Chriss7607

I'm happy that it worked out for you! Unfortunately that Hobby Boss cowling has some serious shape errors so it won't get you the corrected cowling that you want.

Others got to it before me. I saw that Hellcat cowling and knew exactly what it was. It also has shape errors so it isn't even a good replacement. I'm sorry that my response is a bit late and that it doesn't really help your situation. Maybe try to return it or, if nothing else, honest feedback on the seller's ebay store might at least help others avoid making the same mistake.

Hey! That looks pretty good! I was using spare parts from a Monogram P-38 as a donor.

My understanding was that Minicraft was the U.S. importer for Hasegawa and later Academy. Academy and Minicraft parted ways sometime in the late 1990s and became two separate companies. I heard only bad reviews about their 1/48 F4U-5/5N, and I have their 1/48 P-38 Lightning. It's probably one of the worst models that I've ever worked on. I bought it by mistake (thinking it was the Academy kit).

Wow.. it's really that bad?

For enamel paints that can be used on models and are officially mixed to federal standards, try Crosslinks Paints out of Dallas, Texas. Big ol' spray cans available and they're indistinguishable from Model Master. It's really nice to be able to spray stuff interior green without having to airbrush. My Dad used it on a 1/48 Hasegawa Hornet and placed it beside another that was airbrushed with the Model Master paints. If he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. Granted, this doesn't solve ALL of the paint replacement problems (like German WWII R.L.M. colors), but I can say that they do work we

*Update* We have a winner! The Super Clean did the trick! Thank you to everyone who replied. The other suggestions are good to keep in mind just in case I ever need to try something different.

I still remember it all well. The off-base housing (Sebille Manor) is long gone. Did you ever get to check out Land, Sea, and Air Hobbies off of Dequindre and Old Guard over by the GM Plant? And I almost forgot about War Eagle off of Gratiot..

By the way, I was there and I remember these birds. My Dad was an air traffic controller at Selfridge until '95. One of the guys in the other squadron (the 127th), Maj. Tom Takai, was an active member of IPMS Warren. It was a great time there in Michigan.

If I had the presence of mind, I would have attended Darren's presentation since I had the time. At least I got the preview! Darren and the Sprue Brothers crew was my source for why the aforementioned three didn't show.

Thanks for all of the replies! I got some of the Super Clean today. It couldn't have been easier - I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and it was right across from the door! Today I have been battling bronchitis and power outages in 100+ degree heat, so I'm going to wait to try it out and report back.

I can say that there was no Tamiya, Academy, or Zoukei-Mura. Eduard had no competition for selling their new Wildcat. There were a lot of really great entries - I just can't post pics on here.

I was wondering if any of you guys or gals out there know of something that will effectively strip enamel model paint (of the Testors square bottle flavor to be exact)? I had, up until this point, used Easy Off oven cleaner but it seems that they changed the formula and it's too caustic and damages the plastic. I'm trying to find something that will work without attacking the plastic. Any suggestions are appreciated!

AMS Resin has a cockpit set out that says it can be used for the Kinetic or Revell (Monogram) kit. I did a very quick look, and I think it's in stock at Sprue Brothers. It's a little pricey ($31.00 from what I saw), but if you want a seat at least it's a lead.

Yellow Wings Decals is probably the ones you're thinking of. If I remember correctly, they had an East coast and a West coast sheet.

My apologies for the delay in replying. On the F6F-5, Grumman added small fairings above the intercooler flaps to help better blend the cowling in with the fuselage. I'll see if I can post some pics later to show you. I didn't know what people were referring to either until I found exactly what I should be looking for.

The Otaki kit is still a worthwhile build. The shapes and outline are excellent and it has nicely done recessed panel lines. The cockpit is a bit basic and underdetailed though. Medallion Models did some upgrades for this kit (including a cockpit and separate flaps) and they are currently available from Starfighter Decals. The Otaki model with a little t.l.c. will still build into a nice 1/48 Hellcat model. As an aside, the only recent 1/48 Hellcat that I WOULDN'T recommend is the Hobby Boss series.

Overall, Hasegawa got more correct than Eduard did. Hasegawa's cockpit is much more detailed and accurate out of the box. The wheel wells are also deeper on the Hasegawa kit. Eduard's parts breakdown is more complex with no added benefit. The centerline droptank is an example of awful fit and engineering. The flange around the center is missing, the forward sway braces are molded along with part of the top of the tank and the overall fit is sloppy. Worse yet, the support straps are half-molded onto the tank. The other half are photo etch parts which (somehow) are supposed to be blended with th

So as it turns out thanks to some generous assistance, I am going to have a 1/48 Hawker Typhoon to build! I knew what markings I wanted to go with: the red spinner with yellow spiral and full invasion stripes. It took a little looking to pin it down, but I found that it was from # 123 Squadron. The only problem is I can't seem to track down any decals. Sprue Brothers, eBay, and Google have all come up empty. I don't typically do RAF aircraft so can anyone point me to a source for some decals? Thanks in advance- any help is appreciated!

Hey, did I see somewhere that you needed a new canopy for this? I can't find it, so I don't know if I just imagined that. I was going through my spare parts the other evening and dug out an extra one that I have. If you need it, let me know.

I just saw this reply. Thank you!! PM sent.

If memory serves me right, neither of them did. I think that part of the mods that were done to B-29s in the 509th were the cuffed, reversible props.

Yeah, that's right- I forgot about that. Now that you say that, the red anticollision light on the Skyraider didn't come around until like '62 or something like that so the Panther wouldn't have had one. I was trying to find photos of that and the -5 blow in doors but wasn't able to come up with anything. Thanks for setting me straight! I'm a little rusty on my Panther info.

Yes he is on the wing, facing aft. The blow in door in question is also shown in the photo. It's directly above the large hole with all of the stenciling on it. Some, but not all, F9F-5s had the blow in doors with the angled lower edge. The Earlier -2 never had that arrangement. From what I can remember, the red anticollision light on the spine is on the centerline.

There's nothing wrong with 1/48 for fighters and 1/72 for bombers! Perfectly acceptable combination.