POST-WW2 MILITARY PLANES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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Made in 2006, this Hasegawa kit dates back to the 1970s and is extremely simplified.   Portraying a 479 Tactical Training Wing aircraft, the kit is one of the longest in my entire collection and as a result, the pitot tube keeps snapping off.  All in all, not a museum piece.

Phantoms still look amazing even if they are weather-beaten. but they have never looked better than in US Navy colours where camouflage was not necessary.  This model is of an F4J deployed aboard USS Forrestal in 1976 with a colour scheme celebrating the USA's Bicentenial.  Tamiya actually released several versions of the F4 in 1/32 and I have another F4C in my stash which will carry Vietnam colours.   The kit fits together perfectly and is very strong due to its metal undercarriage legs.  I put in a resin cockpit but I am not sure that I needed to have done and I think I just made life harder for myself.  

I built this Tamiya kit in 2002 and was blown away by the quality and complexity of the kit.  Most notably, there is a lovely smooth mechanism that enables both wings to swing forward and back together and in sync.  

The undercarriage is supplied with metal parts to support the weight of such a large kit.  I used metal foil for the leading edge of each wing and I added a resin cockpit which looks OK although you can barely see the difference between it and the kit-supplied parts.

I built this Tamiya model in 2004.  Despite its rather dull colour-scheme it was a delight to build. Its metal undercarriage means that like all Tamiya 1/32 kits, it is still sturdy today.  I made my usual mistake of buying a resin aftermarket cockpit and ejector seat but for once I think the seat in particular "pops out" and looks really realistic.  The jet intakes are movable and I added resin jet exhausts and decals for a Lakenheath-based USAF F15C from around 2002. 

Many real F15s fly over our house from Lakenheath and I always wonder if this actual plane ever flew over us! 

Another lovely and complex Tamiya kit.   Portraying a 2001 20 Fighter Wing F16, I enjoyed the “leaping Tiger” Tiger Meet decoration and loved the intricacy of the removable engine and interchangeable ordnance.  Such fun!

I found it more complex than I expected to mask the demarcation between the lighter and darker grey top colours.  Whilst never one of the best looking planes in my opinion, this was a very satisfying build from 2009.

In real life, I gather the F18 was designed to compete with the F16 in the 1970s for a combined contract to replace the Phantom.  One was accepted by the US Navy and the other for the USAF – but both have been pretty successful and I am pretty sure that we should really have bought the F18 instead of the F35 for the Royal Navy.

Whilst in some ways, this Academy kit echoed the quality of Tamiya kits, the instructions were less clear and the decals were extremely thick and didn't really conform to the shape of the plane – particularly around the nose.  

Whilst this 3rd generation design dates back to the 1960s and the kit is now nearly 50 years old, Hasegawa released an updated boxing in 2008 including 2007 decals for the US Navy Aggressor team at their Top Gun facility and was intended to echo the looks of a Russian Mig 21.  The kit is extremely simple - as is the airframe - and the only feature of note is really the funky colour scheme!