Decal mania

I want this ANG sheet from Blackbird models.

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UFOs

An interesting report on a recent UFO encounter that prompted an F-15 scramble.  I wonder what it was?

More ANG decals

One of my favorite decal manufacturers, Iliad Designs is doing a set of decals for ANG C-47s.  I can’t wait!

More kit news

Valom has announced they will be releasing their F-101C kit with KY Air National Guard markings. (H/T Jim Bates)

P-51s in ANG service

I have a special interest in ANG aircraft.  This blog, which is neat in some many respects, has a great article on the P-51 in ANG service.

Decal review: Iliad Decals ANG Mustangs #72011

Decal review: Iliad Decals ANG Mustangs #72011

I love the new Airfix 72^nd scale aircraft line.  They are very nice, simple but well detailed models for an excellent price.  I also have an abiding interest in Air National Guard (ANG) aircraft.  I hope eventually to build one ANG aircraft from each of the 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico.

Bob Migliardi, the man behind Iliad Decals came out a few years ago with a 48^th scale sheet of ANG markings for P-51s.  An embarrassing amount of begging followed, with me pleading with Bob to shrink the sheet down to 72^nd scale. (God’s One True Scale.)  Either Bob got tired of my pleading, or he ignored me completely but decided it made good business sense to release the sheet in 72^nd scale. In any event, a 72^nd scale version of the sheet follow.  I got one immediately.

By shear serendipity, Airfix released a new kit of the P-51 in 72^nd scale.  It is a beautiful kit.  While it might not be quite as nice or detailed as the Tamiya version, it is very nice and only $7.95 as compared to $25.00 for the Tamiya.  Clearly the modeling gods wanted me to start my ANG collection. (On a side note, my collection actually started 25+ years ago when I built the Hasegawa F-106 in Massachusetts ANG markings.  Sadly that kit didn’t survive my subsequent moves.  However, again proving the modeling gods love me, Meng has just released a new kit of the F-106.)

The kit went together very well. (Look for a subsequent kit review in the near future.)

The sheet has markings for P-51s from the Indiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, South Dakota and Missouri.  I decided on Indiana because of my proximity to the state of Indiana.  The decals are in register and the colors are excellent.  The decals are very thin.  Since I was putting the decals over a silver/bare metal surface, I was concerned that the carrier film would show on the kits surface.  I need not have worried, the carrier film disappeared completely with the application of the Micro Sol, Micro Set system.

Given how nice the decals are, and how easy and cheap the Airfix kit is I can see myself building more aircraft using markings from this sheet.  The sheet is $12 and can be purchased directly from Iliad on their website, http://www.iliad-design.com/

Long term project

One of my long term projects is to build one aircraft of an ANG unit from each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico.  With having completed an Indiana Air National Guard P-51 and with Meng announcing  a new F-106 kit, my interest has been rekindled.  So far, this is what I think I’d like to build for selected states:

Indiana     P-51

Michigan, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Montana, Florida, California  F-106

Texas, Pennsylvania   F-102

Kentucky RF-4C

New Mexico F-16

I am open to suggestions for the rest.