Aircraft walkaround vol.77: BAE/McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harrier

Subject: BAE/McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harrier

Location: Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum, New York, USA 2014

Comments:Originating in Great Britain, the Harrier attracted the interest of the United States Marine Corps in 1966 because of its unique ability to land and take off vertically like a helicopter, enabling it to operate from makeshift airfields near the front lines or small deck amphibious assault ships, thereby providing a quick response in the close air support of ground troops. During Operation Desert Storm, a total of 86 Harriers flew combat missions from both ship and shore, logging 3,380 sorties. Harriers also flew in support of Operation Allied Force, the sustained NATO air campaign against Kosovo in 1999, and continue to fly in support of operations in Afghanistan. Originally delivered as an AV-8A Harrier, the displayed aircraft was redesignated an AV-8C in 1982, one of 47 AV-8As converted. Its served in Marine Attack Squadrons  flying from the amphibious assault ships .

Kit review vol.32: Boeing IM-99 Bomarc SAM missile

Subject:	Boeing IM-99 Bomarc SAM
Scale:	1/56
Manufacturer:	Revell SSP
Price	US$25,00 plus shipping
Description	Injected plastic model with waterslide decals.
Comments	In january 2016, i published an article about the first release of the IM-99 Bomarc kit back in 1957 (review here). I have it's original boxing in my collection and recently started thinking about building my sample. Around July 2016, i discovered that Revell was planing a release of this kit once again and i waited very anxiously  to the this day. Last week finally i received my copy of the kit. I will preserve my 1957 Bomarc for the sake of modeling history. Opening the box i found out that the molds have survived with few problems. Details are nice, and the kit has recessed panel lines. However, there are huge rivets, some flash and some obvious fit problems. Revell edited a new instruction booklet, but used the 1957  drawings (nice touch!). Decals are for the colorful version on the box art (also from 1957), but this time you also get two other options for finishing the bomarc: an overall aircraft grey USAF version and a Canadian missile. This kit will soon be on my workbench. I can't resist the nostalgia of building this one!

Aircraft walkaround vol.76: McDonnell-Douglas F-4N Phantom II

Subject: McDonnell-Douglas F-4N Phantom II

Location: Intrepid Air, Sea and Space museum, New York, USA, 2014.

Comments: The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor aircraft/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their respective air wings. The F-4B was the first major naval version of the aircraft. However, by the early 1970's, the planes were reaching the end of their service life and becoming obsolete. Ye Navy started a program to update this planes and kerping them in Service. The F-4N was the answer. Externally this planes were very similar to the original F-4B, but new electronics kept them at the edge of weapons technology and in frontline service.

Kit review vol.31: North American X-15A2

Subject:	North American X-15A2
Scale:	1/48
Manufacturer:	Special Hobby
Price	US$55,00 plus shipping
Description	Injected plastic model with  resin parts and waterslide decals.
Comments	This is Special Hobby's 1/48 scale X-15A2. This is my second review about X-15 kits. It is a limited run model, so it is not ideal for first time modelers as the 1/144 Dragon kit reviewed before is.  The larger parts of the aircraft are low pressure plastic injected pieces, while most of the small and fine detail is made of resin. This detailed parts are fantastic and add a lot to a otherwise very simple kit. Decals are provided for the dark colored livery of the X15 and for the white ablative coated finished using during it's last flights. The lettering on the original decal sheet was printed in wrong format, so you get another small one with corrected markings. This kit is already on my workbench and soon i will publish an article about it's construction.

Military aircraft vol.86: North American X-15

Subject:	North American X-15
Scale:	1/144
Manufacturer:	Dragon
Price	US$20,00 plus shipping
Description	Injected plastic model with  waterslide decals.
Comments	This is my finished North American X-15 kit by Dragon. I have a review of the kit following the link bellow: Kit review Also there is a construction article following the next link: Kit construction