This is actually the OLDEST kit I have in my stash. By calling this one the oldest, I'm not referring to the 1983 date. Instead this is the oldest kit in my collection that I actually purchased when it was new. It goes way back to my childhood and is the 1983 boxing.

I have some other kits dating from the late 1960's and early 70's, but they were purchased years later and were second hand when I got them.

After finishing up High School, I purchased this kit, then joined the Army and left home before I got it assembled.

After serving in the Army, my first mistake (I mean my first marriage), having kids at home, and working to earn a living, I gave up building for many years following that.

Fast forward to 1995, and I got back into the hobby. I was surprised to see that this kit, along with a 1/48 Monogram A-4 Skyhawk were still there waiting for me, covered in years of dust, at my childhood home.

When was the last time you saw an instruction sheet like this ? Written in English, with paint colors mentioned along with the part descriptions. As a kid, I learned SO much about aircraft by using instructions like this. You could read and understand what the part was called...

The instruction sheet has yellowed some on my kit's instructions, but no so much on Jeff's kit.

The original decals however, surprisingly they were not trashed.

I'll be sure to scan them though. I have some new aftermarket decals waiting for these two.

Now this Korean War group is drawing to a close, there's no better time than the present, to give the old girl the care and respect she deserves.

Jeff Bailey was kind enough to send me the other one.

It too is a fairly early Monogram example, from 1983, which I think was following the initial 1977 release by Monogram. Thanks Jeff, aka BFAM and fellow "Tanker tread head" like me.

So in my typical "Iron Werke" fashion, I will be building both Shooting Stars at the same time.

Some of you know that I have not been too active on Imodeler lately. To be honest with you, this work I'm posting here tonight was actually done a month or so.

My goal is to get these two and the rest of my Korean War stuff finished before the July 27th ending. Life throws us curve balls every once in a while, and it happens when we least expect it to.

So here is wishing that I will be able to knock these two out.

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
Thank you my friend. I agree it was very kind of Jeff to send me this kit.

This installment covers some work that was previously done.

The front and rear fuselage sections were glued together. Monogram has engineered the model, so the engine can be displayed. I chose to avoid the troubles that I have read about, I simply eliminated the slip joint between the front and rear sections.

The cockpit tubs were also assembled, and are ready to paint now.

The painted cockpits were glued in place, as were the door covering the nose mounted MG's. This door didn't fit too well and will require some filler.

The completed engines and nose wheel wells were glued in at this point. I didn't paint or detail the engines, since only part of the tail pipe will be visible once everything is done.

The wings were removed from the trees, and wheel wells painted in Yellow Zinc Chromate.

In order to keep these from being a "tail sitter", i simply snipped away the nose mounted .050 ammo boxes and feeds. You can see how much room this made.

I used a .050 caliber black powder musket ball for the nose weight. This should be enough to keep the nose wheel on the ground. I did a quick balance check and it's plenty nose heavy for now.



After trimming away some more plastic near the joint between the front and rear fuselage sections, and on the exterior of the engine's combustion chambers, I was able to get a nice tight fitting seam along the fuselage spine. The undersides look good too.

One more update coming right up...

These two will make a great project, Louis (@lgardner). If I remember correctly, the F-80 was one of Monogram's more detailed kit. Your skill will make them into great replicas. I have a couple of these in the stash somewhere, so I will be taking notes.

In actual fact. Russell Brown did not shoot down a MiG-15. It would be impossible to do with only one gun working. What he thought were pieces coming off was when the Russian pilot dropped his drop tanks. In fact, as Brown was climbing back to rejoin his flight, the Russian was flying across thje Yalu at low altitude and landed at Antung about the time Brown slipped back into formation.

Air Force claims for MiGs were mostly specious at best. The six .50 caliber machine gun armament was too light to kill a MiG unless they hit a vital spot. By 1953, the AF was awarding a "kill" to any pilot whose gun camera film showed 100 hits on MiG - which meant a good 80% of those claims were BS.

Russian claims were frequently BS also, due to the fact their gun camera didn't shoot continuously.

Rather than a 10:1 "walk over" in MiG Alley, it was 1:1 in 1951 when the US was up against experienced Russians, and overall for the war about 1.2:1 for the US. A more important set of figures are that no Russian airplanes were ever seen over the MLR - the Sabres won the important fight. A close-run victory.

If you check out my article on doing this kit, @lgardner, you'll see how to do it without turning the model into a putty monster.

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
John Healy (@j-healy)

Thanks gents for the kind and encouraging words on these two. I'm currently pressed for time, so I have to keep tonight's posting short.

I will try my very best to respond back to you again soon, with a much better reply to each of you.

Thanks again, and please stay tuned for tonight's update.

You went at it the right way @lgardner. Careful assembly with this kit will go a long way to solving problems.

Great progress so far, my friend @lgardner!