aircal62

Just received word from Clear Prop that the F-86 will be available to order next week

Great build or should say restoration. Always a nice kit to build. I saw the markings and was surprised they survived the heat and were still mostly useable. We did our own printing, never as good as Microscale who were the top printers of the era, but we did our own thing. We learned never to thin the clear coat and use it as it came out of the can. We discovered thinning the clear caused problems down the line as the decals aged. As the thinner evaporated out of the clear coat over time, the clear became brittle and would shatter after about two years depending on how the decals were st

Dutch great run through of the Retro Wings B-52 conversion. I bought one a few years ago and thought it was for the Revell Crown B-52, so hearing it is for the much better Monogram Revell Designed late H is good news indeed. The problem I have with the late Revell kits is finding straight wings many I have purchased have badly warped wings.

Reading through the discussions about cross kitting the Airfix and Clear Prop F-86 to get an "E" , would it not be easier to use the Airfix F-86F-40 and remove the wing tip extensions to get an "E"? For Clear Prop to do an "E" would require a new fuselage and cockpit parts something which we may see.

X-scale just announced a new tooled 1/144 scale L-188 Electra, which may be a good source for a pattern for a vac windscreen for the P-3.

Dutch, am I reading you clearly, 50 of the LS P-3's? It's a beautiful kit.

An early Sabre sheet would be most welcome especially some of the early AF units before the Korean War and also some of the ANG units like AZ

Love the Su-22's, but personally I have wondered for years why there are no new kits of the Su-7 in 1/48 scale. I have thought about cross kitting the Trumpeter Su-9 fuselage and stabs with the wings from the old Su-7 kit produced in the CZ republic, then ESCI. Kind of gives the look, but know there are a ton of detail differences.

Personally I'd go for the Welsh Models 72nd DC-9 kit over the Mach 2. Airline Hobby Suppy in Phoenix has them, they are more expensive than the Mach 2 kits. The advantage on the Welsh Models kits is that only the fuselage is vac-formed, the wings, stabs and engines are all resin, and very nicely done. One of the details of the DC-9 missed by most is the circular vent just under the left engine which is open while on the ground. Also the DC-9-30/49/50 had a revised and slightly longer fuselage/wing fairing. I'd go with Dutch's fuselage plugs for the Atlantis DC-9 fuselage, and use the Wels

I'd better not linger on buying this sheet, it's going to sell out fast! Lots of great birds on this. Lots of Orange and lots of DayGlo

Gabor, yes still a fascinating aircraft. 50's roots include the U-2A-D cockpit, fuselage around cockpit and canopy were basically from the F-104. The U-2R kept the fuselage cross section through the cockpit and Lockheed ejection seat. Nice to see that Hobby Boss unlike AFV got the fuselage behind the wings correct, as it should be a circular cross section and not have a crease and small change in cross section in it like the AFV kit has. Hopefully Hobby Boss got the wheel wells correct also.

Kursad, another great 104 sheet and one that is going to sell out very fast. On the GE logo, might you include the blue disk, and maybe the think white designs, but leave off the GE. Then you may also somewhere on the sheet have a small white GE without any notation as to what it may be for

Another possible new subject at least to 1/144 scale would be the C-46 now that Wolfpack will be releasing the Platz kit under the Wolfpack label. Should get better distribution than the Platz kit did. Might have some room on the sheet to add the Iconic Flying Tiger Airlines aircraft

Love seeing what Horizon is doing. The Atlas proved to be a very versatile launch vehicle. I am currently at the beginning stages of a kit bash of two kits attempting to build an early long tank Atlas Centaur.

Kursaid, you likely already know Phillip Fridell of Replica In Scale. On this F-104 you may reach out to him via his ReplicaInScale blog. Some how I think he has a bit of info on this bird - that the QF-104 in the picture you posted 60375.