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No breeches, no ammo feeds, no support bungees ... Nevertheless, the exterior skins look very good in flight.

I haven't used Airscale instruments yet, but they do look superb and will go on my 1/24 Harrier when I get to it. The Yahu panels for the Spitfires and Hurricanes (and I think I also have a couple of Tempest ones somewhere) are peerless, and difficult to see how they could be improved. They're light years ahead of the regular Eduard pre-printed panels in both finesse and fine detail. Just wish they'd include some F-4 and F-104 panels in their range.

Phantastic Phantom model Brent. The colors and paint tones look really good. Can you tell us what stencil set you've used on it? They blend in very well, and are barely noticeable from a distance, just as they should be.

Have you decided on a set of exhausts donor for the big Merlins yet? I ask as someone wondering about grafting the Revell bomber nose to the Tamiya kit with some improved Grey Matter 2-stage engines.

Correct. My original answer shows what happens when you rely on memory for retrieving details of something last seen decades ago. (Are you suggesting coconuts are migratory? - classic! Though actually, they are - sort of, in a sense) But it did give me an excuse to dig out the movie and re-watch it, so thanks for that.

The movie was Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when King Arthur was questioned on where his squire's horse hooves impersonating coconut shells came from

It'll depend on how accurate you want to be, but I feel this is worth pointing out to every Beau builder, and leave the decision in their hands. Contrary to Revell's simplified moulded depiction, the undernose cannon are not symmetrical, due to the breeches not being handed and to allow internal clearance. The photo below shows the actual appearance from head on. I'm not aware of any drawings showing this feature, but the most recent Airfix 1/72nd Beau incorporates it.

Very nice model. Saw the original at Farnborough a couple of times in the '80s. A handsome beast, and possibly the loudest aircraft there. IIRC it was being hyped for the role the F-15 later took in the Middle East air forces.

PAV-2 (87-0801, the light grey one) was the fastest of the four YF-22 & YF-23 prototypes in terms of supercruise capability (Mach 1.8 without reheat), and arguably the design was more attractive (with eye and beholder given due consideration. But when both types are compared side by side, the greater internal capacity of the F-22 is readily apparent. Northrop/Grumman appear to have realised this and their FB-23 proposal has eliminated the large 'valley' between the engines in favour of greater enclosed area.

The way to distinguish an F2 from an F3 is the longer fuselage for the longer jetpipes. The closeness of the taileron hinge to the edge of the panel is easy to spot. There will be 30 years worth of upgrades to the cockpit to be considered, as well as minor external such as chaff/flare dispensers. The twin missile launchers on the inboard pylon were also, I believe a later addition, so F3 only.

I felt the same after reading Gerald Wingrove's book The Complete Car Modeller nearly 30 years ago. But then you twig that the builder is not a magician, but a talented modeller with a good understanding of tools and techniques mimicking industry engineering in miniature. Rather like yourself, Peter. Multiple well deserved kudos notwithstanding.

That was the final scheme that the PenANG Deuces went to the boneyard in, so would be toward the end of their service in 1975. According to the Schiffer book, out of the original 22 State ANG units that had flown F-102s, only 6 were still doing so by the mid 1970s. I'd suspect that the remaining units such as the 146th FIS would have swapped their older jets for newer ones as they were discarded by their previous owners. Given the Case XX wing is the modern industry standard for conical camber airfoils, it would seem likely units would be keen to update their older aircraft without it. If you're trying to find the Monogram kit with the late wing, keep looking. I eventually had to settle for a built and broken example, but apparently the 2016 production run with the Wisconsin ANG decals was meant to have the Case X wing, but was initially issued in error with the Case XX. The error was corrected, but there will be some in circulation even if you have to look in the box to know for sure.

The more you look, the more you notice something odd. There's not just William Wang, but also Dirk Dick, Terry Tool, Colin Kock, Peter Pecker, Daniel Dong, Noel Knob, Denny Dingus, Sam Schlong, Tim Todger, Wesley Weener, Jimmy Johnson, Paul Porker, Willy Winkle and Rab Root to name but a few. There's probably some sort of connection between them, but damned if I can see what it might be.

Perhaps, as I do have an aversion to paying for stuff on the internet. Or maybe it's because I visit sites like scalemodels.ru and leave detritus on servers which is scraped up by malware sniffers.

One thing I've noticed recently is the number of emails containing non-Roman characters getting through. I delete them on sight in the title listing without even viewing the body, but it seems to be a current weakness.