So my interest in the Korean war is coming back a bit, but not with the Sabre. I'm going to look into a F-84, Mig15 or M26 Pershing. I will keep you updated.

Alright! I finally got some work done on the banshee! I had to pull the fusilage halves apart and fix the cockpit tub  (it wasn't sitting level). I got it all back together puttied and sanded. In my impatience I primed it before taking pics (sorry)! I have to do some "fine" sanding of areas, but it is looking good. I also pained the landing gear and wheels. I opted for Tamiya Flat aluminum for the gear and Nato Black for the tires.

The kit is primed with Testors grey primer. I plan on adding some wire to the gear bays that are pretty bare of detail. The kit shows "Dark Sea Blue" for the gear bays. I think I might do them in Interior green. Any input is helpful. It seems that most of the A/C have that same color in interior area??????.

Here are some pics. I am working on the H-19 with floats. I have some great reference pics fo that kit. I need to run to the Home Depot for supplies first!

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Painted the intake flat black. The intake props were painted oiled steel and the exhaust were painted metalic grey.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Below is the upper fusilage primed.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Lower primed!  As you can see the gear bays are empty of detail!. Hopefull some wire will add enough detail!

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Here are the rockets and some of the gear painted on the sprue

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

More sprue painting!

 [View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

I am realy ready to dig into the H-19 after this kit! Looks like some real potential for added detail!

Travis

Alright! I finally got some work done on the banshee! I had to pull the fusilage halves apart and fix the cockpit tub  (it wasn't sitting level). I got it all back together puttied and sanded. In my impatience I primed it before taking pics (sorry)! I have to do some "fine" sanding of areas, but it is looking good. I also pained the landing gear and wheels. I opted for Tamiya Flat aluminum for the gear and Nato Black for the tires.

The kit is primed with Testors grey primer. I plan on adding some wire to the gear bays that are pretty bare of detail. The kit shows "Dark Sea Blue" for the gear bays. I think I might do them in Interior green. Any input is helpful. It seems that most of the A/C have that same color in interior area??????.

Here are some pics. I am working on the H-19 with floats. I have some great reference pics fo that kit. I need to run to the Home Depot for supplies first!

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Painted the intake flat black. The intake props were painted oiled steel and the exhaust were painted metalic grey.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Below is the upper fusilage primed.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Lower primed!  As you can see the gear bays are empty of detail!. Hopefull some wire will add enough detail!

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Here are the rockets and some of the gear painted on the sprue

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

More sprue painting!

 [View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

I am realy ready to dig into the H-19 after this kit! Looks like some real potential for added detail!

Travis

Let's see some pics of that PE here, Gamera!

Thanks guys!

Love those F7Fs, the Tigercat has to be one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built.

Still gluing PE to the K1A1 here, I've got to run out of little metal bits sooner or later... sheeesshhhh.....

Greg I'm extremely grateful to you for posting the FSM article on the Tigercat conversion ; Thankyou Sir .

I had a read through the article and the conversion seems straight forward enough , so I went an ordered the Cobra Co. F7F-3N Tigercat conversion set . As well as the Quickboost engines from Hannants as Luckymodel was sold out and I just made my first purchase on ebay for the Monogram 1/72 F7F-3 Tigercat kit .

I picked up some display matting to photograph my finish builds on ...

I already had a faded green grass mat , I thought the sand and gravel ones would be a nice contrast , I also picked up six of those PSP display boards . I'll airbrush them a steel color .

I found a pic of a Korea based F7F-3N Tigercat on the back of one of my reference magazine's ;

I'm thinking of displaying my Tigercat build the same as the pic .

Thank's again Greg for your help with the Tigercat and also to stikpusher for the help on using ebay , I probably have about 90% of all the aircraft that the U.S and Allies operated in Korea in my stash , this is certainly going to be a great project .

                                                                      John .

The Savage is nice.  That is a plane you don't see every day.  John, you must be Mach 2's best customer!

I just thought I post some Tigercat stuff before I went to the LHS.  I have to get that done before my kids get out of school.

Cheers,

Greg

Thank's for the help on the F7F-3N Tigercat , greg , very much appreciated

I'll add the Heller C-121A Connie to the Korean War stash .

To take my mind off the Tigercat for a little while , the 1/72 Mach 2 AJ-2P Savage arrived today

There's the option to cut and fold the outer wings and tail fin ...

There is some nice detail on the engine/landing gear nacelles as well as some raised detail on the gear well boxing pieces .

I aslo bought the Xtradecal AJ-2P Savage decals , VJ-61 Heavy Photographic Squadron 1954 . the aircraft will be overall gloss Sea Blue .

The kit seems to have a lot less flash on the parts than other Mach 2 kits I have , the cockpit looks pretty good too .

I can't wait to start this bird !!!

                                         John .

My condolences to you and your family Gamera.  Take care.

I was looking around at starfighter decals and they have the Cobra -3N Conversion kit for the Monogram Tigercat.  From my understanding, it is a good kit, just old.  There are a lot of them around, as it has been released a bunch of times.  Tomorrow, I will find the article on the conversion and post it, and I hope it will help with your decision.

The C-121A Connie is perfect.  It is that same scheme in the pic I have.  It is parked with the same hills outside of Pusan in the background as the C-54 picture.  That EC-121 is pretty cool.  My LHS has two of the Navy versions of the EC-121 in 1/144th.  I've had it in my hands more than once, and put it back.  If they are still there tomorrow, one of them is mine!  They are only $10 too.  The Heller kit is tempting, if I had more skill and patience.  The Connie is just one of those timeless classics.....

Starfighter has some cool stuff.  I have a Tamiya Buffalo with trashed decals, and now I found a source for new ones.  That they have stuff for Revell's box scale ships is cool too. 

I have a question.  Has anyone seen decals or markings for the F9F-5P Panther in Korea?  I see that Aggieman is building one.  What markings are you using?  I am going to build one for the Alley Cat GB, but I would like to make it a crossover, if I could.  Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Greg

Gamera , I respectfully send my condolence to you and your family at the passing of your uncle .

Stik , thanks for the info on using ebay , I didn't buy the kit yet , as greg mentioned it's look to be the single seat fighter version . I did see another 1/72 scale  two seat F7F-3N kit ...

I'll keep searching around to see if I can locate one , the octopus [Pavla] kit is probably a better option than the Monogram kit .

I had a look at the Quick Boost engine set over at Lucky Model and yes it looks very nice . I have ordered quite a bit of stuff from Lucky Model before , so I may just pick up a set to go with the Starfighter F7F-3N decals . [decals first , engines second , hopfully a F7F-3N kit next ] .

Greg , there was a small B&W pic of the C-54D in my copy of Jim Mesko's 'Air War over Korea' book , with a 40mm gun crew in the foreground . With some C-54's assigned to Task Force Smith , flying equipment from Japan into Korea , were routed north of Osan , apparently losing some 33 percent of it's men and most of the equipment......"That's Brutal".

I didn't realize Constellations operated in Korea , I have three 1/72 "Connie" kits in the stash...

The Airfix Super Constellation I was going to build as an USAF EC-121Q bird using OzMods roof and belly radomes , is the Heller "MATS" kit the same as the one's that flew in Korea ???

On the weekend I ordered from Amazon books , Korea: The Air War 2 by Warren Thompson and the Aircraft of the United States "Military Air Transport Service" . They should arrive in a couple of weeks .

I was thinking about a C-124 Globemaster and saw the all resin 1/72 kit over at Hannants . It's quite expensive , even I'm having trouble trying to justify to myself about spending that much money on a kit .

                                                         John .

Great work guys! As I posted over on the natural metal II GB I've lost an uncle and been stuck with a pile of computer problems. Will be back when I can.

John, the only problem with the monogram kit from my understanding is that it is a single seat day-fighter version.  I have seen a resin trans kit out there for it.  It was in an article in Fine Scale years ago.  I have the magazine at home.  I will check it out when I get home from work tomorrow.  It had an interesting way of making the WF and A/C number markings.  The builder painted white, then red where the markings were to go.  Then masked off the numbers and letters, then painted the A/C black.  In hindsight, had I known I was going to have decal issues with my corsair, I would have used that method.  Speaking of, I masked off the WF on the tail of my corsair.  Hopefully, I will get a chance to paint it red in the next few days.  Once that is done, I can get on with final construction.  Oh yeah, if you haven't seen it, Quickboost has a cool engine set for the 1/72 Tigercat.  Luckymodel.com carries Quickboost and doesn't charge shipping for that brand.  Not trying to plug that retailer, I just imagine they are a lot closer to Australia than we are.

The C-54 picture is also in the Squadron Air War Over Korea book.  Next to it, is another pic of a Mats Constellation.  The only kit of the regular Connie I can find is the 1/72 Heller kit.  All the better, more modern kits are of the Super Connie I think.  Frankly, I don't think I have the time or patience for the Heller kit right now.  I would love to build a Connie at some point though.  They are way too beautiful not to have one in the collection.

I looking forward to some more updates.  I sure do enjoy seeing all the WIPs.

Cheers,

Greg

I cleaned my last project off the bench last night and I'm ready to get to work on the Sabre. THis should be a lengthy process for me, as my weekend kits take seveal months. First up will be the true details cockpit.

My research shows the "E' variants were black cockpits, yes?

If it is a "buy it now" that is the price of the kit. If it is up for auction, the price can go up. I suggest you click on "look for similar items" and see if any other of the same kit are being sold right now.

I was searching around the net looking for a 1/72 scale F7F-3N Tigercat kit and saw what appears to be one of the original Monogram F7F-3N kits on ebay Australia . I haven't bought anything from ebay before , so if the asking price is $15 , is that what I would pay or can the price go up if other people want the kit ???

Here is a link to the kit , with an inbox pic , it looks okay , I think ?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Monogram-1-72-Grumman-F7F-3-Tigercat-US-Navy-WW-II-/110575128450

                               John .

I found this pic over at the National Museum of the U.S. Force web site...

I like the way the cargo truck is being used as a loading ramp , overall this is a really good pic of the C-54 Skymaster and with Academy's 2.5 ton truck and ambulance in the Korean War stash , I have pretty much solved the issue of what color scheme to do .

                                           John .

I've started doing some research on the color scheme's of my four large transport aircraft I will be building shortly .

Italeri's C-119C is fairly straight forward with the overall silver finish and red/orange outer wing panels , tail boom and tail fins as per kit instructions .

Williams Bros , C-46 commando could be interesting . Looking throught Squadrons C-46 in action book , there is a pic of an overall metal finish Commando with the top of the tail fin possibly red ; flying cargo in Japan and Korea . There is a another pic showing a C-46A with a glossy black undersurface , for night time resupply missions with a 10th Air Force insignia on the tail fin . Other than saying its around the mid 1950's , no location is actually given . Anyone have an additional info on the Commando color scheme ???

Italeri's C-47 and Mach 2's C-54 would probably also have been overall natural metal [silver] . I'm just wondering if any of the wing panels and tail fins may of been painted yellow or red/orange ?

A search around google images seems to show a lot of WWII camo paint scheme's , I haven't seen all that much from the Korean War era for the C-47 and C-54's .

If anyone know's of any web sites , which might be of help , I would be most gratefull .

                                  John .

Scorp ; I checked my coin jar but it appears I just don't quite have enough for that 1:1 F-86 Sabre

Theuns , your Sabre is looking good

I didn't do all that much today [saturday] ; I removed all the F4U-5N corsair parts from the sprue

Greg , thanks for the measurement of the wing radome , I glued the two halves of the radome together and sat it on the wing , my measurement is 25mm from the wing tip , it looks okay but it's hard to tell from pic's in my reference mag's ???

There is a tub and seat supplied but no instrument panel or control stick , so I went an ordered Revell's 1/72 F4U-5 kit to use as additional parts , cockpit interior , external fuel tank , rockets etc .

There are some nice wing cannons supplied and 5 bomb racks [I think]

That's about as far as I will go for the time being on the 5N , I'll wait on the Revell F4U-5 arriving , It's coming from Hannants in the UK along with yet another addition to the Korean War stash , a Mach 2 , AJ-2P Savage with Xtradecal AJ-2P decals for an overall black finish for a post Korean War 1954-55 South China Sea's reconn flights . the Mach 2 kit has the option of folded wings and tail fin too .

                               John .

Theuns you are coming along nicely!!!!! Looking forward to the NMF too!!!

Nice work guys. Like the tank. well a couple pieces of news here. I found some decals for the corsair.

Ill be doing 303, cos i like the blue. So thats sorted. ll be ordering it in the next couple weeks. This skyhawk im doing for my parters dad is driving me insane.

As for the other piece of news. Check these out

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Aircraft/Aircraft/auction-312051399.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Aircraft/Aircraft/auction-312391325.htm

Unfortunately they're both a little out of my price range. But it might be nice to have a 1:1 scale kit to play with

Frank, the pershing looks great.  What a tremendous amount of detail.  It looks menacing even without paint.

John, it is 38mm from wingtip to the center of the radar unit.  Thanks for the Skyray picture.  That is the only one I've seen, and I've been searching for awhile.  Question is:  what color is it?  As for the WF belonging to the nightmares, you are right.  I figured it was just a typo.  531 "the gray ghosts" has the code EC.  A person could go crazy trying to figure out aircraft markings!

My phantom is for the Phantom GB that ended a couple of months ago.  I'm still plugging away, but at this rate if they have a Phantom GB for 2015, I'll be in good shape.

Love the South African Sabre picture.  That is a pretty bird.

Cheers,

Greg

Excellent work, Frank! That target tank will look menacing after the magic of your airbush. Keep the pics coming!

Gregbbear

Sorry to hear you are under the weather John.  Get well buddy. 

Tigercat decals sound cool.  I need a set like that in 1/48.  I've been looking for the Skyray decals too.  I haven't even found a picture of a skyray in the "nightmares" markings yet.  If I find anything I will let you know.

The F-51 is the one with the cool sharks mouth. 

Cheers,

Greg

Greg I found this pic while searching around the net ...

It's a little off-topic [sorry]

                 John .

Pepper Kay, Oooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh, a nice big shiny thing! Doesn't Czech Model also do a F-80 in addition to the T-33? Well either and both are welcome!

Frank, your Pershing looks first class! I realy like the dented fenders!  A nice used look even before the paint and weathering go on! as old Bob and Doug would say, "Beauty eh!"

I need to get cracking on my Centurion again. She has been sidelined for awhile.

Keep the updates coming folks!

John- That is an impressive pile of work, incredible stuff!

Theuns- Your Sabre is coming along nicely, looks like you are about ready to spray some paint.

Greg- The Corsair looks very good indeed, and the Phantom is a sharp looking build too.  Is that for another group build?

I made a lot of progress on the Pershing today, finishing up the hull and the majority of the turret parts.  From the PE set I got, I haven't used a lot of the parts.  Mostly just the turnbuckles and brackets for the fender reinforcements, the tow cable brackets on the rear plate, the glacis mounted 50 cal, and a number of parts for the 50 cal on the turret.  I just need to finish up the turret mounted gun and ammo box and the two crew figures before I can begin the painting!  Won't be long now.

Gregbbear

Sorry to hear you are under the weather John.  Get well buddy. 

Tigercat decals sound cool.  I need a set like that in 1/48.  I've been looking for the Skyray decals too.  I haven't even found a picture of a skyray in the "nightmares" markings yet.  If I find anything I will let you know.

The F-51 is the one with the cool sharks mouth. 

Cheers,

Greg

Thank's Greg ,

Hopfully this weekend along with PBM-5 Mariner and the USN / USMC H03S-1 Dragonfly's [re-spray] , I can get the two F4U-4B corsair's into the spray booth as well . All five aircraft have the same paint color scheme .

I decided to have a closer look at the High Planes F4U-5N Night Corsair ...

Everything looks fairly straight forward , however according to the instructions there is suppose to be a small indent on the underside of the wing where the radar radome fits . Unfortunatly I can't see the small indent , so I'm not quite sure of the actual position ?

Greg , any chance of taking a measurement from the wing tip to the center of the radome on your 1/48 bird ; I can convert the measurement to 1/72 scale for my build .

With the Starfighter decals for the F7F-3N Tigercat I mentioned before , the sheet names the overall black aircraft as VMF-531 , Korea 1952 . with the tail/wing code letters WF in red . It's probably a misprint but I thought WF was VMF-513 not 531???

                                       John .

stikpusher

Pepperkay I will add you to the roster. Welcome aboard! Which kit is your F-80 and what scale is it?

I'm going to go with the   and cut the fuse down by the appropriate amount - approx. 3' ...

Sorry to hear you are under the weather John.  Get well buddy. 

Tigercat decals sound cool.  I need a set like that in 1/48.  I've been looking for the Skyray decals too.  I haven't even found a picture of a skyray in the "nightmares" markings yet.  If I find anything I will let you know.

The F-51 is the one with the cool sharks mouth. 

Cheers,

Greg

I forgot the decal markings for the 5N were in red , sorry about that greg !

I really like the VMF-531 F-4B Phantom II

I picked up Tamiya's 1/72 F4D-1 Skyray with Czech Masters interior set but haven't been able to track down any markings for a VMF-531 Skyray .

On the flip side I bought some 1/72 Starfighter Decals for the Grumman F7F-3N Tigercat . The sheet gives two sets of Korea based markings , overall black with red lettering VMF-531and an overall Sea Blue with white markings VMF-542 . I just need to find a 1/72 Tigercat kit and I'll be happy .

I haven't done much building or airbrushing these past couple of days , had a touch of the Flu , with the "ache's and shake's" , hopfully I'll be back into it by the weekend .

Nice score on the Tamiya F-51D , Is it the one with the toothy grin under the nose , very cool !

                                                      John .

Those guys from WWII and Korea were pioneers.  Years ago, I was doing a color guard for a Marine Squadron reunion.  Low and behold, I met Joe Foss.  What a great guy.  He even bought this lowly Sgt a beer.  From a guy with the Medal of Honor!  My ex-wife threw that bottle out when I was in the field, not knowing the signifigance.  He flew wildcats, and ended his career flying F-16s for the ANG.  Do they even make them like that anymore?

Cheers,

Greg