AZ Models

[kitbasher]

The 'MB6' suits the tip tanks and I'm tempted.  But 'Sea Ferret' and 'Night Ferret'.  Whaaat?

I can see the MB5 and MB6 in Korean War colours in lieu of Spit 24s (oddly, not Seafire 46s) and Sea Furies.

I like the idea of a two-seater MB5.  Maybe a shirtened Meteor NF14 canopy (probably too wide); Sea Fury T20 canopy should work.

[Weaver]

Hmm, the Firestreaks in both those pics look pretty worn, which is weird because they can't have fired them already or they'd be on the deck at some range or underwater by now, so why are they worn?

Does wizzing around at M 2.0 attached to a Lightning wear the paint off that much?

It does actually - look at the state of painted Lightning nose cones! Plus, a green-painted Firestreak was probably originally a white-painted one, so that layer of green paint is purely cosmetic and as light as possible, not the 'skin component' paint used for the white layer.

Some missiles have a 'carry life' that defines how many hours they can be carried for at what speeds and altitudes before they're officially scrap: you can have a 'worn out' missile that's never been fired. Reportedly this is the reason why Firestreaks were retained in the Lightning force until the end of it's days, and you often saw them carried instead of Red Tops: they were used to preserve carry life on the latter.

[PR19_Kit]

Ahah, I'll have to remember to weather my missiles in future, thanks. 

[KiwiZac]

At least Sky Ferret is a bit better than Sea Baker...

[Weaver]

Ahah, I'll have to remember to weather my missiles in future, thanks. 

It seems to depend on the individual missile design, what it's painted with, and what service it's seen. The best bet is to check for reference photos. Make sure that you're looking at REAL missiles in REAL service though: a lot of pics are of dummy 'handling shapes' that are often the wrong colours, sometimes the wrong shape, and may never have flown at all.

To digress, a good example is the Sea Dart. Many people swear blind to this day that they were painted red, but the fact is that the red ones were dummy handling rounds. Every Type 42 carried a pair of them in peacetime, and they were fond of running them out onto the rails when entering or leaving port, doing public open days and photo shoots, so there are LOTS of pics of red Sea Darts. Actual operational Sea Darts were white though, with a variety of coloured patches.

Likewise, many modellers, kit companies and reference book artists insist that 60lb RP-3 rockets had black bodies, because, well, it's obvious: you can go to any museum and look at one. It's also wrong though: live rockets had green bodies, but the vast majority of those were either fired or destroyed when obsolete becuase they were dangerous live munitions. That meant that the ones which survived to get into museums and under historic warbirds were the inert black drill rounds that could be safely donated from stores depots and training establishments.

[kitbasher]

Comets on their way:
https://www.facebook.com/azmodelkits/posts/1809676085723659

https://www.facebook.com/azmodelkits/posts/1810745465616721

[zenrat]

Ooh, nice.

[NARSES2]

Ah having done my RAF P.R. version a few years ago, it's on here somewhere, I fancy another light fighter version 

[kitbasher]

Ah having done my RAF P.R. version a few years ago, it's on here somewhere, I fancy another light fighter version 

Single-seater with four MGs in the nose as a Gauntlet alternative?  Tempted by that.

There's a replica DH.88 undergoing rebuild at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum (it'll be painted up as the green one). That and G-ACSS prove it's a heftier beast than the Airfix kit suggests.
I'll be getting one for real world (Black Magic) build. 

[NARSES2]

Ah having done my RAF P.R. version a few years ago, it's on here somewhere, I fancy another light fighter version 

Single-seater with four MGs in the nose as a Gauntlet alternative?  Tempted by that.

Absolutely, certainly Silver Wings period

[Green Dragon]

There are quite a few Comets coming in addition to AZ, Mikro Mir are doing 1/48th and 1/72, SBS's resin kit and I'm sure I heard of another but can't remember who's doing it (might have been a Frog repop though!).

Paul Harrison

[Weaver]

Looks like I sold all my re-boxed old Airfix ones just in time then! 

[Spey_Phantom]

AZ Models has announced a new What If 
the X-3 Stilleto is being released in 1/72 scale.

aside from the orriginal X-3, they are also releasing the kit as a WHIF F-3 version with USAF markings 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/1162658-az-model-az7598-x-3-stiletto-what-if

[TheChronicOne]

Pretty cool!!! I can dig it....

[The Big Gimper]

Here is the decal sheet:



I have not any seen any sprue shots so not sure if it comes with any weapons. But if you are interested in putting on news wings (I am) here are some comparisons.

From the bottom up:

• Hasegawa Mirage F.1 kit
• Hasegawa F-16A kit
• ESCI F-104 kit
• Mach 2 kit

F-3 Wing options by Big Gimper, on Flickr

I like the F.1 wing myself: Big wing "F-3E"