Hello all:
Haven't posted here for awhile, as I've about given up on locating the missing instructions to my old (re-issued) MONOGRAM 1/48 scale P-51B Mustang "Ding Hao!" kit via another forum thread here. In the meantime, I've acquired quite a few other models (don't we all?), almost all through Ebay, some older, some newer, that I'd like to get after-market decals for.
First off: has anyone had much luck with Mike Grant's decal sets? I actually bought his very last (or so he's told me), personal set of 1/48 scale Convair B-58 Hustler variant markings for the ever-popular MGM/REVELL kit(s), and am presently waiting on their delivery along with a copy of his (more comprehensive) decals for the "Ding Hao!". I was tipped off to their "O.O.P." status by an identical set selling recently on Ebay, for a premium, of course. In the meantime, I've won a recent version of MGM's 1/48 scale PBY-5 Catalina kit, and have been thinking about rendering it as a replica of VICE ADMR. JOHN S. McCAIN's (grandfather of our current U.S. SENATOR JOHN L. McCAIN) personal command aircraft. Or, would that simply be a matter of somehow duping/painting his name & rank on one (both?) sides of the fuselage, after rendering the entire plane in the standard WWII USN South Pacific blue & the kit's circular-star insignia? I'd also like to eventually build MGM's same-scale "Black Cat" Catalina night-bomber as a companion piece.
Also, I've been tearing my hair (what's left of it, lol) out over procuring several sets of 1/48 scale Lockheed U-2C/R/TR1-A spy plane variants - in particular, Francis Gary Powers' ill-fated 1960 U2 that was shot down over the former Soviet Union, causing such an uproar way back when. Plus, does anyone know if the Air Force, CIA, or other agency(s) ever used the late cartoonist MILTON CANIFF's (of "Terry & the Pirates" & "Steve Canyon" fame) original art for the "Dragon Lady" theme as these fascinating aircraft were apparently nickname by their pilots & crews? It seems inconceivable that someone, somewhere, didn't get permisson to put her on the high vertical rudder on this sizeable craft, as an homage to Mr. Caniff, as he practically invented the phrase to begin with. Being able to custom-make your own would be ultra-cool, even if it didn't depict markings from an existing squadron. It seems that the now-extant CUTTING EDGE products were the only after-market decals/detailing kits (would LOVE several of them as well) ever manufactured for the HAWK/TESTORS/ITALERI kits, and whenever one or more of them turn up on Ebay, they almost immediately get bid up into the stratosphere, usually by "collectors" (the BANE of my existence as a practicing modeler!! ), so that they can salt them away for another eon or so, w/out ever making use of same themselves. And, they (the items) seem to be getting scarcer, even there, all the time ...
Lastly (not really, but I hate to run on), I'd like to find some reliable, accurate, 1/32 scale markings for either the Cold War Era (i.e., '50's/60's) Czech or Soviet Russian state aerobatic teams MiG-15's, for use with either the TAMIYA or TRUMPETER/HOBBY BOSS MiG kits. And, for bonus points - lol - where could I find 1/48th scale AM markings for MGM's vintage "Panchito" B-25J Mitchell bomber kit? I've seen the replica of this plane on the local airshow circuit, and while the kit has the Pistolero Parrot nose art on only one side of the fuselage (as on the actual, wartime aircraft, I'd assume?), the current one has him on both sides - I've got pics to prove it!
OK - many, many thanks to any/all who'd care to respond to these inquiries with any solid leads!