jrbm

Monogram 1/48 F-4J and A-4F. Takes only a few steps before you've got the basic shape of the plane sitting in front of you.

Don't know if you would consider Toys R Us as a hobby shop, but back in the day, the stores would have 3 full aisles of plastic kits. This was when Testors still sold kits (in the yellow boxes, great marketing). Still remember getting a Testors-labelled 1/48 U-2R, 1/48 SR-71, 1/720 USS Nimitz, 1/350 Ohio class SSBN, and a Revell Space Shuttle with SRBs (with a free poster) and Space Shuttle with 747 carrier. It was my default hobby supply store as well. I bought many Testors drop cloths and knives. I even remember getting Revell's box scale USS Eisenhower, USS Wasp, and USS Forres

Yes, there were a few clips of other 1986 episodes on YT but not the one I mentioned above unfortunately.

How good is your memory? Anyone remember an NBC news show called "1986"? It was similar to ABC's 20/20 and was hosted by Roger Mudd. Anyway, one episode featured a piece on carrier aviation. It aired shortly after Top Gun came out and after the Libyan raids. IIRC, it was a 20-30 minute piece packed with footage of carrier planes at the time: F-14, A-6, A-7, E-2, EA-6B. It was shot on the USS Enterprise. Mudd interviewed an F-14 pilot with the call sign Ike and and A-6 pilot call sign Bags. I even remember seeing some VF-114 aircrew wearing their orange flightsuits.

I guess we both picked a fairly unknown kit LOL. Excellent info. Thanks!

Hi all, I was kicking myself recently (for the hundredth time) for not buying Koster's PB4Y-2 conversion kit or some of Cobra Company's items before they went out of business. I understand these product lines were bought by other aftermarket businesses several years ago but they haven't been re-released yet. So, I'm wondering why a business (in general) would buy old product lines and not produce them again. I understand many aftermarket business are one-man shops or not the primary income source of the owner, so these products' return to market can take some time. But wouldn'

Hi all, Honest question, not meant to incite any arguments re: current world events: I have seen lots of pics of Mig-29UB's in discussions about potentially transferring planes to Ukraine. I thought these planes were pretty much trainers only without any real combat capability (yes, I read the ARC topic re: loadouts for Mig-29UB). Question: do these planes have more of a combat role capability since their respective countries joined NATO? Of course, the news discussions were probably referring to the single seater instead of the 2 seater, but I was curious. Thanks.

Academy F-14: 1) To my eye, the framing on the windscreen gives it a somewhat square appearance. It doesn't have much of a "bubble" profile either, which seems to contribute to the square look. 2) The kit's external fuel tanks are mounted on the inboard part of the intake when viewed from the front. The real tanks are positioned towards the outboard portion. HTH jrbm

Hi all, I have the Hobby Boss 1/35 ZTD-05 AAV kit. Does anyone know if the side skirts (parts D1 and D15) are usually mounted or left off? I have seen pictures of ZTD-05s and ZBD-05s (not sure what the difference is but they look the same) where the side skirts are mounted and other pics where they are left off. However, the kit instructions do not indicate these as optional parts. OTOH, the box art shows a ztd-05 WITHOUT said skirts. Does anyone know if the skirts are removable in real life and under what circumstances the skirts would be left off? Thanks.

Thanks all. This is really great info!

Hi all, I am hoping to learn if you've experienced this problem and have any tips to fix it: I have a replacement canopy set made of clear resin made for the Revell/Monogram 1/48 P-61. I bought it about 5 yrs ago and just now getting to the point of using it. Problem is, the parts have developed a yellow discoloration. The thicker sections of resin (such as the resin pour stubs) are clearly more yellow and even somewhat opaque than the thinner sections. The canopy parts themselves are colorless/transparent (not opaque) EXCEPT when the edges are viewed on end. When looking at

Thanks for the info!

Hi all, I'd like to build a 1/48 Hase F-4S with its nose gear extended, as if it's about to launch from a carrier. I know Scale Aircraft Conversions makes a metal landing gear set for Hasegawa's British F-4 with the extended nose oleo. Question: would this set (designed for British F-4s) fit and be correct for the USN F-4 kit? I assume the nose gears were all the same (both in kit form and real life) but just want to make sure. Thanks! J

Testors F-18: how did they not notice the nose gear was missing a wheel? Or maybe the missing wheel and extended airbrake is for a maintenance diorama ... with live ordnance hanging on the wings.

Not sure if this is old news, but.... Look at 1:34 in the clip. Victory 203 looks like it has 2 rising sun kill marks just below the windscreen. I usually choose the low-vis gray schemes but this would make we want to build an F-14 just for those kill marks (if that's what they are).