Steve N

I'm not sure what kit you're talking about, but it sure ain't the Airfix B-25C/D I have! First, here's the Cartograf logo right on the box. As for the decals themselves, they're some of the finest I've ever seen in a kit. Nice, deep colors, perfect registration, and very crisply printed with extremely fine detail. I'm not sure where you're getting this "faded dot-matrix" nonsense. For crying out loud, the stencils are actually legible..in 1/72! And these photos have been compressed by Imgur. I took the originals with my phone, and they're even clearer.

I just have to go down to my basement. 😉 Your point is well taken, though. Hasegawa's release policy is rather baffling. Their B-26s and B-24s are excellent, but hard to find and tend to be insanely expensive. I think if Airfix decided to do new-tool versions of the Marauder and Liberator that were more widely available and affordable than Hasegawa, they could make a fair profit. Unfortunately it seems they're content to just re-release the old moldings. SN

Update..I posted the same gripe over on the Warbird Information Exchange forum and got this reply: "The old tent line is swinging 45 degrees to the west from its previous location. The new tent line will face northwest paralleling Runway 23 Left 5 Right. Just over 20 acres of additional green space will be opened to the public. Sorry for any confusion. Much improved over the previous set-up." Sounds like this year's show is shaping up to be a real winner! SN

I was just checking ticket prices for the show. Looks like they have several teirs of Pay-Per-View seating again this year. I guess that means those of us in the General Admission "cheap" seats will be shoved off the the far ends of the show line again. SN

Haseagawa's release policy has always baffled me. For many years their Beufighters have almost impossible to find. Same with their 1/72 Avengers. Fortunately I snagged one each of the Hasegawa B-26B and B-26G when they first hit the shelves. I'm thinking of building up the B as "Flak Bait" with full invasion stripes, since next year's IPMS Nationals will have a D-Day theme in honor of the 75th anniversary. SN

I think this year is the first time I've ever seen TWO B-32s on the tables. The one shown above is the Anigrand resin kit with major corrections. The other is an Aviation USK vac, also with massive corrections. Both are absolutely gorgeous. My pics are all on my phone..I'll try to post some after we get home. Hopefully our flight out tomorrow won't get delayed by another dust storm! SN

Good call, Bobo. It's always best to cross-reference as many sources of information as possible, and never just take the decal insructions gor granted. SN

I'm still trying to decide if I want to finish it gear up, or re-align the mains. The latter shouldn't be too difficult..I figured I'd probably just enlarge the mounting holes a bit to give the gear some "wiggle room," then just use a fair amount of superglue to get them to stay at the correct angle. Thanks for the kind words. Here's a rendition of the Hobbycraft kit I ran across at the IPMS National Convention a few years ago, built by 1/144 master Karl Knable..part of a magnificent display of the history of SAC. I chatted with him about it, and he came up with the same fixes

At the risk of derailing this thread, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are the Hobbycraft B-36 wings as molded, with the built-in anhedral and very crude intakes.. ..and here are some pics of my modifications.. I opened up the intakes first, then added "splitters" from some sheet stock... Once the wings were glued together, the some filler and sanding blended the intakes in nicely. Also, the way Hobbycraft designed the kit, the props have to be "trapped"

It appears the "Dopey" in rhe linked photo is the third 98th BG aircraft to bear that name. It didn't enter service until September, 1943..at least a month after the low-level Ploesti Raid. The only photos I could find of the "Dopey" that flew in the raid were blurry shots of the nose art (the first "Dopey" was destroyed on the ground in June..either burned intentionally by enemy agents, or accidentally by maintenance workers.) All photos I can find of 98th BG "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" aircraft appear to show the de-icers on the wings and tailplanes, SN

One of our model club members brought some of these to a recent meeting. Pretty cool bit of history! SN

It's a relatively simple kit, and for a B-36 1/144 is plenty big. The biggest issue with the Hobbycraft B-36 is the wing dihedral. On the real aircraft, the wings are flat across the top when viewed from the front, with the lower surfaces angling up as the wing thins out toward the tip, giving the wings an apparent dihedral. For some reason, Hobbycraft reversed this: the kit wings are flat across the bottom, while the upper surfaces slope down toward the tips, giving the wings a distinct droop. Since the top and bottom of the wing are each a single peice, I cut the lower wing

I have several of their sets, but I haven't actually used them yet. They're beautifully printed with flawless registration, however accuracy is hit-or-miss. SN

I seem to recall reviews when the kit was originally released kind of echoed your sentiments..once folks got a detailed look at the kit, they were a bit underwhelmed. Not that it's a bad kit..it's quite nice, it just didn't live up Fine Molds's reputation. Or maybe it's a case of people building up FM into something they're not. I've got their Ki-10, and it's a similar case..nice, but with an almost limited run feel. FWIW, I also have several Fine Molds 1/72 Bf 109s, and those indeed live up to the hype. I can't comment on accuracy..I'm not one of those 109-iacs who can spot a

I pretty much agree with your assessment of the kit as "mid-90s Hasegawa." I think I got one around '96 or '97, although I've never built it. I seem to recall that Fine Molds was originally an offshoot of Hasegawa. The biggest complaint I've heard about the FM 410 is that tge engine nacelles are undersized. I don't know enough about the type to tell just by looking. A review I read in something called a "magazine" (ask your parents, kids) when the kit was first released mentioned that the one horizontal stabilizer is slightly higher than the other..might require a bit of fi

Looking forward to it. I need replacement decals for my B-36D (It's already assembled and painted so unfortunately I don't have a kit to loan you 😉 ) SN

Would you be including all the wing walkways? The thought of trying to paint those is what really put me off on the idea of stripping and repainting my B-36. SN

I would be down for a 1/144 B-36 sheet. I've got the Hobbycraft kit about 80% complete, but it was a rush job and I'm not really happy with how the paint and decals turned out. Since there aren't really any aftermarket options, I'm reluctant to strip it. SN

Like most WWII B-29s, the Enola Gay was overall bare metal, other than the fabric-covered control surfaces, which were aluminum dope. Some parts of the airframe (notably the middle parts of the wings and fuselage) appear to have a different finish, because a different alloy/thickness skin was used in those areas. Of course, the first few B-29s were Olive Drab over Neutral Gray, and late in the war many had their bellies painted black for night raids. SN

Wow! I guess I'm lucky I scored my copy for 50 bucks three years ago. SN

DC-9? I never knew they were used as air tankers. SN

I'm assuming he'll be leading the defense of earth against the onslaught of the Dark Lord Xenu and his squadrons of evil Thetans.

Will this one include a shirtless shuffleboard tournament at Maverick's assisted-living facility? SN

One of the earliest attempts at aerial firefighting were these "rollover" tanks, seen here on a DHC Beaver. A simple pipe would allow the tanks to be filled while taxiing on water. They had open tops, and could simply be rotated to spill over the side. Obviously a fairly primitive system and not much of a load, but it was a start. Again, at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. SN

CL-215 dump doors. Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, 2012. The museum is a must-see if you're ever in the area of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. This photo is looking forward..the objects aft of the doors are the retractable scoops that allow the plane to fill the tanks while skimming a lake. Of course there have been countless different types of dump doors used on the various modified warbird tankers over the decades. If you're doing one of those, you'd really need to find a photo of the exact plane you're building. SN