Airfixer

Once I'll have the KH kit, I'll figure out whether PEs could be a viable solution to equalise that extreme step on the kit's slat wells. ARC Kitty Hawk F-86D slat well step Currently floating before my mind's eye...

The stencils are in Czech and Russian. And forget about the blue decals - East German MiG-21 in two-tone camo only had black and red stenciling. I'm planning to use Begemot stencils (Russian) and TOM Modellbau insignia and serials on my MiG-21bis. Erik

Which boxing, Brad? Eduard #84125?

Hi Brad, The actual extent of stenciling varied considerably - from the full monty to really, really sparse. LSK/LV MiG-21 having undergone major/general overhaul and repaint at the Dresden facility used to sport more stencils. And yet, the sheer extent varied a lot. I'd rather recommend to search for pictures of the actual aircraft than solely relying on the kit's marking and painting guide. LSK/LV aircraft sporting a tactical camouflage usually had black and red stencils applied. Red was used to "highlight" areas to pay particular regard/place great importance to. The full stenciling m

FYI: Pilot Replicas has just announced some nice goodies for the Viggen to be released "soon": Viggen parts on facebook

I'm hoping the other "usual aftermarket suspects" will jump on the Viggen-train ASAP, releasing cockpit sets, resin wheels, wheel wells, etc. I'm not keen to start another DIY-orgy. But despite my mixed emotions, I'm really eager to tackle the Viggen. Johan feels lonely and is desperately longing for company...

Apart from that, and during most instances, the mighty Viggen was flown in clean configuration... Nothing my spare box couldn't handle. Anyway... I received my two Viggens last Saturday, and I have to admit that I'm having (to put it mildly) some mixed emotions. I'm really grateful Tarangus tackled the Viggen, and from what I've been able to see so far, they really did a good job as to shape and proportions. "Canardgate" - once again, nothing I couldn't handle. It's sort of annoying, but I'll get over it. Overall airframe detailing and texturing is OK, except for the cockpit. Personally

Heads-up, Rob! As to the blast deflectors, some mistakes have slipped in Italeri's assembly guide. According to the assembly guide, versions A/D/F shall be built using part 4D with blast deflectors, versions B/C/E using part 1D. A: FGA.9 -> smooth gun ports, using part 1D instead B: F.6 -> gun blast deflectors, using part 4D instead C: Dutch F.6 -> gun blast deflectors, using part 4D instead D: Swiss F.58 -> part 4D is correct E: IAF, No. 14 Squadron -> gun blast deflectors, using part 4D instead F: F.74S -> smooth gun ports, using part 1D instead 4D -> Versions

Schau'nmer mal... CAD drawing and a test shot of the Kilo's "6-3 slatted wing leading edge" via Kitty Hawk's facebook page: Cheers, Erik

Considering that step`s actual size on the model, it's indeed quite annoying. Anyway. I, for one wouldn't rate it a true deal-breaker. A a set of two PE's could bridge that step. Got to figure it out, once I've got that kit. Most folks wouldn't be bothered by it, though. Let alone noticing it... Inferring from from Kitty Hawk's facebook test-shot pictures and the visible fuselage breakdown, proper part alignment could turn out to be quite challenging. Erik

Thanks for the correction, Jennings. Any official document to refer to in order to update my references?

F-86D wing slat operation:

F-86D-1 through F-86D-60: Instrument panel/instrument bezels in black. Note: The F-86D-1 had the larger instrument panel. F-86D-1 F-86D-5 and subsequent variants F-86D-5 through F-86D-60: Cockpit sidewalls, inner canopy framing, console side walls, floor, seat, etc. in a medium grey similar to FS 36321. Gotta find my copy of the F-86D maintenance manual for the exact colour designation. As to the very early F-86D-1, I'm not 100% sure. It's possible that the very first aircraft had an "all-black" cockpit, including a black internal canopy frame. Some photographs depicting Sabre Dogs

Hi Brad, Alright then. Since we're dealing with bort 493, I'd suggest to go with bort 460 and a combination of XF-13 and XF-52. 467 is somewhat off. MiG-21M 22+59, ex 493 JG 2 in "Dresden-style" camo pattern: Note: Rear view mirror/periscope mounting plate faired over. Cheers, Erik

Hi Mark, Actually, it's one and the same scheme. The only difference is the colour of the Polish AF chequerboards originally applied in dark grey. The photograph with dark grey chequerboards was taken almost immediately after 9111's repaint (under the direction of Warrant Officer Marcin Rogozínski) in May 2002. Reportedly painted with automotive lacquers... 9111 during an open day in August 2002 The finish seems rather dull from this angle. By then, the grey boards had been overpainted with "standard" national markings. The initial dark grey version looked adnittedly pretty cool, but on

Edit: "Flic" = French equivalent to "Cop"

Yes, they had the ESCAPAC IC-7 seat. IC-7 The IC-7 lacks the primary ejection control handle atop the headrest, and IIRC, it's also lacks the canopy breakers. You could either select from the available aftermarket ESCAPACs (mainly A-4 and A-7 versions) the one that comes closest to the IC-7 or you could ask those folks having the GWH F-15B/D in their stash, whether they have one to spare in case they might plan to use the kit's ACES II seats instead. Erik

FS 36321 Dark Gull Grey. And as to to the canopy sealants, I'd rather suggest off-white, buff, deck tan or light tan instead of plain yellow. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 Erik

A tarp would be a decent fix for quite a few Trumpeter kits... That picture of the MiG-21UM screams for a diorama. So, how about it? Erik

You're welcome, Brad. MiG-21 line-up in open storage at Drewitz: When the photo was taken, the MiGs had spent more than a year in open storage, and what appears to be a brighter shade of green is actually a rather faded khaki. The majority of MiG-21 in storage is still wearing the Dresdeb-applied camo scheme, and the khaki was prone to bleach out rather quickly, turning into something "greenish". On the other hand, the photograph itself has a heavy blue tinge. Different, less blueish version of your first photograph: Drewitz The third picture depicts another particularity of many LSK/LV

Brad, an actual bort number would be extremely helpful. But I'm somehow suspecting, it's "687" you're after, right? Otherwise, determining adequate XF-shades might become quite difficult, mainly because of too many possible variations - unit-applied, depot-applied, storing/weather conditions, etc. A few years ago, I was experimenting with various shades from TAMIYA's XF-range, so here a few of my results: MiG-21bis (SAU/75B), pretty close to XF-13 and XF-49+XF-64 (8:2 mixing ratio). 838 MiG-21MF, pretty close to XF-13 and XF-52. EDIT: correction, XF-13 instead of XF-26 460 MiG-21MF in a

493 red of JG2, c/n 963302, was a MiG-21M, which became 22+59 after the German reunification. The bis (izd. 75A/izd. 75B) were indeed within the 8xx-9xx range, except for 792/794/797, the latter being MiG-21bis (izd. 75B). @Niels Yes, "update" is taking the right direction. In Soviet/Russian terminology the suffix "bis" denotes an extensive and substantial (product) improvement, hence emphasising that it's far more than just an update or upgrade. Cheers. Erik

Interesting blast from the past. Thanks for sharing. Most likely, this instructional video was shot somewhere between 1967 and early 1968. DD+241 of JaboG 34 (Fighter Bomber Wing 34, Memmingerberg, Bavaria) was one of the "strike-certifed" Messerschmitt-built F-104G on strength and featured all necessary modifications to carry and deliver "special (nuclear) stores" on the centreline station. Strike-certified F-104G of that period can be indentified externally by their blanked-off gun muzzle (M61 gun not installed, making room for additional fuel tanks) and a dedicated special store selector

Got mine today, and I must say that I'm quite taken with it. As to overall detailing and casting quality it is what I've been expecting and experiencing from previous Kinetic releases. Jens already pointed out some of the "challenges" and I largely agree with him. Personally speaking, I can live that and I'm gladly willing to accept some extra effort in assembling the kit. As to shape and proportions of the Mirage IIIE, Kinetic did a really good job in rendering the subject, hence meeting one of my personal key criteria in assessing a kit's "accuracy" - it looks right. At least those par

Just as pointed out by Berkut, the MiG-31M is quite a different animal. HB's leaflet depicts "bort 057" which represents the last stage of the MiG-31M's evolution. Considering all the substantial differences of "bort 057", properly incorporating them into a kit would indeed result in a new tool. Rear fuselage/exhaust nozzles: The entire area adjacent to the burner cans was slightly widened to create more space between the engines. Wing: The wing remained structurally largely unchanged. Apart from the wing LERXs, the wings received some further modifications. As to the sloped traili