Rob de Bie

The canopy was glued to the frame, then filled completely with Apoxie Sculpt. I painted it with Revell enamel coal black for reasons I don't remember. Then I spotted an asymmetry in the rear half of the canopy, that was built up with more Apoxie Sculpt. I thought I was ready for vacforming, but realised the bottom of the master was concave, meaning the master would probably crack under the vacuum. So I had to build a supporting base, as shown in the first reply. All in all a lot of work!! Rob

I made a better canopy for my Anigrand 1/72 A-12 Avenger. The mold was made from the kit canopy. Rob

That is so nice to hear! I think I found their website, but my internet security blocks it. Rob

Ah yes, of course! That made me remember I corresponded quite a bit with Karoly Vandor from Hungary, who lived near Kunmadaras air base, and maintained a small museum back then. I even made a web page about it on my long-abandoned 'The Russian Air Force in East Germany' website: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/vvs-ddr/kunmadar.htm The page's layout reflects what was fashionable those days. It hurts my eyes, but I can't delete it.. Rob

Yesterday I read the news of several Su-27 and Su-34 being damaged / destroyed at Morozovsk airbase by a Ukrainian drone attack. My automatic response is to start up Google Earth (I use the stand-alone software, not the browser version), find Morozovsk, and study the airbase, just like an amateur photo interpreter 🙂 I bet many of you do the same, so maybe it's interesting to compare notes. Here are mine: - I was surprised the airfield had no hardened shelters. There are plenty of air bases in Russia that have them. But maybe not with the largest types that

Gabor, thanks for the news! I've been waiting for years for the M-4. I thought it would be a simple modification of the M-3, but this looks like something else! I still remember 5 April 1994, when the 20th Regiment pulled back to Russia from the former GDR. What a day that was.. An huge airbase, lots of shelters, 35 to 40 Su 17M-4 with four fuel tanks on the flightline, starting up, racing over the taxiways (way faster than I was used to with NATO a/c), leaving in pairs or fours, with the afterburners kicking in with a huge bang. I was wearing earplugs and ear defenders, combined 🙂

Scott, eraucubsfan, Chuck1945, thanks for your replies! Scott, 'hunter green' some variants of 'Kelly green' indeed look like good matches. I've done some similar color matching using screen shots, but that method has lots of objections. Maybe I need to find a cigarettes / tobacco museum? To my amazement I just found out there's one in my home town (Delft, Netherlands) but they seem to focus on local tobacco subjects only. But I'll give them a call. The Gee Bee R6 is from 1934, therefore it's the pre-war Lucky Strike packaging that I'm after. Apperently, ind

I want to start building the SBS / Plastic Passion 1/72 Gee Bee R6, a partipant in the 1934 MacRobertson Trophy race from Mildenhall to Melbourne. The aircraft was sponsored by Lucky Strike, and therefore green overall. The instructions call for 'Lucky Strike green' without giving any matches. Therefore my question: what is 'Lucky Strike green'? I looked at the cigarette packages from the thirties on the internet, and just by eye guessed at a color close to FS 14062 or 24108 or 34092 on my FS595B fan deck. But that's a rather flawed method. Can anyone help? Rob

Jonathan, your bomb rack looks excellent! I've been researching the RNLAF F-84F stores (tanks, weapons, others) for a couple of years now, and this bomb rack was part of its stores too. The confusing thing was the various names applied to it. I don't think I ever saw the 'AF/B37K' or 'B37K' designation in RNLAF documents, only for other aircraft (like USAF OV-10). I did find 'R-3', and I've traced that back to the F-86F Flight Manual, where it's listed as 'R-3 Fragmentation Bomb Rack'. It was often called 'LABS rack' within the RNLAF, probably because it was bought for training of

I checked the model at Shapeways, and oh dear.. The fuselage looks reasonably good, although the exhaust is bad. But the wing and horizontals are trapezium-shaped instead of constant chord. And the horizontals have wing endplates, which were very rare AFAIK, but those can be removed easily. That leaves the wing and horizontals planform shape. If you need BQM-34 drawings, check out my PlusModel 1/72 BQM-34A Firebee kit review: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/bqm34review.htm. Wing thickness is 3.04", horizontals thickess 2.8". That would make around half a miilimet

There's always the Corgi die-cast 1/144 DC-130 with four BQM-34As. Never seen it in the flesh though.. Rob

I remembered where I saw the additional doublers: two videos about A-4s used as aggressors. Here are two scenes where they can be seen. https://youtu.be/GlCRs-gINUY?si=32VyVQ3bwOtOxsDy&t=1115 https://youtu.be/e1i2vVPgG8o?si=wkitZHWC0Op1a28S&t=544 That's all I know - don't claim to be an A-4 expert. Rob

From the heart, there are a few more doublers on the fuselage of many A-4 versions. It heavily depends on the lighting whether they are visible. Rob

I have this issue, that was the first issue (AFAIK) that had the bomb bays. Maybe the only? https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-00086-f-117a-nighthawk-w-gbu-27-guided-bombs--187879 Rob

I tried again, same result. I sent a PM with the message received back. Rob

I looked it up, it was in 2016. Your e-mail address back then was exactly the same as last December. That's puzzling, since there was no problem in 2016. Rob

Just maybe it's that my provider 'xs4all' is blacklisted? It was founded 40 years ago by hackers, and had a bad rep for some years. But that is all way, waaaay in the past. Over to you.. Rob

Upon rereading the thread, I spotted your full name in the photo's copyright note, so I can answer the question with a yes 🙂 That leaves the e-mail problem. Rob

Yes, I have a few TO 21M-AQM34-3 drawings, courtesy of Dave Matthews, former AQM-34 instructor IIRC. But to transfer them, we need to sort out that e-mail problem. It seems we have similar plans regarding 3D models and 3D printing. But I have too many plans.. 😞 I've done a few 3D CAD + print projects now, and confidence is growing. One question regarding wings is a comment I heard that properly scaled wings always look too thin and flat, and that they need to be fattened as an optical correction. It would help with the bending stiffness too, that would be welcome. What are you plan

Are you the same Bryan that contacted me mid-December? I replied but got an 'Undeliverable' reply: failed: host mx1.emailsrvr.com (173.203.187.1) said: 554 5.7.1 <ewsoutbound.kpnmail.nl[195.121.94.184]>: Client host rejected: The sender's email address or mail server is blocked by this recipient (in reply to RCPT command) That left me without any alternatives to reply. Excellent research on the four-pylon Firebee, and how nice that it is preserved! Rob

I've been working on various AQM-34K / L / M models for many years, slowly understanding the details and creating the parts. I used an Italeri BQM-34A (from the DC-130 kit) as the basis. I used tips cut from needles for the AoA probe you're asking about. The mold is worn out, so I cannot provide copies unfortunately. https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/aqm34.htm https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/aqm34-1.htm https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/aqm34-2.htm I've also done an extensive review of the Plu

One way would be to use the 'countermask' first, and position that accurately. Then you can apply the actual mask in one go. I did something similar on my old Revell F-16: Rob

We're too lazy too, to answer your question. Rob

The brownish sphere on the nose looks like a Luneburg lens, a radar reflector to increase the radar cross section. Rob

I went through all my storage boxes, but no M2-F1 to be found. I sold a bunch of models in 2020, and I don't specifically remember selling the M2-F1, but it must have been among them. My stash book keeping did not register it either. Sorry! Rob