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I'd guess from the number of views that many of us might have one of these kits and have been waiting to see if or how it can be made better. Terrific work so far.

Thanks John, that's a very likely candidate for the one and cheers for the links. Still wish the actual photo would resurface though Incidentally, it was the English Electric team who discovered on the P1 Lightning that making a wing notch made fences redundant (and provided a handy place for an intake while reducing weight) in halting span-wise flow and shared it with NACA. I think it was in Roland Beaumont's book.

Many years ago I saw a photo of Chappie James (not sure if he was the General in charge of NORAD at the time) standing in front of an F-106B. I recently uncovered the Falcon 1/48 conversion set I'd bought (30?) years ago for the F4H-1 nose and intake set, which I used at the time, and found their F-106B fuselage insert with very nice clear vac canopy parts which as luck would have it are designed for the Monogram F-106A kit. Which I also have. So I thought what better antidote to modern colourless jets. I know there's an updated kit available now, but the Monogram/Falcon combo can give a

Regarding Photobucket, I found that switching to the Chrome browser solved the delay problem, but has other issues elsewhere. It seems that whatever way web pages are designed now, no single browser can handle them all. Liking your build Jman, but I'd maybe suggest a little bit more thinner in your washes, as more needs to be removed from your cockpit parts for instance to get the shadow effect you're looking for.

Beautiful build Chuck, everything looks extremely precise. While I'm not a fan of the super clean look, I realise that's a matter of taste. Well done and good work.

Very nice looking model. I may have to get one just to hang the new Russian insignia on.

Can't remember where, but I read somewhere that those inner pylon mounted RAAF AIM-7s were never actually used operationally or fired. They were used on high altitude flights to 'cold soak' the missiles, which were then ground tested. edit: just re-read the angelfire web page which says as much.

Wild speculation, but I wonder if Republic were considering leaving the gun out. Having that big rattly M61 cannon vibrating away up against those valve (tube) era electronics isn't an ideal environment for the radar. Or maybe as a test ship it was considered unnecessary for its role in the test program. Whatever the reason, it's ended up with one now.

Thanks for the link, Habu2. I guess my idle curiosity was too idle to look it up myself!

Thanks for those. I'd looked everywhere for a good photo of the offset cannon troughs, and yours are good enough to back up the micro-sized drawing that Aviaeology supplied in their decal set.

Exceptional paint work and detailing. You've created a Prowler to be very proud of.

A very interesting model. I always wondered what the wing's reverse taper was all about - surely not just to create volume for the outward folding undercarriage.

I think I've got a Humbrol fluorescent Saturn Yellow somewhere, which I seem to recall is the same kind of lemony yellow seen in the colour version of the photo. Though I've never gotten round to building the Meteor target tug I think it was intended for.

I wholeheartedly agree. My problem with model Thuds though, is that I see a definite curve between the windshield/windscreen and the radome pitot, whereas the model companies - including the usually reliable Monogram - all seem to go for a straight sided 'sharpened pencil' look, which just doesn't look right to me. I've seen fixes from switching a MiG-25 radome to using internal sprue insets to distort the nose line but nothing entirely convincing so far.

It can be tricky. I recall having an awful time with Humbrol's fluorescent orange clumping up in the airbrush when spraying my Heller EC-121. So much so, I contacted Humbrol's technical department for a solution (no pun intended). A chap there explained that I needed to use their own brand (cellulose) lacquer thinner which was rated, say a ten on scale of one to ten, rather than the cheapo autobody finisher shop four pint can I was using which would rate about a three or four on that scale. Sure enough, when using the proper recommended thinner, it sprayed like a dream.

F-105D Ship No.10 (I assumed that's what D-10 meant, but confirmed it on Joe Baugher's ever useful website. He also notes it is/was on display at USAF Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, FL., but I haven't checked that yet.

The easiest way to open things like those side vents is to mill away the bulk of plastic on the reverse side (or gouge it out with a chisel tool if you don't have a motor tool) then when you can see that it's translucent when held to the light, cut carefully through the remaining membrane from the front with a sharp pointed scalpel blade. Opened vents always look best, but on an area that small you can likely get away with a dark wash too.

Nice discovery! Is that a huge vent/louvre grille seen between the inner MLG door and the tank pylon? Doesn't seem to have made it onto production Ds. Also makes you wonder what other treasures might be hiding in online albums simply labelled 'day at airshow' or similar.

While the F-4B is welcome. it would be great if the Airfix team with their LIDAR setup produced the Spey Phantom in 1/48th. as well. The Hasegawa Spey kit, whilst good for its time thirty years ago, is by no means the last word in Brit Phantoms for reasons which will become obvious once the HKM kit hits the shelves. And yet a smaller scale companion is required even if only in order to display a representative selection of RAF and FAA liveries.

Very nicely executed and clean work there, Steve. I'm starting to think that your model has more detail apparent than a full size 'Cat'! (Which I like, because - call it a puritanical bent in me - I think models should educate you or at least teach you something about the original. An aspect the 'just build it and stop complainin' brigade miss out on IMHO).

Great way to display it Steve. All that detail you've created deserves to be seen and appreciated.

It's a really nice kit and you're doing a great job on it. You're a bit further ahead than I've gotten so far. One thing I've noticed on other builds may be worth mentioning, and that is watch out when mating the upper and mid and forward sections. There seems to be some potential if done incorrectly to mess up the fore and aft smooth downward curve that the upper edge of the air intakes should have. Most of the online builds I've seen seem to be a bit of a bodged job in that one area. Not sure why yet but suspect it's a misalignment, with the top of the intake moulded the way it is makin

Cheers for that link Habu and filling in the gap in my understanding of their coding system.

Thanks for that. (Although the secondary question 'why?' arises. Not that I'll lose any sleep over it).

Good clear explanation of the geometry there, MoFo. Thanks for that. And yes, spot weld 'dimples' are more likely I agree. I'm not that much of a fan of the MiG-31 (big and impressive as it is - 1/72 would be enough for my needs) but then again, with the sheer workmanship displayed in just that missile, I'd really like to get my hands on the whole kit.