Rob de Bie

I once made a simple jig to glue the fins to a bomb tail that I was scratch-building. It still wasn't perfect - it took me about an hour to line up the four fins accurately. But without the jig, it would have been impossible. You could use something similar for the rear fins of the Sparrow. The end results was really nice, so it was worth the effort. Rob

Here's the review from FineScale Modeler, May-June 1984 issue. It reads as follows: - - - - - Kit: No. Y001, General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon Scale: 1/48 Manufacturer: Hasegawa, imported by Minicraft Models, Inc., 1510 West 228th St., Torrance, CA 90501 Price: $11.95. The latest production changes to the F-16 are reflected in this new kit. The larger horizontal stabilizers are provided along with the standard, blunt-end drop tanks and assorted ECM blisters. The 94-part kit is molded in light gray and tinted clear styrene. The de

I recommend an addition type (platinum cure) rubber of 10 to 15 Shore-A hardness. I'm on the east side of the Atlantic, so I can't give you brands and/or types available in the USA. Rob

Generally speaking, the slower the resin, the lower the shrinkage. It has to do mainly with the temperature that the resin reaches during the cure. Most of the shrinkage is thermal shrinkage. This data from Smooth-On clearly shows the relation: potlife (min) shrinkage (%) Smooth Cast 300Q 0.5 1 Smooth Cast 300 3 0.5 Smooth Cast 305 7 0.35 Smooth Cast 310 15-20 0.025 The shrinkage listed is dimensional, not volumetric. So with 300Q your parts wo

I designed some ten sets of AQM-34L/M decals. About half were tested on my converted Italeri Firebees, as seen here: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/aqm34.htm The markings are generally so small that only an Alps printer can do them justice. Since my printers are broken, I would have to outsource the job. Rob

Just to be sure, the URL of my Firebee website: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/aqm34.htm Rob

As far as I know, it's not the natural color of the metal used, but the color of the metal (aluminum) after anodizing, which creates a thin 'skin' that has much better corrosion resistance. The anodized aluminum that I've seen is grey-ish, but you can color the anodized layer with dye, since that layer is porous. Therefore I *think* a specific dye was used to create this color, with all kinds of variations. Rob

I can recommend the circular masks by Arctic Decals, in steps of 0.25 mm for the smaller sizes. https://www.arcticdecals.com/tuotteet.html?id=21459/ Here are some examples of wheels that painted with these masks. Rob

I foresaw exactly the problem that you describe, for the blue & black stripe on the Revell 1/72 YF-16 / FSD F-16. I used CorelDraw to define the mask, and it took a few tries to get it right, as shown below. Then a club member used his Silhouette cutter to cut vinyl masks. It's a laborious route, but it should work well. Rob

CorelDraw, in its Home & Student version, is quite affordable, less than 100 euros / dollars when I bought it. I love it, it's one of my favorite modeling tools. Drawing decals, photo analysis, making drawings, scaling existing line drawings, I think I use it for nearly all my modeling projects. Rob

Maybe it's better to look at the 'sold items' prices, they are far less spectacular I think.. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=DML+1%2F144&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc A good friend, a dedicated 1/144 modeler, recently sold a bunch of Dragon models through Scalemates, so there is a demand for sure. The Dragon 1/144 A-6E was my first 'serious' model, and it turned out quite nice I think. Maybe the model has some shape problem though, as many of these Dragon kits had problems.

I ended the exposure on 29 October 2022, since summer had long ended here. Total outdoors exposure was 80 days, and I did not see any discoloration in that time. I think the material is safe to use for an indoors display. What I used is 'Epoxy Crystal Clear Pro' from Silicones And More, a Dutch supplier. I'm pretty sure it's a rebranded generic (Chinese?) resin. You would be able to spot it under another brandname, because of its extreme potlife and cure time, ~10 hours and ~100 hours respectively! Rob

Including the buzz numbers will bump the cost to 10 euros including shipping. As you can see, the price is approaching that of regular aftermarket decal sheet, like I wrote earlier. I cannot find the correct size of the buzz numbers - photos seem to show two sizes. I hope you know more. Rob

If you just need a set of two 12" serial number with a 5" 'U.S. AIR FORCE' above it, and nothing more (buzz codes for example), say 7.50 euros including shipping. Consider it a tiny custom decal order. Rob

If they are in the regular USAF font, and you don't mind paying as if it was another regular aftermarket decal sheet, I could add them to my next outsourced-printed custom decal sheet. Rob