quang

...and what about the 2010 Robin Hood with Russell Crowe in which he tried to re-enact a medieval D-Day in reverse

You might be right Derek as my theory is only speculation based on what I found on the internet. It could be that these covers were approved by Northrop although I’ve never found these covers used anywhere else outside Vietnam. As a matter of fact, the F-5s on your photos could be the Skoshi Tigers which later were turned on to the VNAF.

Thank you, firefly. During my research, I found a youTube video showing a VNAF crew installing the FOD covers. Wish I could remember where.

These curious intake FOD covers were created and made by the South Vietnamese to be used only on VNAF F-5As. They were originally made for the first Skoshi Tigers F-5A which visited South Vietnam and were later passed to the VNAF. The construction was indigenous and fairly simple. It’s basically a nylon mosquito net over a metal frame. The covers were attached to the intakes via a buckle and a metal band As the covers were hollow, I suppose they could be used while the engines were turning. They were invariably painted yellow with the three horizontal bars in red

Indeed! From whence I came -the 1970s- contraptions like JH stands and the likes were called ‘jigs’ in the few modelling magazines that counted: Scale Models, Airfix Magazine and Scale Aircraft Modelling. Of course the times have changed. Nowadays we have Wikipedia.

In your initial post you mentioned ‘fancy stands... wooden ones and plexiglass ones’. Those are known as jigs. If I‘ve known you were asking for ‘something to hold the model while you work on it’, I would have suggested a pair of cotton gloves.

I understand that dressing like that would add greatly to her vibrato

To me, the main purpose of a jig is to allow the modeller to adjust the geometry of an aeroplane constituents: dihedral, angle of incidence, raking angles of the UC, etc. A real jig would at the very least allow you to check the symmetry of a build. Another interesting feature of the JH jigs (and the likes) is that you can safely and securely affix the model to the jig by a simple system of rubber bands. The model cannot be knocked off nor its paint damaged as it cannot move while on the jig. I find the JH jig especially handy when I have to move my in-progress build ar

The $1 box is clever but it’s not what a real jig is supposed to do. I used the $1 box system for decades until I discovered the very useful albeit a little fragile JH stands. I also bought the perspex Vertigo for biplanes but never found out out it works, so it’s back in its box.

Time has changed. All things must pass. Nevertheless some people forget too easily that Squadron’s In Action books were the only staple food we had before the advent of internet.

A social media is only what the participants make out of it. I’ve been on Facebook for quite a few years. I post regularly about a variety of subjects. Nobody annoyed me.

I don’t know about Twitter but what’s wrong with Facebook?

Oven cleaners may work. But try first!

That’s the way to do it!

My main gripe is why can’t kit manufacturers identify each sprue with a BIG, BOLD letter conveniently located at one CORNER of the said sprue? To add insult to injury, some brands also choose to put an injection dimple smack dab over the part number. Go figure