Darren Roberts

Looking fine so far.

Sure will!! I think the February one just showed up at my house yesterday - is that the one? :D It's my understanding that it's the March issue, which should come out at the end of this month or the beginning of February.

I actually didn't do any rescribing. After the model was flat coated, I used a Micron ink pen and let it follow the raised lines. I wiped the lines with a wet Q-Tip to take off some of the ink. After that I used a small round brush clipped almost to the bottom of the bristles to apply burnt umber pastel. I again used the Q-Tip to wipe away any extra. It also works quite well to keep using the dirty Q-Tip as long as possible to add that extra grime into the finish.

That would be correct. I've done them for A-7's, A-6's, and F-18's. Find a company that either makes or installs signs and they should have a bunch of scrap lying around in a variety of colors. Use tape to get a rough pattern, then transfer the tape to a medium thickness of sheet plastic. Cut out the pattern, then use that to cut the vinyl on a piece of glass. For the above mentioned kits, I cut a strip of plastic to put on the outside of the intake and made it a bit bigger to wrap inside the intake lip. Then I cut out the D-shaped intake parts right up to the edge of the lip so there was a mi

I cut them from thin vinyl that is self adhesive. They work great and look pretty good when flatcoated. They are available from Spruebrothers.com under the Steel Beach label. If there's a color missing, let me know and I'll cut some more. They're pretty easy to do.

How about a VF-74 Bedeviler's in adversary markings. Twobobs has a sheet and they look very sharp when done.

Here's the progress on my F-14D in VF-11 markings. It's the R/M kit (of course!) with the Steel Beach D update set and external tanks. I also put in True Details resin seats. When complete, it will be on its way to VF-11's ready room for their history display that I'm working on. I did cheat a little bit and start it over Christmas vacation, so it's a couple days early on the start.

The term "Bombcat" simply means that the aircraft can carry iron. All versions of the Tomcat (A,B,D) are capable of carrying bombs, so the term "Bombcat" can apply to all of them.

A nice, dirty Phantom...phantastic job! For not having built a jet in awhile, it sure looks like you haven't forgotten how to do anything.

I love the checkerboard on the tail. Very nice looking Skyhawk!

5 days? Naw, I cheated! I've actually been working on it for about a month or so. I've got an F-14D for their display case that I was working on along side this one. I've got 4 more on the assembly line being built mass production style. To tell the truth, I'm beginning to get tired of Tomcats....am I allowed to say that? :lol:

Thanks for the compliments, guys. The base is actually the 1/48 Verlinden card stock base. I believe it's under the Custom Dioramics name. It really looks good. I was fortunate enough to come across one and picked it up. I didn't scribe the panel lines on this one at all. I've found that I can get decent panel lines by running a Micron ink pen next to the raised lines. Before the ink dries, I wipe away some of the ink with a wet Q-Tip. Then, I use a small round brush that I've clipped almost to the base to add some burnt umber pastel chalk. I again go over it with a damp Q-Tip. It breaks up th

Here are a few shots of Ripper 211. It's the Revell/Monogram F-14A converted to a B and is now on it's way to the former PAO of VF-11 Red Rippers. This is number 2 of 10 for the squadron. I was quite happy with the way it turned out. I know I've said it before, but I LOVE the R/M kit!

Thanks for all the comments. I'll take some smaller pictures. It's kind of hard to see the whole model with those big pictures. The funny thing is that in the pictures, the decals look horrible, yet they aren't bad on the actual model. I'll see if I can't write something up for Steve.

Here's my just about complete F11F. I need to add FOD covers and finish the panel lines on the bottom. The cockpit is scratchbuilt and all corrections have been made to the fuselage, wings, tail, etc. The landing gear is scratchbuilt and the wheel bays are from the Aries F-104 set. Inaccurate? Yup. Do they look close enough? Yup The panel lines were done with a .005 Micron pen. I still would like to see a decent 1/48 F11F Tiger, though.

I used exactly two brushfuls of Mr. Surfacer for the wingroots, and I really didn't even need that. It fits as well as any Tamiya kit...and this is resin. I can't say enough about Paul's stuff. It's simply fantastic. I wish ALL resin companies could be this good. The $155 USD price is competitive even for an injection molded kit, let alone a resin one. If you can swing it, you won't be sorry!

Thanks for the compliment. They are printed by Microscale and go on like without a hitch.

Here's a pic of where I am on the kit. As soon as all the fiddly bits are on, I'll send an article to Steve reviewing it. Let's just say it's worth every penny!

I know Testor's came out with the 1/72 scale kit with the decals, as I have those. Did they ever come out with 1/48 scale though? I'm starting a future FSM article and getting everything ready. If not, I'll simply use the Superscale VFA-25 sheet with the Fist of the Fleet markings, unless Mike P. (or anyone else, for that matter) wants to come to my rescue and do some quick artwork using the 1/72 decals to make the 1/48 ones. BTW, after looking closely at the movie pictures, those Tomcats are just plain NASTY looking. One of the a/c used for filming even has a replacement Gull Gray panel on a

After looking at the picture, it does appear to be a variation of the Heater/Ferris scheme, although the picture of the tails has curved demarcation lines, not straight, which is why I thought it was different. It still would make for an interesting model. I just need to figure out how to do the light gray Wolfpack markings.

I've got that book and thought about someway to paint that scheme. It's neither Euro I nor a Ferris scheme. There is another picture of it in World Airpower Journal's book on the Tomcat. It appears to be similar colors to the Ferris scheme, but it's not a splinter pattern. It's more a wavy pattern. I like the light gray VF-1 markings. That would be a neat model to do.

Hey, I'll pull for the Rippers. I'm also thinking of maybe doing a very strange Topgun scheme. It's the blue splinter pattern, but the colors are dark green, red brown, and gray on top with tan sides and green markings. It's quite interesting looking.

Now someone needs to do a set for the 107th FIG out of Niagara Falls.

The front cover of The Hook has a picture of a Swordsmen pilot sitting in his "office". Some of the HUD is visible in the picture. I'd say it's close, but not identical, in appearance to the Delta HUD. It's a double-glass setup. The framework looks a bit different from the D HUD. I can't see much else because of the windscreen framing.