Cheetah11

Hi John Just a heads up on the flap, slat config. The slats and LE flaps are not deployed by themselves on the ground unless the a/c is being tested. They are fully deployed with the trailing edge flaps and in the full flap setting. This is only seen on the ground in revetments or hangers. On flight lines all LE and TE are normally retracted to prevent dust in the mechanisms. The term Combat Flap was a mode in the air where the Slats / Flaps automatically move to the 1/2 flap position below 300 KIAS. If you need the angles of the flap/slats in various settings just shout. Cheers Nick

Super nice paintwork Chris. Well done.

Hi Jeff Welcome to the forum I do not know where you are based but maybe one of our members close to you can cut masks for the walkways. Easier and more realistic. Cheers Nick

A little progress. This build is going a bit slow but should speed up a little soon. I decided to use the kit compressor face although it is overscale. The intake trunk of the Hasegawa kit matches the Academy closely after a bit of sanding. The underside is now almost complete. Time to the upper section of the kit. Cheers Nick

You are better off without instructions for the KH Mirage.

Thanks for the period photo Jari. It all helps to get an idea of the Desert Storm period. The jamming pod on the wing pylon would have made an interesting config to model. I have some small tail planes in the spares box and one of the New York or South Carolina ANG Block 5 aircraft was the preferred option but sourcing decals was out of the question. Cheers Nick

Stunning build again Iain. BTW how are you going to attach the PE piece? On my Ju 88 I made a mask and painted the antenna on the inside as the real strips were quite thin. Cheers Nick

A small fix was required to fit the intake to the rest of the fuselage. The recessed part on the Hasegawa kit does not match the Academy nose section. Not even close. The solution was to build the Hasegawa section with plastic card and sand smooth. The easy part. Now for the more difficult part. The Vents on the sides of the Academy intakes do not protrude far enough to match the Hasegawa part. The solution this time was to cut slots in the sides with a razor saw and use gap filling superglue to make the vents wider. Eventually all fit together but with a lot of filling and sanding still to be done. Cheers Nick

Nicely done and a great paint scheme

Hi Spyros I am sorry I as unclear about the auxiliary intakes. They are the rectangular intakes behind the main intake. They are normally spring loaded in the closed position but open when the demand for air from the engine is too great for the main intake to supply. This only happens at low speed and high engine RPM. Cheers Nick

Hi Spyros, just confirm the aux intakes are right for the config you are doing. Cheers Nick

I first need to get the nose of the Academy kit to fit. So here goes. First the position of the front end of the gear bay was determined using the resin part as reference. I fitted the Aires nose gear well which fitted like a dream (it should but you never know with Aires). I decided to add the gap with plastic card instead of a cutting the Hasegawa part. Why the Hasegawa front part of the intake? That question needs to be directed to the Carpet Monster. In the mean time I have found a photo on the internet of the Block 25 F-16 during Desert Storm from Shaw AFB. I think this is most likely the markings and config I will use. Cheers Nick

First a dry fit to see if the Aires wheel well will fit. I detailed my previous builds with plastic rod and card but now time for a shortcut. No problem with the fit with only a few small adjustments foreseen. The Undercarriage bay on the Hasegawa kit needs to be lengthened by 5mm. I suspect the kit was based upon one of the prototype aircraft and all the changes to the production version was not feasible after the kit was tooled. The main gear bay needs lengthening as said and the nose gear bay is too narrow. A small problem to address. The main gear strut does not fit. The Hasegawa gear legs will need to be cut and shortened to fit the resin. I also have a spare NSI intake from the Academy kit and will see if I can graft this onto the Hasegawa kit. Save a bit of scribing hopefully and the gear well and door is correct. Cheers Nick

Hi Mongoose Yes I have had a good look at the site when I started looking at the build. The Hasegawa kit has the right config in terms of scoops and antenna for a Block25 and these aircraft still had no stiffener plates at the time of Desert Storm. Also no walkway stripes to battle with on the decal side. I still need to decide on the exact config and loadout but fortunately there are plenty of photos on the site. I have the Aires wheel bays for the Academy kit and will see how to fit it to the Hasegawa kit. The Black Box (Avionics) cockpit was made for the Hasegawa kit and should fit with the IP from the kit. For the decals I will see if I can get some from Hannants. Cheers Nick

I recently read a few articles on the first Gulf War. It felt like yesterday when we were glued to the TV watching dim images of laser guided bombs destroying command posts and aircraft shelters. Hard to believe it more than 31 years have passed since those events. I had a look in my stash to see what model I could build from the Gulf War. Only suitable one a Hasegawa F-16. I have build a few of these kits but this time I will see If I can use some aftermarket items and parts from the spares box. So what is possible from the kit. Apart from the raised panel lines and some dubious detail, the kit lends itself well to the Gulf War era Vipers. On the internet I found a list of the serial numbers of participating F-16 aircraft. My initial idea was to do an aircraft from the New York ANG. I have some small elevators in the spares box so a Block 5 Vipers is possible. The South Carolina ANG also flew the F-16A Block 5 Vipers in the war but decals for either of these would be difficult to source. A few small mouth Block 30 aircraft participated so it would be possible to do the kit as such. Problem also decals. The easiest Gulf War Viper from the Hasegawa kit is the Block 25 aircraft that was used by a few units. So here goes. Nick

The TA-4KU also have the fin top antennae. Cheers Nick

Hi Ray You can move this to General Discussion as I have no intension of buying this model at that price. I think starting with the Panther Tamiya has dumbed down on details to go for the RC market, which leads to a lot of work to get these models to the detail level acceptable for a static model. Nick

The SAAF operated Mosquito MK ii as PR aircraft in the Western Desert. If you are interested I can find the details for you. Not desert colors. Standard Euro cammo although one was finished in an overall deep blue. ( not PRU) Nick

Sorry Maru, as I have said this is too expensive. I should have posted under General Discussion. I hope admin will move it to the right forum. Happens when you post from a phone

Jy is doodreg Iain. Totale malligheid. Hy kos R19500 by Jix. Goedkoop as jy kyk na die R24500 wat die 1/16 M1 Abrahams kos. Groete Nick

Just arrived at my local hobby shop. About 1250 USD. I will give it a miss at that price.

Hi Dave Do you need a file? STL format. A rough test print in PLA that I hope to do in future in HIPS with a higher resolution. I also have a crude one of the hub. under paint it looks fine. Cheers Nick

Hi Juggernaut The kit is typical of the era. Some panel lines, such as the flap demarcation line on top of the wing, are a little soft, but they can easily be scribed a little deeper. It is not a modern Tamiya in terms of fit but if you dry fit and clean up the inner edges of the wings the fit is passable with only a little filler required. This was the forth Ju 88 I have build and every time it gets easier. On the G-6 the fit between engine end wings also needs to be adjusted with a bit of plastic card. On the G-1 it is fine. Overall a little work but I enjoyed each of these kits. Cheers Nick

Great work again Sean

Hi John I struggled to get a clear photo but I think during the Vietnam ere the F-4 only had a navigation light on the wingtip and not the small RWR antenna on the kit part. In 1/48 the Academy F4 is correct. Cheers Nick