Rob de Bie

Unfortunately I'm even more confused now.. I will try to find the information mentioned by my modeling friend before proceeding. One question: what has Detail & Scale have to do with it? Rob

Can you tell us where you found this information? A friend found some information in his old FS 595A color book. I don't remember the exact wording, but I don't recall hearing about printing inks and clear coats.. Rob

If I combine the information from your two postings, I must conclude that you wanted to ask Mr Mach II for a free kit? Rob

It's in stock here: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/vietnam-river-boat-pbr31-mkii-pibber-ar06-armageddon-ar06-vliegtuig-modelbouw/product/?action=prodinfo&art=97652 I usually spot Mr Mach II at Belgian model shows (like Hoboken and Mol) s, that's another possibility to get in touch. He used to sell there too, but not in the more recent years. He usually had lots of old collectable models for sale, and he was always a nice guy to talk to. Rob

Very interesting to learn about a paper model of the RQ-170, I never thought of that. And a smart idea to scale it up. One inch sounds like a good size for general stencils. For 'No step' markings I would expect something larger though. I'm using the photogrammetry analysis of 'Truthdowsing' and Bjørn Holst Jespersen as a basis for my conversion of the Italeri diecast. I'm adding more details that I find in photos. The latest 'discovery' is that I need to move the 'humps' back a bit. In terms of markings I haven't found much so far. A nice find was this short clip of one in flight, at 23:00, with a strange 'hollow' sound: Rob

I quickly browsed through Tech Order 1-1-4, but I did not find any information on 'NO STEP' markings. You could consult some decal sheets, and hope / assume that they were made accurately. Tell us more about your RQ-170! Do you have enough information down to the NO STEP markings?!? I'm slowly doing one in 1/72. Rob

A big thanks for your timeline of US military paint standards! I've long searched for something like this. I saved it for future reference, and already I learned a thing or two about the FS 595A and B fandecks that I have. I have one question. You write: "The fandecks are of course, the worst to use. They aren't paint chips. They were printed ink on cardstock, ..." Are you sure that they are printed with inks? The division line between inks and paints is really vague, but the fan deck looks like paint instead of ink to me. They have a certain thickness, and they come in three glossiness grades, something you cannot do with inks as far as I know. I happened to see an episode of 'How it's made' about paint fandecks. They tell the paint is a lacquer because it dries fast and does not make the paper wavy. Sounds reasonable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roMJblx9FBM Lacquer is a paint as far as I know. Rob

That would be very nice! Thanks in advance. Rob

Oops... At least I got the 'Bi' and "gham' right :-) Rob

What a nice coincidence! I have three different 1/72 kits of the ANT-18 (Army Navy Trainer model 18), an enhanced version of the earelier model C3, designed to represent the AT-6/SNJ/Harvard, the standard 'blue box' simulator that most aviation enthousiasts recognise. I want to build one as the first prototype. The problem is that I haven't found a source that shows it. Most photo caption say something like 'an early version' or similar. Hence my question about the book, maybe it is clearer on that aspect. Rob

From memory it was Birmingham, hope I got that right? It's a bit too much to ask you to go to the library to get an answer to my question! But if you stop by from time to time, maybe you could take a peek in the book. Thanks in advance! Rob

I'm looking for information on the first (or first generation) of Link trainers, from around 1929. I consulted 'The Pilot Maker' by Lloyd L Kelly (1970) but it contains no photos of these early simulators. I also found the title 'From Sky to Sea : The Story of Edwin A. Link' but I cannot find it here. It's a long shot, but does anyone here have that book? I just want to know whether there are photos of the first generation Link trainers in there. Thanks in advance! Rob

I'm with Jari: from memory the Dutch G-models with J79-GE-11 the exhaust duct was sooty black. I would not expect anything else considering the amount of smoke that the engine emitted. Rob

I too used masks cut on a Silhouette Portrait, but I found out that 4 mm circles were seriously unround, and unsuitable as masks. The 6 mm circles were fine though. I replaced the 4 mm masks with similar ones made with a Waldron Punch & Die set. And here's the result. It's the Clark tractor from the old Revell 1/72 F-16. Rob

Darren, thanks for the reply, and the information that was missing from my list. I just updated it: Other museum Firebees. Plus I listed it on the What's new? page with a credit to you. Thanks for the offer for more photos, but I don't have photo reports on the website of target Firebees - I've got to draw the line somewhere! However, if you can find out more details about the identity of this Firebee, I would be very happy to add that to the page. Thanks again! Rob