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Ok, I've the booklet for you. Unfortunately I won't be near a post office for abut but will get it out to you as soon as I can

Rob, nice job cutting the canopy open. I was too chicken to try it. For the main wheels, AMS Resin makes some. I have the smooth ones but I think he may have made treaded ones as well. Carl

I should have two copies so PM your address and I can drop it in the mail for you. Carl

Had a quiet day at work so I popped by my LHS. Brought in my Revell GR1 Tonka to exchange as it was a kit I don't think I'd ever build. Got a full credit for it so I walked around to see what was in I could spend it on. I found a kit I've been trying to find to find for the last couple of years. Worked out to barely more than the retail price in Japan so can't complain at all. Now I can finally do a Sherman 1C!!! Got home and there was a package waiting fr Hannant's. These will be for the HB B-24J. Going to do a shark mouth RCAF Lib. Plus some other bits for kits in the stash.

For me, it's really whatever strikes my fancy. Planes, cars, armour, sci-fi, giant robots. Doe-eyed teenagers piloting giant robots. Not really on the last one There's also the occasional "what the h€ll did I buy that for?!!!!" kit in the stash when I've been distracted/mesmerized by something something. Like a Shaun the Sheep Land Rover. Carl

Graham, if you ever do the Mk 21 I'd certainly get one. That and a Griffon conversion for the Tamiya Spitfires. I've already used your corrected nose for the Matchbox 22/24 and need to build your Seafang. Carl

I used wire anchors attached to the frame. I think they're the 4mm (maybe 6mm?) ones. I'll double check later and let you know.

Hi Dale, yes I apply it before masking. I usually polish my canopies with some rubbung comoound and then put a drop of thr Gloss Coating on them before masking and painting. Carl

You mean they're even screwing up the vaporware??!!!! Can't they get anything right? Carl

Dale, I missed the link you posted but it's the same stuff. Here's a bit more I found on a retailer's site. https://www.sunwardhobbies.ca/gloss-coating-varnish-by-tamiya-87151/ It says it's water based and confirmed that applying with a cloth is the best approach.

Dale, if you mean this stuff, I don't think you can airbrush it. It's meant to be used like a car wax. You apply a couple drops and rub it in. It works nicely on canopies. Carl

They are nice kits. I've a few of the 1/72 kits too. Did you see the 1/20 VF-1S I just got?

Thanks Jeff! I got a bunch of help from one of the guys who worked on the real one while I was building it. I just picked up a new Ikea Detolf display case so I'll finally be able to get all of my finished Tamiya Spitfires in one case. Here's five with three more in a different cabinet.

Kind of. My three year old took it for a test flight while I was trying to figure out where to put it. So he kind of solved my problem for me.

That's the one I did. Hopefully if that's the one you pick it lasts longer than mine did..

It's the 1/48 kit.

Still plugging away at this:

The Tamiya XVI is a nice kit. I've built one so far. If I ever get to it, the 21 would be in similar markings to it.

Mine would be the XIV high back. I love the long nose look the Griffon engine gives the Spitfire. Most Griffon Spitfires look fine to me. I've so far built one XIV using the old RB Products resin nose on a Tamiya VIII. I have 3 of the PCM XIV kits in the stash with plans to make one a XIX, one a FR XIVe and the last into a reasonable facsimile of a 21 with the contra prop. I'm hoping for a XIV conversion for the Tamiya Spitfires so I can do a low back FR XIV in RCAF markings. Carl

I think I might be coming down with it too. I still have a Tamiya one left in the stash that I started doimg a Tse Tse conversion for.

Great start on the hard bits Rob. I don't recall any real issues on my build. I did make some changes to the nose to better reflect what you see in the Kagero books. Carl

It was around $70 for the conversion work and one set of masks plus the price of the decal sheet. Figure $35 for a second set of masks. Certainly it would be possible to upscale other markings too. For the B canopy, completely crazy idea but how close is the Trumpeter F/G canopy to the B? Maybe when your F kit arrives see how close it is? Might be easier to get one of those. Carl

Looking forward to your second build of this kit. I hear you on the burn out bit. I had that happen to me as well but on the Tamiya one. Shouldn't have tried building two of them at once. Carl

I had to check my build of Grim Reaper to see what I did with the flaps. Definitely down.

Rog, I took a closer look at the 1/48 sheet and think it may be possible to have it upscaled into a mask set. I did something similar for my CF-18 markings. I'd have to get the 1/48 sheet first and get it scanned and then converted. The nice thing about doing it that way (IMO) is that it would probably be easier to paint the large orange sections rather than applying such a large decal. Let me know if you're interested in that approach and maybe we can get a couple sets done at the same time. Carl