Brian P: Fightertown Decals

The Reedoak stuff is awesome. Perfect replica. Gloria models now has both USN and USAF chocks that are excellent. Eduard makes both USN and USAF (AF ones I have came in F-16 wheels sets). *correction* Aires Wheeliant line has USN hard bar and rope versions. I know there’s a few other USN and USAF sets out there. Just can’t remember who. if Dave is doing them, they’ll be excellent!

That’s great to hear that they are open to, and planning on making the adjustments to have correct sets. I have several Gloria sets coming from the48ers.com now and will definitely want to see how and if Gloria can distribute the correct parts. FYI, Ilias at 48ers is a class act and great guy.

I bought Manuel’s ModelOn details GE for the Kinetic F-16 and it fits perfect, has all the details and I feel is the best option out there. Highly recommend! I also have Katran GE for Tamiya and it’s on the same level, maybe even better. It has the carbon fiber thread for the shroud and looks amazing. The shroud doesn’t fit Kinetic without some sanding. Both of these are my choice above all others for the GE. Can’t upload any pictures 🤦‍♂️ ordered Gloria for the Pratt engine and not happy to hear about your mix up…

Yep. Got a full sheet of ‘5th Gen’ Fighters for Fightertown Decals in works with their full stable. Early 2024 release.

RLM 74 looks pretty good. I’ve been using MRP Graphite and after a flat coat it looks really good. Maybe a bit dark, but I like it. I think I’ll try RLM 74 or field gray mixed into it next time. brian

I go for ‘off white’ from MrColor, MRP, or AKRCA (or white gray) Looks about right to me. -Brian

Neither of those. Top pic is either a prototype or the Nasa jet. Bottom pic is an F-14D and is a completely different cockpit. You need an F-14B late cockpit with the Sparrowhawk HUD. I can’t upload any pictures here but google F-14 Sparrowhawk HUD, and you’ll get a few things. Basically an A with the top panel removed and a HUD box in the center. The B and D HUD are very different, but most people don’t care too much in scale. Phase Hangar does a B cockpit update with the pilot and RIO panels and coamings fyi. Very nice set. brian

That, and the RIO coaming has a strange tall shape. The bigger issue for me is their slats come out at the wrong angle and length. They have them over extended and equal distance from the wing. Not an easy fix.

Fightertown Decals 48087 F-14 Data and Weapons has every placard and marking you need for the Tomcat. It’s still available on the website and thru all distributors. we did Hornet and Superhornet markings on their individual sheets and as a data sheet. F-4, F-5, F-16, and other jets are on sheets for those aircraft. All printed by Cartograf since 2013 and Microscale before that.

Good points and all valid. The other reason is pure cost. Decal sheets don’t cost that much more to go slightly bigger. And the amount of art doesn’t affect the price much. So we’re paying almost the same. But then with a small sheet and limited options, we have a very small market. When sheets were cheap to print, that was fine. But now. It’s so expensive and the margin is so small, we would be out of business in 2 sheets. I do go a bit overboard sometimes wedging more options in, but if we’re paying for the space, I like to use it. I don’t do locating numbers most of the time due to the amou

Yep. We actually designed a few Vandy 1 black Superhornets for them back a number of years ago. Deciding now if or how many of the designs we’ll include along with the actual that was painted this month. Brian

Quinta and Aires make sets for the Revell kit. As far as I can see, the Quinta fits the kit perfectly. I haven’t tried to match Quinta to Aires yet… fyi, I did use Quinta for GWH on Hasegawa F-15C. It took some trimming and I had to build a new main instrument panel for the Quinta parts.

I went thru a similar dilemma recently and decided the Revelel kit was a better way to go. Added Quinta cockpit. For wepsons, you’ve got a great range from ResKit, Eduard, Flying Leathernecks. And for pylons, wheels and speed brake there’s Kopecky and Phase Hangar stuff. Far better than any kit has and highly refined all.

Great topic! Built the Tamiya B and have the ZM S in the stash and want to build. I’ve held off a bit on the ZM kit, but don’t expect Tamiya to do a late S anytime soon. Decided to go all in with the ZM kit and aftermarket. Looks good, sounds good and everyone I know that’s built it, likes it. But it’s not the same as Tamiya. Unless Tamiya has one out in the next year, I’ll be building the ZM kit. Still debating if it’s worth using the Hypersonic fuselage corrections, or if I’ll screw it up and cost me the kit..: YMMV Brian

There’s 10+ threads of the exact thing here… either way you start, you need parts from the other kit. Starting with a D is easier I think. Or if you want dropped wings, the late A gives you everything but the daily engine doors, front fans and some exhaust parts.

Kinetic is making the weapons that way in part to have the magnets fit in. So you can change out a load and switch weapons around for display. And they’ve got the design to have the parts fit perfectly. They’ve been making big advances in fit and quality so why don’t we wait and see. This is a new generation of their molding ability so the old experiences don’t count anymore. brian

Pretty sure the moment Kinetic wants to state a specific release date, they will… and also pretty sure they could’ve released this kit years ago so it’s not an imaginary future date. I know there’s a lot of buzz for this thing and it will be a pretty spectacular build to see it done.

Love the Quinta stuff!! Far better than PE, durable and will last the life of the model. I don’t put it in water. Just touch it to a damp paper towel is enough to remove the ‘decals’. Then I put them on a dry cloth and do them all that way so I can apply them all at the same time. PVA white glue or CA both work great. I weather them with enamel washes and mask the big glass screens and shoot a flat coat. The decals have mostly semi gloss appearance except for the screens and glass dials - those are gloss. After a flat coat, remove the screen masks and add a drop of Future or gloss back to the

Fightertown Decals 48083 Tomcats at War Pt 1 http://www.fightertowndecals.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=63 VF-41 and others. The A’s never got JDAM though. Only GBU series for guided bombs.

Good call! IIRC, this is what Darren Roberts used as well. I mentioned Stop Sign Red, but pretty sure I meant to say Chevy Engine Red 🤦‍♂️😜. thanks for that Brian

All I can offer is we printed the decals to match the FS color and they match to the color chip perfectly. MM 12197 was always too orange. I always added a bit of Stop Sign Red. For MrColor I tested a 40/60 mix of Orange and Red. Came out as close as I could tell. Brian as

This is all I’ve ever wanted… the 703 Blue and 709 Desert

Super nice!!! I’m always amazed what you can accomplish in such a tiny scale. Congrats. brian

Those Tomcat gear look amazing! Order placed. Brian

Willing to use lacquer? Alclad, MRP, and MrColor Super Metallic are all great. And mask over well.