Tom

Yes, if your model is to be an aircraft in operational service in WWII, use the Airfix tank with the vertical seam and straight pylon (unless an aftermarket curved pylon tank shows up!). I have never seen a wartime era photo of an F6F with the 4th style of tank, but I'd welcome information that indicates they were used. However, the horizontal flange, no pylon tanks were common fittings on post war Hellcats. Indeed, many photos I have seen of F6F-5K drones show the 4th style tank fitted. Perhaps that is why Airfix included it rather than the more common 1st or 3rd type.

Even if you do not have a photo of the aircraft you intend to model, the tank that comes in the Airfix kit (#2 on my list) is a pretty safe bet; especially if the F6F-3 you intend to convert the Airfix -5 to was used late in the -3 version's service life (say, late 1944ish). Those tanks entered the supply line while many -3 versions were still in operational use. As Jennings says in his post, the different types of centerline tanks were used interchangeably on both versions of the F6F. Most of the second type tank were glossy sea blue color, even when mounted on a three tone F6F-3, while most of the first type of tank were painted white.

I think there may actually be a total of four types of Hellcat centerline tanks that I have seen photos of: 1. vertical flange, curved pylon (early version, used throughout the war) 2. vertical flange, straight pylon (?second version, maybe 1944 and later?) 3. horizontal flange, straight pylon (?third, late war?) 3. horizontal flange, no pylon (?postwar, also used on Bearcat, Tigercat and other aircraft) In addition to variation in flange orientation and pylon shape, there may have also been different materials used (aluminum vs. steel), and different manufacturers, but I have been unable to pin this down with any certainty. I'd value corroboration or correction, as I'm something of a Hellcat nut.

in addition to the above comments, I think the panel lines on the outer wings were also different between the F6F-5 and the F6F-3. I'm with the crowd of modellers hoping Airfix issue a dash 3 version with all the appropriate changes.

If this aircraft is on your planned sheet, you made my day! .......... perhaps my month! Now the back story for my desire to model that squadron and my suggestion for your future sheet: My father was a young Lieutenant (j.g.) flying Hellcats in that squadron. Long deceased now and he didn't talk about his service in the war and that squadron did not receive much photo documentation. As a youngster, I wasn't interested in WWII history and had not appreciation for what servicemen went through and contributed. But I'm a modeller now and have managed to track down a little information about VF-81 on the USS Wasp. One of my great treasures is a copy of VF-81's cruise book: Prep Charlie. that I managed to find..... complete with a photo of my 23 year-old father in a "hero pose" in front of a F6F-5. Chilling. Wishing you the best success in your business.

Jennings, I hope you continue to issue new sheets of your well-researched and flawlessly printed decals. In 1/24 scale the Hellcat field is wide open for you. If you plan also to issue in the other major scales, you may have to research a little deeper than previous decal producers have done. The Hellcat has been pretty well served by aftermarket decal releases. If I may, I'd like to suggest a Hellcat subject I've been wanting to do for years: VF-81 from the USS Wasp on its Nov. 1944 -- March 1945. Actions included strikes in Indo-China, Formosa, Phillippines, and the first carrier strikes on Japan in Feb. 1945. Not a high scoring squadron in terms of air to air kills, but very much part of the action. NO decals have been released for VF-81 Hellcats. I've been unable to model this squadron's aircraft properly because they used funky letter style for their tail codes. Hoping your "...stuff you haven't seen before." might include this squadron.

Thanks, you have confirmed my lack of success in searching for them. I'm a little surprised no aftermarket pieces have been marketed. On to Plan B for that build.

Can anyone advise me on a source for 1/32 Hurricane underwing bomb pylons? Either aftermarket of kit-included?

Iran's F-5E aircraft were equipped with Martin Baker IRQ7A ejection seats. Reference: Iranian Tigers at War by Babak Taghvaee pg. 18 I don't know of any good IRQ7A seats in 1/32. The the F-104 and F-4 MB Mk 7 seats have some significant visible differences. I hope Harold follows up his early Northrop seat with a MB IRQ7A seat.

Does anyone know how they accessed the 20mm cannon to re-arm and service it? Was a new hatch or removable panel installed somewhere on the fuselage? Or did they get at it by removing the seat and reaching/crawling back to the gun? Does this new kit provide any clues?

Painting question: What color would the intake ducts of an early production F-5E be? The few head-on photos I can find all show the intake ducts in deep shadow -- just a black hole. The splitter plate always seems to be the exterior paint color, and probably that continues rearward for a bit, but I have no idea how far. I'm guessing the ducts would be either: 1) natural metal, or 2) white, or 3) aluminum lacquer paint. Anyone know for sure? Or have photos to post? Thank you.

Addendum: just for grins, I checked the AbeBooks web site. They show five copies for sale. Lowest price: $57.88. Several in the $60's.

Yes, there is one excellent Ki-43 reference I can recommend to you: Aero Detail 29 Hayabusa Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" by Shigeru Nohara. Published about 2000 / 2001ish by Model Graphix books. It has many detail close up photos of museum aircraft, some period photos of aircraft in use, lots of line drawings, and about a dozen color profiles. All text is in both Japanese and English. This title may be very hard to find, but worth the effort if you are seriously interested in modelling the Ki-43. Try the used book search specialists such as AbeBooks. Also check eBay. Good luck on your search.

Nice late instrument panel Airfixer. Are you planning to market them for sale, or just producing for your own builds? I would surely like to purchase a few if offered for sale.

Thank you! I selected this a/c as my first build because it looked like an easy-to-do color and markings scheme. Maybe I'll be lucky and find appropriate sized insignia and USAF decals in my spare decals collection. Or switch to another version I can build with kit decals. Or wait for aftermarket decals to be released. The more I work with this kit and follow the messages on this SIG, the more I wonder how a major, well established, kit company can allow such careless research and quality control in what seems like dozens of aspects of the kit. They should have contracted with you as a consultant! In spite of these many small (and correctable) errors, I still think it is a pretty good kit and will certainly build several. I just like the aircraft!

A markings heads up: In looking at photos in preparation for doing the 425 TFTS silver F-5E included in the Kittyhawk decal options, I saw some indications that the kit decals for wing insignia and USAF may be miss-sized. I couldn't find any good in-flight photos of plan view for this squadron, but I did find several good photos of parked aircraft. All of these show either the insignia (underside starboard) or the USAF (underside port) overlapping with the gear doors. The Kittyhawk instructions would position these markings outboard of the gear doors. It appears that even if you shifted the decals inboard to create overlap with the doors, things would not look correct, as the whole marking would be too far inboard. I 'think' the wing insignia and USAF are one size too small. If anyone has the photos, time, and inclination to check my tentative conclusion, I would appreciate a second set of eyes on this and a wave-off if I'm wrong. Or does anyone have a T.O. showing how these early F-5Es were supposed to be marked? Size and position of the markings?

Thank you Erik. Puzzle solved. I had never noticed either of these two features before your response. Close up ventral view photos are very scarce.

A question: There are two pairs of holes in the lower fuselage whose function I can't identify. The first pair are in Parts E51 and E70, just aft of the gun gas purge doors; one on each side of centerline . These holes are slightly oval in shape. In the inside of these parts opposite the holes there is a recess molded. It looks intentional, like there is supposed to be a part of some sort inserted from the inside. The instructions do not include any mention of these holes and I couldn't find any parts on the sprues that look like they belong to these holes. The second set of 'mystery holes' are on Parts E45 and E46 between the two ventral antenna mounts; one on each side of centerline. Again, no mention of these holes in the instruction sheet; but there are some round parts on the clear sprue that look like they might fit. Could they be lights? But my references don't include mention of any ventral lights forward of the nose gear. This is a mystery to me. I don't have any close up photos of the underside of the forward fuselage and the kit instructions offer no answers. I'm inclined to just putty these holes over and just move on. Can anyone unravel this puzzlement?

I hope the aftermarket guys are following this thread and use some of the previous ideas in their production decisions. All of my most important aftermarket wants are covered by the above two lists (seats, fin fillet, instrument panels, AIM-9J, refueling probe, early nose gear doors); but OK, I'll add a few: intake ducts improved splitter plate photo etch ladder canopy masks It's a sad state of affairs. Now that I've got my 'holy grail' kit in hand, I can hardly wait for the aftermarket stuff to catch up.

Yes, this helps. I think I finally understand. A pool group can include aircraft out of chronological order. i.e. Feature changes on the production line don't always occur in serial number chronological order. ..... and, of course, feature changes as in-service modification is a whole 'nuther sealed metal container of annelids!

Thank you Erik. You are truly a guru of F-5 lore. I hope all these questions haven't become an unwelcome burden. A follow-up clarification if I may: the table you included indicates rain removal system through group E-2 (AF76-1685), but your note says "...dropped subsequent to AF78-2447." Did you perhaps mean to type "... subsequent to AF76-1685"? Again........THANKS!

Windshield rain removal system question: Examining many photos in preparation for my build of the Kittyhawk kit, I noticed that some, but not all, F-5E aircraft have a crescent shaped fairing just ahead of the windshield for a rain removal system. Best closeup photo I had is in Detail & Scale Vol.5, pg. 46. The AFV Club 1/48 kits include a part for this fairing, but it is not used on all markings options. This part is also in the ancient Hasegawa 1/32 kit, but not included in the Kittyhawk kit. My question is this: does anyone know what production blocks had this rain removal fairing? Or lacking photos of an aircraft clearing showing the front of the windscreen, what general guidance to follow for including (or not including) this fairing. My working hypothesis is that early production F-5E aircraft had this fairing and at some point in production history it was dropped. However, I have no idea if this is correct or, if so, when the fairing was dropped. Using the Hasegawa part as a pattern, I think I can carve a reasonable duplication of this part from plastic sheet. Unless the aftermarket guys beat me to it. Thanks in advance to anyone who can share their knowledge.

Dan, where did you source VNAF insignia and fin flash for your planned build?

Thank you, that was a great explanation! The connection between the RWR bumps and the revised instrument panel is a 'light bulb' for me. Also, I think I might be able to modify the kit panel to add the azimuth indicator and then just ignore the other differences. Now I see four aircraft I can build from kit contents. Hoping one of the aftermarket companies does a Northrop Standard seat soon.......

In reference to Airfixer's very helpful April 8 post outlining the configuration of aircraft for which Kittyhawk supplies decals, I find myself concluding that exactly "NONE" of the aircraft can be accurately depicted from parts in the box. If an aircraft has the Northrop Improved seat, it has the "later revised instrument panel", which is not included. If the aircraft has the early instrument panel, it requires the Northrop Standard seat, which is not included. My question is this: just how different is the "later revised instrument panel" from the "early instrument panel"? Could the early panel be easily modified to depict the later panel? Perhaps the difference between the two panels is subtle enough that only high time F-5E pilot would notice it? Photos of the two? I am clearing my work bench to start this kit as soon as it arrives. If I can modify or ignore the early instrument panel, the kit decals give me several choices. Has anyone here already solved this dilemma?