nmayhew

although i am not a fan of these US Spits, i really like the finish you have achieved the dusty but not too over the top weathering looks just right to m eye thank you for sharing Nick

they seek him here...they seek him there... lol

wonderful! i must get to building these kits i have in mys stash

hey Steve hope all is well and that you can come back soon Nick

my point was the photos look exactly like the parts that i have handled in the past (and still have cowl ring and maybe other stuff in stash) but if they are sharper in person then fair enough

hey Jim i don't have the kit (yet!) but this would be one of the things i would look to correct more of a commercial suggestion to Eduard than anything else, as I am sure others will bring part out - just that Eduard have it ready to go, so might as well take advantage etc etc

looks tip top the cockpit is very sharply cast indeed cf the Eagle Editions Dora... gun cowling: will Eduard release this part on its own as a cheaper correction option for the Revell part, which I understand is not as good as it could be?

exceptional work and a joy to follow the build thank you Rick!

firstly, i have used all these sets i think apart from the props on my Dora build, and was very satisfied but if i am honest - and i may be flogged for saying so - the casting is indeed exactly the same standard as when these products came out many moons ago, and standards of the best in the industry have moved along since then now maybe the stuff is way sharper in real life than in the (admittedly excellent quality) pictures, but the casting does look a tad 'vague' compared with what Roy Sutherland and the AMUR Reaver (Russian dude 109 stuff) are producing i also find their stuff punishingly expensive in UK when compared to Roy's stuff of similar volume / complexity still, for things like the cowling and nose ring, they are the only game in town

too funny Rick! Dave, best we don't know too much more!

here you go... http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/spitfire-masts-and-aerials.html/2

wonderful! an aircraft from this squadron is definitely on my 'to do' list, and i hope it will turn out even half as good as yours! thank you for sharing with us Nick

hi Mal the Spit looks beautiful one question: should it have the IFF antennae coming out of the fuselage? I thought these only started to be fitted at the end of September / early October, and so would not be seen on most BoB Spits? Aerials and antennae are a bit confusing I must admit many pictures are not clear enough thanks again for sharing! Nick

thanks Dave! is that thinned with Mr Levelling thinner? yeah i had a VERY strange occurrence with rattle can super clear gloss over mr hobby paints, over mr hobby surfacer 1500 - the gloss seemed to drag the anzer grey pain away from primer around raised surfaces eg rivets and such like the effect was actually pretty cool, but should in no way take place! i said to Jim i will try decanting into cup then airbrushing next time and see what happens - i have just spent $60 on buying loads of rattle can stuff from Seal Models anyway, back to your very cool 109!

i love the crispness of the propeller!

nice Dave what do you use as clear coat for decal base? as Jim will know, i have had some very unexpected (unwanted) results with Mr Hobby Super Clear on top of Mr Hobby paints can't believe i will have to - if you'll pardon the phrase - go 'Back to the Future'!

i couldn't resist coming back to these and looking at the pictures again WHAT a beauty! I had always thought that if ever i do get one of these monsters (the lanc is the one I am holding out for really), that it would be the upcoming F model however, looking at what you have produced here, I think that if budget / successful bank robberies permit, i might dive in for a G too! inspirational stuff

[edited previous post where I got stuff wrong about the wings] http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/concise-guide-to-spitfire-wing-types.html/2 someone has already tried this with the Hobbyboss kit (I have written a fairly extensive review of this if you search old Scale Plastic and Rail site) http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234940366-81-sqn-spitfire-vc-trop-132-hobbyboss-vb-trop-conversion/ they used Grey Matter Figures Vc wings - I have seen some of their wing sets in the flesh; if memory serves they are ok but not up to Tamiya standards, so it depends on what you are after mating them with the hobbyboss kit may be the best option?? adventurous project to be sure!

hey Rog yes i am very familiar with the mix and match once operations started i did quite a lot of research trying to pin down various Pz IV Ausf D options prior to my project, which is why i can tell you the markings in the box for the 3 digit coded tanks all require early drive sprockets God, even 414 on the box art - possibly the most photographed IV D ever in combat - they got wrong! it clearly has early sprockets you do get both sorts of road wheels which is cool though I used a Tristar suspension set to get the early sprockets (but fitting them to DML is a bit of a pain), but I think they may be available in earlier / cyberhobby versions too perhaps? the reviews....for this kit were pretty pants to be honest none of them mentioned any of the stuff i have spoken about i mark reviewers harshly because i used to do it myself

the cockpit knobs also look 'wrong' in this scale - they need to be resin or (God forbid!) turned brass if you are going to add a realistic upgrade but i will get the set probably just for the instrument panel i also have just ordered a Sutton harness from Radu as i begin to accumulate aftermarket for this beast (I did order the earlier QK harness which as intimated by Edgar is more likely correct than the QS as flagged here by Radu) so interesting how that compares with the Eduard 's which both look to be the QS??)

beware that new DAK Pz IV kit Rog - all the markings require early style drive sprockets which are not supplied (they are quite different) - the wheels are the wider sort for Ausf.E onwards, incorrect for Ausf.D; whether this is noticeable is debatable - I believe there are only two choices for *correct* aftermarket tracks, one by Modelkasten, and one by SpadeAce (I am using the latter); problem is track pins - no-one makes them so i will not be building another one of these until MasterClub enter the game - the kit is a bit of a beast to fot properly - the instructions are utter pants sorry if i have mentioned this before can you sense my frustration?!

hi Rog I am not familiar with this aircraft particularly, but i recall in the run-up to its release and immediately afterwards that Derek Bradshaw did lots of work / research on this kit? This was on LSP I believe? Anyway, it depends on how accurate you want it to be? If this is a big concern for this project, I would hop over there and search out his posts on the subject Sorry i couldn't answer myself!

nice one Dave did you heat the prop up before bending at all, or was it just 'pure muscle'??

hugely impressive overall effect, and amazing detail given the model is 99.99% perfect, could I comment on just two things? 1. in that first pic the only giveaway is the tyre which doesn't look to be sitting quite right - not 'heavy' enough 2. the brassin barrels look good from head on where you can see the hollow muzzle, but the lack of real holes in the cooling jackets is noticeable in one close up (people may know I am not a fan of these) if i ever build a B-17 i hope it is half as good as this - if it is I will be very chuffed indeed! thanks for sharing Nicholas

wonderful looking build Jeroen am very interested in the masking fluid presumably it needs rather prominent ridges in the canopy frame to work - do you think it would struggle on say a Tamiya Spitfire canopy / something where the demarcation is very subtle like the cookie (everyone loves cookies don't they?!)