TBC

Anyone got shipping notice yet from KittyHawk?

Are there sprue shots anywhere of the kit?

Warbird, You mention that this is an early F-102. I wouldn't pretend to know what all the early features would be, but 61009 has a late style speed brake.

Here you go.

This photo was apparently taken by Capt. Turbo Tarling from an accompanying Voodoo during a formation takeoff. There is also another photo taken a few moments after this one, above the trees, aircraft cleaned up while still in afterburner.

FWIW, there is an article on night fighter aces in Britain at War, Issue 74, June 2013, that says Harrington's Mosquito Mk.XXX was RA-D MM767. The article is written by a fellow named Andrew Thomas. The photo is sort of inconclusive, but the "O" does look similar to the "Q" of RA-Q MM788.

Very nice. Curious as regards the fitment of the Aires wheel wells.

Brad, I don't have the kit, but the I-16 apparently had a vertical tail which was adjustable while on the ground to offset torque. Perhaps what you are speaking about is a feature of this offset? I've seen this on other builds of the kit.

There is a photo in Ginter's F-8 Crusader Part 2 of RF-8G 145646 of VFP-63 with eyeballs and EYES OF THE FLEET on the forward bulkhead of the wing center section. Pic taken 6-27-70 on the Bonnie Dick. Seen on other aircraft as well.

I should also add that, while the EagleCals decals are gorgeous, they do not fit the model correctly. Whether anyone cares about such things is an individual choice. The WHOOOOOOOOO is too large a faunt to begin with. I used them so I know. I have the Montex set but haven’t rebuilt the model with them, but checking against extant photos of the aircraft (which are in the EagleCals set) they appear to be sized/proportioned correctly so that the stunning nose art will look proper. The wolf head in the EagleCals set is much nicer though. If you want details with images of the decals applied and notations, PM me. The decals in the Eduard boxing are printed by Cartograf, but I don’t know who did the artwork.

EagleCals and Montex too.

They look like one of the styles of tip tank used by the F-80.

Would love to have it but not at £18 shipping. Would like to see an e-copy option.

I was in Dallas for 2 weeks in 2005 on a training course for a company I use to work for. I went to the museum specifically to see if I could get pictures of their F9F-2 Panther. It was quiet when I went so I kindly asked if they would let me behind the ropes to do a walkaround of the jet-they obliged. Got all around and underneath the Panther. The only thing I didn’t get pictures of was the cockpit.

I thought that the issue with the nose would be evident in the photo I posted, but I guess if you've never seen one before then maybe not. In the picture I posted you're looking at the resin nose upside down and the casting block in front of the radiator intake has already been removed revealing the problem area where the prop hub and backing plate mounts. You can see that it clearly comes to a point behind its casting block. This is the first Barracuda nose I received in an order from Ultracast. I took a photo of this one and sent it to Roy with an explanation. He sent me another (just the nose and not the whole set) along with a small order I placed. The replacement he sent me had the exact same issue. Ultracast does not make a resin replacement nose for this kit-they sell the Barracuda Studios product line. There clearly is/was a problem with these as I got two of them! I have no problem with Roy or his product line. I have lots of his stuff and it's absolutely top notch and this is the only time I have ever had a problem with any of his products.

I don't know what the original problem was with the nose, but below is what mine looked like in an order I received from Ultracast earlier this year. I contacted Roy and attached a photo. A replacement was sent along with an order I placed. The replacement nose had the exact same issue as the 1st. I didn't want anything more to do with it after that.

Looks to be an early F-2. The supercharger intake has a pronounced downward angle and it doesn't have the downturned exhaust shield on the port side. I believe these were attributes of early F-2's.

Great! Thanks. I wonder if Henri Daehnes VDM propellers will fit these nose correction sets?

I'm sold. It looks great. How much was it? A.M.U.R. Reaver doesn't post any prices on their web site but rather wants you to email them with what you want for a price quote with shipping.

I've not used, or seen, any of their products in person. Are they as good as they look in pictures? How about fit?

Iain, Would you mind checking for a deformity on the underside of the nose above the rad intake? Not sure how visible it will be with the casting blocks on. I didn't see my problem until I removed the casting block half covering the rad intake. I've had two of these recently. The original from Hannants this past January and then a replacement from Barracuda with the same problem. I had a post all done up with images but decided against it.

This is from the P-51B-1 Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions, July 1, 1943. It is prior to the fitment of the fuselage tank in the production run and may not reflect accurately what a later "B" or "C" model may look like after having the fuselage tank removed.

The first Allison Mustangs to carry anything under wing (drop tanks or bombs) on operations was the A-36 and P-51A (RAF Mustang II). A&AEE Boscombe Down had several Mustang I's for armament/under wing stores trials, though. It had great range on internal fuel - somewhere around 900 to 1000 miles on roughly 130 gallons of usable fuel. This gave it about 4 hours endurance which was pretty good for TacR.

Just an aside....modern research says that 8693 didn't have the white theatre markings on the wingtips. Am I seeing things, or can I see a lighter colour on the underside of the wingtips in that second photo of 8693? There are photos of this aircraft being fueled up at Martuba in 1942 which clearly show that it did not have white wingtips.

My comment was probably misleading in that I don't know that the Cdn rims were any different than, say, USAF A/C. But the style did change over time.