Chris Kethan

I've got to vote for the Hasegawa A-4 series and the F-8....Cool subjects, with alot of great schemes available for them... I've heard great things about the PM F-15E as well, but mine is still languishing in the stash..... Chris

Greg, When I painted mine, I painted the wheel wells interior green and drybrushed with ZC and steel. Here's a shot of the results. HTH, Chris

Bob, That DC-8 looks fantastic! I've always thought that the strech -8 is on of the most elegant looking airliners. I don't model airliners ( because I spend so much time around them :lol: ), but yours really caught my eye. Great finish on a classic airframe. Nice choice of Livery, too! Keep up the great work on the Delta fleet. Maybe you could model my favorite airliner.....the 727. I'd love to see what you could do with that 1/72 727 kit. Chris

Great job, Jakub! The stripes do stand out... that AND your outstanding paint job. Keep us posted. Chris

Harley

I'm a big fan of the Tamiya method. I used to use the BMF, but I like the tape better. It is easier to work with. Like MOFO, i use the liquid mask over the large areas after the edges have been masked with the tape. My most complex masking jobs were my Ju-88, and my TBD...Those took 2 evenings if I remember correctly. Try the Tamiya tape method, Roland. I think you'll be pleased with the results. Chris

Mike, I always spray a mist coat of the undercolor over my decals. It fades the decals into the paint and prevents them from looking quite so stark. Here are a couple of examples: Hope this helps. Chris

Frank, Actually, when I was in initial FE training, we took a tour of the Maintenance facility where the paint shop was located. I asked about the shade of red, and the painters told me it was actually "International Orange". I'm not sure of the FS number, but I saw the containers of paint, and they were marked "International Orange." It looks reddish from a distance, but when you get close, it is definately more orange than red. Chris

Hitch, I don't particularly like the Ron job, but I DETEST the Leo paintjob. It looks like we got a beach towel caught on the tail while on takeoff roll.... Bring back the original with the black nose and widget on the tail. Chris

Ben, Chataqua Airlines flies the ERJ under the Delta Connection Banner. I think they started flying for Delta in 1999 or 2000. Now we have ASA, Comair, Chataqua and Skywest doing the connection duties. Chris

I am a BIG fan of Hobby Island. If you're ever in Houston, stop by. Great selection of kits, resin, PE, paint and decals. The staff is very friendly, knowledgable, and helpful. They only sell Scale modelling stuff, so other hobbies don't compete for shelf space. Stop by..... You won't be disappointed. Chris

AMEN.... It's a beautiful country, but being deployed there for a 6 month and a 7 month stint got old. I got my fill of Kef flying. Chris

Holy Moly, Tbolt! That is nice. Your scratch built items really improve the cockpit. Keep posting pix, I'll be following this one closely. Chris

Holy moly, What a great build of a great kit. :) I've got that one in the stash...... I've been trying to get the courage to start it! Be sure to post pix of the completed diorama. Chris

Animal, I use a wooden lazy susan also, and I just duct tape the coat hanger to the upper surface. That way I can bend the coat hanger to what angle I need, and when I finally break it, I just untape it and get a new one. Chris

Great build, Collin. Try to keep in touch, and we'll see you back here when you get back. Chris

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Wiggy style? Where's the jeep? Bring back the JEEP! :D Great build, Greg. Kick-*** photos also. :blink: Chris

Ernie, I'll second Volzj's motion to paint it with MM 'interior black'. It's actually a dark grey and looks better than a pure black painted aircraft. As he mentioned, it allows you to shade the panels with darker black to give the paint job some depth. Drybrushing with different shades of grey, steel, and aluminum also yield interesting highlights to the finish. Thats the method I used for my PBY in Black Cat markings. HTH, Chris

Skull, I'm not an expert on the phantom, so I won't claim my info is correct. I wasn't able to ID the phantom as a B or a G. It looks like a phantom to me! The caption for the picture I have identifies the green camo Phantom as an F-4G belonging to VF-114. It's entirely possible that my book is incorrect. Stranger things have happened. Chris

Diego, I've got a book titled "The history of US Naval Air Power" that shows color photos of the Green and brown over white camo applied to A-4's, A-6's, F-4's and A-5's. It also shows an all black painted RA-3B. The CAG 11 Aircraft were deployed to SE Asia aboard the KITTY HAWK in 1967. The squadrons I can ID are: VF-114.....F-4G VA-85......A-6A RVAH-11..RA-5C The A-4 is a "C" I think. I can't tell what squadron it is from, but that info should be easily obtained on the web. Sorry I can't included pictures, but my scanner is inop. I think the A-4's and A-6's look cool. Definately

Zmey, Try low air pressure and very diluted paint for the exhaust stains. I've found that the key is subtle differences in color. I usually airbrush a "base" exhaust color of light grey or tan(for a dark aircraft). I then airbrush thin coats of darker grey and brown. The last color is black. Here are some various examples: Hope this helps! Chris

Doug, I've been waiting to finish my Hasegawa F-4J. I was hoping to finish it for the GB, but I didn't get it done.. Anyway, I've got a set of hasegawa canopies and a set of monogram canopies. I'm not sure which set I'm going to use. (I installed the BB cockpit, and now the fuselage is too wide for the hasegawa canopies) After I sit down this next week and figure out a solution, I'll decide which ones to use. Whichever canopies I don't use, you are welcome to the other set. I also have a one-piece hasegawa canopy I'm not going to use that you are welcome to have.... Chris

I built the PM boxing about two years ago with Aeromaster Decals. I built a "black cat" -5A version with the gear up. One of these days I am going to build a resin water base to sit the model on. It is a great fitting kit. I was able to pick up the PM boxing at a model show for $35.00, and that included a resin cockpit set! (True Details, IIRC) Conclusion: It's a great kit to build, and it looks great when completed. Make sure you have plenty of room to display it. The wingspan is HUGE! Chris

I have this kit. I bought it for the 926th decals. I opened the box to check out the kit, and quickly closed it! Not worth gluing together to blow up with firecrackers. "You can't polish a turd". Toad, I heard the expression from my Grandfather like this: No matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd! Chris