Some Research and some Questions

Yesterday I did some research on the internet for information and photos of F-4E Phantoms during the Vietnam War.  I was able to find two photographs of the exact F-4E the kit decal sheet was for.

F-4E, 67-287, 388th TFW, Korat, 1971, by RH Morgan

 

F-4E, 67-287, 469th TFS, 1972, by Don Logan



I was able to find out that the JV tail code was for the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing.  The 469th TFS was stationed at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base from November 1968 to October of 1972.  The 469th TFS was the first squadron equipped with the F-4E to serve in Vietnam.

This information raised an issue with the kit decals.

The aircraft serial number on the decal sheet is 70-287!   Which was in conflict with the website photos which identified the aircraft as 67-287. (please forgive my poor photography)

So I checked a couple of websites http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html and http://www.5053phantoms.com/SN_USAF/index-Dateien/frame.html

Which showed that no F-4E with serial number 70-0287 was ever producted!  So the kit decals have the wrong aircraft serial number. Bummer!

Also you may have noticed the stripes on the fuselage are missing in the 1972 photograph by Don Logan.  I was able to find out that these stripes designate the wing commander's aircraft.

I'm going to try and see if I can find a new set of decals since I'm bummed out about the kit decals having the wrong aircraft serial number.

 

 

 



 

Over the Weekend

Saturday and Sunday I helped my nephew with his Eagle Scout project.  His project is to build a US Civil War winter quarters shelter at the Forts Randolph and Bulow State Historic Site here in my hometown of Pineville.  This type shelter would have been used by Federal or Confederate soldiers during the winter months (the non-campaigning season).

 

 

We had a good time working on this.  Mixing and applying the bousillage, a clay and straw mix, was an interesting experience.  But I must confess all the manual labor, we didn't use any power tools, left me with some aches in muscles I didn't know I had.

Academy 1/144 F-15 Eagle and F-4E Phantom II WIPs

Here are a couple of models I've had underway but haven't completed. 

 The F-4 is the first 1/144 scale model I acquired.  I picked it up at a local hobby store thinking, "it's so small, this will be easy..."  well it has now been at least a couple of years since I bought it.

The F-15 I picked up on sale from Squadron.com.  I just couldn't resist the price which I think was $1.99.

The illustrations the models are sitting on are printouts of paint schemes from Don Colour http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/luft_e.htm which has a lot of information on aircraft paint schemes from numerous countries and time periods.

So, what to do?

I'm going to clean off my work bench and work on completing the F-4E.  More to follow on my inaugural project.

First Post and Introduction

My name is Mark.  I plan to use this blog to document my efforts in 1/144 and 1/72 scale aircraft modelling and other items that are of interest.

I have been dabbling in modelling for about the last 5+ years and have completed a grand total of 5 models.  None of what I would call good quality.  I've never really outgrown my boyhood fascination with planes so the majority of my models are airplanes.  In common with a lot of modellers I have a "stash" of uncompleted or not started kits.  My hope is that this blog will inspire me to finish more models and improve my modelling skills.

As secondary goals I want to use this blog to improve my photograph taking and writing skills.

I got the idea for the blog name from hearing 1/144 and 1/72 scales referred to as "braille scale" and thinking about aircraft manufacturing companies of the 1930s and 40s (i.e. North American Aviation) and hoping that I can become more of an aircraft model "manufacturer".

I'll start off with some Works In Progress (WIPs) that I have.