JaseGill

Thanks Pardelhas. Much appreciated. J.

So, finally I get to do some more prhotography. As I had it all set up figured I'd do a catchup on the Buckeye. Work has been manic, Ive been tardy and to be honest the oils took an age to set in the very cold spell we have had here. Thats my excuse anyway. But, lost done. bang seats in and cockpit weathered, SAC Undercarriage is fitted with kit wheels and the kit undercarriage doors (the rams for the doors on the main gear nearest the fuselage are very fiddly and I managed to loose parts of them in the process so some bits are replaced with wire and plasticard). The wingtip lamps have some 3mm Grief Lenses behind them, not easily seen in the pictures as does the nose (stowed) landing lamp, which I had to scratch as I dropped the old one. Luckily the clear sprue is about the same size. It needs more sanding to smooth it to the surface and a polish but otherwise done. All I need to do now is "unweather" the panels I can see in pictures of the airframe that have been repaired. I missed the fact that the Greeks seem to keep the national insignia clean until someone pointed it out - drat - but its too late now and one lives and learns. Someone also asked if the staining behind the wheel bays is too much, and the underside too, well from some photo's Ive seen on the net of these coming in to land they do bet pretty damn dirty in these areas and Im happy enough (for now) with the look of it. As usual constructive criticism is welcomed from all J.

That I dont know Doogs. I am hoping to get some books on the F-86D before I progress though so maybe that'll help. If I find anything out I will share it here. J.

Hope to build this next, soon as the Buckeye (almost there) is finished Jim J.

Must be soon Steve. I have one and have reviewed it here and it looks ready to go to me. i think few weeks tops. J.

Kitty Hawk 1:32 F-86D Sabre Dog HH32007 The F-86D - Wikepiedia Entry The North American F-86D Sabre (sometimes called the "Sabre Dog" or "Dog Sabre") was a transonic jet all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force and others. Based on North American's F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a larger fuselage, larger after-burning engine, and a distinctive nose radome. The Kit. After my review of the Kitty hawk Ov-10D Bronco I was contacted by Glen of Kitty Hawk. He asked what I thought of the plans for the F-86D which of course my reaction was I couldn't wait for it. It's a great looking aircraft, from the classic days of Fighter Jet Development and I was really looking forward to it, especially given a chance to try some Alclad finishes on it. Well I didn't know Glen at the time was from Kitty Hawk so when he asked for my address I was really surprised and when he told me why even more so. So, first of all thanks to Glen for this review sample. Now the box it came in said "Commercial Prototype" and I must say if this is a prototype its a pretty good indicator for what we can expect as it just pops out of the box. I love the cover art, really dynamic with a good realistic look, it also has some nice shots of the various schemes on it (there are 5 to choose from!) and they all look great, more of that later though. The box is standard Kitty Hawk, very well bagged, individual sprues, individually bagged decals and some etch and a box which contains and protects the bagged up clear parts. There are of course also the instructions which are great, easy to read and where necessary colour callouts are in FS and the Gunze Sangyo Mr Color Range, so let's see whats in the box. Kit Breakdown and Instructions. The fuselage is split into 3 here, a forward, centre and rear section, the wings are standard upper lower as are the tail control surfaces. There is a full engine and one could imagine a super-detailer having a ball here, especially if the rear end of the kit is left off. There is no cradle here for the rear end if it is left off but again for a super-detailer that's probably not beyond research and scratch building. There is also a split top and bottom full air intake all the way from the mouth to the engine forward section. The fuselage really hints towards other models and looking at the pre-order releases available on some websites it does look as if a few different models of the Sabre are on their way. Whilst I can't (yet) vouch for the fit all joins in the fuselage fall on panel lines and I don't suppose assembling this kit is beyond the abilities of the readers here. Some care may be required in lining up the sections but again with care and patience I don't see this being a problem. There is also a full radar set under the nose which can be posed open as well as what looks like very detailed, multi part wheel wells and a weapons. Interestingly here the 24 FFAR Rocket pack that was considered more effective against enemy bombers than standard aircraft cannon is replicated, which I think is a nice individual touch for this type. Underwing fuel tanks and early model sidewinders are also available as is open speed brakes on the rear section with a very detailed bay. All very welcome additions Im sure you all will agree. The breakdown of the kit and detail involved looks really good and looks like it'll go together really quickly and easily. Of course this is yet to be proven but I don't think any of it is beyond the skills of readers of this website and the really talented people will have a stunner even if built straight out of the box. So, onto the individual sprues. The Sprues. There are 7 grey plastic sprues, 1 clear and 1 small photo etch. The plastic is I would say of a great standard up there with the best including Tamiya, not particularly soft and not particularly brittle either. The clear parts are crystal clear and there is no sign of flash anwhere, theres also little to no sign of any ejector marks. Where these do necessarily exist they seem to be in areas which are invisible once the kit is complete. Sprue A is the main upper and lower wings and shows that there is scope here for the flaps and every other leading edge or trailing edge control surface to be positioned. The riveting and panel lines here is very subtle and from what I can tell they are all in scale. The detail will just pop under a thin coat of good paint I think. Sprue B has the control surfaces for the wings on sprue A and again the panel lines and rivets are very subtle, again it'll look great under a layer of paint. Sprue C is the front fuselage section along with all the separate panels for this section. Sprue D mostly consists of the engine parts and some of the fuselage elements including the nose radar assembly. Sprue E includes more engine parts, the cockpit and other ancillaries, effectively closing off the forward 2/3 of the airframe. Sprue F is the rear section of the airframe including the rear fuselage, control surfaces and fin with its separate posable rudder. Sprue G is undercarriage bays, weapons, drop tanks and the wheels and wheel gear bay doors. Sprue GP includes the clear parts including cockpit transparencies, anti-collision lights and other clear parts. The cockpit parts here really are 1st class with great rivet detail, no seams to clean up and they are crystal clear. Really nice to see them protected in a dedicated box too. The PE fret is the parts for the cockpit and a few smaller items only really scale correct in PE for the airbrake bays. Decals The main decal sheet is huge, quite literally the full footprint of the very large box. Of course aircraft of this era were very colourful (if only we could say the same today) and with that in mind the register of these decals looks to be up there with the best. The chosen schemes are varied and colourful and I for one can't wait to try the decals out, if I had a preference It'd be the Texas ANG aircraft with its Day-Glo orange panels but I'm sure we can all find a scheme we'd like to build and I'm also pretty sure that the AM market will soon have schemes flying out of warehouses. The available Schemes are: Scheme A: Bare Polished Metal, Red and White of the 82nd FIS (the box art), Scheme B: Bare Polished Metal, Orange and Red of the 325th FIS USAF "Sabre Knights" Aerobatic Team, Scheme C: Bare Polished Metal, Day-Glo Orange of the 181st FIS, Texas Air National Guard, USAF (my personal favourite), Scheme D: Bare Polished Metal, JASDF Scheme, Scheme E: Bare Polished Metal, ROKAF Scheme, Scheme F: Barley Grey FS16440, ROKAF Scheme. Final Thoughts Well I do believe we are really in the golden age of modelling, especially in 1/32. Kitty Hawk has grabbed this by the scruff of the neck and has started producing kits I think we have always wanted and thankfully hasn't stuck to the old favourites we can all name, do we need more Spitfires or ME-109s? I love them both but its time for the more obscure and interesting kits to start flowing I think. On this alone I have to congratulate Kitty Hawk. Who'd have expected 2 years ago a 1/32 Harvard, 1/32 OV-10 of any variant, with more variants rumoured to be coming, or even this Sabre Dog kit. I cant wait personally to see what comes next and whilst Kitty Hawk keep releasing these I think they will keep having a dedicated following of 1/32 modellers. I can't wait to see their upcoming P39Q for instance, Ive hoped for that aircraft in a large scale for some time. The after-market will make a killing here too I'm sure. I don't suppose it'll be long before there is a resin cockpit, some metal undercarriage (it could be a heavy kit so I hope it is coming from someone) and some stunning decal schemes. What would I replace if I could? Well Im a sucker for a good bit of coloured (Eduard?) PE Cockpit and a BrassIn Ejector seat, the rest however would just be polish on an already great kit I believe. So, highly recommended and if it comes in at the price level of the Harvard and OV-10D (circa £50 - £60 is a guesstimate) I'd say this is a must have. I think this just jumped to the top of my build list once my current build is over and that says a lot for me as I have quite a few waiting in the stash. Thanks to Glen at Kitty Hawk for the review kit and I assume it'll be available soon (is already available to pre-order) on any number of good model stockists. Highly Recommended.

I quite like the ones Ive used on the Buckeye. That said if there are better alternatives Im happy to check anything out thats available and order-able here in Europe J.

Scale Aircraft Conversions have just released metal undercarriage for this. Oh and Eduard have announced an Interior, Exterior, Seat belts and masks too. I do wonder why interior doesn't actually include seat belts too (aren't they on the inside after all, they always were and are whenever I strap into an aircraft) but thats an old argument against Eduard... They seem to have turned this around pretty quickly, I wonder if they are reading us J.

How to Photograph Scale Models. Written by JM. Villabla. Published by Andrea Press. Available from Amazon and Historex Agents for £13.45. Introduction. Well to call this a book is maybe an over exagreation, its effectively a Magazine Format and sized bookazine, a bit like those you see in WH Smith and such places. That said the content is really good, there are some great guidelines and its really good generally in my opinion. Everypne knows JM. Villalba for his Modelling skills and techniques and I guess he figured it'd be useful to show how he photographs his models and shows them at their best. So, on to the contents: Contents. There are 48 pages consisting of 6 chapters along with a few subchapters in each, these are: Chapter 1: Pictures and Scale Models which is the introduction, Chapter 2: Photography Basics - This chapter is about the basics around Focus, Depth of Field, Exposure, ISO and parameters used for cameras and other photographic kit, Chapter 3: Cameras - This chapter si all about camera choices, Chapter 4: Photography Set - This chapter is all about how to set up backgrounds and settings for photographing models, Chapter 5: Set Lighting - This chapter is all about the various types of lighting and filters that can be used on these lights, Chapter 6: Shooting Scale Models - This chapter is all about how to shoot your models, including angles and settings. The whole book is very well illustrated, some great models and where appropriate it goes into depth on the various camera settings. Conclusion. As you can see from my (not great) pictures the book is very well illustrated and as far as I am concerned its well worth getting. Whilst Im learning more about photography and in particular of taking pictures of models I try to read as much as I can and whilst I have read a lot of what is in this before but on other subjects I think its well worth having given its particular speciality around photographing models. It unsurprisingly uses Andrea Models and Andrea paints and equipment in a lot of the diagrams but thats to be expected I suppose given this is published by Andrea Press. There's no particular pointers towards a specific camera but it does talk about using point and click, Digital SLRs and even tablet and phone cameras. I bought this from the Historex Amazon seller but is available direct from Andrea Press too. Highly Recommended.

May follow this up with the Ebbro 1/20 Review when I get time. Half term this week so going to be (hopefully) doing a lot of flying around with Mini Me. Will try to crank up the output soonest though. J.

Tamiya 1/12 Lotus 49 1967 with etch parts Unboxing Tamiya Catalog Number TA12052 This seemed a bit left field to me for a review but Jim figured it'd be fun and a bit different, so here goes. The Car From Wikipedia: The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s and was the first successful Formula One car to feature the engine as a stressed member.[3] Jim Clark won on the car's debut in 1967, and it would also provide him with the last win of his career in 1968. Graham Hill went on to win that year's title and the car continued winning races until 1970. I grew up with an F1 and car nut, my dad. For me its Was Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna (RIP) but for my dads generation it was Graham Chapman cars driven by the likes of Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Mario Andretti that captured the times. Ive always had a soft spot for cars and their drivers as a result but it was a visit a couple of years ago when I flew my private aircraft into Goodwood for the Festival of Speed and not look after took my son to the Beaulieu Motor Museum that really re-ignited my interest in F1 and specifically the old cars. I took loads of pictures of the very car on the box top at Beaulieu and I'd recommend a visit there to anyone who has even the slightest interest in cars of the past, present and future. Overall though I think the classic cars like this one just look much cooler than the current generation and the drivers are also that much more interesting. So onto the kit. The Kit I guess everyone knows that this is a re-release of the old classic Tamiya kit of old. Im sure a few collectors may be upset that the value of their old unbuilt kits is now much less but for one Im glad they re-released it. I have to say I have the Ebbro 1/20 version of the same car (might do a review of that one day) as I thought that'd be the biggest kit I saw of this car, whilst the Ebbro is still great I had to have this one too. Its just the size and the possibilities I couldn't resist. So, as its a re-release I must say the number of parts is surprisingly low (Im sure the Ebbro part count is much higher) but the parts bear up pretty well to scrutiny, so lets look at whats in the very large box. The Contents In the box you will find 2 chrome plated (not a fan) sprues, 1 metallic grey sprue for the engine, 1 black sprue for the engine and cockpit parts, 2 green sprues plus a separate green nosecone for the main body, 1 white sprue for the driver, a bag of 4 rubber tyres, some hoses and springs plus other fittings as well as the decals and a single clear yellow sprue for the cockpit windshield and a set of decals. So far so re-release. On top of this however there is an etched fret with various grills and fittings, 1 very nice etched/printed/embossed Lotus Badge for the nose (highly visible on the real car so a nice touch here) and some exquisite turned aluminium engine pots which go on top of the engine. These add some finesse to the kit and I imagine also allow Tamiya to keep the price up at an RRP of £89.99. Quite a lot of money for not a lot of plastic. The sprues have some decent detail on them and the tyres themselves also have the manufacturers name stamped on them as well as some other technical tyre data. All quite nice. Ive read somewhere that the gearbox isn't very accurate and could do with some work but I imagine with a kit of this ilk it wont be long before the After Market guys are onto it. Pictures of the box on opening and the sprues: Chrome Parts Im seriously not a fan of these, I'd rather Alclad them to be honest. The seam cleanup and everything involved in sorting out chromed parts is just too much bother and I think it looks like a toy finish too so its going to be some oven cleaner or other suitable stripper on these before they are assembled. Very Nice Tyre Detail. Im pretty sure though that the real ones had a thin white line around the edge quite close to the tread. This could be quite difficult to do as could painting the Firestone Logos. Maybe the After Market guys will come up with a good fix for this. The Driver: Looks a lot like Graham Hill this one so I'd omit him of you're doing any of the other drivers cars. The etch and aluminium: This is very nice and the addition of the very nice little Lotus badge as a proper item rather than just a decal is a very nice touch I think. The Instructions The instructions are as you can imagine up to the usual excellent standard Tamiya ones and look to be very good. They include instructions for the Etch and for the pipework so I image these are a completely new affair rather than a reprint with the etch instructions attached later. They also include callouts for most of the schemes used for the car and for multiple drives so I have to say youre pretty much covered there. That said the driver included looks to me very much like Graham Hill so if you want to do any of the other driver cars I would probably omit the driver included here or find a more suitable head anyway. The Decals These look to be up to the usual Tamiya Standard and look very good as a result. The yellow could cause all sorts of issues I suppose but I have already got the Hiroboy Airbrush paints for the classic green/yellow scheme so will probably only use the decals as a guide for these. Note: This is weird and I don't know if its because of scale colour but Hiroboy do the colours for this car and the 1/20 Ebbro in the same scheme but the paints are different catalogue numbers. Maybe this is a bit of cheeky marketing but it had me go buy both so go figure... Summing Up I for one am really happy that this kit has been re-released in this scale. If you can get over the small part count given the price, the need to strip the chrome and the fact that the driver seems to only be applicable to one scheme than I think its great. Of course there are issues with a kit this old, but there are issues with new kits too and I doubt any of them are insurmountable to anyone thats into the hobby enough to be on this site reading this review. Looking at the schemes I'd go (and will be going) with the Hiroboy matched paint set and cant wait to see it under a coat of paint and gloss. It'll make quite a centrepiece for any F1 Car collection and the super detailers should be able to come up with a very nice kit indeed, in fact out of the box I think it'll be a head turner if only for sheer size. Im sure the After Market will have a great time with it too, maybe with some helping hands on the tyre wall detailing and that apparently inaccurate gearbox housing thats so very visible on the back of the car. This might even be my 1st opportunity to use the lovely RPToolz Punch and Die set that Jim had me all excited about and buying a few weeks back. Thanks Jim, its very nice indeed. I bought this kit from Hannants for £89.99 but it should be available from all good model kit suppliers. Overall recommended.

True Doog. The PE Colour stuff can be a bugger to get right. I'd just like to see some resin interior updates (seats etc) for some kits and maybe some weapons options. I don't know why but I just don't get on with their masks. Prefer doing it myself as I usually end up screwing up the pre-cut ones. Everyone to their own though, and BTW Im loving the AH-1Z build. Looking great, cant wait for my one and the UH-1Y to arrive. J.

Has to be said Im pretty down on Eduard's release schedule of late. Seems to be for loads of major kits but bugger all for what I want to build. They haven't bothered with Kitty Hawk, Fly or even Special Hobby and Hobby Boss. I wonder why that is?

Thanks Pardelhas. Much appreciated. J.

Thanks Doog. I have the AH-1Z and the UH-1Y on pre-order. Shame they're 1/48 (would love either or both in 1/32 or 1/35) but so good looking I couldn't help myself. J.

Great build and love the angles of the photography. very cool indeed J.

Edited the original to remove the reference to the Facebook build I thought Doog was doing. Sorry Doog J.

Sorry all. I missed the Canopy parts. They're ultra clear, look flawless and have some really nice riveting especially around the main front canopy parts. With an aircraft like this, suck big windows It'd be a real letdown if they weren't so good, so I'm really happy they are so good. I will get some better ones tomorrow as well as a few macro shots of the main sprues. J.

Sorry Doog. I thought you were already into a build on Facebook. Must be someone else, sorry. Will sort the Canopy and the Etch too Jeroen, will get back in the photobooth tomorrow soon as Im back from work Jim, I have a few Kitty's and this one is right up there with Tamiya in my book. This is my 1st in 1/32 though, the others I have are a whole clowder of Kitty's Jaguars in 1/48 and an F35 Lightning too. J.

Kitty Hawk 1:32 OV-10D “Bronco” HH32003 The Bronco - Wikepiedia Entry The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is a turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. It can carry up to three tons of external munitions, internal loads such as paratroops or stretchers, and can loiter for three or more hours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Rockwell_OV-10_Bronco The Kit. Well, as soon as I heard about this I knew I had to get it. It’s been on my pre-orders since day one and today it arrived. I have to say that, so far, Im not disappointed. Some have said they’d rather Kitty Hawk had started with the OV-10A and worked through the various models. They also say that the various bumps and extras on the D model make it ugly. Well for me it just looks right, yes its fugly but so is the A-10 and it never did that aircraft any harm. So onto the fun bit, the kit breakdown. The box is big, not WnW Duellist big just big. Its about 60cm wide, 20 deep and thickness of about 15cm. Its also packed to the gunnels with plastic. There are 9 sprues of grey plastic that’s as good as any I have seen (including Tamiya) and 1 of clear. A nice touch is that the clear sprue is housed in a special box of its own. There is also a metal nose weight that seems quite heavy and a fret of small PE along with 2 sheets of decals. The Sprues: Spue A has main engine parts, some panels for the engines and some cockpit elements too. Sprue B is the main outer wings and the flaps associated with that and the tail Sprue C is the main inner wings and again more control surfaces Sprue D is the main engine pylons and the small stub wings that fit below the cockpit Sprue E is the tail, some panels and some cockpit elements too Sprue F and J are the tail booms, cockpit parts and various under wing stores, missiles and bombs Sprue GP is the clear parts and this kit has a big cockpit, Sprue I (there are two) is weapons and the engine parts Sprue H (there are two) is more weapons, some engine parts and ancillary equipment. The Instruction Manual The Instruction manual is very good. It has bi fold out front and back covers and full colour guidance on the colour schemes, more of those later. It’s very well printed, clear and up there with the best. Whilst I’d say it’s on par with Tamiya its not up there with WnW But you can see that Kitty Hawk has really worked hard on these and to make them as clear as possible. The Colour Schemes I think I many need at least 3 of these kits, as I love all but one scheme. They are: US Marines VM)-4 airframe tail-number 55498, which is 3 tone wrap around scheme in Green (FS34102), Greyish Blue (FS35237) and Grey (FS36801 a very attractive scheme. US Marines VMO-2 airframe tail-number 55468, which is the main box cover Brown (FS30219) and Sandy Brown (no FS Callout but C19 in Gunze Sangyo) with an underside in Grey (FS16640). US Marines, VMO-2 airframe tail-number 55479, which is in a 2 tone grey wrap around scheme in Grey (FS3618) and Greyish Blue (FS35237). US Navy unidentified squadron tail-number 55172, which is Field Green (FS34097) over Grey (FS3662). This one is my least favourite and probably the only one I wouldn’t build personally. All of the schemes are also referenced, as is the whole kit in Gunze Sangyo colours. Personally I’d like some other callouts too but that’s just me, I always use Vallejo and convert using their colour charts anyway. Overall Impression This for me is a dream kit. I remember years ago buying the Testors 1/48 kit and the Paragon Details update with wings and pylons and I loved the look of the aircraft as much as I do now. For me it’s highly recommended. On all the sprues the detail looks great and where it exists there is some very fine riveting detail and great panel lines, which look to be mostly even and clean. Its currently being built by someone on a Facebook page and I think he has nothing but good things to say about it so far, though only into the cockpit area so far. There are also two full engines, removable panels and it’s all visible if you leave these off. A nice touch I think. The rear cargo door is accessible too and can be posed open as can the nose giving access to the hardware in there including the Optic systems in the nose. I’ve not been lucky enough to see Kitty Hawk’s earlier Harvard and Texan kits in 1/32 but from what I have read they are just as good and if they look as good as this does in the bare plastic I don’t see where anyone but the most choosy could have a problem with this kit. There is a very good selection of drop tanks, air to air and air to ground weapons. There are also some very nice cannons for the stub wings and they have full detail down to the bays in which they sit. A super details person could go mad with all the open panels and could build an absolute blinding kit from this. That said even OOB this is going to look great. I got it from Hannants at £59.99 but it should be available from all good model stockists. Highly Recommended.

Hi all, Have been offered this for a pretty sweet price. Is it any good? I know its probably a stupid question given Tamiya... J.

Thanks for the review Jim. Ordered. StoryModels is new to me and a great looking shop too J.

Underside next. So, after a MiG Neutral Wash to highlight panel lines its time for some oil streaking. Lots of pictures on the internet show massive leaks/unclean underside and aft of the main gear door, so this is the start of trying to do that. Its mostly MiG oil weathering paint so its going to take a couple days to dry before the next weathering session so its no more until the weekend for me I think. Once this is done its time for more dirt later. So here it is so far, just one picture this time as Im sure thats plenty. J.

So, after the light weathering (to lighten the camo) I did the dark weathering layer of dirt. This is supposed to again be very subtle and tone down the lighter layer. Hopefully it shows in the pictures. Next is the dark underside weathering before getting to panel lines and the proper dirt weathering we all see on Greek aircraft. Im trying to do it layer by layer and make it as subtle (in the end anyway) as possible so here are more pictures.

Cool Aaron. I guess finish this and I should be about ready which will give you time on the 88