La-5FN "White 25"

This is a 1/48 Zvezda kit that I had to get when it was a new release. However, I needed to get through some of my other inventory and refine my technique before I was going to tackle this beauty. This was a very good kit, but like the Eduard Fw 190, a bit over-engineered especially in the engine and gun compartment areas.

The kit was designed to have an open gun/engine compartment option, but I saw two problems in Zvezda's execution. First of all, the removed panels on the kit are not depicted how the panels on the actual aircraft are removed to get access to the cannons or engine. To a modeler who is trying for accuracy, this would not do. Secondly, there is no firewall barrier for the cockpit, and I'm quite certain that the actual aircraft had one. This could have been aleviated by scratch-building with some styrene, but I didn't feel it was worth the effort with the first problem still to tackle. Needless to say, I omitted a lot of the engine pieces as well as the cannon pieces and just closed it all up. The cockpit was a little bit over-engineered as well but the execution was superb. I added the Eduard color update set which combined with the kit pieces made for one of the best cockpits I have ever seen. One other problem with this kit: the devise attached to the prop. spinner is depicted as a fan, similar to the Fw 190; these were actually closeable shutters that were fixed to the engine to regulate engine temperature and did not spin. A few modifications were necessary to fix the problem but were easily implemented.

The overall fit of the kit was good; I had to use a bit of super glue to fill a slight gap in the lower fuselage area and where the gun panels met with the rest of the fuselage, but mostly I had no difficult problem areas. There were a couple of sink marks on the outside fuselage pieces under the cockpit, but these were filled with super glue and sanded out fairly quickly and easily.

I used the kit decals. By the time I got to build this there were a couple of aftermarket options available, but they cost more than the kit and I'm on a budget. Good to know that the decals were actually quite good, if a little bit transparent.

I chose the bottom option from the kit, I liked the red nose and white tail, and I wasn't too impressed with the lion head decal or the Guards emblem decal for the other two options. I used Model Master Russian Topside Blue for the undersurfaces, FS 36375 mixed with a little bit of FS 36320 for the light grey, and FS 36118 mixed with bit of dark green for the dark grey. I used MM Italian Red to match (as closely as I could) the stars from the kit. Overall, this turned out to be a beautiful model. I now want to do an La-7 to round my family of Lavochkin fighters. Maybe I can find an Eduard Weekend edition out there somewhere.

Fw 190A-8/R8 "Black 8"

This is my second attempt at the 1/48 Eduard Fw190A-8. Since this was not my first Bar-B-Que, I knew what to watch out for and where to take a little extra time and the results were much better. I will skip the review of the kit because I have previously done this, and will let you just look at the photos. I detailed the engine and compartment, added the applique armor at the sides the cockpit with some thin, pliable metal sheets and although not seen in the photos, lowered the flaps as well as repositioned the elevators. Everything else is pretty much stock.

The markings were Unteroffizer Will Maximowitz's mount from 11/IV/JG 3, June 1944 once again provided by Aeromaster. I liked the nose markings and think that it highlights the engine detail well. I think this is the best model I have done so far. I think that I want to try some other Eduard Fw190s, specifically the D version; this is quickly becoming one of my favorite kits.

Ju 188E-1 "KG 66"

This is a quarter-scale Dragon/DML kit that my dad gave me for Christmas one year. I have always liked the look of the 188 and was excited to work on this model. I had previously worked on a Dragon Ju 88C and was fairly confident that I knew how to work around some of the quirks of this kit (one of them being the bulges at the wing roots). I bought an Eduard color, self-adhesive photo-etch packet for the cockpit thinking that it would have a better mount for the 20mm cannon, but this was not the case. However, the photo-etch still improved the cockpit and I stuck with the photo-etch cannon-mount supplied by Dragon.

I wish that I could have found some more colorful markings of this subject, but was stuck with either the kit decals (all options had this basic scheme) without swastikas, or go with an Aeromaster set that had the swastikas. Since I'm a stickler for having swastikas on aircraft that historically carried them I went with the Aeromaster set. The paint scheme was fairly easy and there were only six decals to apply so finishing this model was a breeze. I added some small bombs from my Eduard Fw190 kits and some large 'blockbuster' bombs from a Monogram He111 kit to add a little bit of visual interest to the model. All-in-all, I like this kit, but again, wish that there were some more colorful options available at the time. I may redo this model later if something better comes along.

B-25J Mitchell "My Duchess"

I am a huge fan of WWII twin-engined bombers. Too bad for me, there are not many kits of this type of subject out there in the 1/48 scale. However, I've never had trouble finding the venerable B-25 Mitchell. This kit was the Revell re-release of the classic Monogram B-25J kit.

Like the classic Monogram offering, this kit has great detail, considering its age, and some poor fitting areas due to warping. In the hands of an experienced modeler, however, this kit can still be an award winner.

The subject is a Mitchell from the 499 BS, 354 BG. The decals were provided by Model Master. I have always liked the nose art from the 354 BG, and the bats are my favorite. The decals were good, but I probaly could have painted most of the bat instead, saving a lot of aggrivation when the very large decals cracked and broke before finally settling down. I also added some depth to the paint scheme by using pastel chalk technique to simulate weathering. This kit was difficult and I added a lot of interior detail that unfortunately cannot be seen, but I had a lot of fun doing it anyway. It looks great on display next to my P-47.

P-47D Thunderbolt "Spirit of Atlantic City, NJ"

I scored this Tamiya kit for half price at a craft store becuase the box was crushed. Luckily, none of the parts were damaged. I really enjoyed this kit. It is well detailed, but not over engineered. The fit was better than most and the model went together rather quickly. The kit provides two options: 1) the ever-popular "Little Cheif" flown by Lt. Frank Klibbe, and 2) "Spirit of Atlantic City, NJ" flown by Capt. Walker "Bud" Mahurin, both of the famous "Zemke's Wolfpack" 56 Fighter Group. I chose the second option because "Little Cheif" is a pretty common subject and I find Capt. Mahurin's story very compelling.

I built this kit pretty much straight out of the box. The only detail that I added was the wiring harness on the engine and the seat belts. The paint scheme was the common ETO scheme (OD over Neutral Gray) with the white ID stripes - rather bland but the Razorback is so cool it doesn't need a pretty paint job to be impressive. However, I still wanted to add some depth to the product, so I used some heavy blending of various shades of pastelle chalks into the paint to simulate fading, repairs and exhaust, as well as some heavy drybrushing of alluminum for paint chipping. I think the effect came out quite subtle and realistic.

I chose to load the model with a bomb and some air-to-ground rockets; probably not a common loadout for Capt. Walker's aircraft, but the 56 FG at the time was experimenting with ground attack tactics and I wanted to highlight the P-47s ground attack capabilities. Overall, this was a great subject and a good kit to get me back into the mode of modeling. I honestly can't stop looking at it.

F-16C Block 30 - 466 FS

This is a Tamiya 1/48 F-16C Block 32 that was converted to a Block 30 by changing the exhaust nozzle. There is an inacurracy in this model because it does not have the "wide mouth" jet intake but I'm OK with it. The decals were a discontinued line from Two Bobs that I got from an online retailer in Canada.

The kit was excellent as advertised. I used Tamiya's update set to add the skin reinforcements and such, which turned out to make the model a bit more authentic. I used the LIGHTNING II and AN/ALQ-131 pods from a Kinetic kit; everything else was stock.

This model was made as a gift to a pilot who recently retired from the 466th FS stationed at Hill AFB.

Military Channel's "Top 10 Fighters of All Time"

You may have noticed that I have been building a lot of fighters lately, many of them jets. I watched an interesting program on the Military Channel on the subject of the top 10 fighters of all time. Since I already had a model of a few of them, I decided that I wanted to build all of them and have a display of them on my blog. The following is a listing of the fighters in descending order, with a discussion of whether I agree with the Military Channel or not. Just click on the plane's link to go to my blog page on that model.

10. F-22 Raptor - The Military Channel chose this aircraft because of its new technology. However, the Raptor has not, as of yet, been battle tested. I would not have put it in the top 10 because of this. It may be a fast, maneuverable, and stealthy fighter and perhaps will be a great fighter, but many potentially great fighters in history have failed when put to the test.

9. Harrier - Again, the Military Channel chose this one because of its uniqueness. It has been battle tested, unlike the F-22, but mostly in ground support missions. There needs to be a disdinction made between a dogfighter or multirole fighter. As a multirole fighter the Harrier has been superb and definitely in the top 10; as a dogfighter, probably not.

8. Sopwith Camel - A great fighter in its short service-time, the Camel had more kills than any other Allied fighter in WWI. However, it nearly killed as many of its own pilots as it did enemy pilots because of its poor stability. I feel the Fokker D.VII was a better, more stable fighter from that era and should have been in the Camel's place.

7. Me 262 - Another short-lived fighter which got its inclusion because of its first jet fighter status. However, I don't disagree with the choice. When compared to its contemporary jet fighters (the Gloster Meteor and P-80), it was still far superior in speed, firepower, and manueverablility.

6. Supermarine Spitfire - Along with the Hawker Hurricane, the Spitfire staved off sure doom from the Nazi Luftwaffe air attacks on Great Brittain despite inferior numbers and less experienced pilots. Of course I would put this aircraft in the top 10 of all time, and I'm a little surprised that it wasn't ranked higher.

4.5. F-86 Sabrejet - A sure choice for top 10 status, the Sabre brought air superiority back the the Americans in the Korean War. Tied with the MIG-15 in rank, these two aircrafts' histories are tied at the hip.

4.5. MIG-15 - A devastating fighter for the early American jets, the MIG-15 owned the skies over Korea until the appearance of the F-86. Many say that the MIG-15 was the better fighter but the F-86 had better pilots. It's difficult to say either way.

3. F-4 Phantom II - As a multirole fighter, the F-4 was one of, if not, the best. As a dogfighter, the F-4 was middle-of-the-pack. Having said this, however, one cannot argue with the longevity and war record of this venerable behemoth. It is definitely a top 10 fighter of all time.

2. F-15 Eagle - The first air-superiority jet-fighter built to be maneuverable as well as fast, this aircraft is an excellent dogfighter as well as multirole fighter with the advent of the F-15E. An easy choice to make as a top 10 fighter.

1. P-51D Mustang - Not suprisingly, this aircraft is considered the best-ever fighter. Using the same engine as the Spitfire and a laminar flow wing, this aircraft escorted Allied bombers deep into German teritory were it faced the best of the Nazi fighters including the Me 262 and performed admirably. This would be my choice for #1 as well.