbletop which was converted from a very early razorback D). You really need more photos of the airplane if you want definitive info on what the camo demarcation looked like; photos of factory painted razorbacks aren't really of much use WRT a field-camo'd airplane. P-47s were originally delivered with the landing gear painted olive drab, and the D-25 production still was using the OD landing gear. Eventually the landing gear were delivered in aluminum paint. So, looking at the pictures above, the right wing appears to be the replacement, with the wing from a later production model fitted (silver colored gear strut included) and unpainted, while the left wing looks to be the original with the OD strut.

Regarding kits, Hasegawa is probably the best option in terms of detail and accuracy, but being a modular kit can be a bit fiddly to build. Fujimi has a decent F-4J, although I don't know how hard they are to find anymore. The other reasonable option is Monogram. The biggest differences between the Monogram and Fujimi is that the latter has recessed panel lines and includes outboard pylons for weapons as well as the outboard tanks, while the former has raised detail but includes TERs on the inboard pylons and has better interior detail. I think the Fujimi may be the easiest of the 3 main options to build. Accurate Miniatures released the Monogram F-4J kit a few years back and one of the markings options was for VF-142; I believe it might be for the aircraft you are interested in but can't say for certain as I don't have my copy of the kit handy at the moment (it's at home and I'm not).

I save a few. They're handy to put bagged kits in, or to put a kit that comes in an end-opening box in when one starts building it.

While the Tesla sedans are rather good-looking, that thing they're calling a truck is hideous!

Drop me a PM and I'll take a look; I may have a Monogram Phantom pylon or two in the parts box. You're welcome to them if I do, in fact, have them.

Drop me a PM; I may be able to help you out with at least some of what you need.

Looking for 1/48 C-47 decals. Prefer a set from a Monogram kit, either the original or "Classics" release that included "Buzz Buggy" as that is the airplane I'd like to build, but realistically any markings as long as they're US in the OD/gray scheme - D-day stripes preferred. Willing to trade or purchase. Joe