falcon91352

Yesterday, I picked up my PK Productions F-15 decals sheets in 1:48 and I am very impressed! The producer has a very good eye for accuracy and the printing quality by Cartograph literally is stunning. Sheet No. 48-001 is devoted to the stencils of F-15 Eagle in the early ghost grey scheme. It is a very comprehensive sheet. The carrier film is very thin and trimming is almost not necessary, because the carrier film virtually does not stand out of the marking. For the first time, all three US national insignia carried by USAFE Eagles are accurately covered. Eagles in the

The IFR door decals are sized for the GWH kit. The one of the Hasegawa kit is not accurate and should be rescribed.

If you mean the intakes of the Italeri 1:32 Mirage IIIE kit, you are correct, they are in fact too small. The ones of the 1:48 Kinetic Mirage IIIE are looking spot on.

PK Productions just released their first F-15 Eagle high quality decals in 1:48 scale. The printing quality is suberb, which is done by Carograph. Even the smallest stencil is readable. I will get my copies next weekend and will show more details here later. Ordering can be done at the homepage of PK Productions https://www.pkproductions.de/shop/

Making the Eddie riveting decals fit to the different shapes and sizes of the Revell/ Monogram kit means a hell of work I would avoid. For example, the tail boom of the Revell/Monogram kit is substantially shorter. You would have to cut the riveting decals in several pieces to make them fit, put them together, fill and sand the seam lines … . Better to spend another +/- 50,00 USD in the Zvezda kit.

Thank you for your informations, Gabor. To my eyes, the Quinta Su-25K cockpit is looking as the most convincing. The definition of detail is excellent and the base colour seems to be correct, while the Red Fox appears too light to my eyes. However, Red Fox offers some impressive sets. I have their 1:32 Mirage IIIE and Phantom sets, those are superb!

Yes, you are right!

Very nice cockpit! 👍

On the A-10A in that picture, I am clearly seeing four colours. Obviously, the FS34102, 34092 and 36081, which are typical for the Euro-One scheme. Beside this, there is a much darker green visible, which looks even darker as FS34079. In case I should get a bit time next Sunday, I will browse through my 81. TFW A-10A slides and scanning those with the ominous dark green as the fourth colour. If my memory is correct, there were a few more A-10s in this livery. If so, I will post the pictures in an other thread, this one is devoted to the Z-M F-4G and I don‘t intend to ca

Some areas of the Mi-24 has a selection of raised and recessed lines of rivets. If you intend to replicate also the recessed lines, do these before the application of the decals with a riveting too (Rosie the Riveter for example). After the decal is correctly applied, a mild decal softening fluid gently can be brushed over and the decal. After drying, each negative rivet must be stitched with a pointy needle. Again, a decal softener can be brushed over the rivet lines. After airbrushing thinned Mr. Surfacer 1500 over the decal, repeat stitching each negativ rivet again. The whole process is a

From the home made sanding block, many properly sized pieces of micro sanders can be cut out. Those are clamped with a pair of tweezers and gently wiped over the appropriate spot with support by a tiny drop of water. the area can be cleaned with a soft cotton swab.

After two hours, it can be sanded. For this I am using two different types of sanders. A 3200 grid sanding pad and individually produced micro sanders consisting of a small piece of styrodur foam glued on the backside of 1500 grid sanding paper.

The Mr. Surfacer 1500 add strength to the decal and the model can be handled without too much fear of damaging the rivets. Then, I am spraying Alclad black Primer and Microfiller over the defect areas. This primer is rather thick and has an excellent filling characteristic.

After application, you have a few minutes time to remove air bubbles, which virtually can´t be avoided especially on larger decals. This can be done with a flat brush or small cotton swab. Care has to be taken not to stretch the decal too much during this process. Uneven rows of rivets can be the result, if too much force is taken. However, it is almost impossible to fully avoid defects on the carrier film, or a dust particle easily can be trapped. But this is nothing like a disaster, those can be repaired without too much mess. At first, the decal has to be dried thorougly, 12 hou

Hello Since April 2022, the new "Eddie the Riveter" decals for the Mi-24V in 1:48from Eduard are available. In the May issue of INFO Eduard, an illustrated instruction was published. I am currently decorating my Zevezda kit with these riveting decals and following the Eduard instructions in general. The decals are divided in several patterns and have to be cut out from a solid carrier film. Contrary to the Eduard instructions, I am using plain tap water without any additional agents to soften the decals. With a large brush, the tap water is applied on the back of the de

Yes, it is a pity that Zvezda released the Hind kits naked without all those positive rivets, which is a prominent feature of these helicopters. Beside this, the Mi-24V also shows a plethora of negative rivet lines, which are easily replicated by Rosie the Riveter. Some months ago, I have ordered the Arma riveting decals at a Russian ebay trader, but those never arrived to my disappointment. Accordingly, I was lucky that Eduard announced such decals under the name of Eddie the Riveter and those really took a while before release. However, these are not bargain, but worth the wait.

Thank you, Gabor, for this nice preview. Isn‘t your country currently operating Mi-35 in these dark grey „colours“? The lack of detail on the Zvezda Mi-24 kits can be remedied with tons of aftermarket stuff, however the initially cheap kit will be a pricey affair afterwards. The shape of the Zvezda kit itself looks reasonably accurate and is a good basis for further detailling. Currently, I am struggling with the Eduard riveting decals on my 1:48 Zvezda Mi-24V, which btw will be in Czechoslovak AF markings of 1991, just after the fall of the iron curtain. This is my ver

Nice built from the old Kinetic Kit, btw.!👍

Yes, the Fairy canopy adressed this issue, but I was told from someone who used it, that a significant yellowing effect in the clear resin occured a short time after installation.

Due to its shortcomings in shape, the GWH F-15 kits are highly detailed and have a nice fit, unlike the Hasegawa, which is probably better in terms of accuracy, but the fit and detailling is not up to today´s standard. Especially the joint from wing to fusalage with the Hasegawa kit is a real pain to fit and rescribing the panel lines here is a difficult job and if this is not done properly, the whole appearance of the model is ruined, regardless how accurate the outline is. Since most modellers don’t care much about the problems of the GWH kit, which aren’t glaring ones in either

MN Modelar from the Czech Republic has the Zvezda Su-25 back on stock. I highly recommend this shop, they are very reliable!

This is true, but the GWH kit has thick leading and trailing edges on the wings and horizontal stabilizers and a too wide cross section of the canopy. Otherwise, it is a nice kit!

Hello On the Kinetic facebook page, Raymond Chung just announced a new early Fighting Falcon kit in 1:48! What a nice choice! https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel/ Hopefully, the long awaited Mirage F.1 will follow soon.

I am not sure, but think that this option is given in the kit. A nice detail is the reinforcement strap on the belly, which other kits are missing. After looking closely to the wingtip RHAW antennaes, I must give phantomfixer right, those look off.

The A-10 on this picture reveals another interesting fact I discovered first during a visit at RAF Bentwaters in 1986. Some of the 81. TFW planes had a fourth colour in the camouflage scheme. You see the very dark green on the wings and engine cowl? But we can go deeper in this after the release of the Academy and GWH Thunderbolt kits become closer.