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What's new

• Lesley Choi from Singapore joins us today with his beautifully built Trumpeter 1/32 F4F Wildcat. Really nice weathering job!
• John Chung is here with the next part of the build article of his beautiful Revell 1/48 F/A-18E Super Hornet with unbelievably lots of scratchbuilding and corrections. This is Part II, last part will follow in the next update!
• Christoph Mentzel returns to us today, and shows his Revell / Italeri 1/700 Admiral Kuznetsov. Chris used 2 kits to be better in the scale, as there's no 1/700 kit of this carrier.
• Gerry Clarke shows some of his nice photos of the F/A-18F Super Hornets of VFA-106 Gladiators.

News by Alert 5:

• John Chung presents the initial part of his beautiful Revell 1/48 F/A-18E Super Hornet with unbelievably lots of scratchbuilding and corrections. This is Part I, next part will follow in the next update!
• Asai Shirai joins us today with his nice Tamiya 1/72 F4D Skyray with really nice photography...looks like the real thing flying!
• Martin J. Quinn is here and shows his Trumpeter 1/350 USS Saratoga CV-3 converted from the Lexington kit. Nice job!
• Gerry Clarke shares some pictures of this EA-6B Prowler in VAQ-137 Rooks markings.

Editorial:

• 
  
  There's a nice idea from Canada. Gary Porter is working on a project for a long time to help the international troops in Afghanistan with spare kits, and modeling supplies. The purpose is to have a modeling club for the guys there. Please read the following letter I've got from Gary:
  
  "Dear Zoltan,
  
  I can't tell you just how much this means. I've worked so hard to make this project real for so long and in the last few weeks since we finally got approval and support from the Canadian Armed Forces, it's like this tidal wave of help and generosity has flooded over me.
  I was interviewed by a military magazine yesterday and one of the people in attendance was an Armed Forces Infantryman who had 18 months in Afghanistan. He was overcome with emoton when I told him of the kind of outpouring of love and support from people like yourself for the soldiers. This man is a hulking brute of a fellow who was brought to tears by the idea that people here in the world cared about him and his brothers in arms still in country.
  The only thing I really want folks to know it that while we laid the groundwork for this particular program, due to an intensive security and shipping protocal we have to follow, the official address is the only portal into Kandahar for these kits. As well, we are also collecting hobby and craft items for the ladies in uniform who also need to find a way to releave their stress. Lastly, while the Canadian Armed Forces is providing all the logistical support for getting the kits and supplies ovver there, this project is intended for all coalition troops. Canada is simply a host. After all, every soldier in the coalition is thousands of miles from home, far from the people who love them and under the same stress. So why shouldn't all of them have to opportunity to enjoy this distraction.
  One last note before I thank you again.
  We ask only one specific thing of anyone making a donation. Take a moment and write your name on the box (not the plastic wrapper as these will be removed during the security inspection) to let the soldier know that someone over here in the world they are fighting to protect cared enough to send them this kit as a way of saying thank you for everything you are going through. That connection to someone here is the whole point of this project.
  Thank you again and I really appreciate the support you're giving.
  
  Cheers
  Gary Porter"
  
  If you have some spare kits, you want to reduce your stash as you'll not have 3500 years to build all of the kits you collected, if you have some supplies to share, please support these guys! More info here!

News by Alert 5:

• Next carrier would bear Gerald Ford's name
  CVN 78, the first ship in the CVN 21 class, may be named USS Gerald Ford. The former president served aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific from 1943-1944. Congress must approve the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2007 in order for it to take effect.
  The selection has drawn criticism from the USS America Carrier Veterans Association who wants the name carrier to carry the America name.
  President Ford said he is "highly honored" by the Senate's vote to name the Navy's newest aircraft carrier after him. He called Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner on Thursday to thank him for the honor. 
• Exercise Valiant Shield 2006
  A B-2 leading 16 other aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps fly over the USS Kitty Hawk, USS Ronald Reagan and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups to kick-off Exercise Valiant Shield 2006. U.S. Navy photo/Chief Photographer's Mate Todd P. Cichonowicz.
• Northrop Grumman Begins Assembly of First Production EA-18G Growler, the Navy's Next-Generation Electronic Attack Aircraft
  Northrop Grumman Corporation has begun assembling the first production center and aft fuselage for the U.S. Navy's EA-18G Growler.
• Lincoln Hosts Foreign Military Observers During Valiant Shield '06
  USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) sail in formation at the start of Exercise Valiant Shield 2006.
• Marine Corps Ospreys "writing the book" on long-range deployments
  A pair of USMC MV-22 Ospreys completed two non-stop, coast-to-coast flights last week to prepare for the tiltrotor's forthcoming flight to England.
• Boeing pitches for IAF deal
  Boeing vice president Chris Chadwick gave this interview to The Financial Express regarding its F/A-18 E/F proposal to India.
• Ronald Reagan Strike Group Underway Following Hong Kong Visit
  USS Ronald Reagan departed Hong Kong June 13, following a four-day scheduled port visit.
• Final departure for F-14s
  Tomcats dipped their noses forward, bowing to the crowd who came to watch them depart Long Island for the last time yesterday.
   

• Mark Deakin joins us today with his nice Tamiya 1/350 USS Enterprise CVN-65. I love the accurate markings of the airwing!
• Pete Wenman presents his very beautiful Hasegawa 1/48 F-4J Phantom II with lot of aftermarket items. Very nice job!
• Rafi Ben-Shahar is here with his first submission, which is a Pro-Modeler 1/48 SB2C-4 Helldiver with KMC wingfold set. Pretty good Helldiver!
• Gerry Clarke shows some of his nice photos of the F/A-18E Super Hornets of VFA-115 Eagles.

Editorial:

• For more than 10 months, I was updating the site without internet connection which made lot of troubles and difficulties to me. At last last week, I've got my 16Mbit line, and everything will be much easier from now. I reinstalled my whole system and everything is stable and running. It does not mean that there will be daily updates, but you don't have to wait 2 weeks for an update in the future, and naval aviation related news will be provided more frequently. Thank you for your patience!
• I'm looking for some reviewers, as I've got tons of review samples, and I'm way behind from where I should be concerning the reviews. If you feel yourself good enough to make good reviews, to take the appropriate shots for the article, and scan where it's needed, please contact me!

News by Alert 5:

• Gregor Krizman joins us today, and shows his pretty nice Italeri 1/48 TBM-1D Avenger. This is actually the Accurate Miniatures kit re-boxed.
• Greg Wise is here with his Tamiya 1/48 N1K1 Shinden built out of the box.
• Rick Cotton returns to us with the Trumpeter 1/350 USS Hornet. Nice carrier as always...good job Rick!
• Gerry Clarke shares some pictures of E-2C Hakweye in WAV-123 Screwtops Colors.

News by Alert 5:

• Sorry guys, no news this time...

• Today's opening article is an really nice submission, with extensive article. This is Craig McNiece's Italeri 1/48 F/A-18F Super Hornet. Good job!
• Laurent “Angus” Beauvais joins us today, and presents a rare subject in this scale, this is Fonderie Miniatures 1/48 Piasecki H21 Flying Banana in French Navy makings.
• Michael Stanley's next submission is this Accurate Miniatures 1/48 A5M Claude of Japanese Navy.
• Giampiero Galeotti submitted a nice and rare carrier, Delphis Models 1/700 Giuseppe Garibaldi C551. Nice work!

Editorial:

• Unfortunately the T-Com technician was really not helpful concerning activating the phone line in my apartment, so I still don't have internet even though I already subscribed for it.  But we're close! Thank you for your patience!

News by Alert 5:

• Sorry guys, no news this time...

• Frank Ilse returns to us with his really nice Tamiya 1/350 USS Enterprise CVN-65. Good work on this beast!
• This is the first submission of José Pedro Pires at Carrierbuilders. He's introduction article is about his nice Revell 1/48 Dassault Rafale "M". Welcome aboard!
• A usual contributor, Michael Stanley presents his Monogram 1/48 F9F-5 Panther from his hige collection!
• Gerry Clarke shares some of his VF-213 Black Lions F-14D Tomcats. Nice shots as always!

Editorial:

• My move to Frankfurt went successfully, I can say I settled down. Thank you for being patient! I already order internet to my apartment, so I hope in a few week this problem with the updates will be resolved, and even though I'm facing hard times at my workplace, I can do more frequent updates than this one.
  
  Thank you for your patience!

News by Alert 5:

•  HMS Illustrious Sends Birthday Message To Her Majesty The Queen
  The sailors of HMS Illustrious took time out to spell out "Happy 80th" on the 200m flight deck for Queen Elizabeth's birthday.
• Equipment cut to pay for V-22s
  Critics say that money from the recent emergency appropriations to cover the war in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be used to fund 'toys' like the V-22.
  The Senate Appropriations Committee gave $230 million in unrequested funds to buy three V-22 Ospreys recently.
• Last F-14 to Fly Combat Mission Comes to NAS Pensacola
  The last F-14 Tomcat to fly a combat mission made its final flight to Naval Air Station Pensacola April 13.
  The Tomcat will be immortalized at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
• Oriskany On Course for Sinking in Gulf of Mexico May 17 (Video)
  Decommissioned aircraft carrier ex-Oriskany (CVA 34) is scheduled to be sunk on May 17 and the USN hopes to submerged it on an even keel with south-facing orientation.
• Doolittle Raiders celebrate 64th reunion
  Eight of the surviving 16 Doolittle Raiders raise their goblets for their fallen brothers during their 64th reunion in Dayton, Ohio, Apr. 18. U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr.
• You've heard about guns and butter. How about plants and planes?
  Boeing Co.'s defense unit hopes that by helping Malaysia's plant science industry, it could secure an order for eight F/A-18 Super Hornet. GEMPUR WIRA folks will be excited about this.
• ‘Warriors’ surpass safety milestone, reach 100,000 mishap-free hours
  USMC's HML/A-167 reached 100,000 mishap-free flight hours March 10. The last 6,500 hours were all combat hours flown in Iraq; both day and night.
• Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Demonstrates Network Capability in Multiple JDAM Drop
  Boeing has successfully demonstrated the capability of an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to provide targeting coordinates to other aircraft using the Raytheon APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system.
• CVW-17 Completes Training at Pinecastle
  Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 completed three days of training and exercises at the Navy’s Pinecastle Bombing Range in Florida April 10.
  The Florida Air National Guard, flying F-15C Eagles, participated in both an air wing strike as well as air combat training with VFA-11 and VFA-81.

   

• Today I showcase Chris Mentzel's Corsair Armada 1/700 USS Ranger. Very nice job as usual, I love the water effect!
• Greg Wise presents his beautiful Ertl 1/48 S-3B Viking with Superscale decals. This is the well known NAVY 1 bird
• Gennady Kasyanenko returns, this time with this small Italeri 1/72 Augusta-Bell AB-204B in Royal Netherlands Navy markings.
• Jim Flagg shares some nice shots he took at Naval Air Museum Pensacola. This time we present the SB2U Vindicator.

Editorial:

• As my company moves to Frankfurt (with all the employees) next week, I cannot guarantee any updates in the next 2 weeks! It's not impossible to have one, but I can't promise. I'll do my best. I already tried to find a good internet solution into my new apartment, but as I'm not speaking German it's really hard. Whenever I'll have net at home, I'll be able to check the submissions with missing details, and I can contact the persons to complete the submissions in order to get those posted.
  
  Thank you for your patience!

News by Alert 5:

• Sorry guys, no news this time...

• Mike Dillard joins us today with his nicely done 1/720 Italeri USS George Washington. This build is a conversion of the Italeri Nimitz kit, and you can see the really good effect of color scaling and good photography. Congratulations Mike!
• Derek Derks returns with his Monogram 1/48 AV-8B Harrier diorama. This diorama depicts a scene from Operation Desert Storm.
• I review the Revell 1/48 F/A-18E Super Hornet. Review sample provided by Luckymodel

News by Alert 5:

• U.S. Aircraft Carrier Abe to Come to Korea
  USS Abraham Lincoln will visit South Korea for the first time for a joint U.S.-Korean military exercise called Reception, Staging, Onward movement and Integration (RSOI).
• Chief of Naval Operations ''encouraged'' that Oceana can be saved
  Chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Mullen, said he remains "encouraged" by state and local efforts to preserve NAS Oceana.
• INS Vikrant to be used as training platform
  India's decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will be used to provide shipboard training to cadets.
• Oceana Fly-In
  Bill Paisley shares with us his experience of the last Tomcat fly-in.
• A fast blast into past
  It was bittersweet for Rear Adm. Sandy Winnefeld when he saw the 22 Tomcats flew past USS Theodore Roosevelt for the last time.
• F-14D flyover video
  From WAVY-TV.
• Squadron Homecoming Marks End of Era for Tomcats
  VF-31 and VF-213 flew the last operational flight of the F-14D Tomcat as they return to NAS Oceana.
• Top Gun to get new commanding officer in June (Free Registration)
  Rear Admiral Mark T. Emerson, commander of the U.S. Navy's Strike Force Training Command, Pacific, has been named the new Commander of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) at NAS Fallon.

• Andy Mullen is here again, I continue to showcase his excellent Tomcat collection. This time it's a Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A Tomcat in VF-213 markings. Good job as usual!
• Dietmar Carstensen joins us today with his nice Academy 1/72 Catalina PBY-5A Black Cat. Really good work, welcome aboard!
• Dan Linton is presenting the Part V of the articles featuring his incredible Scratchbuilt 1/144 USS Nimitz CVN-68 project. This part is generally about the hull.
• Robert Rossman is back with the usual beautiful refueling shots. This time a VFA-14 Tophatters F/A-18E is being refueled.

Editorial:

• If you have sent me any submissions several months ago, and it's still not featured on the site, it's probably because you missed something from the guidelines. I've got tons of submissions without names, model scale and brand descriptions and so on. Please understand that I'd like to keep the site's quality high, so I'm not posting submissions with partial information! If you think you missed something, please check the submission guidelines again, and feel free contact me! I'll contact you one by one in the next months to get the info that is missing to post your submission anyway. If your submission matches the guidelines, then it will be posted for sure sooner or later!

News by Alert 5:

• Sorry guys, no news this time...

• Andre Bruinsma joins us with his nice Trumpeter 1/32 Corsair II with handpainted markings.
• Jan M. Visser is back. This time he shows us his rare Collect-Aire 1/48 S-2E Tracker. Great job in this full resin kit!
• Jim Baumann joins us with his HP Models 1/700 HMS Furious. There's a lot of work to build up this resin kit to be accurate!
• John Bisjop is here again with his next extensive walkaround. This time he shares his beautiful CF-18 Hornet phototour. Really useful shots, but keep in mind that at some areas US Navy / Marines Hornets are different from this Canadian version! Thanks for sharing John!

Editorial:

• As it seems we had not enough time to finish the models already started for the Group Build, so I extended the deadline again, but now to 1st of August, 2006. I hope it will be enough to finish the kits you guys bought for this event! Please understand that this is the last modification to the deadline, no more extension after August! We'll start an other Group Build after this time.
  
   
   
• Sorry for the rare updates, but I'm having technical difficulties again as I still don't have internet access in my apartment. Please be patient, all submitted and accepted materials will be uploaded!

News by Alert 5:

• Sorry guys, no news this time...