Darren Howie

Thanks for the share. Wonderful read about a fabulous model producer.

Aires, Eduard are both original size. You need Dmold, Wolfpack, GT resin or Sierra Hotel. They are the only correctly sized exhausts i know of. Highly recommend the SH and GT sets as i have used or test fitted and compared them. Ive said before having the right sized burners makes a massive visual difference to the Tamiya F-4. A base kit and modified one look noticeably different.. Well worth the effort.

If your having difficulties getting spares you can also find Tamiya sprues on Ebay. Several sellers are breaking kits down into sprues which is a great way to get extra bits and pieces.

With a fleet of great helo kits in recent years out in 35th now the choice of 32nd is if anything an interesting one. It also leaves the door open for 35th which itself would be popular for a Cobra. Interesting to see them bucking the trend and targeting the kit at aircraft only modellers rather than those who do both aircraft and armour/military or primarily armour/mil. After thinking about it i probably would of preferred it in 35th now as it would fit in with the remainder of the helo kits in my collection and not be an odd scaled outlier that fits in with fast jets but not i

I must be an art snob as stuff by Robert Taylor, John Shaw and Nick Trudgian that has been painted always has so much more atmosphere to me. Computer rendered are of 3d models miss the entire concept of what art is about. Its not about rib spacing and rivets but portraying a moment in history not a technical drawing. Clouds etc are something you cannot render with any atmosphere ive yet to see on a computer rendered picture. The old Airfix box tops with the awesome art by Roy Cross to me are head and shoulders above the multitude of computer renders they use now. Likewise w

Some guys posting here might want to go take a look at the very very long list of kits Meng has in their catalogue. Anyone thinking Meng “needs” WW information to release a kit is oblivious to the obvious. DId WW help with the Me163? Did WW help with the Me410? The M-1? The Bradley? The mentality thats very obvious here from many posts is that somehow a Chinese company cant do work of there own is blatant and clear ie without help they cant do it. Oh did WW help with the F-35, Jagdpanther, King Tiger, D-9, M911 etc etc. Meng are very capable of tooling anythi

Was incredibly impressed with the Quinta stuff i have so far. Photos just dont do the 3D effect justice. You will never go back to using etch again if this option is available. Such an awesome product..

Aftermarket options which are way better are out for multiple kits particularly big starships like Enterprise. They are miles better than label kits... Look incredible...

KH HH-60G from here...

These days id avoid a full cockpit replacement and the ensuing work and drama you can generate with nose gear bay fit issues. Ill be using Quinta panel replacement and a resin seat plus reskit burner can. Thats it..

If you do one thing get correct sized exhausts. Unlike a lot of mods when parked next to an unmodded kit it looks far beefier and the base kit looks quite anaemic by comparison. Quite impressed by how a couple of mm changed just how bulky the rear end looks now. If i add one thing to a Tamiya F-4 now its always correctly sized exhausts.

Wingnut Wings kits have identical issues. Designed and manufactured with extremely fine tolerances means layers of paint can cause subsequent assembly issues. Unpainted Parts which test fitted ok can creep out of position after painting and then assembly can create problems. Clean part contacts and painting after assembly where possible all reduce issues. Precision is important in construction.

Aires, Cutting edge burners are the same size with same issues. If yiu can track down some correct size burner cans it makes a very nice visual difference to the Tamiya F-4’s. It really adds to the look having the bigger exhausts.

If you cant get Hasegawa stuff where you live blame your distributor. Hasegawa 32nd stuff is widely available in Japan with at any one time at least 50% of the range available. If your shops dont have them as why. They are out there as are the 48th kits.

Yea we know that, but the guy is also after an “easy” F-4B option. You cant get any easier than flattening a C wing, banging in a Navy cockpit(resin or Tamiya J replacement parts are widely available)and your done. The easy option is to ignore the bottom as you cant see it anyway. The lower wing fix is far more work for in a quick build little reward to never be seen. Leave the speedbrakes up( they are different on the B and J due bukge)and unless you spend time looking at collections from below nobody will ever know. Or go down the GT route or CE/Realmodel route.