Thanks for the vids Jim. from what I understand the F-4 Phantom II for the Navy used a different gear than what the AF jocks flew although both had arrestor hooks. Heck, even the F-15's I worked on had those and they didn't go near any carriers that I was aware of! I believe they kept them for IFE's where the pilot might need a smidgen more runway than normal!

Hi all,

I should be starting my build soon.Work and a previous project have put the damper on things.As posted before,I'll be contributing a Ben Hobby / Tamiya 1/100 J35 Draken in Finnish AF markings.Everyone's builds are looking great so far!

mikeymize

Thanks for the vids Jim. from what I understand the F-4 Phantom II for the Navy used a different gear than what the AF jocks flew although both had arrestor hooks. Heck, even the F-15's I worked on had those and they didn't go near any carriers that I was aware of! I believe they kept them for IFE's where the pilot might need a smidgen more runway than normal!

I believe most aircraft come with them now, F-15's and even F-22's and F-117's. I read that they are there for emergency situations only and these planes could never land on a carrier! Further reading says that in some of the cases, the hooks are non-retractable. In other words, when they are extended, they have to be raised back into place by ground crew. They can also be used to hold the aircraft in place for engine testing. Anyway, that's what sources tell me, not what I know!

Jim

Hello again gang!

First off, I want to mention a strong contender for the next build:

It followed me home today from Colpar's! If this is what I decide on, it will be strictly an OOB build as there are no PE sets available. I think it would be a breather, as my last several projects had a lot of detail parts to add. I just want to have one I can have fun with and finish in a short amount of time!

I did take it out of the box and play with fitting some of the major components together:

It looks like the fit is decent so far, so hopefully there won't be a need for a lot of filling. I will set it aside for now to continue with:

The Growler!

Only some minor work tonight: Decals on the outside of the front bay door:

One is a vent grill on the door. It is raised and nothing more than a flat area, so painting like the other recessed vents wasn't possible. The name decal is shown upside down as that's how it is tacked to my block in order to protect the attached PE parts underneath.

The other part is the arrestor  hook which takes a decal to give a set of bands down its length. It was a bit of a challenge to mold a flat decal around a rod. Easier than painting, I think. The thickness of the decal paint gives it the appearance of raised bands, unfortunately. If they had included both colors on the decal, it would have looked even. Perhaps some clear coating over it will even it out.

The other thing was to try to correct a decal I forgot: I painted on some Future over the flat finish and then when dry, added my decal. Hopefully, when I shoot on some Dullcoat, it will blend in. Otherwise I just made a mess of it. Oh, well.

If I do decide on the Voodoo, I may have to visit the one out at the Wings Over The Rockies Museum!

Jim

P.S. Didn't somebody here say they are a Voodoo fan?

J.

P.S.S.

I find I'm already researching the color. I find reference to FS16473, or if I want to work with non-gloss, I find cross reference to Testors RLM76, which is a semi-gloss.

jimbot58

Hello again gang!

First off, I want to mention a strong contender for the next build:

It followed me home today from Colpar's! If this is what I decide on, it will be strictly an OOB build as there are no PE sets available. I think it would be a breather, as my last several projects had a lot of detail parts to add. I just want to have one I can have fun with and finish in a short amount of time!

I did take it out of the box and play with fitting some of the major components together:

It looks like the fit is decent so far, so hopefully there won't be a need for a lot of filling. I will set it aside for now to continue with:

The Growler!

Only some minor work tonight: Decals on the outside of the front bay door:

One is a vent grill on the door. It is raised and nothing more than a flat area, so painting like the other recessed vents wasn't possible. The name decal is shown upside down as that's how it is tacked to my block in order to protect the attached PE parts underneath.

The other part is the arrestor  hook which takes a decal to give a set of bands down its length. It was a bit of a challenge to mold a flat decal around a rod. Easier than painting, I think. The thickness of the decal paint gives it the appearance of raised bands, unfortunately. If they had included both colors on the decal, it would have looked even. Perhaps some clear coating over it will even it out.

The other thing was to try to correct a decal I forgot: I painted on some Future over the flat finish and then when dry, added my decal. Hopefully, when I shoot on some Dullcoat, it will blend in. Otherwise I just made a mess of it. Oh, well.

If I do decide on the Voodoo, I may have to visit the one out at the Wings Over The Rockies Museum!

Jim

P.S. Didn't somebody here say they are a Voodoo fan?

J.

Did  someone say "Voodoo"?!    Very cool Jim! 

I agree with you on doing one strictly OOB.  That ejection seat I was doing is now ruined.  I had decided to add what I thought was a dark blue for the wash, but it turned out to be a lighter color.  Now it looks terrible.  I am not even going to post a picture of it.

I was looking at some washes that are pre mixed and found a product made by Flory Models.  Has anybody used any of it before?  From the description it is pretty fool proof (something I  need!)  It is supposed to be made up of fine clay particles suspended in a water base.  I am going to order some to see how it works.

Ken

Not sure I'd call myself a Voodoo fan but she was I think maybe the best looking of all the Century Series fighters. Not sure why but just always liked the looks of her.

Ken: Ack, I hope it wasn't my advice there to add a second wash that ruined your ejection seat! Maybe I should just shut up from now on!

I've been using Flory brand washes for a couple months now. Good stuff, put it down and then wipe off the excess with a damp cotton swab/bulb - I lick mine to get them moist- you might not want to handle my models- kinda unsanitary.... 

PS with all the Lees running around here lately I'll confess I've been messing around with a Tasca/Asuka Model M4A3 76mm Sherman I've built up as 'Cool Studs Inc #4. Interesting vehicle and history, she belonged to the 761 Tank Battalion the first segregated black tank unit to see service with the US Army.

Any century series fighter is fine by me; love 'em all. Colorful, shiny and look fast just sitting on the ramp! And now that you mentioned it Jim, I do recall the jet guys and crew chiefs using the arresting hooks at the hush house after engine changes etc. Can't remember if the hooks were retracted with hydraulics or not but I recall them being lowered, I assume by gravity, for hourly post-flights at the Phase dock.

Gamera

Not sure I'd call myself a Voodoo fan but she was I think maybe the best looking of all the Century Series fighters. Not sure why but just always liked the looks of her.

Ken: Ack, I hope it wasn't my advice there to add a second wash that ruined your ejection seat! Maybe I should just shut up from now on!

I've been using Flory brand washes for a couple months now. Good stuff, put it down and then wipe off the excess with a damp cotton swab/bulb - I lick mine to get them moist- you might not want to handle my models- kinda unsanitary.... 

PS with all the Lees running around here lately I'll confess I've been messing around with a Tasca/Asuka Model M4A3 76mm Sherman I've built up as 'Cool Studs Inc #4. Interesting vehicle and history, she belonged to the 761 Tank Battalion the first segregated black tank unit to see service with the US Army.

Hi Cliff,

Great looking tank there Cliff!   

For sure don't be thinking that you had anything to do with me screwing up my ejection seat.  That was all my own fault.  I forgot about the original wash I applied being a flat finish.  And since it was a light color, I didn't get enough of it off.  So when I applied the second wash, it stuck like glue to the first wash.  I couldn't get enough of it removed.  So with that and the fact that the blue turned out to be lighter than I thought, it became a disaster.

I did order some of that Flory Models wash.  I ordered the black, white, and brown.  I figured with those three colors I could mix them to produce what ever shade of wash I will need.  Sprue Brothers carries them, but of course they were out of stock.  So I had to order them directly from Flory Models.  Since they are based in Great Britain, it will take a while for it to arrive.

I will have to order another ejection seat.  But Don, (the pilot that flew the Hoosier Hotshot), has one I can pick up tomorrow night.  That way I will not have to wait for it to arrive and I can give him the replacement when it does.

So anyway, please don't hesitate on offering more advice.  It is always welcome! 

Ken

mikeymize

Any century series fighter is fine by me; love 'em all. Colorful, shiny and look fast just sitting on the ramp! And now that you mentioned it Jim, I do recall the jet guys and crew chiefs using the arresting hooks at the hush house after engine changes etc. Can't remember if the hooks were retracted with hydraulics or not but I recall them being lowered, I assume by gravity, for hourly post-flights at the Phase dock.

Hi Mike,

I totally agree with you on the Century Fighters!  In my opinion they are still the best looking aircraft ever produced.

Ken

mikeymize

Any century series fighter is fine by me; love 'em all. Colorful, shiny and look fast just sitting on the ramp! And now that you mentioned it Jim, I do recall the jet guys and crew chiefs using the arresting hooks at the hush house after engine changes etc. Can't remember if the hooks were retracted with hydraulics or not but I recall them being lowered, I assume by gravity, for hourly post-flights at the Phase dock.

I'm only going by what I read on the internet-because if it's on the internet, it must be true?

Anyway, I love Century series aircraft as well, plus many others from that era. Today's fighters don't have the same history, or just no history. When I hear or read anything about the F-35, I have to suppress a yawn.

I have a book that is about the X and Y fighter programs (sorry, no bombers.) and it talks of some of the Century series aircraft that didn't make it. The XF-103 and the XF-109, to me looked too far fetched. The F-107 did fly, but the AF cancelled them it was was said to be a major blunder on their part. (They chose the 105 instead). And the XF-108 Rapier, a mach 3+ interceptor that shared many designs with the XB-70 and was cancelled for the same reasons. It even covers such wonderful concepts such as the XF-85 Goblin, one of the worlds ugliest (IMO) aircraft, alongside the XF-32 (IMO again)

Jim

Hello again Gang!

Ken, I hope you can fix your seat ok. You've spent a lot of time on it!

A little Growler work tonight: I put the rest of the front gear doors on. I think the PE hinges look too large on the long door-they don't even touch the edges of the bay! I wonder if the instructions were incorrect and I should have used the smaller ones instead. I'm going to remove these and don't know if I'll include the others or not. The one you see here actually protrudes out in front of my milky landing gear light and it just isn't right

I also did a couple of the rear doors. There are a few tiny PE parts there that I may just skip. I've been told there are no laws saying all the parts on the fret have to be used. I shipped several on the A-7 because they were just too tiny for me to deal with. If there are laws, then I can expect a visit from the Photo-etch Police Squad very soon!

Jim

jimbot58

Hello again Gang!

Ken, I hope you can fix your seat ok. You've spent a lot of time on it!

A little Growler work tonight: I put the rest of the front gear doors on. I think the PE hinges look too large on the long door-they don't even touch the edges of the bay! I wonder if the instructions were incorrect and I should have used the smaller ones instead. I'm going to remove these and don't know if I'll include the others or not. The one you see here actually protrudes out in front of my milky landing gear light and it just isn't right

I also did a couple of the rear doors. There are a few tiny PE parts there that I may just skip. I've been told there are no laws saying all the parts on the fret have to be used. I shipped several on the A-7 because they were just too tiny for me to deal with. If there are laws, then I can expect a visit from the Photo-etch Police Squad very soon!

Jim

Hi Jim,

The landing gear looks great in my opinion!      Why tamper with perfection?   

Ken

Hi Guys!

A little more done tonight:

Rest of the doors, plus attached the centerline AN/ALQ-99 pod.

Also marked the lower edges of the front doors-they still need some more work- the instructions indicate only the lower edge should be marked. I found maybe 1 photo to support that and most show the doors marked all the way around. Photos also have the rear doors marked red as well. I only have a fat, regular Sharpie right now, so I will have to stop tomorrow at the office supply and see if I can pick up a fine point red Sharpie. This might have been easier if I had remembered to do this before I attached them all.....

Jim

P.S. Somebody also has been cutting parts off the sprues for the Voodoo and setting them up for painting. Could this kit be the One?

J.

jimbot58

Hi Guys!

A little more done tonight:

Rest of the doors, plus attached the centerline AN/ALQ-99 pod.

Also marked the lower edges of the front doors-they still need some more work- the instructions indicate only the lower edge should be marked. I found maybe 1 photo to support that and most show the doors marked all the way around. Photos also have the rear doors marked red as well. I only have a fat, regular Sharpie right now, so I will have to stop tomorrow at the office supply and see if I can pick up a fine point red Sharpie. This might have been easier if I had remembered to do this before I attached them all.....

Jim

P.S. Somebody also has been cutting parts off the sprues for the Voodoo and setting them up for painting. Could this kit be the One?

J.

I know I must sound like a broken record (remember those?), but you are doing excellent work on that Growler Jim!     

Now as to that Voodoo, I think this clip is most fitting:

Ken 

Speaking of Voodoo, my recent purchase on eBay just arrived:

Ken 

Looks good Jim, I'd never thought about using a red Sharpie for outlining the edges of gear doors, very clever idea.

Good stuff there Ken, and congrads on another neat book.

Mmmmmm! I want one of these!

jimbot58

Mmmmmm! I want one of these!

Now that was a cool video Jim!  Pretty incredible!

My Dad used to build and fly R/C model aircraft.  They were all propeller driven though.  They were all 1/4 scale, which meant they were quite large.  He won a lot of trophies with them.

It appears that they have come a long way with the "jet" engines since he built them.  I heard in the video something about "knee knocking" while flying it.  I can imagine!  It looked like there was a lot of work put into building it.  I would be scared too of crashing it!

it looked like it flew pretty fast, which would mean you had to be very gentle with the controls.  I also liked the landing light on the front landing gear which added to the realism.

Ken

I agree with you Ken about the fear of flying that Phantom. My luck I'd crash it first flight! Also, you sir, are a Voodoo junkie.....just saying'

Son Of Medicine Man

jimbot58

Mmmmmm! I want one of these!

Now that was a cool video Jim!  Pretty incredible!

My Dad used to build and fly R/C model aircraft.  They were all propeller driven though.  They were all 1/4 scale, which meant they were quite large.  He won a lot of trophies with them.

It appears that they have come a long way with the "jet" engines since he built them.  I heard in the video something about "knee knocking" while flying it.  I can imagine!  It looked like there was a lot of work put into building it.  I would be scared too of crashing it!

it looked like it flew pretty fast, which would mean you had to be very gentle with the controls.  I also liked the landing light on the front landing gear which added to the realism.

Ken

Ken;

I didn't know that about your Dad. That's pretty cool!

I've read a little about these jets, and there are some that use a ducted fan powered by a battery that are relatively inexpensive-ready to fly planes can be bought for a few hundred dollars. The others like this F-4, use gas turbines that can cost anywhere from $3-5 thousand dollars each! I read awhile back of a guy who built a B-52 (I don't recall the scale) which ended up crashing! With the outlay for 8 of the turbines and all the pumps, controllers, etc. that go with it and the plane, I think they said his cost was something like $50 grand or more.

Here is a video of a turbine powered B-52 that didn't crash and it's impressive as hell to watch even at this scale. In the air, it's almost impossible to distinguish it from the full scale one. The only thing missing is the trail of black smoke from the engines!

Here is a photo of of the rc plane crash site. Looks almost to scale like a real crash site! You can see one of the turbines near the bottom of the photo in a busted nacelle.

Also can you imagine this beast swooping down on you one Sunday morning as you try to mow your lawn?

I enjoy watching some of these videos although I could never afford to do this myself.

Jim

Wow, those are cool but yeah I could not take a chance flying something that expensive and end up sneezing and flying it into a tree.  

Gamera

Wow, those are cool but yeah I could not take a chance flying something that expensive and end up sneezing and flying it into a tree.  

I agree! Even if I bought a hundred dollar one, I would have the same fear!

Hi Everyone,

I meant to mention this as I was aware earlier this week that the anniversary was coming up.  But I have been so busy at work (as always) that I forgot.

Two days ago (Thursday) was the 46 year anniversary of the infamous "Tet Offensive".  The very short version follows:

The North Vietnamese military leaders came up with the idea that they could win the war by organizing a mass attack on the entire South Vietnam country at the same time.  Their thinking was that they could encourage a mass revolt by the people of South Vietnam to over throw the South Vietnamese government.

In short it failed, actually causing a huge loss to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces at the time.  But this fact was lost in the much publicized conflict here in the United States.  The main journalist, Walter Cronkite, reported that the United States was in fact not winning the war.  This was when the general United States public began anti war movements and began demanding that the United States withdraw from South Vietnam.

Ken

jimbot58

 

Ken;

I didn't know that about your Dad. That's pretty cool!

I've read a little about these jets, and there are some that use a ducted fan powered by a battery that are relatively inexpensive-ready to fly planes can be bought for a few hundred dollars. The others like this F-4, use gas turbines that can cost anywhere from $3-5 thousand dollars each! I read awhile back of a guy who built a B-52 (I don't recall the scale) which ended up crashing! With the outlay for 8 of the turbines and all the pumps, controllers, etc. that go with it and the plane, I think they said his cost was something like $50 grand or more.

Here is a video of a turbine powered B-52 that didn't crash and it's impressive as hell to watch even at this scale. In the air, it's almost impossible to distinguish it from the full scale one. The only thing missing is the trail of black smoke from the engines!

Here is a photo of of the rc plane crash site. Looks almost to scale like a real crash site! You can see one of the turbines near the bottom of the photo in a busted nacelle.

Also can you imagine this beast swooping down on you one Sunday morning as you try to mow your lawn?

I enjoy watching some of these videos although I could never afford to do this myself.

Jim

Wow Jim, I really enjoyed watching those!  The B-52 looked like it was fairly large, possibly 1/48 scale or more!  The person who was flying that had a lot of skill!  The real B-52 is a challenge to fly with those large swept back wings.  I would imagine that the model would have the same characteristics.  And he made a beautiful landing.

The flying lawn mower was way too funny!  It made me think of something my Dad said once.  "You can make a 2 X 4 fly with enough engine power!"

I can't imagine spending that kind of money on a model.  That is definitely for the rich.

Ken

mikeymize

I agree with you Ken about the fear of flying that Phantom. My luck I'd crash it first flight! Also, you sir, are a Voodoo junkie.....just saying'

Guilty as charged Mike! 

Ken

The irony of the Tet offensive was while it was viewed as a failure by the N.Vietnamese and certainly devastated the Viet Cong, our press seemed to report the opposite. Go figure!

mikeymize

The irony of the Tet offensive was while it was viewed as a failure by the N.Vietnamese and certainly devastated the Viet Cong, our press seemed to report the opposite. Go figure!

I seem to have less and less respect for the press daily. Tonight was an example: one of the local news channels presented a piece that talked of the tough year Colorado has had with raging wildfires, followed by the devastating floods last fall. From there they went on to say how "we" all came together, and somehow this lead to the Denver Broncos being in the Superbowl. I was on the phone with my buddy at the time, and he watched it as well. His first remark was, "Here we go, the media is inventing the news for us again!" I turned off the TV myself in disgust myself!

Enough political crud for now.

First off, I didn't come up with the idea of a Sharpie to mark these gear doors. I think I read it here or in the pages of FSM magazine.

I was mostly snowed in today, so I spent a lot of time doing some major assembly work:

Missiles and pods and tanks! Oh my!

Tucked the flame holders and afterburner shells up in place where no one will ever be able to see them. (didn't we talk about that a few days ago?)

Cemented tail cones in place: I know they look very silver but I went with my reference photo: I'm wondering if a bit of a wash might accent the petals.... I'll have to think on that.

I also cemented the tail fins in place. I used the flash as it seemed to come out a little better. I hate the way the flash is so blue- I could have fixed it before posting, but I didn't.

Last was the tail hook for now.

I set it all aside to dry for now. I still need to apply the various blade antennae, air sensors, marking lights, etc. Last will be the stabalators and the canopy. I try to leave the most easily broken off parts until last as I am sure I will break them with these slabs of meat I call hands and the clumsy sausage-like appendages I have for fingers at the ends of them!

While that dries, I started some work on the Voodoo:

I just hope that I can go do this Voodoo, that I do, so well!

Jim

Ok guys, I have seriously lost it!

I went poking around in the stash closet, and you will not believe what I have encountered!

It tells me just how unorganized I really am!

Not only was I stunned once....

...but twice!

I reached to the back of the closet and pulled out, not one, but two of these!

Not only do I have this sitting on my workbench:

I find I also have these:

They are identical, the top one being a Revell-Monogram version molded in grey plastic, and the other is the Revell of Germany version molded in silver styrene. Both are tagged as being molded in Korea and I am guessing I obtained them in the early 90's

Dug around and finally came up with the decals:

The bottom is the ROG decals which you can see also offers decals for a CF-101B. It also has more data decals, with the R-M version only providing basic markings.

I've done this all my life as I have made duplicate purchases of books, magazines, VHS tapes, DVD's, LP's (you know, those 12" flat round discs!) , CD's, tools, modeling supplies, etc. I just have too much stuff, I guess to where I can't keep track of what I have!

ARRRRGH!

Jim

jimbot58

Ok guys, I have seriously lost it!

I went poking around in the stash closet, and you will not believe what I have encountered!

It tells me just how unorganized I really am!

Not only was I stunned once....

...but twice!

I reached to the back of the closet and pulled out, not one, but two of these!

Not only do I have this sitting on my workbench:

I find I also have these:

They are identical, the top one being a Revell-Monogram version molded in grey plastic, and the other is the Revell of Germany version molded in silver styrene. Both are tagged as being molded in Korea and I am guessing I obtained them in the early 90's

Dug around and finally came up with the decals:

The bottom is the ROG decals which you can see also offers decals for a CF-101B. It also has more data decals, with the R-M version only providing basic markings.

I've done this all my life as I have made duplicate purchases of books, magazines, VHS tapes, DVD's, LP's (you know, those 12" flat round discs!) , CD's, tools, modeling supplies, etc. I just have too much stuff, I guess to where I can't keep track of what I have!

ARRRRGH!

Jim

Hi Jim,

First off, you can't have too many Voodoos!!

I know what you mean though about keeping track of your stash.  That is why I started a spreadsheet a couple of years ago listing all of my kits, decals, and aftermarket parts.  If I see something on eBay that looks like a good deal, I take a look at my spreadsheet first to see if I already have it.  It has saved me quite a few times.

And now I am in the middle of doing the same thing with my video collection.  My real goal though is to digitize my video collection so that I don't have all the blu ray and dvd discs taking up space.  It would also be a benefit of not having to search for the disc!

Ken

Don't feel too bad Jim; we've all done it just some more than others. My problem was reference books. I finally got a bookshelf and got all my stuff organized. Prior to that they were all in boxes in various rooms around my house. I still repeat purchase stuff like paint and so forth but that stuff should be ok.