Paul Boyer

No, I just went with what I could see in the photo. It looked Okay to me.

I forgot where I read that, but it was right at the beginning of the 2-letter system. Did they start with that system?

No, no, no. It is the 1/72 Hasegawa kit, done in several forms, including the early A3D-1 with a resin nose and tail gun installation. The Wolfpack wing fold covers the wings, but not the tail fold. I scratchbuilt that. The markings were custom made decals using an ALPS printer (no longer available) and based on a B&W photo by Norm Larkin at a shore base. It has the tail folded over, but the tip shows a white-bordered design of a medium color (possibly green?). The rest of the tail is invisible, but in other references shows a similar design with a lightning bolt coming down from the aft

How about a "Blue Whale"? The markings on this one are speculative but make sense. It was in one of two units assigned to carriers while retaining the old gloss blue markings. Hope someone can prove me right (or wrong)!

It's all about scale! I agree that in 1/48, raised masks will do fine, but freehand takes a lot of practice and experience.

LF also make them. Check Scotts Model Workshop (rebelalpha on eBay).

No, I would use a mask. There are several out there, but the work is still complicated. You start by painting the entire aircraft in one of the colors, then use the masks to cover THAT color, and then you spray the next color. Then you use masks to cover the second color, and so forth. Not a task for the faint of heart. This is the 1/72 FineMolds F-4 Phantom II.

An airbrush is good for many camouflage patterns, but to get a more defined color separation, masks are available. Or you can create your own masks using masking tape. I guess we need more info from you about your experience.

Here's the AMT 1/72 KC-135R with Caracal's sheet. Enjoy!

The decals provided in the 1/72 Anigrand Giant Castings kit of the VC-25 "Air Force One" were printed well and performed with no troubles. I'm not going to add an E-4 to the collection, so won't need decals for that. I don't think there is much market for 1/72 versions of these huge airplanes, but I would assume good quality decals for 1/144 scale would be popular.

Not up on my helicopters. How much difference between a CH-46E and what you get from the Fujimi kit? Would a 3D or resin detailing set suffice?

It might not be kosher to mention other decal manufacturers here on the Caracal page, but do you mean Print Scale?

Or their B-52s. 🙄 After I built their B-2 and then B-52H, I figured I'd be better off using aftermarket details and corrections on Monogram's 1/72 B-One. I wasn't going to let imperfection get in the way of finished.

The F-105 vs the F-107 competition was also about high-speed tactical nuke delivery. The Thud had an internal bomb bay, and the 107 had a semi-recessed mount for the nuke. When the Thud went to war, the bomb bay carried a fuel tank and wasn't openable.

I don't know the numbers, but I recall being told it had the red shooting stars. The others were dark blue, green, and yellow, as you know.