rieser

Great scheme to start with. No 1940-related kits in the stash and the international exchange rate has smashed the Aussie dollar buying power. Will have to pass on this exciting GB theme.

Great stuff Jeroen. Captures the moment nicely. Cheers, Ralph.

Hello Dave: yes - AeroMaster did it on 72-091 "Emils Over Europe Pt.1" back in 1995, and 48-165 (same title) in 1998. Never seen it in 32nd scale though. AeroMaster's profile varies a little, showing continuous green between the windshield and the engine cowl, and the fin in straight RLM65. If you ever find 32nd scale decals for it, keep me in mind. Cheers, Ralph.

Hello Dave: yes - painted them XF-16 Flat Aluminium. Hasegawa calls out "flat silver", and after looking at period pics on jaircraft, I was happy to go with an NMF of sorts instead of the usual grey-green this time round. Bevan: have replacement decal coming. Apparently one of the Kagero Top Colours titles has profiles/decals for the aircraft. In their case the numbers are separate, so the background colours can be painted.

Cracker! That should go well.

Cheer Gents; comments much appreciated. Markings were knocked back with some some wet 6000 grade Micromesh to avoid the red staining the white, and an old No.11 scalpel blade. Model was then sealed with a 7:3 mix of Tamiya's X-22 Gloss and XF-86 Flat clears thinned with lacquer thinner - a sort of satin mix as I've had trouble getting enamel- and oil-based washes to stick to high gloss finishes. AK 303 enamel "Grey wash for Kriegsmarine ships" was applied to the kit panel lines and rivets. AK 045 enamel "Dark brown wash for green vehicles" was applied to the extra rivet detail added around the cowlings, and to the control surface hinge lines. This was then sealed with some Testors Dullcote lacquer. The AK 303 stripped the paint down to the plastic in seconds. No idea why. The wheel bay door decal wouldn't play nicely either. At times the paintwork seemed to repel the AK 303 wash. No such issues with the AK 045 though. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph.

Great scheme choice Bevan. Lovely job. Great to see her finished. Cheers, Ralph.

Hello Matt: yes - added rivets using Radu's wheels. Cheers, Ralph.

Top shelf Rick. Lovely stuff. Cheers, Ralph.

Hello Ted: never tried the salt thing as I've not seen results first hand. Not sure how to approach the weathering yet. Bevan: a fair few rounds. And am in need of some more circle cutting practise. Time to reorder Tamiya tape... Dave: can't agree more. Hasegawa's Japanese subjects seem to be step above their Allied and Luftwaffe subjects. Some colour... Not up to Mal"s standard... Tamiya's XF-16 Flat Aluminum tinted with XF-1 Flat Black and XF-63 German Grey to approximate ALCLAD's Stainless Steel for the exhaust panel... A bit of XF-63 over the XF-69 NATO Black in the centre section... Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph.

Cracker results Jan. Thanks for the show along the way. Cheers, Ralph.

Hello Jan. You've made it look easy! Very tidy finish. Interesting fuselage band colour - adds some visual interest. Cheers, Ralph.

"I have built 48 scale 190s but not 32nd what kit would you recommend " Hello coolboxx. I've only built the 32nd scale Hasegawa Fw 190 A-8 and D-9 kits. I found the A-8 kits took a little more care and effort to assemble - especially around the radial-engined cowling parts. Sorry that I can't give you any feedback on anything but Hasegawa. Cheers, Ralph.

Certainly a sizable canvas to work with - especially with all that extra surface detail. Very rapid progress indeed Ted. And what a great-looking aeroplane. Love the colours. Have taken note of your comment about the landing gear as I've not heard that mentioned before. Cheers, Ralph.

Mine can stay on the shelf while I watch you guys. Now where's the esky...

Cheers Gents. Yes Jan - seat is a special "extra armour plating" seat - very thick! Peter: going for this one as it is included in the '246th Flight Regiment" boxing (item 08220)... Model base-coated in Floquil Old Silver; panel variation added using Floquil Bright Silver and Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminium... Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph.

Cheers gentlemen - appreciate your comments. Superb Ralph. Saw this over on SMN. Hope to see it at a show on Geoff's stand maybe? Hello wackyracer. Unlikely that the finished model will make it back to Geoff from here in from Australia. Apologies. Ralph.

What a cracker Aaron. Bet that adds some bling-factor to the model shelf. Love it. Cheers, Ralph.

Hasegawa's 32nd scale Fw190 D-9 kit built recently for Geoff Coughlin's "Scale Modelling Now" site. Thanks to Geoff for supplying the kit. He's started posting the build in the "Build now" section of his site http://www.scalemodellingnow.com/ Cheers, Ralph.

Hello James. Completely random thought... I wonder how many of the stencils might be common to the Hurricane or other RAF subjects. If so, might the Hobby Decal dry transfer sheets be worth looking over? Cheers, Ralph.

I appreciate that such weathering is not everyone's cup of tea, but I like where you're going. Really enjoying the show Jan. Cheers, Ralph.

Started Hasegawa's Ki44-II for some light relief... Added rivet detail with Radu's Rivet-R tool... Shimmed the small gaps around the starboard underwing insert with card.. Port-side fit didn't need shimming... Once marked, each rivet hole was deepened with a needle... The large gaps around the forward fuselage inserts was first filled with superglue, tidied up with Mr Surfacer 500, and finally sprayed with Tamiya's Liquid Surface Primer thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner... Quick-and-dirty cockpit painting as not much can be seen after fuselage assembly... Drilled out the seat and added FineMolds' WWII IJA Aircraft Seatbelts (item NH3)... Buffed the airframe with wet 6000 grade Micromesh... Replaced the over-scale rudder trim tab with card... Overall fit of the airframe parts was good... Next up - some Floquil Old Silver... Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph.

Beautifully finished and photographed. Hat off. Cheers, Ralph.

Very rich Jan - pleasing to the eye. Masking the yellow fuselage stripes must have been fun! Must take time to do the chipping so it is interesting that you can still work the greens over the chipping fluid - I thought that there was a shorter working time for the fluid. What did you thin the H59/shades with? Great progress on this one - enjoying the show. Cheers, Ralph.

Thanks Jan - appreciate your feedback. Like you, I'm not a specialist - just trying to have some fun. Looking forward to seeing your green go on. Cheers, Ralph.