James H

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, After a hectic Telford this year, finally arrived home mid afternoon and took the photos of the sprue shots for the forthcoming bomber version of the DH Mosquito, from HK Models. Plenty of slide-moulding on show here, including elevators, ailerons, rudder, flaps, wingtips, and that stunning fuselage and SINGLE PIECE wing! Yes, you read that correctly....the entire wing (except tips, with two options), is ONE part!!! No joints to remove....just a fine moulding seam. Notice optional canopy parts, and choice of cookie and regular bomb load, with the bay doors to suit. There will be a 2 stage engine option, but that's being worked on. What you see here is for the single stage Merlin. Despite plenty of slide moulding genius, this model still has over TWENTY sprues! Enjoy!!

Always make sure you clean the crap out from the joint between the crown cap and the section behind it. If you don't get a good mechanical and crap free joint there, you can have impaired performance.

I'll drop by and say hello Petr. Catch you on Saturday

Erik, you are a slave to convention

Anzo, thanks for sharing this with us. Be gentle.....those frames look complex.

Hi Layton, no the model is finished now. Highlighting the rivets would make it look so false I think. I purposely kept away from that in 1:24.

The real beauty of this is that the only definite stage of the shark mouth application is that it originally had a camo infill. After that, it's been widely presumed it was filled in with red, but that isn't certain. No one knows. Interpretation of the the b/w photos with new technology doesn't absolutely prove it was red or otherwise. The colour of blue use on the interior wheel doors, spinner, radiator and chequer band does look very similar to the infill on some images. It's very possible or even probable, that they continued the same theme to the mouth. The beauty is....no one knows. It could have been the 'red' that was artistic licence

1:32 AMC DH.9 interior (for Wingnut Wings kit) HGW Catalogue # 132123 Available from HGW for 159 Kč HGW's collaboration with Eduard is well-known, and for a long time, we've seen a good stream of upgrade detail sets from this Czech company, and also their own version of Eduard's BIGED sets, where a modeller can buy all the related sets for a specific model, at a reduced price. Today we take a look at a set designed to upgrade the cockpit of Wingnut Wings' recent AMC DH.9 release. That actual kit was reviewed HERE. As per the recent seatbelt sets we took a look at, this set is also packaged into an attractive, slim sleeve which is reinforced with a rigid card insert. A single, small photo etch fret is attached to the black satin face paper within the packet, and a sheet of folded instructions are included to the rear. This release is one of HGW's simply sets, designed to complement an already excellent plastic cockpit. You really don't need to do much to the WNW kit, and this is reflected in this upgrade. The focal point for this interior set is the instrument panel, and more than half of the parts included are destined to end up there. To install this, you much grind away the moulded detail on the plastic instrument panel, leaving a smooth face. I would also reduce the thickness of the panel itself by the equivalent thickness you will add, by means of the etch replacement. The first step, once you apply the metal face to the plastic part, will be to add the wood-grain detail you wish to add. A perfect candidate for this is the Uschi van der Rosten or HGW wood decal product, as the surface, without bezels, is completely flat. Once done, you then need to add some backing discs to the etched instrument locations, followed by the WNW instrument decals which will sit atop these. These will then be followed by the numerous bezels which can first be airbrushed before assembly. A few other minor details are also then to be added. Other cockpit detail includes various sidewall equipment, such as throttle/mixture quadrants. You will need to add a little thin wire or plastic rod to these to act as control cables for these various items. Lastly, a set of leather straps are included, which you'll fit to the rudder pedals. The instruction sheet is very typically 'Eduard' in style, with line drawings being supplied for the various assembly stages, and coloured ink to denote newly fitted parts and those that require surgery. Nothing here will be difficult. Conclusion A very simple and affordable upgrade path which will ultimately produce a great looking instrument panel for your DH.9, and throw a few extra refinements into the mix too. Everything here could be achieved by a novice too. There really wasn't much to do to improve the DH.9, but HGW still found a few areas that they could work their magic on. Highly recommended My sincere thanks to HGW for this review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link. James H

Hi gang, Sorry I've been pretty quiet recently, but Airfix asked me to build one of the Typhoon Über kits for display on their stand at Scale Model World, Telford. This kit is magnificent, but no 2 week project. I rushed this one to get it built in time, and it still took 7 weeks, which is is only a couple of weeks short of what it would take me to do two magazine projects. Airfix have commissioned four modellers to build the four schemes available in the kit. Everything here is OOB (through necessity) except for Airscale cockpit decals and masks which were used for the tail chequer band. I found the kit decal colours to be muddy and wrong. I still need to add fuses to the rockets and also more weathering to the wheels, but it's almost there. I'm not going to beat myself up over a rush build, and I know I could have improved many areas. Hope you like it.

Cowl dimensions and shapes weren't correct, and were more akin to modified single stage shapes, but with the same dimensions. All is in hand

Possibly the best D.VII I've ever seen! Construction images?

They also know about the problem with the two stage cowls, and will rectify that.

You could have had it last January, but then folks would have pissed and moaned about it. The design has been totally reworked. Better to release a kit which is correct, than to face the consequences.

1:32 Bristol M.1C 'Checkers and stripes' Special Hobby Catalogue # 32060 Available from MPM for 36.45 € The Bristol M.1C was probably one of the best fighters that the RFC never had. In an age when biplanes were standard, and the monoplane was treated with suspicion, the M.1C was always going to have its work cut out. Monoplanes had actually been banned by the RFC in 1912 following a flying accident, so the fact that the M.1C was designed at all is quite an achievement. Please remember, however, that the Germans had some particularly stunning successes with their Eindecker machines, until the introduction of the DH.9 countered them, followed by later types with forward firing, synchronised guns. Bristol's fighter was quite different in appearance to machines of the day, with streamlining being a key factor in the type's remarkable speed for this time. The fuselage was almost cylindrical, and a large, domed spinner helped to counter any further drag problems. Wing arrangement was also quite unusual, with these being fitted to the shoulder of the fuselage, and braced from a pylon mounted above the fuselage, and also from below. Unlike the German wing-warping monoplane, Bristol fitted ailerons to their machine, making it far more responsive than the former. Under combat conditions, it was thought to be at least 30mph faster than German fighters. Manoeuvrability was also very respectable too. A 110hp Clerget 9Z rotary engine powered the machine, and armament was provided by the installation of a single forward firing .303 Vickers. First flown in 1916, and introduced in 1917, the life-span of the M.IC was to be short-lived, with only 130 being produced before the project was cancelled. Officially, the reason was due to the landing speed of 49mpg being too high for machines operating from French airfields. Unofficially, it was more likely due to those suspicions that still surrounded the monoplane. Special Hobby have released TWO versions of this kit simultaneously. Today, we look at the attractive 'Checkers and Stripes' release, and in the next weeks, Jeroen Peters will review the 'Wartime Colours' version. Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen the Bristol M.1C here at LSM. Take a look at the resin kit that we reviewed, from Alley Cat. The box for this release is quite small, but is certainly packed full of plastic and other stuff. Just be careful with the decal sheet because it's slightly larger than the box, and needs to be packed with a little thought. Thankfully, this is a rigid, top-opening box too, and with some beautiful artwork. You'd be forgiven for not even thinking this machine was from WW1. In fact, in this release, you won't use the Vickers gun at all as all schemes are for unarmed machines. Hardly surprising when you see how colourful they are. All sprues are packed into the same re-sealable wallet (which never gets my vote!) and also in there is a small zip-lock containing two resin pieces. Thankfully, no damage seems to have occurred to my sample, despite the packing arrangements, and all parts remain on the sprues. There are a total of FOUR sprues, moulded in medium grey plastic. No clear styrene parts here, as the windscreen is included as an acetate part. That printed acetate sheet is placed in a large sleeve with TWO decal sheets and a small fret of photo etch parts. SPRUE A The fuselage here is traditionally supplies as halves, with some gorgeous external detail. Essentially, the fuse was a traditional former and stringer design, and this has been convincingly portrayed, with fairly sharp edges along the stringers, and no formers of course, as the stringers sat proud from the rest of the construction. Hand/footholds are moulded 'open', but the control cable grommets to the rear of the fuselage will need to be opened up with a small drill bit. The forward fuselage looks excellent with its riveted plates and fabric turnover/stitching. A very finely detailed access panel is also moulded in situ. For some reason, the carburettor openings to the rear of these panels are closed-ended. These will need drilling out for extra realism. A very fine cockpit coaming ring is also moulded in situ. Internally, a series of formers and stringers provide some cockpit wall detail, which you will see behind the frames of the cockpit tub. An ejector pin mark is evident in roughly the place where the hole will be drilled through, from the carburettor stubs. This may coincide if we're lucky, but usually, the world doesn't work like that. A lack of connecting pins is also apparent, as tends to be the case for short-run kits such as this. Just make sure you get everything properly aligned before you commit to glue. Stabilisers are moulded separately, as are the ailerons. The former parts are located to the fuselage via small pips. Surface detail perhaps looks a little heavy to me. I'm not sure if cap strips were placed over the ribs inside the tail structures, but that is what the appearance is reminiscent of. It's no deal breaker, and it still looks very good. I would perhaps just reduce this a little with a sanding sponge. The same applies to the vertical fin and separate rudder, also found on this sprue. Special Hobby have provided the wheels with an integrally moulded inner hub, with very nice spoke detail protruding through the canvas. Internally, they've also moulded a single spoke which will be seen then you look through the tyre filling port in the separate outer cover. This is something that Wingnut Wings have been doing for quite a while, and I imagine is the inspiration for this. Other parts on this sprue include the two struts for the upper wing rigging pylon, the pilot's seat cushion and also the Vickers gun, alas not used for this model. The studded seat cushion looks very exaggerated, and the large deep stud holes should be reduced a little with some Mr Surfacer, or similar. SPRUE B Here we find the wings, with their separate ailerons. The surface detail here is very similar to that of the tail, and alternate ribs seem to have that capping strip. As those between don't, I'm assuming that is intentional and correct. I don't have any real reference material for the M.1C to verify or deny this. Surface detail is very good, either way, and the wings are moulded with the rigging cord shrouds in place. You will need to drill these out as there are no rigging holes provided at all. Other detail is good, such as the downwards-viewing ports, and the metal plating at the wing root. The ailerons contain the same surface detail, and will require a little clean-up of excess plastic along their connecting face. A number of hinges seem to be represented here. They can't be locating pips as the wing has no sockets for them. SPRUE C I think Special Hobby did a great job with the Clerget engine in this release. The engine is constructed from forward and rear halves, and separate end caps/rockers are supplied. Detail far surpasses what I have seen on many short-run kits. Some of the crankcase bolt detail might be a little soft in places, but this is made up for by the very sharply defined cooling fins. Again, no locating pins are provided, so you'll need to carefully align the halves. Induction piping is supplied as a separate ring, as are the nine pushrods. There are a few seams evident on the pushrods, and you'll need to par these down. Also separately moulded is the ignition line insulating ring which sits at the rear of the engine. You will of course need some fine wire to rig these to the spark plugs. The plus, moulded to the main engine parts, are a little crude. You could possibly find something useable in the Taurus Models range of resin sparkplugs. Where I think a little PE could have been well-used if the prop hub. The prop itself is very nice, with sharp edges. A little tidying up should be done here, but the hub detail is quite soft. Despite that huge spinner, you will see the hub through the central hole. That spinner is provided here as the main forward section and a framework back plate onto which you'll install a couple of fillets and some PE finishing strips to the prop opening. The cowl is a very simple affair, and is thinly moulded. Other parts on this sprue include the Vickers MG blanking plate, fuel filler port, windscreen head padding and two, as of yet, unidentified parts for which I can only presume aren't for this specific release. SPRUE D This is the smallest of the sprues, but contains a wealth of parts; mostly aimed at the cockpit. There is a distinct feeling that sprue looks to be of a higher quality that usual short-run kits, with the plastic having a different finish, and nice, neat sprue gate attachments. That cockpit is based around two frame sidewalls, a forward engine bay firewall, and a couple of framed to the rear; one of which incorporates the visible face of the main fuel tank. In the Alley Cat kit, this tank was a complete unit, as it can be seen extending through the holes in the cockpit framework. The cockpit is superbly detailed, and one of the best I've seen, outside of Wingnut Wings. A highlight for me is the great looking cockpit floor. A real pity you'll not see most of this through the small coaming aperture. Instrument panels in the M.1C are spread around the pilot, and include a couple of forward facing instruments and other which are situated on a side console. All of these finely moulded parts have blank faces for you to insert the instrument decals which are supplied. Rudder pedal bar, control stick, fuel pressurisation pump all look very good, with perhaps just a little extra plumbing needed to compliment everything. A number of other semi-formers etc are included, and what appears to be a carburettor, but if so, this should have longer tubes which meet up with those on the exterior fuselage. An easy fix. A resin seat is included, and we'll look at that soon. A number of cockpit parts will be included from the PE sheet, and again, that will be in a few moments. You will need to rig the cockpit, but this is very easy as the cables connection can be hidden in the area outside of the cockpit tub, between this and the side walls. A drawing is supplied showing rigging, and you'll be pleased to know that PE turnbuckles are also supplied for the purpose. Oddly enough, another set of pushrods are included here, and slated for use. I can't understand why those exist on the previous sprue. Other parts to be found here are the tail skid, undercarriage V struts and the 2 spreader bars and axle. Plastic Summary. There isn't really anything I can fault here. Yes, there's a little flash and a few seams, but that's to be expected with short-run kits. Detail is generally superb, and there is plenty of it too. I can't see any defects anywhere, such as sink marks, and there are only two ejector pin marks which may need a little removal. There is a little mould release agent visible on some of the parts across a couple of sprues, so if you get this, it would be prudent to wash the sprues in mild detergent before you do any work. RESIN Just two resin parts are included here, and one of these is for the pilot's wicker seat. I'm pleased Special Hobby took this approach as the seat is the one part you're really guaranteed to see in the cockpit. This simply couldn't have been replicated by injection moulding. You'll need to take care to remove this pale grey part from the casting block, but that block has been designed to be easy to remove. The other resin part is a finely cast propeller for what is either a wind generated turbine or a wind-driven fuel pressure pump. PHOTO ETCH This small PE fret contains MANY parts! There are those cockpit items, as well as a framework for the acetate windscreen, and also seatbelts and control horns etc. The real work here are the many, tiny turnbuckles, both single and double-ended. Quality is also very good, and small connector points mean the parts will be easy to remove. DECALS Both decal sheets are printed in the Czech Republic, by Aviprint, and in all, they appear to be very good. Printing is thin, colour is solid, and there is minimal carrier film. Everything is also in perfect register. The largest sheet contains the national markings as well as personal machine emblems etc. The stripes for the spinner and cowl (one machine) are supplied here too, as are a few stencils and those instrument decals. I don't particularly like the instrument decals here, as they look crude. I would replace these with some from the Airscale range. Roundels have holes in them to locate rigging points, and the aileron portions are separate too. That second decal sheet is far more entertaining though, as it contains the ENTIRE checker pattern for the fuselage! No mean feat! Stripes are also included for the tail plane. There are FOUR schemes included. These are: Bristol M.1C, C4995, No.2 Fighting School, Marske Airbase, 1918 Bristol M.1C, C4994, No.2 Fighting School, Marske Airbase, 1918 Bristol M.1C, C5017, No.1 School of Aerial Fighting, Turnberry Airbase, 1918 Bristol M.1C, C5017, South Eastern Area Flying Instructors School, Shoreham Airbase, 1918 INSTRUCTIONS This is quite an attractive, glossy 16 page A5 booklet, with superbly clear drawings for assembly. Parts are also shown in coloured ink, with Gunze paint codes supplied. Where a PE or resin part is required, all is easy to reference. You should have no problems here. Colour profiles are supplied in the rear of the book, for each scheme, plus of course, that rigging drawing. Ignore the title on the front of the manual, where is says 'Wartime Colours', instead of the 'Checkers and Stripes' which is this release. Conclusion In all, a very attractive and highly detailed package which will produce a beautiful replica of this mostly-forgotten about machine. Whilst the PE turnbuckles might tie you in knots, there's nothing here which can really be criticised. How often do you see those included in a kit? Exactly! Price-wise, this is also hard to beat, and gives us a WW1 model that many beginners to the genre can now build. Highly recommended My sincere thanks to Special Hobby for this review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link. James H

You know it makes sense

Hi Terry, The Lanc is on course for release in perhaps January next year. LSM have been working on HK Models on this release, and some very substantial reworking of the CAD needed to be done. The result should be very pleasing to Lanc fans. Delays had been caused by that rework, but as you know, this really did need to be correct. More news when we have it.

Just so fantastic. When are you gluing the wings on?

I do believe you will see more twins, but those will be revealed in due course. HK's schedule is pretty exciting, and certainly ambitious. For me, they are probably my favourite non-WW1 injection moulding company!

I also believe the two-seat Do 335 will come after the Mosquito, but that's for another day and another topic.

Ok, I believe that HK will supply parts for ALL these versions in the same box. That isn't guaranteed yet. It depends on logistics, but I chatted with Neil tonight, and this is the current intention. YES....First half of January. Things are subject to change, but for the moment, there is no reason to think it might be later, all going to plan. Tooling is pretty much done, pending small revisions which can take only a few days from CAD to tool. I envisage us having some sprues before the end of the year...

Tally Ho! Despite the 1:32 Do 335B-2 being released soon, and the Do 335A-0 following in the not too distant future (already here with us at LSM!), HK Models has now painted in its plans for the release of the Mosquito (bomber version). There will actually be a few versions of this, and I can't confirm if several versions will be in the same box, but we thought you might like to see some renders of this great looking machine. For all you impatient types, pre-orders will be taken for this at Telford in November, and release looks to be happening in the first half of January 2015! I bet that took you by surprise! Any questions, ask away and I'll get you some answers. Enjoy!

Looking good Graham. Will the Spiteful be at Telford again?

1:32 F4U-1 cockpit Eduard 'Brassin' Catalogue # 632039 Available from Eduard for €41,25 Bunny Fighter Club price: €35,06 I'm actually quite surprised that it's taken Eduard so long to release a complete cockpit upgrade for the recent(ish) 1:32 Tamiys F4U-1 Corsair, especially with the bubble-canopy F4U-1A just around the corner. Still, it's probably true to say that the F4U-1 'Birdcage' will stay popular for a long time. Having seen the kit itself, and knowing the level of detail within the cockpit, it may seem surprising that a whole resin replacement is now available, but just wait until you see this! You really won't want to build that kit without first seeing the detail that this upgrade offers. Eduard have used their satin black cardboard package for this release, and before you open it, you can feel that it's quite weighty. When opened, you'll see that part of that weight are the four, double sided and folded instruction sheets required for this project, followed by SIX bags of resin which is cast in a combination of light grey, mid grey and clear, plus a small wallet with two PE frets and an instrument panel decal. Two casting blocks are packaged within the main box, un-bagged due to their delicate nature. The resin parts are protected within the box by pieces of soft grey foam, and the instructions are wrapped around these for extra security. This is going to be no quick project, and the FOURTY-NINE pieces of resin and around SIXTY photo-etch parts, are testimony to that. Strangely enough, I'm attracted to the bag with the two largest parts first, plus those loose parts: Eduard appear to use the darker resin for the thinner components, and here, these are the deeply curved floor and the upper side walls which are attached at a late stage in construction. Light grey resin is used for the forward and rear bulkheads. The detail within these key areas is stunning, with plenty of subtle detail hiding around the key structures and avionics/pipework/cabling. I have to say that some carefully applied washes and dry brushing will bring levels of detail out that would normally be overshadowed by the larger cockpit components. Holding the various parts together, you can see that a lot of effort has been made in ensuring that detail areas, such as constructional elements, line up perfectly, as was seen in the 1:48 Spitfire Mk.IX cockpit replacement set. There are a number of minor webs on the cockpit floor, underneath cabling and pipes, and this will need careful trimming away. This goes for the main, central web in the floor too. These thinner, fragile parts are connected to their casting blocks via thin resin walls which look easy to remove and clean up. You will fine smoothly recessed areas on the sidewalls into which the side consoles will neatly fit, so there will be no guesswork here. A number of avionics boxes and cabling are included too. The main, light grey components for the bulkheads are a detail painters dream; especially the forward bulkhead with its mass of pipes, wiring, junction boxes etc. My only real criticism of these parts are the quite thick casting blocks which will need some elbow-grease to remove and clean up. This is a very complex set and one which will bore the pants off you if I describe every single piece (many of which I couldn't' even put a name to), so from here, let's take a look at this bag by bag, with photos, using captions where appropriate. I will also highlight anything which I think you should be aware of. Wallet 2 Wallet 3 Wallet 4 Here we can see that Eduard have given the choice of two different instrument panels. A full resin part is supplied, including cast instrument detail. Those instruments also have dial detail, so unless you're into dry brushing and micro-detail painting, you might prefer the other option. That second option is a resin panel with only a minor amount of cast detail. A first layer of PE is then applied, and then the instrument decal. Finally, a PE fascia is overlaid to complete the panel. This will be painted, and onto this you will lay the instrument decal before then applying the fascia. In an unusual move, this fascia panel is supplied as base brass, and is not colour-printed. Wallet 5 Wallet 6 All resin parts have been thoughtfully connected to their casting blocks in the least obtrusive manner possible. Many connecting areas fall along assembly joints, or will be hidden from view, despite them not really being a problem anyway. Eduard has mastered the easy to remove system for casting blocks, with only those two bulkhead parts having blocks which will require some substantial effort to remove. Many parts are also quit e fragile-looking, such as various pipes etc, and again we see these parts cast in the darker grey resin, which perhaps is a little different and more resilient to being handled. No flaw can be found anywhere, such as breakages, bubbles or short cast. This is as good as it can possibly get. Photo Etch There are two PE frets in this set, with one being colour-printed, and the other in bare brass. The colour fret contains the seatbelt set which is composed of belts and separate buckles. I think I prefer the textile belts to these though, for a more realistic effect and weathering possibilities. The second fret holds the various instrument panel layers, with neatly etched bezels. A series of levers are included too, as well as pedal adjustment ratchets and various brackets. Etch quality is excellent, and small connecting points mean parts will be easy to remove from the fret. Instructions There is a LOT of work involved in assembling this, and an even bigger job in painting it, but that is fun, right? There's no doubt that Eduard have done an admirable job in presenting the various constructional sequences with relative clarity. Newly attached parts are shown in blue ink, whilst any surgery required to the host kit, is inked in red. There is indeed some surgery to perform, but this seems to be limited to the removal of the moulded structures (frames) within the cockpit, and no actual wall thinning is required. This should be a relatively easy project to install within the plastic. Colour reference codes are supplied for Mr Hobby paints, throughout construction. A useful parts map, with part numbers, is supplied on the rear page of the manual. To complete the cockpit assembly, you will need a little lead, tin or copper wire for various tasks. Conclusion In the UK, you can buy this set for £30 to £35, and whilst the Tamiya kit itself can be bought for around £90 to £95 (cheaper from Lucky Model etc), it seems like quite a high proportion of cost to spend on just the cockpit. Having said that, the sheer number of parts in this set, and how thorough it is, for me, is a perfect reason to do so. It seems incredulous that you could improve the Tamiya kit parts to such an extent that you'd scrap them completely, but this is exactly what this set provides, at the same time, offering a mammoth leap in detail over the original. For me, this set is a MUST! Very highly recommended My sincere thanks to Eduard for the review sample seen here. To purchase directly, click THIS link. James H

Christ! You bringing this to Telford?

YES!!!!!! Thanks Judy!