Rob de Bie

I just received this information from Roy Huxley via Reinhold Bogaard of http://www.matchboxkits.org/ "I have at last managed to produce a book of my paintings. I was not able to get anyone interested in the book Derek Stowe and I were trying to do a few years back. Last summer I bumped into an old friend who had aviation printing contacts, so at last it has arrived. Unfortunately, this is just my work and as we have been unable to show everything at a size I would like, we hope to produce a second aviation book later in the year. If you or anyone you know would be interested it is available now on line at:" https://www.wingleader.co.uk/shop/the-golden-years-of-matchbox-art-roy-huxley Rob

Thanks! Rob

Very nice, I did not know this box art. It looks pretty good, except that I doubt that this particular AQM-34 version flew over China. Anyway, I have built a small bunch of them from my own castings, while developing the kit. Here are three: Plus my website on the subject: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/aqm34.htm Rob

I'm pretty sure that this Dutch outfit can do the job: http://decals.nl/ There's no English version of the site, but Google Translate will help you out. They do mostly truck decals, including those for the big trailers. They use ~1m wide decal paper in a similarly sized printer, so your designs will fit easily. Rob

I have a derelict kit with a partial decal sheet, including the decal you're after. PM me if you still need it. Rob

I did a quick & dirty photo measurement, and calculated a body diameter of approximately 470 mm, based on the left guy's arm+ hand+thumb length, that I measured on myself. Manual TM-9-1325-200 says an AN-M65 has a 478 mm body diameter. More than close enough for me! But I have to say: that bomb spotting is a difficult thing. Hardly ever I can see straight away what type of bomb it is. Rob

Yes, that is the plan. Two 'buts': - it's the first time that I will do 3D printing from my own files, so I do not know what quality will result, and how much traditional finishing work will be needed, before I can make resin copies - there's no time planning 🙂 I have a liitle shop on my homepage, with a few items that I made for my own models. It pays for the silicone and resin, and about 1 euro per hour 🙂 You can see the current offerings here: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/forsale.htm Rob

Hi Jari, thanks for keeping your eyes open for beautiful photos like these! Do you think this is an AN-M65 or an AN-M66? I held my 1/48 versions of these bombs against a derelict Monogram 1/48 F-100D kit, and I think it's an AN-M65. I tried to find the capacity of the inboard pylon, but could not find it. Rob

I think everyone agrees that the left-side windows were very difficult to see. Adding them to a 1/72 model is on the edge of sillyness - but I will probably do it anyway 🙂 Great memories of launching those VQ-2 jets! I saw a few flying at Rota, Torrejon and Moron. Rob

Thanks, nice! Fairford in 1991 I guess? Rob

I don't want sound like an arm-chair expert, but it now seems that all 'Versions' A-3s were built with four windows on either side. I can see the upper left corner of one of them in your third photo, roughly where the refueling duct makes a slight bend. Here are three other EA-3B photos where you can see them, if you look closely (use the magnification): https://www.flickr.com/photos/htf2wfd/27487226045 (look in the shadow part) https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/18659177876 https://www.flickr.com/photos/spb1967pics/39793140645/ I started a similar thread on BritModeller, and Tommy Thomason posted his knowledge there: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235074891-ea-3b-cabin-windows-question/ This is the part that I plan to install. Whether it's useful is open to debate 🙂 Rob

I have a Hasegawa 1/72 KA-3B that I want to convert into a VQ-2 EA-3B. One of many modifications involved are the cabin windows on the side(s) of the fuselage, in the former bomb bay area. I started designing 3D CAD parts recently, and high on my list was an insert for the kit, that included the three windows plus the escape door. The main dimensions were taken from a photo (shown below) and a photo of the escape door in the Aerograph book (page 91). I measured 15" windows, a little smaller than what's shown in the Aerograph book. Shown below is the first version of the CAD model. It features a very slight bulge (large radius) in the the fuselage side, that you can see on the right edge of the part. I measured that radius on the model itself. The three window openings have coamings to mount transparant parts. The escape door was by far the most laborious part, with chamfers everywhere and in all directions, a few of which I could not incorporate. It needs some more fine-tuning, especially in the extra thickness of its lower part. It looks extra thick because there's no fuselage in the model. The door handle and the hinges are missing. Now for the main question: did EA-3Bs have plugged windows on the left side too? I see them fairly clearly in this Prime Portal walkaround photo of BuNo 146453: http://data3.primeportal.net/hangar/bill_spidle4/ea-3b_146453/images/ea-3b_146453_11_of_17.jpg But they are absent in this photo of BuNo 146454: https://www.dstorm.eu/pictures/nose-arts/ea-3b/146454_36.jpg Both were originally built as A3D-2Q / EA-3B, so they are not conversions of a type that always had windows on the left side. I probably will do BuNo 146457, and I do not know whether it had left-side windows, hence the question. If yes, I will design another part to do the left side. Rob

Could it be that the formic acid (the usual ingredient of 'sol') attacked your paint? In that case you cannot remove all of it. Rob

I recognise this part only - once had it on a Badger 150. In my case it was caused by the Teflon seal deep inside the body, through which the needle slides. If that seal leaks, you will get an intermittent paint-air-paint-air-paint flow. But since you describe other problems too, it might or might not be the cause. Rob

As in: the spray booth being strong enough to be sucking exhaust gasses from the water heater into the basement? There have been cases of modelers getting sick / dying because of this. I think I read something like this during the rec.models.scale years. Rob