Oldbaldguy

You guys are over thinking this a bit. Single seat Spads all look pretty much the same except for the weapons pylons. Actual configuration changes were few and far between with upgrades being mostly inside where they could not be seen. No idea when they started flying the things, but the AD-6 is an upgraded AD-4B - the one that was strengthened and modded a bit to carry a nuke. AD-4s did all the heavy lifting during the Korean mess; AD-6s came later as a result. I will check my dad’s cruise book, but I’m pretty sure the AERO racks on the wings are post-Korea and the large, pointy pylons next to the gear did not appear until the AD-5 hit the scene. A good rule of thumb is that if it is painted blue, it did not carry the more “modern looking” racks. Having said all that, there were several different versions of the -4. Some were single seaters, some had two guys in the aft fuselage with doors and windows, some had one guy, some had winter/de-icer gear and leading edge boots, some had radar pods but some did not, some had all the above. The list goes on and on. And then there was the -4W. I guess what I’m saying is that you can build an AD-4, an AD-6 or an AD-7 out of any of the extant Spad kits and it will look like what it is supposed to as long as you know which version you are building and are willing to scratch some parts. A Spad is a Spad is a Spad; the devil is in the details. Whatever you do, do not paint your model blue then put late pylons and high speed tanks on it and claim it’s a -4 from Korea. Just don’t.

This is still a work in progress because, like everyone else in the known universe, I took pix of the prints with my phone but now my phone is refusing to send the photos to anyone else. I have considered fine tuning it with a ball peen hammer but will pursue other solutions first. For background: There are 36 prints in all. Most are in decent to excellent shape. Most are modern equipment, mostly Navy, but there are a couple of tracked vehicles in the stack. In some cases, I have duplicates. Nearly all can be rolled and sent in mailing tubes. There are a few that are dry mounted which may be problematic. Subjects include the Blue Angels, RA-5C, Harrier, C-130, SR-71, OA-4M, a couple of Cobras, and some other stuff. I also have several original drawings that I might let go as well. Hoping to make some progress with emailing the pix in the next day or so. Patience is a virtue and all that.

Thank God for motor boats.

I wonder if you could not find and adapt appropriate sized O-rings from a plumbing, auto or big box store? They would certainly be more convincing if you could make them work.

A surprising number of you good people have offered to take prints off my hands. I think I have found them all - but maybe not; still cannot find the Jim Deitz prints, but that is beside the point. I took phone pix of each print yesterday and will send them to all who replied in the order I received your responses. Be patient; this may take a while. Check your in boxes for PMs from me. Thanks to all who responded. I’d much rather give these things away than to trash them. I’m finding that my kids have little or no interest in things I have accumulated over the years, so don’t be surprised if I find other stuff to give away at some point.

Wow! Great pix of just about every detail I need to finish this thing. Thanks for posting - I never would have found them otherwise.

Ooooo! Very nice. Must have cost a small fortune to matte and frame.

Not sure where/how to do this. We are downsizing, which means we have lots of stuff that needs a new home. While rummaging here and there today, I discovered that I have squirreled away several very nice - meaning well done and in great shape - aviation fine art prints. Some are signed by the artist, others are signed to me by the artist and the rest are just decent prints. Mostly Keith Ferris, a couple RG Smiths, some of my own, and a handful of dogs and cats. Mostly modern jets, I think. None of my kids or grandkids want any of it and if none of you all want them, they will soon grace the local landfill. They are free to whomever might want them and, depending on where you live, I might even pick up the shipping tab. PM me and we will work out some photos for your review. Oh! And I also have the full size fuselage template set from the plans for a Rutan Long EZ if anyone is interested. OBG

Additionally, the driver is either a major or light colonel, the first row of fasteners below the canopy rail is not rivets but countersunk screws, and while the girl is wearing finger nail polish and what looks like a leather flight jacket, she appears to have mislaid her hair brush.

Well, the Argentine Vipers will likely live longer and happier lives. Nice looking paint scheme.

Wonder how long it will be before somebody releases CAG bird decals for these.

Moving along with a degree of rapidity as I up-market my ancient Revell Wildcat, I am about to tackle the wings but find myself stymied by having not laid hands on a real one in a decade or more. I cannot remember; did Grumman flush rivet the wings on that thing? They look deceptively smooth in all sorts of photos, unlike the way Revell has them covered with a million tiny evenly spaced zits.

Indeed. And who knows? It may look absolutely marvelous once you are done. Trying something new/different is how we move things forward. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

I absolutely agree! Those old Revell kits were not that bad. Coincidentally, I’m doing exactly the same thing as W777 right now with a Revell Corsair and a Revell Wildcat using bits and pieces of more modern kits. It is great fun and the results are well worth the time. Highly recommended.

Sorry. Not sure what is happening here…