Juliusz D

Thanks, but I must say I have no idea how to transfer some of the techniques to instructions, as there are always some elements that are under strain/tension, etc. Also, the flex tube pieces are problematic. I would probably be able to make simpler versions, but it would always require certain compromises, which are not really my thing. Also, I consider making instructions to be too time-consuming. As for COBI models - there was a time when I was considering using some of the COBI pieces e.g. canopies or propellers (I know, I know - it's a heresy), but if you take a closer look at the blueprints, they are actually very far from accurate. In fact, I have a few COBI WWII sets and they are a major disappointment in terms of functionality, accuracy, and looks, not to mention awkward landing gears. With all those one-off pieces available, they could have done a much better job in my opinion.

Thank you all!

Thank you all. As for the clipped wings, they were introduced to increase the roll rate of the Spitfire, to make it more competitive in this maneuver with Fw 190. They were used almost exclusively on the LF versions, as the increased roll rate came at the expense of high-altitude performance (smaller wing surface), and slightly increased turn radius. The canopy is really simple - 2 rounded bottom trans-clear plates, placed on the edges of a 2x2 trans-clear tile, which itself is locked under the 45-degree angle. This way the total height of the visible canopy is ~1.4stud, which is optimal, and the width is around 2.8, which is also accurate.

The Supermarine Spitfire is probably one of the most recognizable and iconic aircraft in history, with a total production number of 20 351. As I have always been fond of it, I decided to give it a try, even though it is my very first propeller aircraft model. About the aircraft The history of the Spitfire started in 1934, with the first flight of the famous K5054 prototype taking place on 5th March 1936. After the initial delays, the first Spitfire Mk. Is started to reach the operational units in 1938, and since then the type became a stronghold of RAF fighter forces, with a number of substantial improvements being introduced over the whole duration of WWII. Most of these improvements were directly correlated with the development of another icon, the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Consequently, 3 generations of Spitfires are commonly recognized: early Merlins (Merlins with a single-stage supercharger, Spitfires Mk. I, II, III, V, VI, and PR XIII), late Merlins (60 and 70 series Merlins with a two-stage supercharger, Spitfires Mk. VII – IX, PR X, PR XI, and Mk. XVI), and the last generation utilizing more powerful and heavier Rolls-Royce Griffon (Mk. IV, XII, XIV, XVIII, PR XIX, XX, 21-24). Among all those Marks, the Mk. IX and XVI were by far the most numerous, and their introduction was a major step in RAF’s capabilities. The idea for Mk. IX came out of necessity, as after the introduction of Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in late 1941 it became obvious that the then-standard Spitfire Mk. V was no match for the newest Luftwaffe addition. As the two-stage Merlin 61 became available, the Supermarine proposed to address this issue with an interim Mk. IX variant, which was basically Mk. V airframe fitted with the new engine. At the beginning, it was planned as just a short-term fix, with the revised Mk. VIII being the “ultimate” late-Merlin variant. However, the Mk. IX proved to be so successful that there was no point in disturbing its production lines, and it remained in production until the end of the war with constant upgrades being added (e.g. Merlin 66 engine). An interesting twist in the history of the Mk. IX is the Mk. XVI variant, which even though gained a new Mark number, differed only by the fact that instead of the British-built Merlin 66, its US licensed-built Packard Merlin 266 variant was utilized. About the building process The Spitfire is my very first propeller-driven aircraft, and it was basically an accident that I even started it. I was playing with some trans-clear canopy solutions and after one of the attempts I thought “Well, this looks like a Spitfire canopy”. As it turned out, it was perfectly scaled to my favorite 1:33 scale, so I had no choice but to continue. Still, the idea to make a WWII fighter was not new to me, as for years I’ve been a great fan of a number of different designs by other builders, so I’ve always wanted to have one for myself. As the Spitfire is an extremely common topic, it is impossible to mention all my inspirations. Still, by far the most prominent one was the Spitfire Mk. IX by Ed Diment, which even utilizes the same scale as mine. Another big inspiration was a much bigger Spitfire Mk. I by Lennart Cort. In fact, I had a very hard time deciding on the scale, as his 1:18 Spitfire looks so amazing it gave me second thoughts. Other, smaller designs, which were extremely useful for me, were the Spits by Dieterr89, Sydag, BuildArmy, and picardbricks. As I mentioned before, the first part I got together was the canopy, followed by the engine section. Then, I got stuck a bit with the wings, as I really wanted to include the dihedral on them. Finally, I was able to slightly minimize the solution proposed by Nick Goodwin, which fitted nicely with the rest of the plane. The shape of the wings was also a bit painful to get right, but as I decided to go for the “clipped” wings, I didn’t have to make them fully elliptical, which made it much easier. The rest of the fuselage was quite easy. A big challenge overall was the very disappointing variety of dark green pieces, which I had to compensate for with the extensive amount of stickers. Here, the solution proposed by Maks turned out to be very handy – I just had to use an awful lot of stickers from 76907 Lotus Evija set. I must say that the results look surprisingly good, as the colors match perfectly. About the model The model represents a Supermarine Spitfire LF. Mk.XVIe in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage is based on the aircraft currently stored in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków. It was produced in 1944 and served in the 421 Squadron of the Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 1956 it was moved to the RAF museum in Hendon, having a short episode in the 1967 Battle of Britain film. Since 1977 it has been in the possession of the Polish Aviation Museum, where currently it is presented in the camouflage of the Polish 308 Squadron as TB995 ZF-O. The original aircraft of this designation was delivered to 308 Sqn. on 15th March of 1945, and the Squadron was mainly involved in the anti-V1 and V2 operations. As the Mk. XVI was introduced in 1944, there are so misconceptions about its configuration. Similarly to what happened to P-51 Mustang, the late Spitfire variants were fitted with the teardrop “bubble” canopy. Even though it was used in a number of different Marks, including Mk. IX, it is most commonly associated with Mk. XVI, as due to the shorter production, a much higher percentage of them received this upgrade. Still, the “razorback” Mk. XVIs were also quite common, being virtually indistinguishable from the standard Mk. IXs, which is the case for the TB995 ZF-O. As the model is significantly smaller than my usual jets, I wasn’t able to include as many working features as usual. Still, it has movable flaps, a working tail, and working landing gear.

Thank you all for your comments. I must agree that Viggen is a particularly strange aircraft when it comes to shaping, but at the time of its design, such features as canards or thrust reverser, were the only way for it, to meet the requirements of Flygvapnet. I've never understood, why such unique aircraft has never gained more popularity both within lego and modeling communities, as it is truly one of its kind.

The Saab Viggen is one of the most innovative and original designs in the history of aviation. It also happens to be one of my personal favorites, so here it is, my latest model of JA-37 Viggen. About the jet The history of the Viggen can be traced back to the late 50’m when the Flygvapnet started looking for a replacement for their highly successful platforms, namely A 32 Lansen (air-to-ground) and J-35 Draken (air-to-air). However, due to the defensive doctrine of neutral Sweden, heavily based on the dispersed system of road air bases, and a large percentage of conscript soldiers, the requirements set upon the new design were very unique, requiring STOL (short takeoff and landing) capabilities and extreme ease of maintenance, all while delivering adequate performance in a wide range of missions. As a result, the design finalized in 1962 sported a number of features previously unseen in a supersonic fighter jet, including canards, a canted delta wing, a state-of-the-art CK 37 central computer, one of the very first of its kind, and thrust-reverser in an engine equipped with an afterburner. The prototype of the first generation Viggen was flown in February 1967 and subsequently was developed into a number of more specialized versions: AJ-37 (strike/fighter), Sk 37 (training), SF 37 (reconnaissance), and SH 37 (sea reconnaissance). The second-generation Viggens were exclusively fighter JA-37s. In comparison to the previous versions, the JA-37 utilized a new, more powerful RM8B engine, a slightly elongated fuselage to accommodate it (by 8 cm), a tail of increased area (taken from the Sk 37), and a brand new avionics, including the PS-46/A radar, capable of guiding the BVR, Sky Flash missiles (Rb.71). Over the years the JA-37, as well as other versions of the plane, were subsequently updated. In the case of Jakt-Viggen, the following updates should be mentioned: Mod A (1982-85, introduction of the datalink capability), Mod B (addition of Rb.74 – AIM-9L, expansion of the datalink), Mod C (1992, addition of the auto-gun capability), Mod D (2001, new avionics architecture centered around new CD 207 central computer, glass cockpit, addition of Rb.99 – AIM-120B), and finally Ja-37Di, which featured additional changes for increased interoperability with NATO forces. Thanks to those upgrades, the Viggen remained a very capable aircraft until the very last day of its service, which was the 25th of November 2005, and even then, its retirement was forced mainly by economic factors, rather than inadequate performance. About the building process The JA-37 was one of my very first “favorite fighters” I can remember, and even though later it was replaced in my mind by MiG-29/F-14/Tornado, I have been always very fond of it. Also, it is such a unique aircraft, and having the opportunity to see it in person dozens of times, it always strikes me as a very original design, truly one of a kind. Surprisingly, there are only a few LEGO models of it, which might result from the fact that Sweden was its sole user, and as a result, it was never a "mainstream" jet. Among my favorites models of it are without a doubt Viggens by Stefan Johansson and a recent model of JA-37by SIGEZO. Still, both present a bit different approach to mine, so there were quite a few things I had to figure out on my own. I have been thinking about building a Viggen for a long time, however, I had no idea how to approach the cockpit section, which is quite tricky but essential to give the model a true, “Viggen vibe”. The problem with it is two-fold: first, its cross section has a distinctive, double curvature, which transitions smoothly into the windscreen. Secondly, there is a very strong sloping of the windscreen itself. For years I was not able to get around those things, but finally, the experience gained during building the F-4 provided me with a much-needed breakthrough. The next problematic part are cranked delta wings, with 3 different angles: 45, 57, and 63 degrees. It took a lot of optimizing, to make the leading edge look acceptable. The next challenge, was the main landing gear, as its tandem arrangement is extremely difficult to capture in LEGO, not to mention incorporating the necessary functionality. Even its final form the main landing gear is very much a compromise, and I had to look for especially tight-fitting combinations of the elements, to make it sturdy enough. The last thing was to get the fuselage right, and here, similarly as in my Phantom, the 2x1x3 arches combined with hinges proved invaluable. I would say that the final result is not bad, especially considering that I didn’t have very high expectations. About the model The model represents a SAAB JA-37 Viggen Mod C in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage is based on the JA-37 serial number 37410, which served in the F 16 unit until it was retired on 08.10.2003 with 1943 flying hours. It was one of the last JA-37 Mod C in service and currently is preserved at Osterlens Flygmuseum in Sweden. As usual, the model possesses a number of features: an openable cockpit, working flaps on both wings and canards (a unique feature for Viggen), working and folding vertical tail (another rare feature, enabling easy storing in hangars), retractable landing gear, and working thrust reverser. The loadout comprises one centerline 1500 liters tank, 2 Rb.71 BVR missiles (Sky Flash), and 2 Rb.74 (AIM-9L) WVR, infra-red missiles. Originally, I was thinking about the splinter camo, which was commonly featured on JA-37C (but never on JA-37D), but it would have required too many building compromises and extensive sticker work, for which I was not prepared. Still, as I didn’t want to make a boring, all-grey model, I opted for the “Red fin” Viggen, which turned out to be pretty ok. For more photos, check my Flickr gallery

Thanks! Unfortunately, I am not making any instructions, as I honestly have no idea how to translate some of the techniques to Stud.io or other software. Also, it's a bit too time-consuming for me, as usually I'm optimizing the internal structure of my models at least several times, so to make an instruction, I would have to simply destroy a finished model to see what's inside.

I started with the blueprints from E.V. Resin's book "McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Variant by variant". Sadly, they turned out to be inaccurate. Then, I switched to these ones, which I was able to verify as 100% accurate, based on the original, factory drawings.

Thank you! I must say that the Phantom turned out to be surprisingly "Lego-friendly" when it comes to making an actual model. Also, I was very lucky to find high-quality blueprints of F-4J, it made a huge difference, even when compared with my early WiP versions.

Thanks! Here is the underside, together with a closer view of the landing gear. In general, all pictures can be found on Flickr.

F-4 Phantom – 5195 units produced, 63 years of production/service, dozens of monographs, modelling plans, etc., what can go wrong? Well, actually quite many things. Still, after a few setbacks, here it is, my latest model About the jet The history of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II started back in the mid 50’, with the first flight taking place on 27th May 1958. Initially, the F4H-1 (the initial designation before the tri-service unification) started as an unsolicited proposal from McDonnell Douglas, which actually didn’t get much interest. Only after the problems of other Navy fighters led to the necessity of acquiring a new general-purpose fighter, the Phantom as we know could get its chance. After winning the competition against the Vought’s F8U-3 Crusader III submission, the F4H-1 went to service in 1961, with a new designation of F-4B (starting in 1962). Even though F-4B was a revolutionary design for it time, it still had a number of deficiencies, with the most serious ones being slightly too high approach speed, and its AN-APQ-72 radar lacking the look-down, shoot-down capabilities, performing poorly against the ground clutter. As a consequence, after delivering 649 F-4B, in late 1966 McDonnell introduced a new, improved version – the F-4J. This version featured a revised and strengthened internal structure, more powerful J79-GE-10 engines (the smokeless, 10B version was introduced later in 1978), new, wider tires (resulting in bulges on the top part of the wings), a few aerodynamic improvements for decreasing the approach speed (changes to inboard leading edges and slotted stabilator), and most importantly, new AWG-10 radar, with solid-state elements and prominent look-down, shoot-down capabilities. The F-4J served through the Vietnam war until the late 70’, together with the F-4B, and later F-4N (upgraded F-4B). After that, starting from 1978, the selected 265 F-4J underwent an upgrade to F-4S standard (the initial idea was for 302, but the number was reduced), featuring smokeless J79-GE-10B engines, improved electronics, and leading-edge maneuvering slats, similar to those on USAF’s F-4E. In this variant, Phantoms served until 1987 in USN, and 1992 in USMC. In the meantime, 15 F-4J were also sold to UK, to fill the gap left by FGR. 2 Phantoms (F-4M) deployed to the Falkland Islands. These aircraft, known also as F-4J(UK) Phantom F.3s, served from 1984 to 1991. Interestingly, they were greatly appreciated by the RAF pilots, with most of them considering them superior to British Spey-engined variants, mainly due to the much faster response of the J-79 turbojets, in comparison to Rolls-Royce Spey 203 turbofans. About the building process While I’ve always appreciated the F-4, I was never a “Phantom Phanatic”. In fact, the idea for this model came to me by accident – I was a bit stuck with other projects, and thinking about different solutions, the idea that 2x3x1 curved slopes would make for an excellent Phantom fuselage went through my mind. I thought that these easy, boxy shapes of F-4 would make for a nice relax after the complex shapes of my F-14 and MiG-29, and so I started. Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake at the very beginning – I used the blueprints from the book, without validating their correctness first, which later cost me a lot of headaches. Before going further, I should mention some of the F-4 models by other people, which were a huge inspiration to me. Of course, there is an excellent F-4B by Mad Physicist, a beautiful F-4B by Carl Greatrix, and a whole series of different F-4s by Justin Davies. However, from the viewpoint of my model, three Phantoms were of particular importance to me. The first one is F-4N by Jonah Padberg. Even though I’ve ended with a very different cockpit design, I’ve started with the modification of his 3-stud wide canopy and angled cockpit section. The next model is a F-4B by Maks, who made an excellent, SNOT version of the Phantom, which to a large degree influenced some of my design choices. Lastly, there is a huge, 1/15 scale F-4J by crash_cramer, which might be my favorite LEGO model ever. Similarly, as in the case of my F-14 Tomcat, I tried to emulate some of his techniques in a smaller scale. The first assumption was to go for the 3-stud wide canopy, similar to my MiG-29. Such a solution is much more accurate in this scale and makes the model look much more realistic in my opinion. In fact, I’m so pleased with the outcome here that I will likely rebuild my F-14 in near future to a similar standard. The construction itself started with the wings. I’ve always come under impression that similarly to F-15, the angle for the leading edge is 45 degrees. Well, not really. Instead, the angle is 51 degrees, which effectively eliminates any plate-based solutions, leaving the brick-built wing as the only valid option. So instead of getting a nice, simple, sturdy 45 degrees wing, I had to go with a brick-built one, which combined with the main landing gear solution and folding mechanism, proved to be a nightmare. After figuring it out, the next challenge was to design the angled cockpit area. Here, the solutions from Jonah’s model were of great help. With those two pieces in place, the rest went relatively smoothly, leading to the stage presented in WiP pictures. And then, having 85% of the model ready, I checked the validity of my blueprints. I was able to get my hands on the original F-4 factory drawing on the Aviation Archives website, and all my drawings turned out to be off by a considerable margin. Fortunately, I’m not the only person dissatisfied with the quality of available blueprints, and I was able to find this awesome website, with a set of 100% accurate drawings, based on the factory ones, including the cross-sections. That was good news, the bad one was that my fuselage was too short, too high, and too wide. So I had to lower the whole fuselage by a plate, elongate it by 2 studs, and modify it from 10-stud wide, to 9-stud wide. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard, but after lowering the fuselage, it became evident that the angling of the front section is too steep. This, in turn, required a complete revision of the already most problematic section, consuming an awful lot of time. But after all these problems, I finally got a model, with which I am quite satisfied. About the model The model represents a McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage is based on the F-4J from VF-96 squadron, BuNo. 155800, callsign “Showtime100”, deployed on the USS Constellation aircraft carrier in Vietnam, around 1972. This particular aircraft, on the 10th of May 1972, was credited with 3 MiG-17 kills, being flown by pilot Lt Randy Cunningham and RIO Lt(jg) Willy Driscoll. This effectively made them the only Navy aces of the Vietnam war, as they already had 2 kills on their account. You may also note that they flew a “borrowed” plane, as the name on the cockpit is that of Lowell “Gus” Eggert, who later commanded the USS Constellation from 1974 onward. As usual, the model possesses a number of features: openable cockpits, working flaps, foldable wings, working horizontal and vertical tails, retractable landing gear and tailhook. I’m rather pleased with the functionality, as most of the features, especially the landing gear, are much more reliable than in e.g. my MiG-29. The loadout comprises 4 AIM-7E Sparrows, 4 AIM-9G Sidewinders, and a centerline 600 gal. fuel tank. Also, under the wings, there are outboard pylons for two 370 gal. fuel tanks, which are visible on some of the photos. The credit for the stand design goes to Jerac. There is a small discrepancy in the camouflage – in principle nearly all USN phantoms had an all-white underside, with an exception of some late 80s’, extremely dull, low-vis versions. Unfortunately, due to the brick-built nature of the wing, I was unable to make them white on the bottom. For a moment, I contemplated utilizing huge white stickers, but it wouldn’t look all that great, and it would make the wings extremely modification-unfriendly. Still, the final effect is not that bad. So, please enjoy, and let me know what is your opinion on this model. Flickr gallery

F-4 Phantom – 5195 units produced, 63 years of production/service, dozens of monographs, modelling plans, etc., what can go wrong? Well, actually quite many things. Still, after a few setbacks, here it is, my latest model About the jet The history of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II started back in the mid 50’, with the first flight taking place on 27th May 1958. Initially, the F4H-1 (the initial designation before the tri-service unification) started as an unsolicited proposal from McDonnell Douglas, which actually didn’t get much interest. Only after the problems of other Navy fighters led to the necessity of acquiring a new general-purpose fighter, the Phantom as we know could get its chance. After winning the competition against the Vought’s F8U-3 Crusader III submission, the F4H-1 went to service in 1961, with a new designation of F-4B (starting in 1962). Even though F-4B was a revolutionary design for it time, it still had a number of deficiencies, with the most serious ones being slightly too high approach speed, and its AN-APQ-72 radar lacking the look-down, shoot-down capabilities, performing poorly against the ground clutter. As a consequence, after delivering 649 F-4B, in late 1966 McDonnell introduced a new, improved version – the F-4J. This version featured a revised and strengthened internal structure, more powerful J79-GE-10 engines (the smokeless, 10B version was introduced later in 1978), new, wider tires (resulting in bulges on the top part of the wings), a few aerodynamic improvements for decreasing the approach speed (changes to inboard leading edges and slotted stabilator), and most importantly, new AWG-10 radar, with solid-state elements and prominent look-down, shoot-down capabilities. The F-4J served through the Vietnam war until the late 70’, together with the F-4B, and later F-4N (upgraded F-4B). After that, starting from 1978, the selected 265 F-4J underwent an upgrade to F-4S standard (the initial idea was for 302, but the number was reduced), featuring smokeless J79-GE-10B engines, improved electronics, and leading-edge maneuvering slats, similar to those on USAF’s F-4E. In this variant, Phantoms served until 1987 in USN, and 1992 in USMC. In the meantime, 15 F-4J were also sold to UK, to fill the gap left by FGR. 2 Phantoms (F-4M) deployed to the Falkland Islands. These aircraft, known also as F-4J(UK) Phantom F.3s, served from 1984 to 1991. Interestingly, they were greatly appreciated by the RAF pilots, with most of them considering them superior to British Spey-engined variants, mainly due to the much faster response of the J-79 turbojets, in comparison to Rolls-Royce Spey 203 turbofans. About the building process While I’ve always appreciated the F-4, I was never a “Phantom Phanatic”. In fact, the idea for this model came to me by accident – I was a bit stuck with other projects, and thinking about different solutions, the idea that 2x3x1 curved slopes would make for an excellent Phantom fuselage went through my mind. I thought that these easy, boxy shapes of F-4 would make for a nice relax after the complex shapes of my F-14 and MiG-29, and so I started. Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake at the very beginning – I used the blueprints from the book, without validating their correctness first, which later cost me a lot of headaches. Before going further, I should mention some of the F-4 models by other people, which were a huge inspiration to me. Of course, there is an excellent F-4B by Mad Physicist, a beautiful F-4B by Carl Greatrix, and a whole series of different F-4s by Justin Davies. However, from the viewpoint of my model, three Phantoms were of particular importance to me. The first one is F-4N by Jonah Padberg. Even though I’ve ended with a very different cockpit design, I’ve started with the modification of his 3-stud wide canopy and angled cockpit section. The next model is a F-4B by Maks, who made an excellent, SNOT version of the Phantom, which to a large degree influenced some of my design choices. Lastly, there is a huge, 1/15 scale F-4J by crash_cramer, which might be my favorite LEGO model ever. Similarly, as in the case of my F-14 Tomcat, I tried to emulate some of his techniques in a smaller scale. The first assumption was to go for the 3-stud wide canopy, similar to my MiG-29. Such a solution is much more accurate in this scale and makes the model look much more realistic in my opinion. In fact, I’m so pleased with the outcome here that I will likely rebuild my F-14 in near future to a similar standard. The construction itself started with the wings. I’ve always come under impression that similarly to F-15, the angle for the leading edge is 45 degrees. Well, not really. Instead, the angle is 51 degrees, which effectively eliminates any plate-based solutions, leaving the brick-built wing as the only valid option. So instead of getting a nice, simple, sturdy 45 degrees wing, I had to go with a brick-built one, which combined with the main landing gear solution and folding mechanism, proved to be a nightmare. After figuring it out, the next challenge was to design the angled cockpit area. Here, the solutions from Jonah’s model were of great help. With those two pieces in place, the rest went relatively smoothly, leading to the stage presented in WiP pictures. And then, having 85% of the model ready, I checked the validity of my blueprints. I was able to get my hands on the original F-4 factory drawing on the Aviation Archives website, and all my drawings turned out to be off by a considerable margin. Fortunately, I’m not the only person dissatisfied with the quality of available blueprints, and I was able to find this awesome website, with a set of 100% accurate drawings, based on the factory ones, including the cross-sections. That was good news, the bad one was that my fuselage was too short, too high, and too wide. So I had to lower the whole fuselage by a plate, elongate it by 2 studs, and modify it from 10-stud wide, to 9-stud wide. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard, but after lowering the fuselage, it became evident that the angling of the front section is too steep. This, in turn, required a complete revision of the already most problematic section, consuming an awful lot of time. But after all these problems, I finally got a model, with which I am quite satisfied. About the model The model represents a McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage is based on the F-4J from VF-96 squadron, BuNo. 155800, callsign “Showtime100”, deployed on the USS Constellation aircraft carrier in Vietnam, around 1972. This particular aircraft, on the 10th of May 1972, was credited with 3 MiG-17 kills, being flown by pilot Lt Randy Cunningham and RIO Lt(jg) Willy Driscoll. This effectively made them the only Navy aces of the Vietnam war, as they already had 2 kills on their account. You may also note that they flew a “borrowed” plane, as the name on the cockpit is that of Lowell “Gus” Eggert, who later commanded the USS Constellation from 1974 onward. As usual, the model possesses a number of features: openable cockpits, working flaps, foldable wings, working horizontal and vertical tails, retractable landing gear and tailhook. I’m rather pleased with the functionality, as most of the features, especially the landing gear, are much more reliable than in e.g. my MiG-29. The loadout comprises 4 AIM-7E Sparrows, 4 AIM-9G Sidewinders, and a centerline 600 gal. fuel tank. Also, under the wings, there are outboard pylons for two 370 gal. fuel tanks, which are visible on some of the photos. The credit for the stand design goes to Jerac. There is a small discrepancy in the camouflage – in principle nearly all USN phantoms had an all-white underside, with an exception of some late 80s’, extremely dull, low-vis versions. Unfortunately, due to the brick-built nature of the wing, I was unable to make them white on the bottom. For a moment, I contemplated utilizing huge white stickers, but it wouldn’t look all that great, and it would make the wings extremely modification-unfriendly. Still, the final effect is not that bad. So, please enjoy, and let me know what is your opinion on this model. Flickr gallery