Rhino53

Hi All Thanks for the kind comments, they are appreciated. I thought I would add some pictures without the windows being masked. I hope you like the. Thanks for looking. Ted

Thanks you for looking. Having looked at the pics, I forgot to remove the tape over the windows. Sorted now though. Talking of windows, I lost the approach windows and had to use the inflight ones, but I will say that this was a test in case the windfows failed. Hope you guys don't mind.

Hello All This is the Italeri repop of the AMT 1/72nd scale XB-70, probably the most beautiful aircraft that ever flew. Years ago, I saw a picture of one of these landing at Edwards with the nosewheel still in the air, and lots of bits deployed. I always wanted to build it and I finally managed it. The kit is well known, and not an easy build. Any part that fits is purely coincidental, with araldite being the adhesive of choice. I used the SAC undercarriage for added strength and some resin wheels, apart from that everything is from the box. I did enjoy

Hello all I have been suffering from a lack of mojo for a while now, and I needed to try and break it, so I decided to do something fairly simple and mostly out of the box. I decided to go for an old favourite, the KC-97, but the USAF SIG is doing a transport theme for Telford this year so I converted the excellent Academy 172nd scale KC-97G to the YC-97A. Another reason for this one is an interest in the Berlin airlift, and this is the only member of the C-97 family that took part, flying 27 round trips in May 1949.

Progress on this one has been a bit slow due to other commitments but here as promised is the next instalment in the prototype Phantom (just in time for it's 60th anniversary). This shows the completed cockpit (minus seat) installed in the fuselage. The Academy parts were used for panels in the front, while I left the rear panel devoid of instrumentation. I've started assembling the fuselage here, with the internal details being added. Here I am putting thge fuselage upper half on, and attempting to mate the Brigade Mode

The decals have not been produced yet, but it will only feature the 1st aircraft at the first flight according to Brigade Models. Price is about £37.99 and available from Hannants UK.

Hello Phantom Phans. This WIP is for the forthcoming Brigade Models conversion set for Academys F-4B into the prototype F4H-1. I have obtained from Kevin a pre production test shot of the mouldings as seen at SMW this year. This does not include canopies or decals as they are not ready yet. Availability of the set should be March next year. Kevin has agreed to add a second seat so later small radome aircraft can be built. Any changes for this will be up to the modeller, as the main purpose here is for a first flight aircraft. Also, there are no instructions (I suspect I may be w

Hello All After 11 months, I have completed the conversion of the Monogram B-36 to the YB-60 Jet engined prototype. It has been a long slog, with the USAF SIG's anniversary show at Telford as the must do by date. The easiest part of the conversion was the fuselage with small changes on the nose and tail being required. The wings and tail empennage not so simple. I think I used 5 or 6 tubes of Milliput for that. The engines were donated by an old B-52 kit. The engine pylons were adapted B-52 pylons as well. The wings were kit wings modified by

Imagine all the hidden detail.

I had a good long chat with the kit designer at Telford about this kit. The one on show was a 3d printed prototype, and already showed promise. He said the kit is planned to have early and late cockpit details as well as external details. A lot of planning has gone into the nose area as it is a complex shape which he is trying to get spot on. The (small) downside is that this will not be a cheap kit, but I think it will be good. Ted

This is the F-4J I'm building at the moment. I didn't get pics of the cockpit going in, but this is how it looks when fitted. I glued the cockpit section to the wheel well and no more glue was used. It fits that well. The pics. Ted

I have used this set on a F-4J, and if nothing else, it fits into the Academy kit really well, as well as being a good looking set. When I joined the fuselage I didn't glue the cockpit set at all. It just fits so well. I hope they bring out sets for the USAF Phantoms.

The Academy F-4C and D kits have got white stencil data, and they are reasonable kits too.

Hi All Here I present my model of the A-1J Skyraider belonging to the commander of the 602nd SOS from the Vietnam war. The kit is from Zoukei Mura and is very detailed with a lot of the detail not being seen on the completed model. The engine even has the pistons moulded in. I chose this option as I think the black undersides looks better than the light grey. The armament was chosen only because that is what I had available. I have seen A-1's carrying bombs, though maybe not snakeeyes, but they look good, so fine by me. I hope you enjoy the model. Thanks for looking. T

Hello from a cold UK. I present my latest Phantom build for you. This aircraft is one of three which was converted from a Kurnass following the Yom Kippur war when the Israeli Defence Force had a shortage of reconnaissance aircraft. The long term solution was a purchase of RF-4E aircraft, before which a loan of 2 RF-4C aircraft from the 10th TRW. But before all this 3 F-4E's were modified by removing the 20mm Vulcan cannon, covering the gun muzzle and installing a clear door to replace the cannon door under the fuselage and installing a camera in the gun bay. 3 aircraft, 117, 125 and 139 we

Part Two. 6 More countries, or the fun continues. This one is an old friend, as it was the first conversion I did, as well as being relatively simple. May I present Mr Israel The fun with this one was doing the camo. And the next one is. Mr. Japan This one was particularly difficult as the armour is layered, and the only way I could accomplish this was by rolling and shaping milliput sections individually. This one took me 2 weeks to build, but was worth it in the end. Next up is Mr. South Korea. This was a simple conversion, with the stovepipe hat being particularly cool. Fo

Hello All Some time ago Aires started a new range called Aerobonus. Among the many unusual subjects, they have started a range of mascot figures for various aircraft types, so far including the A-7 Corsair 2, MiG-21, and F-14 Tomcat. For me, the best thing was Spooky, the F-4 Phantom mascot. I went and bought 12 of these with a plan in mind. So here are the results of that plan. First was an unaltered Spooky as in the first picture below. This became Mr America. The plan was to alter the rest in accordance with a cartoon I found on the net which showed a series of Spooky's in various n

I must thank you guys for the help you have provided. Sean's pictures show what a big job I have reproducing the wheel bay. They will be a big help to me. Many thanks for the interst shown. Ted

Check Six Very many thanks for those, they will be of great help indeed. I appreciate your help there. Would it be OK to copy the pictures please. best regards Ted

Hello all I am in the process of building a vac form 1/72nd scale model of a C-5 Galaxy, build WIP here. I am finding it difficult with a lack of a walk round and detail pictures. I have 2 books on the subject, plus a copy of the engineers handbook off the web, but I am looking for details on the landing gear bays, in particular the overall layout of the main gear bay, and the nose gear bay details. I would be grateful for any assistance that can be provided. Ted

. You'll see how flattering the pictures are. Not sure where it's going yet, as it's not a Phantom. Maybe the display case in the foyer? Come and find me on the F-4 Phantom SIG display. Many thanks for everyones kind comments, they are much appreciated. Ted

I'm not doing anything with it (except Perth this weekend). That's your job.

Hi All This is my just completed Academy 1/72nd scale RB-50G. This is the first of the B-29/B-50 family I have built with guns, so it is a bit different for me. This was done out of the box. I'm not happy with how this has turned out, the metal paint isn't how I like it, and I had a problem with matt varnish going funny, but in the end I left it as it looks like it has just dried out after a rain storm. On to the pictures. Comments and criticism is welcomed. Thanks for looking. Ted

Hi Paul Thanks for the interest. The face blind seat handles I painted with a fine brush. The seats came with etched pre painted handles, but they look too flat to me, so I adapted the kit handles. The handle on the seat itself was pre-painted etch. Ted

Yup, 330, 331 is what I used. I have been told by some that the green is similar to FS34079, though I'm not sure. Good luck with your's. Look forward to seeing it. Ted