JohnEB

It would be fun to build one as a civil Bell (or Augusta Bell) 204. Or a surplus "B" in civil use. Around my area, they are used for firefighting and logging. Either way would allow for a revised interior, panel, aerials and paint.

Dutch, thanks for the kind offer, but my eye issues (loss of depth perception) makes doing any detail work impossible. I tried to do some paint detail work on a die cast and managed to do an atrocious job! So until my eye is fixed, I'm doing easy stuff...hence my attraction to old, basic kits.

Nice work. Speaking of Revell Skyraiders.... I'm curious about the original Revell 1/40 kit. I know nothing about it. Anyone here have experience with it? I won't be shocked if no one does...it hasn't been seen in years. It might be with Atlantis now.

I just bought the Ginter book based on correspondence I've had with Casby. Nice guy. Until your post, I wasn't sure if this was the Ginter book he said he was working on. Thanks for the clarification that there isn't suddenly two new Cutlass books out there. Since Casby is involved in this book I'll be buying it. You might consider purchasing it from David Doyle books...if he stocks it. He usually has some sort of discount and it's good to support a nice small business guy.

My father attended a F-104 school in Burbank in 1958. He returned with a few Lockheed color promo photos (a P2V-7 was in my room for years) and several of these decals. One was on older brother's Schwinn from then on. Those patches were reproduced during the Vietnam era (and perhaps later). My brother has one in his patch collection, it is nowhere near as nice as the early Lockheed ones shown above. He was stationed at one time at Luke, AFB, where the Luftwaffe did some Starfighter training. He may have gotten his patch there. Anyone know if foreign air forces used the pa

Cubs2jets makes a good point about the flaps usually being up on the ground. I should have mentioned that in my reply. The C-47 turned into a DC-3 when parked, has its flaps up. When I have seen them down, a rare occurrence, IIRC, they were painted the airframe color. I did an internet search for "C-47 Split flaps", not many photos except for a C-47 in WW2 markings with green flaps.

They are called "Split flaps". This won't be a lot of help, but between the time they were built and the timeframe of your airplane they were probably painted. So from factory, they were interior green, by the 80s they were likely the base color of the aircraft (gray). But they could have been the white used in gear wells. So, you'll have to find a photo of a Navy C-47 from the time period to be sure.

Quite possibly! At least he lived to be a 4-Star. He was still a fighter pilot at heart. I flew with him once in a C-21 Learjet. The rated PIC, offered the general the left seat, and he'd be co-pilot. (The co- pilot was bumped to the jump seat). Arriving over our destination, he did a proper fighter "break", what seemed to be a 70° bank. I noticed the tip tanks wagging the wing. Fun stuff!

While in the Air Force, my boss's boss (aka the MAJCOM commander) was one of the NF-104 pilots. I was in his office and a large photo of it was prominently placed. That had to be the highlight of a flying career.

Thanks for posting the review, the photos are informative! Note, no rubber/vinyl tires (tyres for out UK friends). At least with a Bug, there was no chrome, so the typical lack of it in an Airfix kit, isn't missed. UK car fans bemoan the US government laws, which basically ensured most UK cars could not be sold in North America...ignoring the fact that they were jyst ahead if the world in safety and environmental standards. The upside of that is dodgy stuff like the Bond and other low volume cars (as well as cars from major manufacturers which were well past their "Best b

It was listed as a release in my last email from them. They must have received a Lockheed license since they also announced they are re-issuing the ex-Revell P2V Neptune in 1/104 and WV-2 Warning Star (RC/EC-121D) in 1/128. Neither of those have been released for years.

A possible point...wouldn't the fuel barrels be labeled AVGAS to denote their contents? Gasoline would usually mean MOGAS (unless they are there for the truck). Obviously a large difference in octane.

Hopefully Vintage Flyers (or someone) will come out with an improved decal sheet if Atlantis does not do it. I have read somewhere online that the nose numbers don't match the tail serial. I have asked a friend who is a consultant to Atlantis to mention that to Peter. A couple of decal variations could be available...more than you might expect MATS...NMF MAC (transition...silver decals over MATS titles) NMF MAC...NMF MAC....Gray/White Lockheed demonstrator NASA Plus, there were a couple of experimental camouflage finish. I do

When I was in the Air Force, I saw an display model of a C-5 in 1/48th. It had clear sides so you could look at the cargo area. It had various items inside, including an assembled Aurora Chinook. It was produced when the C-5 was new, so it was old at the time. It looked like something built for a trade show). Yes, it was very large. Likewise, a 1/72 C-5 would be neat because of the stuff you could display in or with it. A large airliner would let you have fun with paint, but the only thing you could put in it would be tiny (ill dressed, drunk?) people on vacation/

Thanks to all for their thoughts. I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed, I hoped that it being a later Aurora effort, it would have been better. As it is, it sounds like their large scale airliner kits. I know from personal experience their 747 was very basic, but given the scale it isn't surprising. Like many old kits, it is a great basis for a desk model where size trumps detail.