Egilman

Quite familiar, My ticket to retirement was a 44' studded roof truss back in '93.... My empathy is yours...

OUCH!!!! the Thoracic Spine is nothing to mess around with..... I hope it works fo ya long term....

All of those advanced the knowledge & technology of short and vertical takeoff aircraft, The XC-142 being the closest to an operational aircraft before the Osprey.... There are a couple of static models of her in the marketplace and one now OOP, very hard to find RC version..... Sold for over $400.00 when it was in production....

She's a beauty, I just love those RAF birds in USAAF markings....

The idea for a tilt rotor aircraft came to light way back in 1951 or so... The first embodiment of the idea was the Bell XV-3... The XV-3 featured a Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine mounted in the fuselage with driveshafts transferring power to two-bladed, pivoting rotor assemblies mounted on the wingtips. It was originally designed with three-bladed rotors but they dropped one blade due to unsolvable instability issues which caused the loss of the first aircraft... On 18 December 1958, Bell test pilot Bill Quinlan accomplished the first dynamically stable full conversion to airplane mode, and on 6 January 1959, Air Force Captain Robert Ferry became the first military pilot to complete a tiltrotor conversion to airplane mode. Bell XV-3, (2nd prototype & only survivor) at the Davis-Monthan during a public display in 2006... (in 2007 she was transferred to the US Airforce museum) In her short experimental service life, she completed over 100 full flight transfers from vertical to horizontal flight, she also revealed the main issue with this type of aircraft... Known as pylon whirl, which consisted of a condition of pitch-flap coupling, (rotors wanting to stay in line with the flaps during transition) exhibited by the tiltrotor demonstrated the aeroelastic dynamic rotor instability of the configuration. The final test was at the NASA 80' wind tunnel where the rotor heads disintegrated destroying the wings/rotors and seriously damaging the wind tunnel...

Well, I still have faith in your talents.... I believe your up to the challenge.... those pics serve to back this opinion up....

Well, it is just us, and we are used to hanging from the rafters.....

The ending of that race always has bothered me, Miles was the winner no doubt, but it's a distance race under the rules and when they crossed the line three abreast the car that traveled the farthest distance officially won the race.... And it was done as a publicity stunt for Ford.... For some reason that rankles me.... Hey brother, as long as you keep your head in it, the hands will have no choice but to follow.... Patiently waiting here, I have faith....

Yeah, I would have a serious problem with the admiralty if I spent any time there....

The rubber would be flush with the outside of the fender flare... she was a wide track car unlike most others which needed the tire spacing for stability.... The difference being she was designed from the start for racing where the others were production designs altered for racing.... I have faith brother, you know as well as I that the graphics make or break a white car.... I'm sure you are going to do a spectacular job..... She is downright gorgeous right now....

Yep there probably would be some grey on it, but understand that by that date most came from the factory in sand yellow and the greys and browns were applied in the field.... just being technically accurate.... It would have to be a very early Panther to be issued in Grey.... But with an airbrush, it will make little difference.... Nice work so far my friend...

That looks super sharp!!! Crossing the Indian Ocean on her way to meet her fate..... (might not be, but that is what popped into my mind when I saw the pic) Excellent work, anticipating the finish now and your reveal.... EG

excellent save brother.....

I agree, very much so, it's an almost 70 year old base design, of course upgraded any times... anything is possible, I've even seen some pics of the "A" models serving in 'nam with those side windows painted over.... the current ones are much improved over the originals...

It is monochromatic for sure, plain white always is, but bland? Not hardly...... That is a slick speedster my friend, the white gloss looks perfect..... The colorful decals will only make the slick white look even better.... Very Very well done....... (and a bit of envy)

Need a different take on this thought? With your skills Mike, I don't see how you can avoid it.... (chuckle)

There are ways to do soft edge without an airbrush, several ways in fact..... I'm gonna have to do one of my fav's in the future....

I think your doing a bang up job, that steel PE does try the patience though, but it looks to me that you got it under control.... It's coming out beautifully..... Really gonna look the business....

Most of the FM-1's served in the Atlantic aboard Bogue class escort carriers, in the Pacific, it was primarily FM-2's aboard the Casablanca class escort carriers.... and when they sent an escort carrier to Britain under lend-lease, it came with Wildcats both FM-1's & 2's The USS Core joined the Fleet at Tacoma WA where she was built in early '42, she did her working up off San Diego in early '42 then shifted to the Atlantic for escort duties eventually forming up in a hunter killer group. She survived the war eventually being stricken in the '50's she was credited with several u-boat kills during her war period..... Atlantic aircraft camo aboard the hunter killer groups was indeed Gull Grey over White or Aircraft Grey.... When the US Navy switched to Grey over Grey camo fleetwide in early '41 it was found to be very effective in hiding the aircraft from surface recognition until the aircraft got within firing range..... So they retained the scheme for the hunter killer groups..... in the Pacific where surface targets were not the priority for fighter planes, they switched the the Blue over Grey scheme in late '41.... I don't believe the Wildcat ever wore the three color scheme of dark blue over lighter blue over grey you see on some corsairs and other carrier aircraft, but I could be wrong on that....

They should be closer to the color of the surrounding bulkheads, a bit lighter as they did stand out in the sun a lot and were exposed to salt spray a lot more...... They do look good, excellent scale representation....

All three for only 40 quid? that's a good price my friend...... That's actually a very good kit for a first time armor builder, good details and wide variation in paint and markings, Panthers were everywhere except Africa.... As your first foray into the mud hog world, you couldn't get a better set of kits..... I'm sure the crew will be here in case you have any questions, it is a pretty straightforward build.....

Mike, the color scheme is prewar grey over grey..... (Although the yellow light may be affecting the color a bit) The squadron according to the label is VMF 223 that would be a marine squadron, the location would be Guadalcanal, Henderson field, late '42....... On that basis the six guns is wrong (they would be flying F4F-3's with two guns in each wing) and grey over grey is wrong, markings are correct though. The actual aircraft depicted is Marion Carl's who as a charter member of the cactus airforce, (a survivor from the marine buffalo squadron at Midway) was the leading ace from the 'canal... 12.5 of his 16.5 victories came in the F4F..... the colors were blue over grey.... (he got two planes at Midway flying a Buffalo, and receive a navy cross for it seeing as he was one of only 10 that came back) He retired as a Major General after commanding marine aviation in Vietnam.... Oh yes and they were still blue over grey at Leyte..... and it was probably correct being an F4F-4....

I agree, looks great in fact...

They always look good like that, but I've always found that they are more work than worth it.... but that is just my opinion, some guys swear by them and add them to everything.... And believe it or not, it's only aircraft jocks and us modelers that know that they have them, most people haven't a clue.... leaving them off will be no big loss if you so choose.....

I'm guessing here but those pop-up panels on the trailing edge of the cowl would be the cowl flaps..... They are what controls the airflow around the engine cylinders..... they are only open fully when the engine is on and throttled up, otherwise they are usually almost closed...... Kit parts usually give a half to three quarters open position for them but on a carrier hangar deck, they would usually be closed.... (unless maintenance was happening)