BillS

My guess is an early chaff dispenser

When this kit was announced it caught my interest but I told myself over and over I’d never buy it. Then it hit the market, the box art looked appealing, I shopped it for the best price and bingo, it mysteriously landed at my door. I’ve been following everyone’s musings so I knew this was’nt going to be a Tamiya F-14 sort of build but hey, I cut my teeth on Comet and Aurora kits so I figured I could stomach this bad boy. Forgive me for being too lazy to take pics but I wanted to share my experience with this kit thus far since nobody else seems to have made the plunge. I’m at the point where everything is filled and ready for a blast of primer. In 3 or 4 days I expect it will be ready for decals (Caracals of course, since I don't want to be an ARC heretic). Oh, in departing from the orthodoxy of the day, I’m going to rattle can this thing with Tamiya Gunship Gray 2. As a side note, I’ve turned to these fantastic spray products wherever there is a match. Their various silvers have replaced Alclad and every other bare metal product in my armamentarium. I’m one of those model builders who develops my own sequence for assembly while loosing half the parts in rhe process. Anyway I determined straightaway I was going to glue all of the fuselage segments together forming complete halves vs making a forward section, intermediate section etc. and glueing them together as per the plans. That method in my experience leads to mis-match. Upon mating the fuselages halves, i think I was correct. But before all of that, I built up all of the interior components but only painted what would be seen on my model; the pilot stations, gear wells and bomb bay. I used Danny Cormoran’s book for a color reference. I used the photo etch instrument panels/consoles and spent too much time detailing those because when closed up, they’re invisible. Duh. Oh, ACEs seats. After some research, I discovered AF funded ACEs for a 2018 retrofit. Since I’m doing jet c.2015-6, I used the nav’s seats downstairs and made them fit the pilot’s stations. I made parachutes and harnesses for a little additionsl detail. The gear wells have basic 70s vintage details but when painted and installed they’ll pass...just. Same on the bomb bay. I sprayed Tam. gloss white with some interior green thrown in. That’ll have to do. You could spend a lifetime detailing that space but I have to balance my priorities! So, all the big airframe components fit decently but a couple of fuselage joints around the gear wells wouldnt close the way I like so Miliput to the rescue. The wings and tail surfaces were no “sweaty da” (something I heard USAF NCOs always say???). Engine nacelles left me scratching my noggin. Once I caught on I was trying to glue J-57 G model stuff together, things made sense. I threw the G stuff out and proceeded to clean TF-33 parts up. I elected to scrape out the last 4 formers inside the nacelles and glue the J-57 “t” wheels in place giving the illusion an engine is in there. Although a crude approach, it’s so dark in there, you can just make out the exhaust cone. Again, close enough for government work. Before gluing halves together, I rattle canned gunship gray inside the intakes and painted the fan blades. Once joined, i filled rhe interior seams with epoxy. The main thing to be prepared for is lots of clean up and filling. There’s a jillion sprue gates to fool with on this guy. So, that’s my take so far. Generally, I like this model. It gives you a good platform to start from, the shapes, sans external tanks seems pretty good and the fit issues won’t deter most builders. As a final note, the outrigger wheels are totally goofy. I found some nice wheels from a Russian aftermarket supplier that have tread and sidewall detail so I ordered those. Before final paint, I’m pondering a way to simulate wrinkled skin like the real McCoy. I’m thinking about heavy primer embossed with something textured before it dries creating a subtle dimpled effect. Yes? No?

Here’s a couple of mixes that came from Model Art 236. These grays are prone to subjectivity. Pick the ones you like, put a dab on a piece of cardboard, let it dry then hold it next to your as595 and compare. That’s my scientific method! I personally like Xtracolor because I like a ready made gloss (the less coats the better) and they spray without sticking to the needle like acrylics. 36320= xf-66. 11 xf2. 7 xf24. 2 36375= xf2. 15 xf24. 3 xf66 2

I was on 16s as a maintenance officer in 4 units on and off between 1981-2004. The “gold” tinted canopies were around in the late 80s and early 90s or thereabouts. F-16 canopies are kind of an esoteric thing. At one time I understood the rational behind all the varieties but canopies with a smokey solar tint and what appeared to be very lightly tinted coexisted. The “clearish” ones had a very faint tint when you compared it to the Aft Transparency (correct nomenclature) or what crew chiefs called the “opera glass”. These were truly clear. My best recollection of gold tinted canopies was a jet we had with an improperly staticly bonded canopy. In certain weather conditions, static would build up and when the pilot touched the inside of the canopy it would discharge with a loud bang knocking that gold material off like small fragments of glitter. Other aircraft have similar coatings, The E-2C is one. An E-2 pilot told me it was to refelct radar enrgy from the rotodome away from the cockpit.

Here’s a wag: a zap from VMA-121, Green Knights.

Thanks fellas!

Last week I put out a request for some replacement decals for the Tam F-14D. Thanks to all you guys that offered to come to my rescue. As it ends up, George Canare at Tamiya USA expedited a brand new sheet direct to me. I was very impressed with the super quick response. The Tomcat is complete! Now I can start my second new school Spit MK 1 and breath easy.

Bill Schurr 1126 N. Edgefield Ave Dallas, TX 75208 wschurr@att.net thank you a milion times. Is there something I can get for you?

Everything had been going swimmingly until I discovered I put the nose gear door decals with names and numbers on upside down! If anyone out there is not doing the VF-213 Black Lions jet, would you be willing to part with those markings? I’ll reward you somehow.

I have another opinion. USAF and USN harnesses were actually sage green and ultimately would fade a bit to look a little gray. The USAF replaced all belts andcstraps on a regular basis to insure integrity. Many of the resin aftermarket seats have the harness pulled out of the inertia reel and locked the way it is sometime depicted in photos. In actuality, the harness was routinely left retracted and not much was exposed except a little of the webbing and the silver Koch fittings which attached to the occupant’s torso harness. The D ring stayed attached to the left harness. The belts in the bucket comprised the lap belt with simple silver colored buckle almost like a car seatbelt and the survival kit straps with black buckles that again attached to the torso harness. You can easily replicate the webbing with thin tape painted sage green with fittings from sprue, wire or whatever. Other straps would be the pack i ening bands on the side of the chute housing (sage green) and the pack retaining straps attached to the main beam and routed through the arch of the chute. They were cream colored cottone until thecearly 80s when the changed to olive colored nylon. The Brits had a totally different harness system so these comments dont apply to those guys.

You might be in luck. I was a maintenance officer on the ‘16 through the mid 80s then after a stint on F-4s was on them again from 93 to 2003. I was in three F-16 organizations, the 474 TFW, the 704 TFS and 457 FS. The leading edge flaps were totally painted 36118 on top and one of two lighter grays on the bottom (you can look those up.) if memory serves me correctly, some of the stabs might have had a teflon rain erosion strip on the very leading edge that would really be indescernable on a model. The Air Force and Navy tried various leading edge coatings in that period which explains that yellowish stuff on lots of Navy jets and on some USAF equipment notably the T-37. That was an adhesive backed plastic material. I’ll also add that on F-16s leading edge flaps were often touched up and appeared darker or were replaced for maintenance reasons and came from depot already painted their respective grays. I hope this helps you in your modeling dilemma.

For the kit I’d go with Hasegawa at the moment; scribed, fit, shape. For seats True Details will get the job done and are pretty accurate except for some small details. Micro Scale did an ADC gray 57th FIS sheet and I’ve got it. For paint MM 16473 is excellent. It sprays nicely, is glass smooth, can be rubbed out and looks like ADC Gray. PM me if you want to work something out on those decals.

The Hypersonic wheels are a must. That’s a great kit but the wheels/tires are wrong. Hypersonic nails the thin, high pressure profile. Oh, whatever happened to the AT-38 release with Holloman markings?

Interesting topic. In the 70s thru 90s time frame, i never saw any usaf tactical jet with a hard edge camo including cannon’s ‘111s. I was in TAC and AFSC in a flight test unit AT Holloman. We had two ‘’111s of our own and I saw the cannon jets frequently. They were generally kept freshly painted/touched-up like all TAC jets of that period. On recovery wings were left forward with high lift devices extended to facillitate inspection. That was a very common configuration on the ground. In fact, we rarely swept the wings except for hangering in a tight space.