Jabba29

For the past couple of years some person from Poland I think has had a stall at the Scale Model World, and has had both versions of the Top Gun resin kit there. Yet again the cost and the not too brilliance of the mouldings put myself and a friend off buying the kit.

I really do like the look of this and I have been wanting one for years, but it is too expensive for my pocket. Hopefully someone one day might come up with a complete kit.

Now that does sound interesting.

I have for years been looking for F-117 Desert Storm markings in 1/72 and 1/48, but the only markings that I can ever find are with the kit and these are always for the same aircraft which is the one that Col Al Whitley flew during the conflict. This is really a pity as there many more aircraft out there that had better bomb bay art. If only someone would do a sheet or was some sort of agreement reached about which aircraft could be done?

I got a Streem kit that had the Neomega cockpit with it, but it does not fit at all, mainly due to the fact that the nose U/C bay is too big and also it is too wide for the kit. The Neomega cockpit is meant for the Italeri kit.

Thanks for that, very much appreciated.

I am using the Hasegawa kit to make a UH-60A from the Desert Shield/Storm time period. The problem that I have at the moment is the shpae of the stabilator, in that the kit offers you one with a kinked trailing edge and the decal sheet instructions shows the helicopter with a straight edged version. I can't fiind a picture of the actual helicopter that I am building, but I am asking if there is a hard and fast rule with the shape of the trailing edge of the stabilator. I do have a update set that offers both and will use whichever is correct from this. Any help will be grateful.

Thanks very much for that. I found the pages that you suggested after I wrote the above post, and there really are some interesting subjects ppictured, plus some interesting stories. I found the pictures of 85-114, and from what I see it seems to confirm what I have written above, but then I still maybe wrong. Yet again thank you.

Thanks for all the help that is being given. I have overnight come up with a theory, which maybe right or could be totally wrong. In the first picture that I have which show an F-15C being refuelled, it has black stencelling and 1 Iraqi flag as a kill by that aircraft. This also shows the painted over bigger star. It also has the nameplate of Capt Rodriquez. But I cannot see the serial No of this aircraft, but the caption says that it is 85-114, but I don't think that it is, but it maybe the aircraft that Capt Rodriquez was assigned at the start of the war. The second picture is of 85-114, and has full colour national markings and stencilling. There are no kill markings, but I can't make out the nameplate. So I think this aircraft was at this time actually assigned to another pilot. The third picture is again of 85-114 with full colour national markings and stencilling, but with both Iraqi flag and stars on the nameplate kill markings. This also has Capt Rodriquez name on the nameplate, and I think that this was assigned to him as a "coming home parade" aircraft. This picture I think maybe taken when the aircraft returned to Elgin. As I said this is just a theory and I may have added 2+2 and got 5, but it does sound a bit plausable.

That could be a logical answer. The decal sheet instructions do say that the nameplates were painted over, but most of the pictures that I have seen of F-15s being refueled during the conflict still have them painted on. yet again I fear that the fog of war might be behind this.

Sorry to say I can't make out the serial No in one of the pictures, it is just that the name plate is visible, so unless Capt Rodriquez's name was applied to other aircraft, I can only say that this is that aircraft. The strange thing is that in this picture where there is one Iraqi kill flag under the name plate there is a black ejection seat triangle, where in another picture with no flag, the triangle is red, and this is the same in another picture with two Iraqi kill flags. The last two also show the full colour national marking, but only just on the last one which took me a while to be sure.Also there seems to be a change in the style of name plate in these pictures. In the one with the 1 kill, it has his rank, nickname, surname and a star at the beginning and end. there is close up picture, which I think is taken at the same time as one of the others, where the nameplate his rank, full name and his nickname under these in quotation marks. There are two stars at the end of his surname, but these are his kill markings. So this is where I am a bit puzzled.

Thanks for that and to all the others who have provided information. I think that I will apply full colour stars and bars to all four position from the information that you have all given me.

The pictures that I have seen are from bookseither about the 1991 conflict or about F-15Cs taking part in the said conflict. They show the aircraft when it is being refulled, and pictures show the aircraft with either none, 1 or 2 Iraqi kill markins applied. So these were pictures taken during the actual event.

I am using the 1/72nd version of this sheet, but although it does include national markings, these are not in colour. This is also the sheet that states at the bottom that it had help from 33rd Wing personnel, which is why I don't know why there are no colour national markings.

Thanks for that, at least now I know that I am not going completely mad. One other question thoug, did this aircraft carry the full colour star and bars in all four positions, as all the photos that I have only show the port forward fuselage. Also does anyone know when the markings were change, because as I said earlier, there are photos about that show this aircraft with black stencilling?

I am making a model of the title aircraft using the Hasegawa kit and all was going fine until it came to the decalling. After applying the bigger decals I started looking at the stencelling. I saw that the kit decal sheet included a lot of coloured stencils, which from photos that I have in books show that this is not so (mainly black), but I was still unsure. Then last night looking through a book that I don't use that often I fouund a picture of the actual aircraft, but it is now raising more questions than it is answering. In this picture it show that the ejection seat triangle is red (but in other pictures that I have show it to be black) whilst the rescue panel on the port side and arrow are in yellow (I don't have a picture of this). But the strange thing is that the star and bar in this picture is in full colour that is red, white and blue. In all other pictures of any Eagle in this time period I have only seen black star and bars, and that includes the Wing and Sqn commander aircraft that have white edging to the tail codes and extra badges on the sides of the aircraft. So with this I am now really puzzled as to what is correct. I know that people will say that the picture is proof, but somehow I am not sure that it is. This photo is credited to the department of defence, so I am assuming that it has come from official sources. The other worrying thing is that neither of the decal sheet instructions or the sheet inself provide any of this information, which one of them states at the bottom of the instruction sheet was made with the help of the personnel from the 33rd Wing. If this was a unique aircraft with the coloured national marking, surely I would have thought that someone would have remembered it and told the decal manufacturers? This pcture does not show any kill markings under the front windscreen, but I have another picture, which does not show the star and bar clearly, but it looks coloured, and also shows the kill markings associated with this aircaft. Any help will be very welcome.

The pictures that I saw on their web site shows that all the aircraft are from California in about 2011/12.

I still wish that you would as the Xtradecal sheet instruction do not show any aircraft that have operated in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Would your Alpha Jet Luftwaffe sheet include aircraft that operated from Turkey during the 1991 Gulf War?

I think that this is the only way that I will get to make one of these helicopters though.

The Iraqi Air Force never had the MiG 27, only the MiG 23BN. As for the wing insignia I have looked in the Harpia book about the Iraqi Air force and it shows the underside of a MiG 23MS showing the triangle pointing forwards when the wings are swept fully back.

Still no MiL Mi-14.

Would be also glad to hear that. I am part way through a conversion now with a resin conversion set.

TAWS was The Aviation Workshop, and most of their stuff was taken over by Hannants, so there maybe some in the future.

Simple answer as far as I am aware is no.