David Hingtgen

So it is. The fact that it's F-14*A* really messed me up. I thought it was the CVW-8 marking on the tail--it's rather similar, and was carried when VF-84 had markings quite like those in the early 80's. Saw F-14A in Jolly Rogers colors with a yellow spot on the rudder---thought VF-84 in the early 80's with the air wing marking. But looking closer it is VF-103. On an F-14A... Of course since their F-14A's have B back ends maybe the B's will have A back ends... ::edit:: Oh hey, the other pic actually labels it as an F-14B (and I have issues with that) and is clearer despite being smaller. (hey, I'm on dialup, I clicked on the "big" pic for only like 2 of the pics) Sigh, I keep thinking the DW F-14's are going to be far worse than the F-15's in mixing up parts. All the parts are there, they're just not assembling them right. And of course, much like the F-15's, they'll probably "fix" them after like 4 releases, leaving those first produced, highly-desired schemes really inaccurate. (DW's F-15C's finally have the tailfins right and no turkey feathers---F-15E's still have boatloads of errors though) They'll probably give us messed up VF-1, VF-2, and VF-101 planes, then "fix" it and give us accurate VF-14, 11, and other squadrons not many people care about...

Actually, if they do it like their "max number of variants" kits of the late 80's/early 90's, they could do EVERY variant. You should see what their F-4 kits are like. The number of molds and parts is insane to accomodate the ability to build any variant (except RR-powered ones, only Fuji did those). It's all a question of how well some variants would sell. But they most certainly have the ability and experience to make every single variant if they decide to. They just have to decide before the first one's made, not later. It'll be really obvious once the first one's out which other variants are planned.

I'll say it again: The Corsair is the coolest-sounding plane ever. Merlin-Mustangs have nothing on it. And the Mustang's sound is merely from the engine--you can take it out of the plane, run it on a test stand, and get the same sound. A Sopwith Camel would sound the same if you put a Merlin in it. The Corsair's sound is actually caused by the plane shrieking through the air at high speeds... At my last airshow, I actually ate lunch sitting in the grass next to a Corsair.

F-15K would rock at long range (massive power/speed, could do the "speed-boosted long-range AMRAAM launch" better than any other plane), but the EF-2000 could certainly out-maneuver close-in. Dual vert stabs are rare and rather pointless on delta-winged planes. Anyways, the real reason I'm posting is that Dragon has posted some stuff: http://www.dragonmodelsltd.com/05-NUG-Dragon-booth/index.htm Notables are the VFA-102 Super Hornet and VFA-122 drawing, the VF-111 F-14 again, and looking in the background, VF-84 F-14. (1980's, not white-belly) Still no nose-pitot on the F-14... Also the F4U is rumored to have movable wings (folded/unfolded).

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com THE site for modelling planes. Their forum is gigantic and you'll find literally thousands of knowledgable people, dedicated "Tools and Techniques" sub-forum. http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/ind...hp?showforum=12 Anyways, for brush-painting I've gotta say I get a lot better results with acrylics. And the "multiple thin coats" thing works even better with them than with enamels. My best advice for brush-painting: get the longest, softest bristles you can. And use the right size brush. Big part? Don't use 76 strokes of a tiny brush. Conversely, don't use a 1/2 inch brush on a wheel... Shopping? Mainly www.greatmodels.com (though they do have a rather "unique" ordering system, somewhat akin to HLJ), and www.squadron.com. Also try www.scalehobby.com

AFAIK, no sprue cutter will make a "perfect" cut. You will ALWAYS (well, 99.99% of the time) have to shave/slice/sand off that last little bit yourself. Sometimes, if you try, you MIGHT get a "perfect" cut. When building MG/PG Gundams or Zoids etc that I don't intend to paint (AKA, not "real" modelling) and I just want to snip 900 parts off quickly, I might get ONE "perfect" cut out of the thousands needed to free every part. (I think it happened twice on my PG Wing Zero) But the risk of gouging out the part is much higher if you try to make a flush cut. For every 1 part that comes out "perfect", 20 will have a gouge/tear in the plastic from attempting a perfectly flush cut. Since you have to finish it up anyways, it's best to snip a small distance away from the part to make sure the plastic doesn't tear/splinter. PS---if you attempt to snip a clear part, it'll shatter or at least get BIG cracks. Always simply use an Xacto and slice slice slice until it's free. Yes, it takes forever, but nothing's worse than ruining a large clear part by attempting to snip it. Or in summary: Phadeout, you're already doing it the best/recommended way, keep doing it. It's a lot easier to shave/sand extra bits away, than to go back later and fill in spots with putty.

All planes become maintenance nightmares after 30 years, especially those with complex/unique systems (F-14 anyone?). Simple planes (DC-3's, or even DC-9's) are easier. And from what I've seen/heard, DL pretty much just ran their Tristars until they needed a D-check then sent them to the desert. I've never seen a fleet so "mis-treated" until retirement. Most airlines tend to maintain a "we're going to get rid of it soon" type decently well, but DL really seemed to give no attention at all to their Tristars once they knew they were going to phase them out. (not to rag on DL mx, I like DL a lot--but boy did their Tristars seem to get not an ounce of care in the last few years of their lives) I actually flew on DL once (with an extra stopover at ATL) purely to get a Tristar before they went out of service.

I thought the current Australian was a totally new airline, unrelated to the previous one. PS---no "airplane vs" topic is as heated as Airbus vs Boeing. That's just asking for trouble on a lot of forums. Of course, my answer is always MDC, but most people know the REAL answer is Lockheed and automatically exclude it. The Constellation was so awesome some airlines kept them around a few years instead of buying jets (or at least, not as many jets). And the Tristar is still the best and most advanced airliner ever. There's more to a plane than the cockpit, it's the other systems that really show technology. Only airliner with an all-moving tailplane. And the same DLC as the Tomcat. And an auto-land better than any 777 etc.

Thanks very much for the photos--I love airliners, but never see anything like that here in Iowa. (And Airliners.net doesn't like "normal" planes they tend to only feature gaudy cartoon-character one-offs) Anyways, top to bottom: Tiger: A320-200 Singapore: 777-200 Australian: 767-300 British Airways: 747-400. That is their standard tail now, all will be repainted like that, if they haven't already. (I do think every "world tail" is gone now) The "fog" I'm guessing is just the engine starting up. Large RB.211's tend to do that, though I didn't think the newer -524's did, only earlier -524's and -22's like on the L-1011. (Though if an RB.211-22 does it you KNOW it, the cloud is as large as the entire plane--I have some pics I took myself of an L-1011 starting up) 2nd post: Garuda: 737-300 Korean: 777-300, which are longer than 747's. Bangladesh: A310 (-200 and -300 are identical most of the time) Singapore: 747-400 Bangkok: 717-200 The 717 is what Boeing calls the McDonnellDouglas MD-95, which is really a DC-9. It's exactly the same as if Boeing decided to call the DC-10 the 797 after buying out MDC. The 717/MD-95 is the only one they felt like changing the name. The MD-95 is an awesome airliner, it just didn't sell well. (Mainly because everyone expected NW to make a HUGE order and never did, and TWA was bought out by AA who cancelled the order)

I've always liked brass for most "metal modelling". Pretty close to copper (for obvious reasons).

Magnum ammo is hard to find. Maybe 40 rounds in the whole game. However you shouldn't need much. Even the hardest bosses should fall in a dozen shots or so. It's that powerful. My Broken Butterfly (which you can get for free, though I bought mine) is currently at 28.0, next upgrade is 50. Which is about 5 times more powerful than an upgraded shotgun at close range... Even the un-upgraded magnum has twice the power of most shotguns. And its power goes up by the power of a shotgun every time... Basically--it's the boss killer. Far more effective than any other weapon (besides a rocket launcher). Also good for any "really tough" regular enemy. Just use one round, they'll probably drop. Or save and go on a killing spree. I did on my second game and got all the way from the opening scene to inside the church in about 25 mins, since I was nigh-invincible with the magnum (and leftover ammo from the first time through).

Beat it, liked it much more than all previous RE's combined. Thermal scope is awesome, and be sure to use grenades if you've got them---you come across far more than you'd ever need, and you end up having to either leave behind or sell a lot of them. PS---Attache case L is probably skippable---you won't really need it until just before Attache case XL is available. I wasted 40K, since I bought XL right after L. PPS---best tip I can give: upgrading a weapon's ammo capacity refills it (not from your supply). By far the best way to acquire Magnum ammo---use it on a boss (don't reload, or if you do, use it all up), then go upgrade its capacity for a "free" refill.

Food coloring+Future is one of the most common ways of doing it. The other way is simply airbrushing thin coats of Tamiya Clear Yellow, possibly with some Smoke or Clear Orange mixed in. Word of advice: don't overdo it. It's quite subtle in real life 99% of the time. All those shots you see that have really "orange" cockpits are mostly the work of the orange light from a sunset, strongly accentuating the golden canopy. That, or the photographer kept trying to get JUST the perfect lighting angle that it'd "flare" orange. On a normal day, you really need to look, it's more like "slightly dark glass with a slightly yellow-brown tint". And F-18's tend to have pink-yellow, vs the F-16's orange-yellow. (Though Super Hornets are brown-yellow) I have plenty of pics of the real thing in normal lighting.

Wonder if whoever probably got paid $$$$$$ for planning the SuperBowl events realized a NIGHT flyover is really pointless. Schedule it earlier next time! Instead of pre-pre-pre haltime concerts, have the flyover... I could tell they were F-22's from the V.stab outlines, but I honestly couldn't tell if they were *Super* Hornets. Good look at the slime-green formation lights though.

The planes scheduled for the Super Bowl Flyover (presumably right around the time of the National Anthem, or maybe halftime, who knows) are said to be 2 of Tyndall's F/A-22's in formation with 2 of VFA-103's F/A-18F's (flown by VFA-106 pilots). Joint USAF/USN formation, interesting. And no I don't know if a high-vis Jolly Rogers plane will be one of the 2 Hornets.

If you want to look for substitutes, try this: http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

Jumping ahead 60 years: F/A-22 does well in tests, cannot be engaged by ground systems: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123009729 Also, current rumor is that the Super Bowl flyover will be F-22's this year.

Licensing means *NOTHING* for accuracy. Trust me. I have seen companies grant exclusive licensing rights many times. Often to the company with the worst molds and least amount of accuracy. It's like if Big West decided to allow only ONE company to make VF-1's, and after looking at prototypes from Bandai, Yamato, Toynami, etc---they picked Joons and barred all other companies from making VF-1's. Seriously, it happens. Of course, often times exclusive rights are granted to whoever asks first. And that's a big problem, especially for all the companies who don't make everything. Example: Pan Am. Big famous airline, much desired by airliner collectors (like me). However--the company with the exclusive license (trust me, Pan Am isn't legally dead) doesn't have molds for some of Pan Am's planes, and many of the ones they do have are vastly inferior to a rival company's. There's never going to be a Pan Am DC-8 model, no matter how bad people may want one since they don't have a DC-8 and have little interest in ever making one. And they made an A310, but it sucks, so there'll never be an A310 worth buying since the company with the good A310 mold can't make Pan Am planes. Example 2: Thai Airways. Picked the company that was so bad they came and went within a year, with errors such as the left side of the plane being a DIFFERENT PLANE than the right side. (in addition to generally awful molds and bad paint) Sorry for the rant, but IMHO the only thing worse than licensing is EXCLUSIVE licensing, since it often means many things we want simply will never be made. And I have seen samples/prototypes of things I want from Company X--and then before Company X can release it, Company Y gets the EXCLUSIVE license, and so the cool item from Company X has to be abandoned and such an item either never gets made, or a much inferior version is made by Company Y.

I just snagged a Luftwaffe magazine last night and it had an article about F6F vs Fw190 vs F4U (all from the same test pilot). Basically--Fw190 fills the same role as a P-38 or P-51---high speed attacks/interception. Don't try to dogfight using it. Any Navy plane will beat most all of them in a slow/turning fight, only the Spitfire is a really good non-Naval dogfighter. I still say the F4U is the best WW2 fighter. It's damn good at everything. Sure, P-51's may be fast and the Spitfire can turn, but the F4U is like 2nd-best in every category, vs being 1st in one category but rather poor in others. PS---they didn't think the Bf109 was all that great period. It was simply really quick and cheap to produce, so 30,000 were made because of that, not due to being superior.

GameMusic.com just got it in today! http://www.gamemusic.com/cgi-bin/WebObject...d=10163&did=101 Ordering from the US is usually easier/quicker. (And yes, this is the real, official, actual release)

Another thing is the *insanely high* fees, not just the fees themselves. I know Gulf Air wanted (not joking) $250 per model. On a 767 model that is normally around $22 bucks. Licensee of course said "no way" and so no Gulf Air 767's were made, and Gulf Air got 0 dollars. If the license was a FEW bucks, they'd have gotten several thousand dollars from the company that wanted to make Gulf Air 767's. Less money is better than no money... Now, most fees aren't that bad, but most are way too high. Licensing fees shouldn't account for 50% of the cost of a model! And of course there is the precedent thing. All the 747 models from the 60's 70's and 80's were license-free, even the ones sold in Boeing's own gift shops. But NOW they want a license... It's especially bad now that Boeing has bought so many manufacturers, they lay claim to most anything. Like the Boeing P-51 and Boeing DC-3 (as they type it on their website).

You know, the X-29's SP colors are the demonstrator colors. Just buy the Hasegawa kit, and tell everyone it's from AC5.

Also, your wingmen are so inferior to you, it makes little difference what you tell them. In one entire playthrough, you should have like 500 to 600 kills. Your wingmen? Lucky if they get past single digits. They average like 0.7 kills per mission...

::looks:: OK, VF-102's F-14's had itty-bitty ones. Shornet's are a bit bigger and more visible. Still, vastly inferior to the HUGE ones the F-4's had. Although honestly, considering the time period and its design, it was practically an "aim here!" marking for MiG's... Check it out: http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/galle...f4/d4c-7697.htm

The A-10C is out: Pics: http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index.php...m1106685416#new Article (strange the USAF doesn't have an article): http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny...692.story?coll=