AndrewS

Thanks to Craig and Gabor for their contributions and updates in this thread; it looks as though another very impressive Fine Molds kit is close to release. After watching the video, I'm also very curious about reference made (around the 3:06 minute mark) to the F-104... Ummmm, it might just be my wishful thinking, but is it too much to hope that a Starfighter is next cab off the rank? Can anyone translate what's actually said (the auto-translate fails to render the conversation at that point very well) ?

Thanks for mentioning that, Gabor! I did wonder if there was some tint to the plastic when I first saw your photo, but you've successfully reassured me! I think I'd like to see some of your January sun at the moment; mine's a bit ouchy burny at the moment! cheers, Andrew.

hi Gabor, Great pictures to illustrate what the Quitna set offers by way of upgrade to the FM kit (and possibly Hasegawa, if Quinta aren't releasing a more specific set) - thanks as ever for sharing with us.

Certainly does! Thanks Jari.

Good question Roy - I've often wondered about this as well. I went hunting online and found something that will hopefully help - even though it's not strictly for Navy/Marines Phantoms, here's a link to a copy of the F-4E Technical Order that shows (on pages 195-196) the placement of MERs on centreline and outboard wing pylons. As you'll see, there are forward and aft suspension positions for the MERs, but from the photos in this Flickr album (by redlinemodels), I'd say that the forward mounting was more common for Marines jets. Andrew.

And don't the exhausts look fantastic! I'm very keen to see these... Thanks Gabor.

All understood and kudos to Fine Molds for acknowledging the difference and tooling accordingly. Unfortunately, the execution hasn't matched the intent and for my F-4EJ (so not the Kai) I know that I would be very happy if part P8 (short nose sprue) made its way into the box! When I build the Kai boxing, I might just reach for the box of Hasegawa spares and find a Kai fincap; I wouldn't have minded Fine Molds taking this approach to catering for different versions.

I was pleased to see that as well - I'm disappointed by the fit and would love to see Fine Molds revise the sprues of the long-nose boxings to incorporate a single piece tail.

and we salute your efforts to bring about these realities! thank you!

Thanks Gabor and Gene for keeping us updated! My imagination's getting the better of me now, but I sincerely hope that Fine Molds release a thin-wing Phantom. Alternatively, our friends at Tamiya are welcome to take this on...

Thanks very much Jan for posting the kit schemes - I like the '-D' and line '-F' options!

Hi Jan, Where did you see the decal options? I can't find any specific reference to the schemes provided in this or the Desert Storm boxings. As Luigi mentioned, Caracal have offered sheets for -A, -E and EF-111s in the recent past, so with any luck they'll do a sheet for F-111Ds as well.

Please forgive my odd sense of humour, but when I read that I thought, 'Wow, he's got the one that cuts square holes. Cool!'

Thanks Gabor; I really like your 'have a look' posts - almost as much as your in-progress threads! Thanks in particular for the excellent images that accompany your impressions - so clear and such good illustrations of the point you're making.

That's a lovely result, Moritz. Thanks for sharing your progress, tribulations and the outcome on this particular subject and I'm looking forward to seeing your efforts with the rest of the quartet! cheers, Andrew.

Hi Craig, There's also the Oldmodels sheet offered for this scheme - more information available on this page (which covers many aircraft types and schemes worn since 1985; it's just how the website is laid out - you'll have to scroll down a little to get to sheet OMD0017 RNZAF T/A-4K Skyhawk Euro1 - 1/72). The proprietor has placed an important message on his homepage about postage for mail leaving NZ that might be worth considering. Andrew.

Agreed and yes please to a Tempest!

Nice recovery on the canopy, Moritz and I hope that painting it is just as successful. The Angolan MiG looks fantastic and I'm sure the others will be just as good. Please keep us updated.

I'd like to offer some belated thanks to everyone for their contributions, in particular to Todd for starting an interesting discussion and Jim for his excellent drawings. I am not a fan of Hasegawa's Pave Tack pod as offered in the F-111 kit, so I attempted my own improvements a few years ago while building an F-111C (yet to be finished). My approach seems broadly similar to what Jim describes and the photos below show my progress. Most of what you see was achieved by altering the kit parts, but I used pieces from AMT's offering of their F-111F for the pod turret. Here

Thanks Gabor, I'm very grateful for your update on this new version of Eduard's MiG-21, with your insights, excellent photographs and now the bonus of the Pure Plastic build. Please keep it up! Andrew.

I was lucky enough to have bought a Hasegawa Starfighter that contained the Dutch antenna parts; if memory serves it might have been this boxing - SP114 'Mount Olympos'. It took me a while to realise what the bits were for, and once I had worked it out, I wondered about a KLu boxing... pity they didn't. Interesting discussion and thanks for your insights, Mizar.

Hi Zac, The issues may be negligible, or I may be too fussy, but to my eyes the proportions of the numerals on the Printscale offering are sadly not quite right.... Compare those shown in the image on Scalemates with those presented by Zotz (admittedly in a larger scale) in their sheet 32-071 for F-4J Phantom II MiG Killers, as revealed in a review on Large Scale Planes. I feel that the Zotz rendering is much more accurate. Of course, the Printscale sheet would still be very useful for other markings, so I don't wish to write it off. You've done well to score an Academy

Printscale offer markings for that aircraft on their sheet 72-266, although I'm not totally convinced by their rendition of the BuNo./modexes... Andrew.

Hi Jim, I’ve found a picture of 4385 in this experimental scheme in Chuck Stewart’s Superbase 4 title on Decimomannu, with the caption saying that the photo was taken in September 1985. Unfortunately there’s only one picture, but it does show the left side of the jet. It’s very hard to tell, but to me, both pylons are painted in the ‘middle’ grey of RAL7023; the lighter grey seems a bit too light. In this photograph, the fuel tank on the left hand side is in the original colours of dark grey and white. Juergen, your profiles are very impressive and your information on t

Oh, I like. I like very much. Thanks again for sharing these images; it's greatly appreciated. cheers, Andrew.