Ivan Ivanovich

Qu'il repose en paix!

There's a real rub in it... It will take me another hour to draw up the rear IP plus 60-90 minutes to layout the lithos, but I haven't got the time to have them etched at my favourite PE shop. Let alone packaging and shipping the frets to fellow modellers. Not before Q1/Q2 2019.

Just thinking out loud... Drew up some PE layouts for Swiss/pre-2008 USN/USMC instrument panels a while ago. (light blue grey = raised structures)

In principle, some of the scale and parts could be used to replicate the missing and rearranged bits and pieces. I wasn't aware of Peter's set, so thanks for the heads-up! Good news. Available here: Airscale 1:32 Jet Cockpit Details

Nyet, Sir. He did not. But I must admit the very nature of the eventual answer scares me. Somehow... LOL

Not MuG?

Hammer and sickle it!

The stbd consoles are OK. Largely. The map case, however, is a box. Not just flat.

A RHD British classic car. e.g. a roadster or an E-Type, might sell for a better price in a LHD country due to its authenticity. Depends on the car, though. Quite understandably, I was mightily relieved when I learned I could import and register my two ponies (2008 Bullitt and 1968 428 Cobra Jet) as LHD cars in NZ, both of them being white-listed by the NZ Transport Agency as "collector's item" and "built in numbers less than 20.000". Both cars will be shipped to NZ in early March 2019.

KH marking options: The real things: USN F-5F (post-2008 GPS upgrade): RSAF F-5T: Note: extensively modified cockpit arrangement (HOTAS/MFDs) - not included, no aftermarket in sight. IRIAF F-5F: Note: Martin Baker IRQ7A bang seats - not included, AMS Resin has one in the pipeline. RTAF F-5F: ROKAF KF-5F: Note: Martin Baker Mk16T bang seats - not included, no aftermarket in sight. TUDM F-5F: ROCAF F-5F (AIDC-built): RSAF F-5T: Note: extensively modified cockpit arrangement (HOTAS/MFDs) - not included, no aftermarket in sight. SWISS AF F-5F: ROCAF F-5F (AIDC-built): ROCAF F-5F (AIDC-built): USMC F-5F (post-2008 GPS upgrade):

Maybe Eduard will come to the rescue releasing another PE set, but this time with the RWR specific layout. The current F-5E interior sets have the early panel layout. Shallow cockpit tubs. Well...um...personally speaking, I wouldn't rate them a deal breaker. Individual acceptance levels may (and will) differ, though. @Ernie: Does the F-5F boxing include both radome types or is it sharknose only?

Meanwhile in Russia... Vladimir Vladimirovich: "B-1B, you say? Pfff..."

Kitty Hawk F-5F cockpit arrangement: Typical cockpit arrangement of RWR equipped F-5F a/c (not included/no aftermarket): (red outline = rearranged instruments) Except for the pedestal, sorta representative of pre-2008 ex-Swiss AF USN/USMC F-5F. For comparison, Swiss AF F-5F instrument panel layout:

For those wanting to build a USN/USMC F-5F, VFC-111/VMFT-401: Externally, the KH kit is pretty much spot-on, requiring only minor mods. General: Omit the fuselage spine VHF antenna blade (kit part B31) Shave off vertical tail VOR/ILS antenna, reshape fin tip (kits parts C15/C16) RWR installation: F-5N/F are ex-Swiss AF aircraft originally equipped with RWR, hence featuring a different instrument panel layout comprising the RWR-specific azimuth indicator and RWR control panel. The baseline kit depicts the original IP layout characteristic for F-5F aircraft without RWR installation. The KH IP also lacks the different UHF/VHF control panels on the IP's centre column. The RWR specific IPs are not included in the KH F-5E/F kits. No aftermarket replacements, so far. Again, the Kitty Hawk F-5E/F instrument panels are representative of original, early instrument panels. No RWR, no MFDs whatsoever. Post-2008 USN/USMC F-5N/F Litton GPS upgrade: Revised instrument panel layout, radar screen replaced with a Litton MFD/multi funtion display (not included, no aftermarket set so far) fuselage spine GPS dome (not included, no aftermarket set so far) Post-2008 USN/USMC F-5N/F instrument panels: Post-2008 USN/USMC F-5N/F GPS dome: Replicating the GPS dome from scratch isn't rocket science... Meet the puck: F-5N/F vertical tail fin tip - no VOR/ILS antenna on USN/USMC F-5N/F: HTH

Not much different from the single-seater boxing, basically inheriting the same inconsistencies, errors and omissions. Offering two marking options for extensively modified Singaporean F-5T aircraft without providing the required parts, instrument panels, HOTAS cockpit mods and the distinctive FIAR radar nose, is a joke. The same goes for the IRIAF marking options. The one-guide-fits-all assembly guide is one big misleading clusterfuck - again. Anyway, still a nice kit. (I've got six of the single-seaters in my stash)

Et voilà...

And jandals! ^^

Yarp. Gloves are mandatory.

The MG 34/MG 42 ("Fliegerbeschussgeraet") was usually fed from a canvas belt bag ("Gurtsack") that was atached to the MG cradle. Against aerial targets the entire gun cradle could be elevated by tightening/loosening a locking handle at the cradle base/turret ring slide lock. HTH

I'm tempted. Personally speaking, the interior is of secondary importance for me. I'm really curious to find out how these will fare when being pitted againts the Dragon Smart Kits. So far, I've only built the Dragon Smart Kit releases - Ausf.G early and late.

No krissy pressy kits this year. I guess we'll still be busy with unpacking moving boxes and decorating the house. And wondering how it's gonna be like: life in NZ as an "emigrant". 44 days to go and another 40ft sea container to pack....

Keep the kids, the wife and the dog!

Or conduct the "Trunk Test" by locking your wife and your dog in the trunk of the car. Release them after an hour or so, and you'll clearly see which one will be the happiest to see you.

That's what I would have been suggesting...