Tnarg

I was walking through the mall several years ago and found a cool book: Fighters of World War Two by Jeff Ethell and Robert Sand. Best thing was it was on sale for $8, but probably that meant not enough sold, bad thing. It had a lot of the Crew Chief Don Allen's history and his artwork on many P-51s including "Sweet Arlene" and my favorite "Blondie". The Cutting Edge sheet matches the photo pretty well, especially compared to the Kits World decal. She had brown hair as CED, not blonde as KW. Unfortunately, the photo only shows a small section of the front of the plane, mostly just at the nose art. (page 121). Hopefully Tamiya uses the photos to get the best decal for "Blondie"... as on the cover art. Can't wait, well, I guess I can, since I have way too many unfinished kits to deal with anyway. Some are just more special than others. Tnarg

If the box art picture is true, they have one of my favorite nose art covered. Too bad for my wallet. Tnarg

I really like LSP Mike's choices, and especially like those Swedish planes. Is that Swedish Yellow influencing my interest in Yellow Wings? WWI - Lohner Flying Boat (L135) Fokker D.VII (yes, I am just waiting for WNW) Nieuport 24 Breguet 14 1930's - Curtiss P-6E Curtiss SBC-3/4 Helldiver Curtiss F11C/BFC-2 SB2U-1 Vindicator PZL P-11c (dare I hope for a Karas?) WWII - Pete Kingfisher Fiat CR-42 50's to Modern - OV-10 Bronco (Cal Fire) Saab Viggen (all the versions, especially recon and two seater) Saab Draken (Danish,Finnish,Austrian as well as Swedish) Saab Gripen Saab 105D Saab Tunnan Here's hoping for some of these to happen, Tnarg

I have looked for a way to obtain "flat wire" to rig these between the war planes and haven't been successful yet. While they specify that they sell even small quantities, most wire companies run away extremely fast if they hear the word "hobby". Why flat wire? The Boeing P-26 rigging diagram (on the back page of the Aerofax book) calls out 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch wide rigging (0.0156" and 0.0117" wide). I hear the same thing on F4B-4, Sparrowhawk, and other planes of that era. This is really small in 1/32, but looks very different compared to round fishing line. I even have tried getting prototype pe metal for this, and it also looks pretty nice @ 0.005" thick, but haven't found a good source like the RAF wiring now available (which is actually a lot smaller in width). At least we don't have the complexity of the turnbuckles that they used in WWI... they hid these inside the wings for the most part. Tnarg

So in the end, we can at least say that there is a strong interest on the part of the various model kit manufacturers to keep building cool stuff in 1/32. When they release the next kit, we will all wonder where we will come up with the cash to pick it up, but the hobby is strong. Life is good. We could be in a much different situation. Tnarg

Not sure if it is OK to link to other forums, so I didn't do that, but the Aircraft Resource Center website has a walk around of the model 111 which looks like the BF2C-1 except for the cowling. There are two interior views available in the photos, with some detail. The walls were boxed in with an aluminum sheet metal interior inside the fabric and rib exterior. Look on that website under Walkarounds, Biplanes, Curtiss Hawk 111. I also saw a discussion in their forum pointing to someone's image shack photos: http://img249.imageshack.us/i/img00007bk2.jpg/ That photo shows a clearer photo of the same Thai Curtiss fighter interior. Googled the "Curtiss BF2C-1 interior drawings" and found a few of these. Tnarg

So, compared with the Hasegawa kit, is it worth the extra cash? (especially in context of an Adversary aircraft) Does this have significantly better overall shape or is the Hasegawa alternative OK in that department? What would you add besides an aftermarket cockpit to the Hasegawa to rival this new one? In the end are we talking about engraved (new) versus raised panel lines (old) as the big difference? Tnarg

My Modern Aircraft list: Viggen in all the variations; recon and especially a two seater. Draken (in all the national displays: Finnish, Austrian, Danish Flag and Lion especially) OV-10 so I can do the local CAL FIRE spotter plane. Pilots of the water bombers are true heroes. L-39 in Reno Air Race and Estonian colors. Harrier Gr.1 and Sea Harrier (Belize and the Falklands/Malvinas) Yes, as my ID suggests, sometimes I think backwards Tnarg

James, I like your post because you gave us an idea of how to fix something that is wrong. So, with a prop correction (aftermarket or alt from another kit?) and filling the trenches on the tailplanes, we have a pretty good representation of a Vb? Any other suggestions for kit fixes? I guess I would really like an early Mk.I (since Battle of France and Britain planes not only look interesting, they were key to survival of most of our Civilization) but this one is pretty fine as well. Thanks for some good pointers, Tnarg

While I would love to pick up both of these, I somehow think that the Crimson Pig's plane would sell better (especially in Japan). They have photo etched metal skeleton kits and plastic 1/72 and 1/48 kits of two versions of the anime S.21, plus a floatplane piloted by "Donald Curtiss" that looks a lot like Doolittle's R3C-2 but with guns. If you have the chance, you have to see "Porco Rosso". It may sound like just a cartoon, and have a strange plot, but the flying scenes over the Adriatic are some of the most beautiful ever made. You could say the same about a lot of aircraft movies... so just shut up and enjoy the view. Any data on which one we will see? I just hope for the big red one.... and a figure to match, although the 1/48 kit figure may be closer to 1/32. But I wouldn't turn down any Schneider Trophy racer. Tnarg

Three sheets... even more hope for very interesting subjects. We are all waiting for details of whose aircraft you created. Thanks, Tnarg

Very fine. This will make an excellent addition to the 262 family in 1/32. Thanks for letting us see the process and not giving up on something half way.

All I would need is a set of decals with the Hungarian knight on horseback and some Swedish subjects and I'd have to buy at least two. The CR-32 needs a big brother. Tnarg

Have to say thanks for the amazing photos and great detail on this plane. The only thing you need now is one of these superb figures: http://www.kingsroadminiatures.com/productList.htm Look for Howard Hughes in 1/32, but they also have Lindberg, Doolittle, Airheart and many more amazing cast metal figures. I really like that Bill Hopson figure. It was the icon of the US Mail pilot of the 20's. Great stuff. Thanks again for the photos, and please post any cockpit or more details if there are any out there. Tnarg

Amazing beyond words. Where will we find these? Tnarg

OK, I was really hoping for the Komet, but this is just too cool. I never expected to see this one, but it is a very logical choice given the market constraints. WNW and Roden are hitting the more popular items, and this one is small and relatively easy for them to cast. I want one, and I'll bet a few other WWI fans do too. Next time we see this title, I hope we get the Komet carrier as well. Neither one of these aircraft was all that practical, but they sure look interesting. Tnarg

Sending out a big thank you to Mike! They arrived in great shape. If anyone has any doubts about Mike, just erase them completely. He is the best thing to happen to large scale WWI modeling since Wingnut Wings. His energy and efforts make it that much easier to buy the stuff we all want. Tnarg

Thanks for the help, the link looks very interesting. Will we see a Thai P-36 or one from Argentina, or maybe both? All of us who read the Small Air Force Observer will be amazed and pleased. Tnarg

No sign of the Jan newsletter on the website... did you get this via direct email or see it somewhere else? (Could you please post a link?) The P-36 and Claude variant sound great. Tnarg

My interests are primarily WWI and the Thirties, but if this kit included stores for the Toilet Bomb, I would definitely pick one up. http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=11581&st=0&p=85745&hl=+skyraider%20+toilet&fromsearch=1entry85745 Tnarg

I have very few jets in my stash, but this one is absolutely at the top of the list. Hasegawa made a great 1/72 Draken, then released a 1/48 scale version with no end of variations. Do they have enough confidence to do another one in 1/32? There are just too many cool Danish, Finnish, Austrian and Swedish examples of that one. Tnarg

I always liked "Blondie" of Don Allen's work for the 334th (red nose) coded QP-U serial 73304. It was flown by Lt. Marvin Arthur. I have a few references if you need them, more are on the web. Tnarg

Possibly Fred Hultburg wants to chime in here. I made some drawings for photo etched parts and had him do them, but it was about 15 years ago (can it be that long?). He made some really fine stuff. Tnarg

Hannants has over 20 as seen on their website counter, and you can see them in stock directly at the source: http://www.cmkkits.com/en/aircraft/ki-27-ko-nate-nomonhan-aces/ Postage may be a pain to the US, but they are available. Tnarg

I don't see the general need to have a fully detailed engine or radio compartment that is completely hidden under the cowling or invisible behind the seat. I don't want to pose every airplane with the repair or ammunition hatches open. They don't look like that in most of the photos I have seen of the planes in the majority of cases. Give me a superb outline on a kit, with scale accurate finish and detail (small, very small rivets and panel lines where they actually belong) and I will buy it and be pleased. Certain things call my attention, such as cockpits, open rotary or radial engines or jet exhausts. These are more important to show with good detail as they are more visible, but plastic only can present so much detail without undercut or other molding problems, so I am willing to fund my obsession with that detail in resin and PE, and not burden everyone with that cost. I absolutely despise rubber tires. They make no sense to me. I believe that resin is the way to go for superb wheel detail, but solid plastic looks much better than rubber. Rubber tires are an accident waiting to happen. Make the kit for $30 to $50 with far fewer parts, but parts done well, and we can all choose to obsess on our particular detail fixations. It seems that even Tamiya's Spitfire kits could approach that cost without the things you just can't see. OK, you wouldn't be able to remove the scale thickness engine cowling, but they could tool two aircraft for the same price as one with all those parts. That engine is a thing of beauty, but all I need to see from the outside are the exhausts. Obviously, I don't want clear fuselage parts, just to show the detail that hides under the skin of the plane. There are those with much more skill than I who create a real cutaway aircraft, but clear plastic is not fun to work with and usually extremely brittle. Again, it is only an excuse to show off invisible detail that I didn't want in the first place (at least compared with the chance to have them finance the tooling for the other new kit that I was really interested in).