Crusader nut

Very nice weathering! That oops doesnt look like it will be too bad of a fix. Hey, for future reference, on the flaps at the trailing edge of the wing, the small inboard section is just right. The larger outer sections actually drop further than that little inboard section does. The reason why they split that into two sections was because if it were just one piece, they could not lower the flaps as far as they would have wanted without the flap hitting the fuselage. I have not had much time to even look at my kit lately. I removed everything relating to the cockpit from the fuselage halv

http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VAQ/Electronic-Attack-Squadron-137.htm If you scroll through the photos, you will see a close-up shot of the left front of the a/c, caption under the photo says February 1998. Your decal instruction is incorrect on the year of deployment, GW was commissioned in 1992, so there could not have been a WESTPAC cruise aboard her in 1988.

I hope this helps, this is an in-flight shot of the right side of 161115, in the exact same markings as your decals: Prowlers EDIT, it was only after I posted that I saw it was the same one that someone already had posted. Sorry about that

I remember meeting Dale "Snort" Snodgrass. For a number of years, he was the F-14 east coast demo pilot, would fly at air shows. I've seen this man fly at dozens and dozens of air shows. He flew in ODS as the CO of VF-33, if I remember right. I remember he was telling us about one mission, a fighter sweep for some attack jets. They were dodging SAMs, and in the process, he lost one engine due to compressor stall. At that time, all the jets flying in Iraqi air space had two engines....F-14, F-15, A-6.....and here he was, with one good engine. He was worried about going to afterburner on

Has anyone tried just cutting the bulges out? I mean, cut out the bulge, flip the wing over, glue some flat scrap pieces around the opening to form a lip, and then glue in a flat piece of stock to close it up? Sure, you would have to fill the seams, but as far as modeling goes, that should not be too difficult. I'm no F-4 expert either, so if there is more to the wing that needs to be changed, don't flame me as I'm not aware. I could just see this working well on a flat area like the wing

Caracal makes a sheet for this same squadron with the same tail markings in 1/32, but it does not include the blue "02" and the a/c numbers are different. The sheet is CD32005, ANG Eagles Part 3. Looks like the sheet has a hi-vis and a low-vis option on it.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=190875&st=0&p=1786217&hl=arctic%20tiger&fromsearch=1entry1786217

Fightertown already makes this set, in 1/48 scale. Search for Fightertown Decals FTD48035.

In 1/48 and 1/32 scale... F-8D Crusader, VF-13, USS Shangri-La, 1968 My link This is a representation. More specifically, I've got a particular nose number/bureau number in mind, but when it comes to Crusaders, most of the decal sets that have been produced are for more well known squadrons or MiG killer birds. VF-13 and VF-62 for example were on the Shang in the Med while Vietnam was going on. There are scores of lesser known aircraft that would make great subjects but since they are not well known, no one makes decals for them. I'd love to see something like a "Mayhem in the Med" mult

That's not the tailhook, it's the holdback bar. It's a bar that they attach to a lug on the fuselage, and the other end is fastened to the deck. It's designed to break or release only at a certain level of pressure, so the pilot can go full burner, but the plane will not move until the cat fires. Then, the holdback bar link breaks and the plane gets launched. Without one of these, many carrier planes would have a hard time taking off. For example, if you tried to lock the brakes and go full burner in a Phantom, you could roll the tires right off the wheels and the plane would move forward

My best suggestion would be to choose a specific ship and research the deck details of that ship. Remember, there were multiple classes of carrier that served in Vietnam and they might have had different tie-down anchors installed. We still had some of the old 27 Charlie modified Essex class carriers, though your choice of a Phantom rules those out because the F-4 did not operate from the 27 Charlie decks. But there were still 3 Midway class, 4 Forrestal class, 3 Kitty Hawk class, and the Enterprise, all of which sailed with Phantoms aboard. The F-4J was introduced to squadron service in D

I found the USAF crew chief for that bird. Here's a story, it carried nose art named after the crew chief's wife. http://www.177fw.ang.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123405923 I can also tell you that 51-2848 survived the 1950s, and was last registered with the FAA as N10186. It was last registered to the University of Maryland, and was deregistered at the end of 1963. No idea where it ended up from there. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably an instructional airframe at that time. http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?nNumberTxt=10186 This particular airc

Bingo, not a photo but this is the reference sheet from a decal set for this exact aircraft, circa 1992, in the wraparound desert camo. Shows upper and lower surfaces, pilot's name, and even plane captain's name. http://www.masm.fr/Navycag/Decal48/FTD48026-VF-126Bandits-e.jpg Hope this helps!

Havent found any pics for you yet, but found it interesting that one online source I found shows that that particular jet served with the Blue Angels too.... http://a4skyhawk.org/content/155000-blue-angels-photographer-unknown-g-verver-collection-4820 I did find several shots of 155000 in two different wraparound camo schemes, but they are all side shots. EDIT, can also tell you that some VF-126-used NFWS Skyhawks had a white belly/wings. This one did not. If you look at the various side shots of 155000 you will notice that the main landing gear doors are painted the same color as immedia

I remember seeing pics of it in a combat aircraft magazine last year or so. When I saw this thread, I just had to try to find something online about it. Here's a much clearer picture of the van: http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2328273&postcount=114

This one is actually my favorite....

VF-24 normally deployed aboard the Constellation, but did make a deployment on the Ranger in 1984 when Connie was sent for refit to be able to carry Hornets. It was one cruise, and it was a rather unlucky cruise. The squadron named that cruise "Danger for Death PAC 84"....on that one cruise, 1983/84, 11 crew members were lost. After that, VF-24 went to the Kitty Hawk for a cruise in 1985. That link does not appear to show any deployments prior to 1987, so it would not show VF-24 with the NF tail code. Strangely enough, though, everything I have found on VF-24 on both the Kitty Hawk(1985 c

The same y-racks that you use for the zuni pods are used for the sidewinders. I've just gotten that same kit and am just starting the build. The y-racks have a separate rail for each hardpoint in the kit, you just attach the rails to the rack and then you can mount either the missiles or zunis.

I recall seeing something about someone cutting panels off of the aircraft and replacing them with a piece of lead foil from a wine bottle. It's stiffer than aluminum foil, but still thin enough to better look the part than the plastic does. And, you can conform it to any shape. It's also easy to punch holes in, and if done carefully, the "skin" will push in the way it would when being shot through on a real plane. You can make it jagged, blown in, or in the case of an explosion, blown out even. I have not tried it myself, but I seem to remember that the results were pretty cool looking.

...done a modeling tribute group build? I've been out of the hobby for some time now, and I am finally getting back into it. The thing that finally is bringing me back into a model kit after years away is that I am building a model for my dad, of the fighter jet that he used to work on in the Navy. Now, I dont know too much about group builds in here, but seems to me that this could be a very interesting GB topic. Every tribute build has a story to go along with it, and those stories are usually very interesting on their own. So it got me thinking, it would be pretty cool to see a GB with

So I am about to start on a Crusader build. I've got the Hasegawa kit I want. I have some extra decal sets so I can combine them to make most of the markings I need for my chosen subject. And, I have some aftermarket parts. Notably, I have a seamless intake, a speedbrake kit, cockpit set and a set to backdate the model to an earlier version(nose, wing plug). The intake is the area of most concern right now, because at some point in its life, this intake, right at the very front lip of it, has been squashed a little. The intake shape should be rounded, but this one is more flat across the

I'm about to kick off a build like this myself, for my dad. He was a USN plane captain on an F-8 Crusader. Now that I've about gone nuts researching the specific plane, the markings, the differences(on that one cruise, the a/c in this squadron had 3 different nose cone colors, 3 different tail cap colors, and at different times, either a "chin strap" marking or none...and any combination of these could have been on the plane in question), I just ordered the kit and parts needed to make this happen. I am back-dating the Hasegawa F-8E Crusader to F-8D configuration. Also, adding the drooped

The Italians seem to have flown them clean: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Italian_TAV-8B_Harrier_II.jpg&imgrefurl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harrier_variants&h=1965&w=2925&tbnid=1FuyAve7p-43DM:&docid=_x3-01Alb28_hM&ei=7H34Vs7rCNHqjwPwwo7YAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjOkbL7kuLLAhVR9WMKHXChAxsQMwglKAkwCQ Here's a USMC bird, showing empty pylon on the wing where the drop tank would normally be carried: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f8/aa/a4/f8aaa43113

Watching this one with much interest, my favorite plane of all time and I'm about to start on one in 1/48 scale myself. My dad was a p/c on one in the late 1960s, so I'm going to build his plane for him.