BillS

I’ll take a stab. I think it has to do with night vis. Around the early 2000s we went with exterior lighting that is only visible when viwed through night vision goggles. I was in F-16s at the time and although USAF jets did’nt have strip lights, our stuff go modified for night vision. Just guessing.

I built the Airfix Vulcan in the mid to late 90s using the Modeldecal set to build XM607. For Black Buc ops this jet had Dark Sea Gray undersides according to Modeldecal, a company well known for arguably the most extensive research and detailed instructions. XM607 was gate guard at RAF Waddington in 1986 when I attended TAC Fighter meet ‘86 wearing that scheme. I doubt it had been repainted. As a side note, I still have that model and I love that old kit. It looks a treat all done up.

Get some Testor’s paint remover/stripper in the tan can. For that fact any stripper. It’s like a laxative for your airbrush! I often put a drop or twi in the cup after a paint session. It keeps things “loose” because any residue will stay emulsified. Just purge it with thinner before putting you paint in the cup for your next spray session.

Thanks Tony and Nikolay for calling my attention to the intake “how to” on Britmodeller. I applied this to my jet yesterday and like the way it turned out. Considering KH often has open panels to display avionics, cameras, etc ala the Cougar and ‘101B, I’’m surprised they didn't do an open camera bay option for this kit. Still, I’m tickled to have it as is.

I just got this kit off ebay and have started tearing in to it. Basically I really like this kit. I’ve built the B save decaling and final assembly and that was overall a good experience. Of course the RF is largely the same kit as many may have seen from sprue shot images published on various sites. Everyone has anticipated the intake shape issue; not a fatal error but personally makes me whince. I’m going to attempt some reshaping to see if I can fake a more accurate appearance. The othe bug bear I’m aware of is the right fuelage bleed air vent. The larger round grill is wrong. There should be a rectangular grill in place of the round grill. This should be remedied without too much hair pulling. Probably my greatest complaint is the cockpit. Yes it lacks finer detail and yes the PE approach to panels isn't optimal. My beef is that the panel details are not even close for a ‘101C and this includes the glare shield. The kit components may more closely approximate the G model. Unless you’re in to scratch building or cobbling together a cockpit based on what’s out there, one will have to wait for after market accessories. Anticipate sink marks in speed brakes and gear doors that will need your filler of choice. Summing it up, I think the KH ‘101s have nice surface and landing gear detail, major components fit well and there is a nice variety of marking options. This one will be a Sun Run jet and I’m tempted to do a SEA camo jet down the line.

I’m going to do 166, #4. I love all those jets, factory fresh brutes! I’ve built the B and aside from the errors outlined in other threads, I think it was a nice kit with very few seams and gaps to worry with. I slaved the Black Box cockpit in and it was practically a drop fit. I’ll tackle the RF straightaway because I really want a big recce jet from that era.

Thanks for the lively discussion and ideas guys. I was kind of thinking 34092 as well. I broke out my old FS chips to see what else looked sort of close. 34108 struck a note but that’s a wag. Judgeing by the flesh colors in the photos I’d guess that the green in the images is pretty true. One other possibility is a color peculiar to Mcdonell though I kind of doubt that. Who knows?

I’ve got the KH kit enroute with plans for a Sun Run jet. There are some very nice color pics of these jets out there and I’ve been pouring over them for details. I noticed the anti glare panel is an unfamiliar color of green. Any idea what it is? It ain’t one of the ODs that’s certain. There must be an FS (or whatever it’s called now) reference.

I think a lot depends on the period. USAF F-5s during their heyday in the 80’s had silver gear wells, doors and struts. Struts starting coming out of depot painted white in the later part of the 80’s. Not sure what the Navy colors were/are but I tend to think they would have used USAF tech data vs. a re-write. There very well might have been latitude in colors used though.

A couple ‘o things; the external tanks on the ‘101s arn’t the usual ones we’re used to seeing. They look familiar but I can’t place them. The other thing is I have the KH kit 75% finished and I’ve loved every step so far. My experience with KH is the Cougar and Banshee, borh of which had their challeges. But this kit is a real smasher. I’ve had good fit and love that there has been minimal filling attributed to the design. It’s all painted up and awaiting the re-issue of the TX ANG decals from Caracal. Some of those jets used to pass through Reese when I was stationed there in the late 70s early 80s. Love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em. I just can’t wait for the recce version!

In my USAF experience my observations agree with Ben and hooter. I’ve been around lots and lots of F-4s and although nothing is cast in concrete, i think their advice is a safe bet. Oh, as an interesting side note, the intakes became discolored, i guess from heat and the occasional compressor stall. To me they almost became a dingy or yellowish white. Another interesting fact is that the USAF authorized using paint rollers to repaint the intakes in liu of spraying. Not that this matters in something as little as a scale model!

I used them on the ZM F-4 and Kinetic F-18. I had minor issues with cracking but not any major disaster. Testors BA yellow works good for small touch ups as well. The problem is the F-4 sheet is limited to the 1969 season; all jets that were ultimately wrecked. The crew names are incomplete as well in my opinion. I poured over old books and the internet for hours looking for images to check accuracy and details. You must pay attention to subtle details like bare metal areas and othere tweaks like the small American flag on the forward nose gear door, a marking that came along in the early 70s. I’d be happy to send pics of my finished models if you like. The “18 is in the possession of the BA’s commander now. For sure if I were doing an ‘18 I’d go for the new Kinetic offereing as I’m sure the decals are nice, have current Bunos and names for the 2016 season.

Yup, 2019 is the latest word and boy do they need them. Have you noticed a mix of Cs and Ds now?

I didnt have a lot of issues with the CAM decals in the fit department but there was a modest issue with cracking. I put them on the ZM F-4 and the Kinetic F-18 before they released their BA. One thing that is tricky to overcome is limited bunos on both sheets and incomplete crew names. The F-4 sheet only covers the first batch of jets that came from the factory in ‘69. Those jets were all wrecked before it was over. Oh, before I forget, another nit noy is the intructions, particularly on the F-4 sheet which are not super detailed and accurate. There were subtle details, for example bare metal leading edges and aft section areas varied depending on season. These things arn't called out. I highly recommend studying images to identify the various oddities on these jets; antenna styles, walkways etc.

I’ve done two BA projects, an F-4J and F-18 both with CAM decals. i used Testors BA yellow for touch ups. The difference between the two was barely discernable.