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From the previous poster, a) the prototypes did not have the metallic overcoats -- I plan on painting them overall gunship gray; b) I believe the vertical fins of AF-01 are insignia blue with insignia red bolt (white outline); BF-01 is black with shaded red-to-orange-to-yellow lettering and bolt. Now that Tamiya has announced a 1/72 F-35C, it would seem to follow that Hasegawa may do so also in the near future. If Hasegawa tracks like they did with the A and B, hopefully they will eventually issue a version with markings of the "F-35C Prototype" like they have for the F-35A and

Many years ago, my wife's uncle (who knew I built airplane models) found the Hawk Mister Mulligan kit at a flea market and bought it to give to me. The box top is dated 1958. Though I probably would not have bought it myself (not much into 1930s civilian planes), its a wonderful remembrance of him every time I see it --- he was a great guy.

Ranger_Chris61 - Good review! I agree this is a nice kit of the B/RB-47. You are correct that the RB version needs some additional parts scratchbuilt. RB-47H typically had additional antennas under the outer wings and rear fuselage, and a pod (ALD-4) on the lower right side of the fuselage under the wing. Thought you might like to see my build attempt I made for an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) who actually had multiple missions in 34280. He said the aircraft in his squadron did not have gray areas on top of the wings nor black walkway outlines.

Begemot makes a B-2 sheet in 1/144.

Excellent suggestions - great to have first-hand observations for reference. Using dark ghost gray precludes having to do a custom color mix. Will do some paint tests with AS-20 vs 'plain' white. Thanks for the info!

I'm starting the 1/72 Trumpeter Tu-22M3 Backfire C kit, and in Googling what paint might be a good representation of the aircraft's topside gray color. It looks to be in the 'medium sea gray' color range, but nothing definitive came up. Any suggestions from anyone having built the model or researched Soviet aircraft colors? I understand variations are inherent due to aging, weather, lighting, etc., but any recommended candidates are welcome! For the bottom color, plain white seems to be "too" white, but Tamiya Insignia white seems to be a pretty good color to represent an 'aged white' colo

Especially since, besides the LS Models kit, X-Scale Models has announced a 1/144 P-3C! Sprue test shots over on aeroscale.net.

I went back and re-read the original question. Its one I have also: If you put down the gloss coat over the paint, then lay down the decals, do you need to put a SECOND coat of gloss to seal in the decals before putting down the flat coat? In other words, could there be issues in using just the flat coat to seal the decals? Thanks.

I've bought a number of acrylic display cases from A.T. Enterprises. They're not cheap, but they are of excellent quality.

Received the sheet -- totally awesome, especially the black bulldog! One question: Are the smaller walkway decals sized for a certain location, or are they just smaller pieces to work with when working on the shorter walkway areas?

Also, will there be 1/144 counterpart sheets to these for the Otaki/LS kit?

1 - Second the AIM-174B missiles (for F/A-18E/F). 1/48 2 - Proper 'early' nose for B-52G & H (non-EVS). 1/72 3 - Mods to go with the "Early Years" decal sheets (e.g. F-14, F-15). 1/72

Thanks for the info. The lacquer thinner is mainly for cleaning. However, it has worked well for me as a thinner for my Testors Master Model enamels. For my 'newer' paints (i.e. post-Master Model) I use the recommended thinner for the specific paint. It is interesting that the 'Epoxy & Lacquer Thinner' directions recommend NOT using that thinner with synthetic-hair brushes....

At the auto parts store I found two types of Rustoleum lacquer thinner on the shelves: 'Lacquer Thinner' and 'Epoxy & Lacquer Thinner' Is one better or more suited than the other in using with modeling lacquer and enamel paints, or will both work equally well? Thanks.

1 - Full-size measurement would be .385 x 48 = 18.48 in 2 - In 1/72 scale, 18.48 / 72 = .256666667 which would be approximately .257 in