Ben Brown

@Michael931080, The big difference was the P-80A and B didn't have an ejection seat. The C version added one and they had to move the windscreen and instrument panel forward 9 inches so the pilot wouldn't lose his legs during an ejection. There were some minor differences in the canopy fairing between the versions, too. The A and B didn't have that little lobe coming out of the aft tip of the canopy frame you see in the above photo. The "F" and "P" were just a change in naming conventions when the USAF was formed in 1948. The P was originally used to designate "p

I usually don't post my airplane builds anywhere, mainly because I build so slowly. I do post my progress on some of my race car builds over on the Motorsports Modeling forum, though. It's a great forum, that has the same friendly, laid-back vibe as LSP and Modeling Madness. I still occasionally post on Hyperscale, ARC, and Britmodeller. Speaking of Hyperscale, using an ad blocker really reduces the amount of annoying ads on that forum, as well as on Modeling Madness. Ben

Me, wanting Kitty Hawk’s new 1/48 Fury even after getting burned by several of their past releases: “I Hate Myself for Loving You” by Joan Jett. Ben

I read somewhere that Beechcraft more than made up for the money they lost on the Starship program by applying what they learned working with composites. It’s a beautiful airplane. I had the chance to get a little stick time in one. It had a different “feel” from the King Air 200 I was flying at the time. The Avanti is also a really cool airplane. It has a distinctive howl when it flies over. I’d hear one pretty regularly back before the pandemic. Ben

Dammit, Jennings! I do not need more F-4 kits! Those look too awesome to pass up. Ben

Good idea about the station diagram. I can’t compare the Trumpeter F kits to it, other than the canopy length (too long), but I was able to confirm the 1/48 Fox 3 and War Eagle conversions are very close to being spot-on, if you want to use them as a control group. Ben

Jennings, I am sorry for your loss. Ben

Did they get the wing too far aft and then stretch the cockpit area to compensate? I can’t figure out how they managed to get the overall length right but have problems in the cockpit area. Ben

Hi All, Just a note for anyone who is as, um... enthusiastic... about F-100s as I am, who might be considering this kit. I asked a guy on Britmodeller who has received his to measure the fuselage for me, and he kindly did so. I compared them with a couple of my 1/48 F-100Fs (Fox 3 Studios and War Eagle conversions for the Monogram F-100D, the most accurate F-100 kit available in any scale) and some drawings, plus a measurement found elsewhere on Britmodeller comparing the available 1/72 F-100Fs. The War Eagle conversion was considered to be accurate by F-100 guru Dave Menard, so th

Thanks for checking. From a modeling standpoint, it doesn’t really matter, does it? We can just glue the pylon on and call it done! Ben

That might have some good info, but I haven’t been able to find one online. Just the Dash-1. Ben

Thanks! I guess it’s going to take a weapons manual or a structural repair manual to see the mechanics of how the pylon attached. I’ve looked online, but the only manual I’ve been able to find is the Dash-1. Ben

Good catch! Ben

Thanks! The straps were added later in the Vietnam war, I think. Ben

One of the things one thinks of in the middle of the night: How was the F-105 centerline pylon mounted to the airplane? There is no mention of this in the Dash-1. One would think the mounting lugs would somehow pass through the doors to attach to the bomb bay ram, but the extra bomb bay fuel tank would have been mounted to it. I wouldn't think the doors would be strong enough to be able to attach an MER with six big bombs. Were there hard points in the doors themselves? Ben