tomthegrom

Sorry to be a pain, You wouldn't happen to have another photo of the chaff flare bucket pin would you? That link is broken and I can only find photos of the tail hook pin. Thanks for the help. Cheers Tom

The B was also cleared for cluster bombs and the small blue practice bombs.

Thats a beauty! I think the instrument panels in that afv kit are some of the nicest oob. Such a good looking adversary scheme you have there. I have built and 80s and a 90s adversary, have one from the 00s to go to round it out. Such a fun kit to build!

I believe the LH control stick is for the LANTIRN pod and the first jets to have those used the fishbowl screen not the square PTID.

I used the furball decals for my canopy seals. They look a little wide to me but give the jet the look I wanted. However it appears as though some A7s didn't have it at or only on parts of the windscreen that are noticeable. I recently finished a MiG29 that has pink canopy sealant. I bought a masking set that has you mask the canopy. Paint the sealant. Mask again with the slightly larger mask and then paint the canopy frame. Worked perfectly. A friend used the same thing on an apache. So maybe they exist for an A7.

Perfect I have the grey ones. Thanks dave.

Hi guys, Hoping Dave sees this. I have bought some flying leathernecks canopy masks. Million dollar question, it says do not leave masks on for extended period of time. Anyone know how long is too long? I use the canopy to help mask the model and the masks will probably be on for 2 months. Is this going to destroy things? Cheers for the help. Tom

I hope it has parts to make an A+/B not just the 2000s version as the decals suggest. Fingers crossed its a great kit. I sit here hoping tamiya gives us the F14 boxing equivalent of there f16C/N with all the parts.

Brilliant thank you! It will have 2 x TERs with one practice bombs a piece. RBF flag at the back of the TER, anything on the practice bombs? Which brace is the bomb mounted too normally, forward or after? Cheers!

I am wondering if anyone can help me with RBF placement on an F14. I am about to start a VF74 jet from 1993. Land based by that time. I am assuming nose gear, mains and hook pinned? Would there be a pin in the Aim-9 rail with a CATM-9 blue tube and a tacts pod? A link to photos would be great. Thanks all. Tom

Mix clear blue and clear orange. Gives a golden brown color. I tinted an su27 forward windscreen with it and I reckon it looks like a maverick seeker head color also.

This would be very welcome. Especially the VF45 jets with the green nose number and the boxing blackbird on the tail.

To clarify the load out, would i be correct with the following? Aim-9 station 1 and 9 Aim-7 station 4 and 6 Fuel tank station 5 1 x mk83 station 7 2 x mk83 station 3 1 x alq167 station 2 Empty station 8 I have seen a photo from the sunliners in ODS loaded like that minus the alq167. But with the pod seems possibly left wing heavy. Thanks for the help. Tom

Thanks for the reply as always I would prefer a bomb load with the alq167 pod so might have to build another jet. They load out info reckons is was carrying two tanks with the HARMS and I hate building tanks! Conical fins for the bombs it is. Cheers!

Wow that ebay listing was a trip down memory lane. The box art is fantastic on them all. I wish people still did nice box art instead of photos. As a kid I had the vf84 tomcat. The carrier deck vf143 tomcat. The vf124 f14 and top gun f16. The vfa25 hornet. I also had the NY ANG f16. To this day I love the boys from Syracuse f16 because of it. They only cost about $10 in New Zealand in the mid 90s so I would save up my allowance. Wonderful to see all of those again.

Hi guys, Gearing up for a desert storm F-18c from vfa-81. I am using the bullseye sheet and I am most probably going to build 403. They used MK83s in the war. I will be getting flying leatherneck bombs. Do I get the ones with conical fins or BSU85 fins? There is also an early war load out they flew with an ALQ167 pod and three MK83s. Were the 2 mk83s on the same wing as the 167 or on the opposite wing? Thanks for the help! Tom

Best looking strike eagle i have seen. Stunning work.

I stand corrected. What an awesome detail and memory that is. Looking forward to seeing more of this gunfighter!

Thank you for the reply about the green. I will look into those colors. I have the AK mig29 green but looks like I might have to add a bit of Russian green 2 to make it green enough. Will be fun!

This is just superb! I really love the spots where the old yugoslavian marking have been painted over. I am just starting Pavlovic's jet. I am wondering what gunze color you used for the green? It is a difficult color to find. Are there any tips for the building of the kit or is it straight forward? Your MiG 29 is excellent.

Welcome back! Great to see a tomcat. You will want to change the gun vent if you can. You have installed the 8 grill vent, you need the more modern 2 grill vent that came before the naca vent.

Anything from tan, khaki, brown, purple brown. You can't really be wrong.

Beautiful, thanks mate! I am building a va93 jet from 1986 with the the shrike and CBU load out you suggested. A pin and flag, outboard in each shrike pylon and a flag on the back of each TER. Easy! Tom

Thanks you for the superb answers. They are always a fascinating read. 15 seconds to arm any aircraft is impressive! I will depict my A7 with the CBU fuse protectors removed but with the rack pins still in. Would you happen to have a photo of the pins in a TER? Does this mean that for the shrike I should have the missile RBF attached but also have a pin in the pylon/rail still like in the harm photo you posted which has two flags? Thank you again for sharing your indepth knowledge. I feel it really helps my models get that much better.

Hi everyone, Coming to the end of my A7 build. Having trouble finding photos of some weapons with RBF flags. Can anyone help me with photos of a shrike, harm and cbu with RBF flags? On the AIM9 I see sometimes the flag is on the seeker cover and other times it is on the arming key. What was the usual? Thanks everyone!