PeepingBear

Hello Dai, a sure guess is the early / initial variant. The West German Luftwaffe used the Sabre in the 50es / 60es. When I was an active soldier at the end of the Cold War, I saw both varaints of RAL 6014 side by side, the earlier shade was a tad lighter, slightly more yellowish. The later / "younger" shade was definitely darker. BUT: This might not be due to different pigments, but a consequence of aged colour on the older specimens. This also goes along nicely with the scale effect: Especially smaller scale models look more realistic if painted in slightly lightended col

Hello Mason, and thanks for authoring this very nice walk around book. I bought it at Aviation Megastroe (Amsterdsam NLD), read it and took the liberty of writing a review for the German modeling scene: https://www.modellversium.de/presse/artikel.php?id=1239 Happy New Year! Ian

You should contact Abt. X (Dpt. X) of Revell, they are very customer oriented. Currentliy Revell offers "1/72 DGzRS Berlin & Bundeswehr Westland Seaking, Revell 05683", usually they have spares available for several months after the sale of a kit started. I always offer to pay replacement parts and postage, as of yet they never sent me a bill.

Cool idea indeed, when I was shown this in an AH-1F several years ago, I thought (and still think) how much I would like such a system in my car. Cheers Ian

This thread is getting better and better!

@ Hawkwrench/Tim: You are a heretic! 😉 @Rotoreash/Ray: Thanks for the additional pics, really helpful.

Thank you so much for these HQ pics! W. Mutza's Sqn WA is nice, but your pictures are priceless! With ICM's new big AH-1G coming and Special Hobby's 72nd scale 'Nam Cobra on the market, it's just great to have such comparisons available. Personally I plan to convert Fujimi's AH-1S (already started hacking away) and your photos will help me very much. Is there any chance you could give us some more pics of the left side and underside? E. g. the tail, because the AH-1S/F's much bigger blister over the 90deg gear needs to be shaved off and replaced with a quite smaller cov

Yea! He meant three scale feet. That is one lovely model of the 53. Especially if one knows about the old-school quality of the kit: Not bad on details but definitely not a "shake and bake" assembly. The Super Jolly Green Giant saved many a pilot, your model is a fitting memory.

Hi from Germany! Are you asking for the "dolphin scheme", offically calle norm 76? You will need Basaltgrau RAL 7012 (close to FS 36081 gunship grey) and Weissaluminium (white aluminium dope) RAL 9006 (FS 37178) and Leuchtorange (DayGlo orange) RAL 2005 (close to FS 38903) for the wingtip tanks. Do not become misguided: Our F-4F Phantoms and F-104G Starfighters were not painted Silbergrau RAL 7001 (silver grey) on the underside but with aluminium dope. Still, that colour weathered to a smudgy grey rather quickly, as did the Leuchtorange, which became bleached cloudy yellow-whiti

Here on ARC gorgeous models are shown regularly, but not every day does one see such a great project. The result looks very good, a wall decoration many would like to show in their rooms. It must be even more satisfying that this was a daughter & dad venture. Lyta can be proud of her dexterity and Stephen surely is one happy father, having the opportunity to do something creative with his daughter and see her skills grow. Three Hoorays from the land of the Red Baron!!!

You might try this link: http://originalundmodell.de/reviews2016_3/hahen-48060.htm There are rather good drawings of the scheme. Google will offer you more resuls, just enter "Norm 81 F-4F" HTH JCT

Hobby Boss' F-105? Well what about the missing centerline pylon for the typical load of one MER with six M117 bombs? OK it is a relatively easy scratch build, but it WOULD fill a gap. Regards Ian

Hi Midnightprowler, are you looking for the old Revell decals (USMC field greem over all with black markings, see here for an example: Box cover pic). I think I have that set available, but I will need some time to check this as it is in deep storage. If there is none available "over there", I could send you that set as a letter from old Europe. Best regards Ian (janteipel at web dot de)

Congratulations for a very well built F-16 model with a stunning display! Ian

Is ist just me or did anybody else noctice that the kit's parts for the scissors just above the rotating swashplate are a mirror image of reality? That seems the reason why the mast assembly of the Q+D build by KH looks strange. But I think it is an easy job to fix this: A cut in the joint and then reglue the parted plastic with the horizontal parts inverted. A somewhat tougher cookie is the missing adjustment for the hell hole roof (= base for the main rotor transmission), I think this should be glued at a slight angle forward-downward, because the whole MR assembly is tilted

Nose for IIIS variant... Hi to all, that nose was produced by Kinetic: Three "non-recon" noses were originally shown: a bulgy cone for the French "Cyrano" radar, a "straight and narrow" for non-radar Mirage III versions (5, V), and a less bulgy curved cone for the Hughes-Radar equipped Swiss variant. Model Peek's thread on ARC shows all nose styles, alas only the rece nose and the Cyrano nose are in the original release K48050. For a deeper discussion about the parts for a Swiss Mirage, please see my post on Britmodeller. So we have to build the RS first and wait for the Swiss chasseur.

Hi everybody! It seems more attractive to combine a HAS F-104 kit with Daco's F-104 enhancenment set (which is massive!). Without extra decals, the price for the basic kit and the Daco set is about the same as Eduard's offer. Eduard's previous beefed-up kits were really more attractive than this "Bundesfighter". Just my tuppence... Cheers to all Ian

Hi Janne! You wrote it crystal clear! I am very happy if smaller kit producers leave the boring path and offer something really new. If they are successful, chances rise that other exotic aircraft types get "kitted" - good for all of us. But the Viggen project seems like a misjudgement of market facts. At current prices, only afficionados and modelling nerds will buy Tarangus' viggen - even I am still really tempted... But with prices adjusted to the kit's quality, they could expect to "own" and saturate the Viggen market. Ah, back to modelling... Cheers Ian

Very instructive building thread! Thank you Janne for showing us your knowledgeable and crafty build of the new Trangus kit. I think many of us had really high hopes for this kit and now we see it's weak points it may be a bit discouraging, especially considering the price tag. (Just imagine the brutal bashing this kit would receive were it done and marketed by one of the younger chinese companies...) On the other hand YOU show us how satisfying and nice this model can be if built with some TLC. Tarangus should thank you for your efforts! Right now I am not as sure as I was a few moths a

URGENT SAFETY ADVICE Being a chemist may I please repeat and fortify some of the safety hints that have come up in this thread: Reasons why you do not want to use Oxygen or Nitrogen: 1. Pure Oxygen gas at higher pressure will spontaneously and explosivley ignite many organic solvents, oils and fats. NO extra spark or flame needed! Open the pressure reducing valve a tad too far and WOOF / BANG - there you go! With the solvent mixtures used in paint you cannot predict the "touchiness", but it might add some "spice" to boring painting tasks... [*] 2. High pressure bottles with Oxygen o

Hi from Germany! You will find several discussion threads on this topic, here on ARC and also on other forums. As beloved as the Huey is, some threads are quite comprehensive. One can end up with the feeling that there is no really "on par" 1/48 or 1/72 scale Huey model kit. I understand that emotion, the Huey being THE icon of the Vietnam war and a workhorse for over 30 years in so many countries around the world. Still Italeri's UH-1 is not bad, even the older ESCI kit will build into a good replica with the application of knowledge, research (thank the WWW) and classic modelling skills.

Hi all! I am pleased I could help. The WWW is really a boon for knowledge gathering if we combine our individual smaller contributions. I would like to build "Rigor Mortis", but I have a set of TwoBobs decals for an AH-64A with a superb dragon mouth... Just cool. But TF Normandy was one great opening success of DS. Ah, yes, these are the pods the Dutch use on their 64s. Hard to see, but the pic shows a RNAF (Netherlands) AH-64D. May I ask why your border patrol aircraft need ASE? Best regards Ian

Hi! The tanks are used on combat missions as well. Most famous might be the "opener" of Desert Storm: Task Force Normandy's AH-64As punching holes in Iraq's air defence system. This was disussed on ARC's helicopter forum, Jonathan Bernstein was very helpful supplying further information: Mission Leader was Then-LTC D. Cody in AH-64A s/n 68977 "Rigor Mortis" with Eddy (of Iron Maiden fame) Tail art. The Apaches were loaded with one tank, 8 Hellfires and 19 Hydras (one pod) plus 30 mm rounds. http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/task-force-normandy-fired-the-opening-shots-of-desert-stor

Seconded! Great Idea! I commented the appeal on FB. Let us hope. A quarter scale .50 cal M2 (M3) barrel with flash hiding slits at the end would be nice too, what with all the H-60es, OH-58Ds, H-53es etc around...

Weathered DayGlo Orange changes into a wild cloudy variety of full colour orange - yellow - off white. I would rather not mix the orange for an overall lighter tint but spray an irregular pattern of thinned yellow or white over the uncut DayGlo. Naturally the weathering is strongest on sun exposed surfaces. Photos on the WWW help getting a feeling for the realy look. HTH Ian