DutyCat

Why are you dogging the Type VII? The U-boat contribution to the war effort, in spite of losing the war, was historic. They sank over twice as much tonnage as the Gato's, and when most folks think of WWII submarines operation, the think of the U-Boat menace and the Battle of the Atlantic first. It is not a matter of which boat was "better" as they were different designs for different TO's Besides that, what would you do with two eight foot long Gatos? 1/72 Virginia? 1/144 is probably plenty big for a modern sub.

I am winding down the Monogram Atlantis portion of the Shuttle Wars project. I am hoping to have it ready for nationals. I have been doing research, specifically at Atlantis configuration during its last flight. I noticed that on the last flight, there were NO PAL ramps adjacent to the tank cable trays in either the LH or LO2 sections. For those who don't know PAL stands for Protuberance Aerodynamic Load. These are add on foam pieces that are supposed to keep air from getting up underneath the tank control trays that run lengthwise on the tank and control vents and such. These types of "

Wow! I am sure they will sell a ton of them, IF it is tooled well. If not, they are going to take a bath. The Revell kit plus all of the resin goodies gets you in the region of $500 already.

Calling it a fighter doesn't make it one. It may be able to burn, but it sure can't turn.

AIM-54C not the same as an A. Early AIM-7s were not so good either, but later ones were. The Lybian Mig-23's were I believe both shot down BVR with AIM-7s. I do not know how good the AIM-54 really was, but my understanding is that it was NOT just designed to shoot down bombers, but also to shoot down cruise missiles. They shot down drones with them in testing. I think the kill rate was IVO 85%, but I do not recall any specifics beyond that. I have a book around here somewhere that claims the missile was pretty badass. One issue I have heard about in the fleet back in the day was corrosi

Seriously? The Tomcat, with good engines, was a great aircraft for its time....after the engine upgrade but before AIM-120 was in widespread service, probably the best when one considers overall capability. Would you want to go up against a Tomcat shooting AIM-54s at you? They never received AIM-120 as the Navy was already eyeing SuperHornets, but still...I once talked to an F-15C pilot from the FANG, and his opinion was that he could comfortably handle the Hornets/SuperHornets as long as he did not get slow and low with them, but the F-14A+, B, and D would bite you quickly if you were not ve

They should be. Things are starting to happen rapidly now with the program. It was always assumed that the stealth/radar/avionics/software would be worked out in time, and now that there is new video of the aircraft sporting around with obvious energy in airshows, there is less and less to complain about except the cost.

Tracy is doing a fine job with his 757. I was over at his house last Thursday and he helped straighten out the wingtip "sharklets." I find it interesting how modelers will take different approaches to solving problems, or even basic assembly techniques. The Trump 757 is currently featured on the Dutycat Arts build blog. Rather than re-post and comment on everything here, just click on the link! -G.G. Dutycat Arts Build Blog

I think the Brits already have a couple of B's, but as you can read from some of what others have said, the aircraft is now a giant political football up in the Great White North. If the aircraft finally delivers, as it appears it is going to, then regardless of what the RCAF finally orders, the Canadian government will have suffered an acute embarrassment over the whole episode. Unfortunate.

I think clearly the writing is on the wall that the aircraft will deliver what was promised, if more expensively. The other good news is the cost per unit is going down as the production rate goes up and assembly learning curve shallows out. At the end of the day, the detractors are going to look foolish, and if Canada, now having hit the reset button on the program, buys SuperHornets, they may regret it. The SuperHornet is a good jet, but that program is winding down and it is time to move on. I find it funny that the same sort of folks who talked about how the SuperHornet was such a piece

Two videos. The first one is a lengthy tactical airshow with a whole bunch of stuff worth watching. Check out what appears to be a maximum rate (or nearly so) turn by an F-35 at about the 2:45-53 mark. The second one features a couple of A/B take offs. The first aircraft pulls up pretty aggressively at about the 1:29 mark and is worth watching. Now, based on thiis video at least, it appears to me that the F-35's airframe performance is in the same class as the previous generation 4 fighters. So, if this can be combined with all of the electronic and sensor advancements that the F

Thanks. I did the best I could with it and it looks fine from a distance. However, there are some issues caused by the fact that the decal design is not perfectly matched to the model architecture, and everything is tied into everything else. I had to fudge things here and there to get it all to fit. For example that tail stinger is not supposed to be up in the vertical stab, and there are some issues with the height of the windows (they are supposed to run right down the middle of that center panel). Lots of little adjustments. Hindsight is always 20/20 with complex projects. If I had

I once had a CO who smoked in the jet every flight. He would bring an empty coke can for an ash tray. Complete violation of rules but no one would say anything. He also had booze in the reefer in his stateroom. I took a look see one time when I was sent down there to retrieve something for him. A far as sleeping....sure, but only during transits or if I were not involved in the mission in any way. When you are on station on the S-3, the SENSO is almost always running the radar unless there is an active sub hunt, in which case the SENSO is monitoring a sonobuoy field and the radar gets sha

Got this thing pretty much done. Some minor details to add, but that is pretty much it!

Well, I am in if you decide to do it.

More.... This last pic is how she sits right now. Next there are a ton of decals to put on. You probably will notice that the Dragon Boat decal is already down. That is something I had to do in order to set the border between the bottom of the boat and the blue. You just can't do it without the decal in place, as if you are off by a millimeter, it might as well be a thousand miles. Masking was done VERY carefully and using a few "tricks" to keep the decals from pulling up. I have some other updates on projects I can post as well. I have not been as active on the boards late

Yes, three years late. The result of working on too many projects at once. Probably the best way to show all of the progress on the 747 is to just source some images from the Dutycat Arts build blog.

I don't particularly like the "pre-shaded" look. I just paint it straight up, then do filtering, post washing, and pastels afterwards. Works for me.

IPMS First Coast wishes to express its appreciation to everyone who came out yesterday for JAXCON 2016. Thanks to you, we set a record with 638 entries, well over a hundred more than last year's show. JAXCON is a labor of love and dedication to our fellow modelers, and our goal is to continue to set the standard of excellence in the Southeast. Here is a link to a photo gallery from yesterday's event. JAXCON 2016

Picked up the NAS Jacksonville theme award today. Pic is on our facebook page. See link in previous post.

I just want to plug for JAXCON 2016 which is coming up just in just three weeks. I also found out that our IPMS journal ad web address is slightly incorrect. The correct address is www,ipmsfirstcoast.org. You can go to the site and see all of categories, venue information, and entry forms. Entry forms can be downloaded and filled out in advance, and will speed up the registration process for everyone. Our facebook page has pictures of our primary awards for this year We will be featuring 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place 2 inch coin medals on stands, as well as a playing card shaped ACE award. AC

Nice. I have one of these in the stash. It should look good and fit in an IKEA Detolf case if you do not include the base.

Ah, #4, a reason you give that it should have won, I believe was a reason the YF-23 lost. It did not have enough internal weapons capability. It would have had to be redesigned. while the F-22 already had that part right. Also, the Supercruise requirement was a big deal that needed to be demonstrated. You can't have a "stealth set up" and a separate, undemonstrated, "supercruise set up," when the whole point of the competition fly off was to show what you can do. I recall that when the selection was made to go with the F-22, the USAF said that it was the clear cut winner. Oh, and your pe

JAXCON 2016 is Feb 6th! Awards for the show arrived today. Here are some pics! Event Pin. All contestants and vendors get one (while supplies last). Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. The awards feature an antique finish this year and celebrate the diamond anniversary of Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

Ok, guys, the IPMS First Coast web site is now updated with JAXCON 2116 info. Link here: JAXCON 2016 Also, award artwork is up on our facebook page here:JAXCON 2016 Award artwork Show date is Feb 6th. Thanks, Gil Gregg