thierry laurent

A very interesting study of the OD color variation... :-)

I am sure it is possible to use the Alleycat conversions with the Cyberhobby kit with some elbow grease. However, except if you got one for a more than cheap price I would ask why? The sets are tailored for the Eduard kit (more particularly the wing inserts), they cancel most of the Eduard kit issues ( linked to the nose) and the Weekend edition is very cheap. So... The annoying part of the very nice Alleycat conversions is that stupidly short nose... :-( I corrected mine. So this problem can be solved with some clever cuts, plasticard and epoxy putty but this asks for time. Hth Thierry

From my own standpoint and from the best to the worst: 1. Cyberhobby 2. Eduard 3. Trumpeter 4. Matchbox 5. Hasegawa Hth Thierry

The recesses should simply be filled in.

Panthers and Skyraiders in Korea and RF-4B are indeed good ideas as there are not many other options than the kit ones.

Funny! Initially I thought this was in UK as I went to a Modelling event in Rochester many years ago...

I do not think the Block 32 was a good seller in Europe. Before the kit was discontinued it was possible to find it for heavily discounted prices here and there. I even found one in a toy shop for... 80 euros whereas the normal price was close to 140 euros. I cannot stop thinking they would have sold far more of them with Aggressor markings!

Outdated with not many incorrectly shaped/scaled items. This was valid when this was the only option as this asked for a lot of work to get an acceptable result. Not recommended!

And for the Tamiya one: Nose & tail large antennas plus the small ones on the nose and tail sides Belly strap Slat wings Pylons and missiles Correctly sized exhausts G instrument panels Decals You may also add a better pit and seamless intakes with more accurate vari-ramps. Thierry

If you mean for the Revell F-4G, out of my memory: New nose & pitot tube Corrected nose antenna plus the missing nose and tail ones Nose LG leg (should be released soon) Corrected Air intakes Belly strap Belly engine doors Pylons and missiles if you want to make a late one If you want more detailed ones: Exhausts, Seats & pit, Main wheels. Hopefully new corrected front LG well doors will be released. Hth Thierry

The best approach is also the most expensive one: Start with a Tamiya F-4J, add a RF-4C nose and add parts from a F-4B conversion set if you want to build an early bird with flat wings, short exhausts and so on. Another option: you start with a RF-4C kit and a full F-4B conversion set plus a set of corrected resin air intakes. This not the easiest approach as you will have to adapt some B parts tailored for a Tamiya kit to the Revell one but this is also a less expensive one and you should get everything you need. For your information, it is not that complex to mix and match parts from both families of kits. The main dimension difference between them is the mid and rear fuselage and tail cross-sections but this is fortunately not a major problem at the nose level. Hth Thierry

Well, when I look at the pictures, I would say the best approach is probably a 50-50 mix of 35109 and 35190. Indeed, to me, the first looks a little bit too grey whereas the other looks a little bit too blue! However, this is just a feeling, not a spectrometer-based analysis ;-)

Hi Mark, I am not at home to check but, out of my memory, currently the two best Thunderchief books with walkaround pictures are the Squadron Walkaround and the recent MMP release. https://www.scribd.com/document/124282554/aviation-Squadron-Signal-Walk-Around-n-23-F-105-Thunderchief http://scalemodelkitreview.blogspot.com/2018/05/mmp-books-republic-f-105-thunderchief.html?m=1 Detail and scale also released a nice book but now it is quite dated and the walkaround section of such books is quite limited in comparison with the aforementioned references. There was also a Wings of Fame issue essentially dedicated to the plane. HTH Thierry

There is no perfect approach. The Tamiya E is globally more accurate than the Revell one. So if money is not an issue and you do not have one kit, go for the Tamiya route. Another approach is mixing both kits as the Revell kit can give you the IPs, the pylons and missiles for an early bird, some antennas, slat wings and the drop tanks. However, you will still need some items such as an accurate nose antenna. Hth Thierry

Well. This is not so simple. Drawings are like kits. Some are extremely accurate, some are very bad and most are average ones.