Ben Brown

Exactly. Somebody needs to introduce Mr Song to the KISS method of kit design (the Keep It Simple, Stupid method, not the Rock & Roll All Night & Party Every Day method, all though the latter might make for an interesting model). So, getting back to 1/48 Furies, let's hope KH puts the same care into the FJ-3 as they did in the Huey. I'm really looking forward to this one. Ben

At this point, regardless of what they release, they need to put at least as much effort into getting the basics right as they apparently have in their new 1/48 UH-1D, to avoid another pratfall like the Banshee. A well-designed F-86A, F-86H, F11F, P-80, etc. would sell well for them. Not so much if they pooch it like they did on the Banshee. Ben

I have Paul's 1/144 KC-135 correction nose and have seen his Bugatti 100P kit. Buy with confidence! I need to to pick up his McLaren M6-A kit while it's still available. Ben

Bump

I'm planning a similar project, using the Z-M kit. I'm just waiting for some Hypersonic canopy details and a solution for the aft fuselage parts for the short afterburner nozzles that doesn't involve me having to modify the kit parts. I'm getting lazy in my old age! Check out Tommy Thomason's Tailhook Topics blog post on the topic. He gives a great rundown on the Blue Angels colors. His mix for blue is to empty a bottle of Model Master Insignia Blue until there is 21 mm of paint left, as measured from the outside of the bottle, and then add a full bottle of Testors 1111 Blue to it. Perhaps you can do a similar mix with Gunze if you can find a close match to 1111 Blue. The Blues used Chrome Yellow on the F-4s. The original Yellowhammer sheet had the correct shade of yellow. Cutting Edge reproduced the sheet after they bought the Yellowhammer line, and the yellow in their sheet ended up looking more like a mustard color. I have both sheets, and the one produced by Cutting Edge looks off to me. I've never compared the two sheets to Gunze's Chrome Yellow, so I don't know how good a match the decals are for your paint. I don't have CAM's sheet, so I can't comment on it. Ben

Tommy, that's good news! I like oddball subjects like this, so I hope they do a good job of it. Gene, I can be a bit slow on the uptake, sometimes. :-) Ben

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the announced Kitty Hawk F6U Pirate.The Pirate is an interesting subject. Like most everyone here, I'd have preferred they do an F11F, F-86H, or fix the F2H-2, but I'll still probably have to pick one of these up. Tommy has some notes on the National Naval Aviation Museum's Pirate (LINK). Care to bet the new kit will have the same non-original items as the museum piece? It looks like Kitty Hawk is going through the Collect Aire catalog, so maybe there's hope for a 1/48 F-107 and FH-1. Ben

I've just been looking over the pics of KH's new UH-1D kit over in the Helicopters forum. It's hard to believe this is the same company that produced that train wreck of a Banshee. I hope KH puts at least as much care and attention to detail into the Fury as they apparently have in the Huey. Ben

That looks great! I'd be all over one, if I hadn't just finished correcting the Hasegawa F-4S a little more than 6 months ago. You're welcome. Ben

I can't believe that thread is 10 years old! I eventually sold my CA F-86H, because I figured someone would release an injected kit before I got around to building the resin one. Oh, well. I'm hoping that KH has learned from their Banshee fiasco and will put as much effort into the Fury as they are apparently putting into the 1/48 Huey. Ben

Hi Bill, I once started putting together the info for building a T-Birds C, but never actually got around to actually gluing plastic. I found that the medium-sized stars were about the same size as the ones used on the later Ds. The smaller stars would be about 2 mm across (for a 1/48 model) and the large ones would be about 3.5 mm across. Sorry I I was never able to obtain the exact measurements. I think Darren is right, that the F-84F sheet might provide what you're looking for. The F-105 only had 2 sizes of stars, so the Warbirds Thud sheet won't do you any good.. Ben

Just a wild guess without dragging my Spey and J-79 kits out, but the toolings for the Spey kits' wings are different, so maybe WP had to make different parts to fit the respective kits. Ben

Mine just arrived. They are nice! I see what Gary is doing. These are "gateway" model parts. You see how good they are, and then you decide, "Oh, maybe I do have room for a 1/32 F-4S after all," and it's all downhill from there. Ben

Hi Gary, I won't be able to attend any of the events. Too far away. If you do decide to release the short nozzles & trim, I'll be first in line to buy a set! Thanks, Ben

Oh, you sneaky so and so! Here I was, saving so much money, because I don't have room for 1/32 Phantoms, and you go and start releasing 1/48 stuff! PM inbound. One thing that might be pretty cool, but would have a very limited number of markings opportunities, would be some short nozzles and the associated aft fuselage parts, so one could build a Blue Angels F-4J. Ben