Juggernut

No word yet on the Facebook page and he's shutting down for the Summer (according to the LFD Facebook page) so I'm thinking it will be Fall at the earliest. Laminar Flow Design Closing For Summer Facebook Announcement

I’m game…. Hotel bar (if there is one)?

Found it, thankx!

Hmmm....I must not have it. I'm using a Cameo 4 with the Designer Edition + 4.5.815 software and I haven't been notified of an update yet. I don't see a cut settings box unless I'm just dense and it's in a menu/submenu someplace.

I notice that they have zero air-to-air capability loaded (no AIM 7's, 9's, 120's or the Israeli specific AIMs). If they're Fence In (Iran?), that means they've got total air supremacy. They're free to engage as they please (barring ground-based air defenses). With the GBU-31 JDAMs loaded, they really don't need a targeting pod and the terrain following radar pod isn't needed since they're not going in NOE or low level. It also seems that with CFTs, internal fuel, and three gas bags, they may be goin deep.

Thanks for the information. Mentioning the Glossy Sea Blue drawings jarred an idea into my feeble mind. I logged onto Aircorps Library and found the Vought drawing VS-37990, Rev. E (looks to be dated 3-26-46) for the Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster F4U-1 series. On the face of the drawing, ZN 9E reads: Interior Cowling to Air Seal and Interior Cowl Flaps Gloss Sea Blue, Non-Specular or Semi-Gloss Sea Blue. There is a note A3 on that text but it does not change the extant callout in any way. So, I shall paint the interior of the cowls accordingly. For future reference in case I want to build another F4U-1D: Is it possible that subcontractors may have been producing these components? If so (as outlined in your Corsair volume two for landing gear colors), could these producers have had excess inventory of light grey or intermediate blue on hand when the changes came over leading to mixes of different painted interior cowl colors...mostly an assumption on my part and you could tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree on that. As a note, I also see where it says to paint the landing gear legs (and tail wheel strut) a non-specular light grey with aluminum and gloss sea blue as alternate colors.

I’ll be there.

The Tamiya instructions call out XF-24 Dark Grey. My question is what color are the insides of the F4U-1D cowls? I’m pretty sure they weren’t zinc chromate.

Not hate, just opting for the better of the two. Ta152H-0 and Ta152H-1 Comparison.

Well, the H-0 is a bear to build correctly. It’s very easy to mis-glue something out of place and only find out about it when you attempt to fit something else to the model and it doesn’t fit…. Then comes the sinking feeling that you dun screwed up and you do your best to fix it; most times without success. It’s my understanding that the H-1 is very similar to build.

Not me. Been there, seen it, prefer the H-0 having built it. Neither is a box shaker but the H-0 is better.

See the next post, somehow I screwed this up.

Their H-0 kit is better than their H-1. The tooling is better resulting in crisper, more defined details. Had they the H-0 on sale, I'd spring for that one.

Nice zeke. One point I may make for future reference.... The flight controls on the A6M aircraft were fabric covered and as such, would not chip. The Japanese did not use silver dope on their control surfaces to the best of my knowledge.

Splatman812, the initial issue of the Tamiya A6M5 (kit no. 60309) did not come with the metal 20mm barrels, a metal pitot tube, or an extra marking option. That kit has been discontinued. The replacement, kit no. 60318, does come with the metal 20mm cannon barrels and one additional set of markings. If you look on the instruction booklet, I believe it will still say 60309 in the upper R/H corner of the title page. There should be an addendum with the 60318 kit for the metal barrels. metal pitot tube, and the additional marking option. Battletweety, a word of caution regarding the "operating" landing gear. You indicated that you don't plan on raising the gear and to that I say, "Good on you." If you do ever get tempted, be VERY careful as the landing gear are securely installed, don't rotate easily and if you try and do it more than a couple of times or are not careful, you'll twist the engagement pin (on the main gear) where the tool fits, completely off. Ask me how I know. Your version of aotake is within the realm of possibility since it could range anywhere from almost clear blue to a dark, translucent green. Your underside color looks very good too; XF12 surprises me.... it looks very similar to the Mitsubishi version of J3SP. Couple of last bits of information and take them for what they're worth. Most, if not all, aviation reciprocating engines have two spark plugs per cylinder; not sure if you knew that or not. Your engine only shows one. No big deal as not a lot of it will show with the cowls on. Cowl wear looks nicely done. Don't paint the inside of the cowls aotake (if you haven't yet); It should be the same color as the outside of the cowl. I cannot tell from your photos whether or not you've painted it black (or blue-black) or not. If you followed the Tamiya instructions then you painted them the correct color. I'll also leave this here with you in case you're interested: Tamiya A6M5 Tweak List by Ryan Toews HTH