BMH

Here's a clip of an F-15D flying chase on one of the F-23 prototypes (great doc when you have some time)--shows the speed brake extended at nearly the angle shown in the F-15E shots above, but it's gear up and intakes closer to straight on than drooped: Sequence is at 41:02: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGco66RoJtc

Thanks--some great info there.

Merci beau coup--Trumpeter just re-used the wheels from the D kit. From the chart posted, P-47 wheels are 16/8 and Hellcats/Corsair are 16/7, so the wheel is at least close. Hellcat/Corsair tires are 32X8 vs. 34X9.9, so a 1/32 substitution won't work, but with Barracuda P-47N resin in the future, that's the way to go.

Man, that's exactly what I wanted to read--just saw the Hellcat/Corsair sets he put out. I can get started and add the gear last when he gets around to the P-47N wheels/tires. Thanks!

So you can see why I don't want to use the kit wheels in the P-47N kit. Anybody know if the 8 spoke wheels of Hellcats & Corsairs are close enough in diameter & width to pass as P-47N wheels?

Got the Trumpeter 1/32 kit that has P-47C/D wheels with covers rather than the 8 spokes. Would Corsair/Hellcat wheels be a workable substitute? Couldn't find a comparison on the web and wonder if anybody here has good info. Thanks for any help.

Not the rockets, the Y pylons that mount the rocket pods to the aircraft. Kit ones are goofed--one side is right, other is a job opportunity for Zactoman to help out us non-scratch builders.

You didn't specify a scale, but in 1/32 the Tamiya F-4C/D kit has exactly what you're looking for. Don't know about 1/72, but there are plenty of spare ladders around in at least those scales. Post in Plane Trading will get you those.

Makes sense, but would the load be so critical that even the stubs would be removed too? The shot I saw showed no stubs outboard of the bomb pylon--we can only speculate. Wish every photo from that era had detailed captions for us modelers. I did see shots of the bee striped tailed P-47N squadron loaded out with all ten rockets, so an accurate model can be built that way.

Thanks for the help, gents--from what you've written, I've been able to discover that the P-47N shown on the ProMod box art was a -2 (at least according to Revellogram), so I feel comfortable hanging rockets on another P47N in the same squadron. Interestingly, I also found a shot that shows another P-47N from this same squadron loaded out with only the two inner rockets plus a bomb on the pylon--the underside of the wing doesn't show the outer three stubs even installed. All I can guess is either the stubs were in short supply at that point or the crew hadn't had time to install all ten stub

Planning a build of the Trumpeter 1/32 P-47N and would like to do the scheme shown on the Revell/Pro-Mod box art with the blue trim using the CAM sheet, but from what I've been able to gather from the web, the zero length stubs for HVARs were not factory installed on the first batches of P-47N. I've found pix of another P-47N Ie Shima squadron (with the black & yellow tail stripes) that show HVARs loaded. I've also found a nice color shot of a P-47N in the blue trim having its guns boresighted that clearly shows no rocket stubs. Does anyone know if the rocket stubs were retrofitted in t

The Trumpeter 1/32 Crusader kits have one fuselage missile Y pylon right (so I've read) and the other a mirror image (totally wrong), and the fix requires scratch building beyond my talent & time. The kits also don't include a full load of Sidewinders or Zunis in each box--you'd have to buy two kits to load each for fighter or CAS missions. So how 'bout adding a corrected Y pylon and/or a set of Zacto Zuni pods to the line? The corrected Y pylon would be welcome no matter how you're loading out your Crusader, and I'm sure Zacto Zunis would be better than Trump's kit items. Keep up the

Didn't mean you shouldn't bother with them--with some work and TLC they build up fine, and apparently Revell has done a 1/48 combo I wasn't aware of. If that's what you have, the smaller scale actually works to your advantage. Have built the MiG-21PF in both scales (and have 2 1/32 in the stash) and they look the part. If you have the 1/48, the Navy F-4J might be the Monogram kit (nice kit) or a 1/48 pantograph of the old 1/32 Revell F-4J. Again, with some work it builds out fine. If you're building for fun, go for it. I had fun building my old Revells and Monograms back in the days bef

I've done them both individually--the kits are Revell's 1/32 F-4E and MiG-21PF, and both date from the early 70s. The MiG kit came with a narrow and a broad chord tail to model an early PF as the VPAF used or the later PF. Haven't seen the inside of the combo, but you can probably find a review on-line to confirm both styles of tail are included. The F-4E is the hard wing, early model E associated with Vietnam. Both are primitive by current standards, and I'm being generous. OK for shelf sitters on a budget, but you'd do much better to save your allowance and get a Tamiya F-4E and a Trump

IFR= Instrument Flight Rules VFR= Visual Flight Rules. Curtain is used to block the student's view outside to make students use and trust their instruments when there is no visibility--dark night over water, bad weather, etc. VFR conditions means clear weather, good flying weather, IFR conditions means only pilots rated for IFR should go flying.

I hope the other kits BPK releases down the road include the 727-200 and 757 at least. Easter and American Airlines for both, please! A 757 would also allow for an Air Force Two/SAM option. I hope they eventually do an assortment of 1/72 airliners--always seemed like a logical thing given 1/72 is the scale with the greatest subject range. I think the injected world is more than ready for a 747 too!

I have both sheets and all I can add to this discussion is that the YH sheet looks too orange, and the CAM sheet looks like the yellow I see in photos. That might change once either decal is actually on a model, but that's what it looks like to my Mark 1 eyeballs.

Yes--I've seen shots of Israeli F-16Cs with P-IVs on the old rails. Although I defer to anyone with more current info, I don't think the Israelis have retro-fitted their F-16Cs and Ds with the new rails, and I've not seen AIM-120s on any Israeli F-16 other than the F-16I, which does have the new rails. The 1/32 Isracast F-16C set for the Tamiya kit has the old rails in resin to replace the current ones in the kit. Also, USAF Thunderbirds still have the old rails, but any other present day USAF F-16C would have the LAU-129. The LAU-129 is associated with the AIM-120, so if you're building a

Depends which Revell 1/48 F-4E it is. If it's the RM ProMod with a painting for box art, grab it. It's a reboxed Hasegawa hard wing F-4E and it's a great kit. If it's the 1970s Revell kit with photographs for box art, it's a 1/48 pantograph of their old 1/32 kit, and it's useful as a paint mule or junior's first model, but $20 plus shipping is not a good deal for what you get.

Maybe you can't see what the item was, but we're all familiar with what real CE packaging looks like. Somebody out of all those buyers would have spoken out if they got fake packaging, and if I got fake packaging, I'd suspect the item wasn't the real thing and I'd leave negative feedback. I have multiples of many items in my stash. Maybe this guy used to have a retail shop or just really has multiples, and there'a also the possibility of buyers bidding, then not paying, so the same item is relisted. And it's also possible he's not selling the items because the prices are so high and you're

Looking at his ebay feedback, it's 100%. I would think if there were any problems with selling knock off copies (or anything else), somebody would have complained on his feedback. I know I'd complain if I paid his prices and got something I thought was a knock off, and any modeler serious enough to buy an OOP CE set would instantly know if there was a problem. If I had the $ to spend and couldn't live without some item he's selling, I'd bid with confidence based on the feedback score. Some years ago before the economy tanked and I had actual disposable income, I bought two Gibson Les Pauls

Not all the vendors were so hard nosed--I saw one vendor set up just you walked in the door that had the Revell 1/72 U-boat kit for $80 (prices were on the undersides of all his kits), and I looked at a few others, and he walked up and said he was willing to work with me on anything he had, nothing's "carved in stone." This was on Friday, so it wasn't last minute "I don't wanna take it home" eagerness to unload. Didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't have two nickels to spend, but I thought that was good salesmanship and he had some nice stuff in every scale. Lack of $ meant I didn't ki

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's how I stay out of modeling hell too. Modeling is a snaphot, so my snapshot was taken at the moment of brake release. Means I don't have to droop any control surfaces, detail paint the innards of open access panels, worry about finding/making intake/exhaust plugs or covers for various grills, seeker heads & pitot tubes, or deal with RBF flags either. It's not JUST laziness--I also like the looks of a closed canopy with a pilot inside and the ready for take off co

I've not seen the 1/48 Tamiya F-16 kits to know what's in the box, but I've read here that the 52 also uses the heavyweight gear with bulged main gear doors, and in 1/32 you need to cross kit the 50 with the Thunderbird to get there. You'll have the parts for a 52 and a GE engined 30.

I think Academy is taking a page from the Hasegawa playbook--reissuing old plastic with new decals and calling it a "limited edition" with a steep price hike. I'd be very surprised if they re-do the tails for the F-18A. Probably they'll just tell you what you have to shave off the C tails. Notice the Sniper pod on the painting of the F-16C Block 40, and then the same LANTIRN (or whatever) pod you get in the current C kit in the pictures. Doubt they'll actually give you a Sniper pod, but I'd love to be wrong there. The F-16F will probably be the I kit plus new decals. Just wonder how muc