Derek B

Always nice to see such great posts resurrected. Good luck with the Spitfire floatplane diorama Brian - I can't wait to see it! (I had completely forgotten about the floatplane conversion set; it was many years ago now). cheers Derek

Nice work Dave - I hope that mine eventually turns out as nice as yours! Derek

Geoff, Thank you for putting my personal thoughts into words. Derek

Thank you Jim. At least I am know happy that I have a reasonably good colour to work with I should have done the same with the cockpit colour, but I guess that I shall use my ubiquitous Humbrol 140!). Cheers Derek

In between other projects, I thought that I would have a go at this one. I will be completing it as a Greek Air Force (HAF) aircraft in NMF finish. I shall be using Icarus decals on the model. Clean up of the parts has commenced. One of the problems I have is trying to find a good colour match to the ADC Grey/US Airframe Grey (FS 36473/16473) colour fir the radome and wing undersurface. I could by the Xtracrylic colour, but I prefer to use enamel paints and the correct Humbrol 146 colour has been OOP from a number of years now. The answer is to colour match my existing collection of paints to a full size aircraft. Luckily, Bruntingthorpe has an ex-Marinefieger F-104G Starfighter that I could look at. so, armed with a few tins of paint that I thought would look close to the right colour (based on photographs), I went to see how close I was. The radome of this particular aircraft is painted US SEA light grey FS 36622. However, there are two very small chipped areas of paint on the radome that showed the original ADC grey underneath it. I found that the old Humbrol Authentic USN 3 (FS 36375) colour was a very close match, which I think looks good for faded ADC grey. I also found that Humbrol 127 (the Humbrol replacement for USN 3 light compass ghost grey) was a good match for fresh ADC grey when compared to the internal fuselage area where the wings are attached, which also appears to be ADC grey (it has a slightly bluer hue to it), but overall, in my judgement, Humbrol USN 3 looks like the best match. Derek

Nice smithy work Peter Derek

Thank you Thierry. Derek

Hi Dale, The SAAB JAS 39 Gripen is one of my favourite aircraft - it is a few years since I last touched mine (see link below - unfortunately, my photobucket links have disapperaed!): http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=47348&hl=%2Bjas+%2Bgripen The kit has been long OOP. I bought mine second hand. The kit itself is generally OK in shape, but is based upon early SAAB prototype schematic drawings, not the final production form. The main problem with the kit is that it is undersize. From my own research into the issue, I believe that the problem originated from a simple mis-interpretation of the SAAB published aircraft dimensions, and not any deliberate intention to mislead. If the aircraft nose pitot probe is included as part of the overall aircraft length, then this is the overall kit dimension that Revell has produced it to. However, if the nose pitot probe dimension is left out, and the overall aircraft length is is taken from the front of the nose cone only, this equates to the actual length of the aircraft (confirmed by a check of the wingspan). To my mind, this is the basic error with the kit, so to bring the kit back to the correct dimensions, drastic surgery of the kit is required in terms of both length and span - this is what I am doing with my kit (if you are happy with it being underscale, then it can be updated to look like a current JAS 39 with a degree of effort). HTH Derek

Happy birthday Barry and other fellow LSP birthday'ers. Derek

Tag line...

:yahoo: :yahoo: Derek

Same here. If (and when) I can get the Trumpeter 1/32 kits (I'll need two), I'll convert one of them into a TA-7 version (both HAF of course!). Derek

Sounds cool - I'm on the look out for an Airfix 1/24 Harrier kit (any type, but the GR.3 would be good). Derek

I would certainly appreciate an extension to the Jurassic plastic GB, which by the very nature of the subject, generally requires more time and effort to bring them up to even a basic standard compared to more modern kits. Derek

This is still progressing, but I am obviously not going to meet the GB deadline (heavy work loads and been away too much on business to even think about modelling since Christmas), so could this be moved into the WIP area please? Many thanks Derek

As Richard said (and Cees intimated in his first post), this is the Revell Mk.II Spitfire fuselage halve mated against the Revell Mk.IX fuselage half. Derek

My thoughts too - this confirms that it is too deep still. Derek

Thanks Cees, you have just confirmed my initial thoughts - I must get back to finishing my Revell Mk.II again sometime. Cheers Derek

First impressions of the sprue shots show the kit to be comprehensive and very good value for money, but they also cause me to consider a few things. I do not have the kit and shall await the judgements of other modellers who do have it and can make comparisons and assessments that will benefit us all. Derek

Hmmm...Just done some number crunching for an F-16C Block 50 aircraft (Data from the LM website): W/S (Over launchers - no Sidewinders fitted): 787.416mm (1/12), 524.944mm (1/18), 393.708mm (1/24). OAL: 1252.250mm (1/12), 834.833mm (1/18), 626.125mm (1/24). Height: 424.166mm (1/12), 282.777mm (1/18), 212.083mm (1/24). So it would be a heck of a monster in 1/12 scale (but still tempting). 1/18 scale is much more managable and is probably as large a scale as many would wish to go. 1/24 scale almost seems very small in comparison and is definitely a good size for such a project Derek

Amazing work Bernd (great scale choice to - looks like you can never go 'too' large!). I have a 1/12 scale F-16 cockpit; looks like you are putting bad ideas into my mind! Derek

Menelaos has kindly pointed out and reminded me that the HAF F-5's also had the AIM-9 fit in place of tip tanks on some aircraft, so its now 'game on' for me as as I no longer require an additional set of tip tanks (however, markings are quite a different issue altogether ). Derek

I am delighted to hear that, thank you Baris. Derek

I fully understand Menelaos (and also the conflict that such a purchase would cause if you are Hellenic). However, even though it is a Turkish originated kit, modellers will still purchase it and wait/hope for an AM producer to bring out Hellenic air force specific decals for it. I also appreciate that you have amassed enough HAF decals for your own use, which is great - I still have the AM Belcher conversion set that I shall still use to convert the Revell F-5E kit, and, if I can obtain a set of wing tanks from somewhere, I will also have sufficient secondary parts to convert a second F-5E kit into an F-5B (I will convert the fuselage myself into a two seater). Kindest regards Derek

Well, no prizes for guessing what mine will come out as... Derek