ajaycad

Hi Cees, I've had one of these on my long term wish list for a while now, but have been slightly put off by a lot of negative reviews on the accuracy and shape of the fuselage, and I was wondering what's your opinion. It sure looks like a Lightning, and the examples I've seen at shows, builds into an impressive model. I'm not the sort of modeller that craves absolute pinpoint accuracy, but on the other hand I don't want to fork out around £80 for a kit that is flawed. Thanks Andy

Well progress has been a little slow on the Mosquito, what with work commitments and a little loss of enthusiasm that I'm sure every modellers gets once in a while, however things have moved on a little since my last post. I'm going to display the port merlin whilst the starboard engine will be covered. Plenty of lead wire and a little fabrication and its finished - well almost but I wont finish it off until installed onto the wing. The cockpit is nearly complete. The pilots seat still needs to be fitted as does the radio equipment behind the co-pilot - hence the mess of lead wire awaiting the "black boxes" of the GEE radio fit. The bomb bay forward bulkhead is no-where near finished. There is still plenty of lead wire to add for the pipework hear as well as the hydraulic lines down the sides. I have tried to keep as close to reference photos as I can, but I think the main goal for me is to make it look the part. An finally in this update, the port undercarriage bay. Again plenty more detail will be added, and then I will start on the starboard bay. Well that's it so far, slow but steady progress. Thanks for looking in. Andy

I have recently been eyeing up Tamiya's 1/32 Corsair, however I am not a big fan of the "Birdcage" variant, I much prefer the look of the blown canopy version. My question is, can the Tamiya offering be converted to an F4U-1A. Looking at the pictures I can find, it seems that just aft of the canopy is scalloped either side of the spine and possibly a different profile, but I'm sure the experts out there will have the definitive answer. My guess is that Tamiya will release a blown canopy version sometime in the future, but I didn't want to wait for that.

That's a great idea Guy, I was thinking to myself that I need something to protect those lovely white surfaces. I do have a spare roll of clear Fablon and was thinking of covering the surfaces in that, but your idea seems much more practical.

My latest project, the Airfix 1/24 Mosquito, has highlighted the fact that I needed to seriously rethink my workroom. Two old wallpaper tables and an old computer desk have sufficed for a few years, but due to the size of the Mosquito, urgent upgrades were needed. Here are some before and after pictures, I really cant see how I managed with all that chaos !! Before..... After..... Before.... After...... In the corner where the table lamp sits is where my spray booth is going, which should be next weekend. Once a few other little shelves and storage bins/drawers are added, it will be complete. It is such a nicer environment to work in, and I like the white surfaces, not sure they will stay that way for long though !! Thanks for looking in. Andy

Your right there Dave, Even though its now OOP, there are quite a few examples popping up on eBay but expect to pay upwards of 150 GBP for one, there is currently one in the US with a host of upgrades, (including some very rare Paragon items) for 1299 USD buy it now !!! Yes really $1299 :-0

Hi, Been away from the forums for a while, but recently completed this 1/32 Bf109K-4 from Revell. Basically a Hasegawa kit reboxed. Add ons include an Aires cockpit, Eduard exterior etch, Quickboost exhaust, HGW belts and finished using Gunze Aqueous hobby Color ,Tamiya and Xtracrylix acrylic paint. This build seemed to be jinxed, breaking parts off, losing parts to the carpet monster (The wife hates laminate flooring !) and finally the Vallejo acrylic matt varnish "crazed" when it dried arrrggghhh !! You can just see this crazing in the first two photos at the port wing root, if you look carefully. You cant really see it in the photos, but I know its there, but I wasn't prepared to strip the model back to bare plastic. I don't know why it happened, maybe paint incompatibility, but I wont be using Vallejo varnish again unless the base coats are Vallejo. Thanks Andy

Few more pictures......fuselage joined and cockpit 90% complete. Seats still to be installed and the wiring/GEE radio installation finished off once the wing assembly is attached. Its at this stage that I realise my workspace is not big enough for this project !!! I have also modified the wing assembly and installed the reinforcing plates. Cut from the thinnest plasticard sheet I could get and attached using Zap cyano, then overpainted with thinned Mr Surfacer 500 and sanded. The wing surface detail is a little simplified on this kit. There are various access hatches and panels on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings. Some have rivet detail, some don't so I have added this, but this detail should really have been incorporated in the moulding process especially for an aircraft in this scale, but its all part of the hobby. Andy

Thanks for the photos Guy. You are so lucky to have the only airworthy example in your part of the planet, I and many others can only hope of seeing one airborne here in the UK. Part of the inspiration for this build was an ex Royal Marine named Arthur Williams presented a programme last year on Channel 4 here in the UK called "The Plane that saved Britain". Arthur was badly injured in a car accident and is now wheelchair bound. Didn't stop him gaining his pilots licence though !! The programme tells the story of the Mosquito, and concludes with Arthur getting a "jolly" in KA114. It gets quite emotional at the end, but it's a brilliant programme presented by a top bloke !! It was available on demand and is well worth watching. Andy

I've always used acrylics but wish to have a go at masks to spray national markings. Only problem is the most accurate colours for roundels etc are in enamels. What's the safest way of spraying enamels on my acrylic top coats ?

I thought it about time I started on my example of this kit, inspired by "alpinestar" and his phenomenal example posted elsewhere on this site. Those of you who have built this kit will agree that there is so much more detail that can be added, which is what I'm going to try and accomplish. As in alpinestar's example, I'm also building HR118 "W" from 235 Sqdn Coastal Command stationed at RAF Portreath circa June 1944. Reason for that is that I live a few miles from Portreath, and recently read Devon and Cornwall Airfields in the Second World War by Graham Smith and Roy Conyers Nesbit "The Strike Wings". Add ons I have acquired are as follows: Master Models .303 Browning barrels and 20mm Hispano Cannons Paragon .303 Ammo feed chutes - very rare now. Miracle Masks markings. Mastercaster resin mainwheels Cammett Fasteners and grille set Eduard Harnesses. Miles of lead wire and a fair bit of plasticard !! I'm also going to use a set of Miracle Masks instead of regular decals, this will be a bit of a leap into the unknown as I have never used masks before, but I think that in this scale its the best option. Paint will, at the moment, be either Gunze (my favourite), Xtracrylix or Tamiya. Here goes...... Photos of the actual cockpit show many discs attached to the cockpit sidewalls, enabling all the fittings to be secured to the cockpit walls. I have used 3mm sequins superglued to the inside walls to replicate these. Rear cockpit bulkhead. Control rods and brackets from stock and rod. The moulded on cables were removed and substituted with lead wire. Partially complete port cockpit wall. The oxygen hose was made by wrapping lead wire around a length of stiff 0.5mm wire and bent to shape. Then sealed with very thin cyano. Incomplete starboard side. Switches were added to the control panel to improve this area.

No worries Steve.........as I look out of the window its............raining ....again :-( Good luck with the decals..

Not really decals but drop Mal Mayfield an email at miraclemasks@hotmail.co.uk If you provide him with good reference photos he may be able to help, although the designs may be too intricate to reproduce in a vinyl mask Try his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/miraclemasks?ref=hl Alternatively, if you have a inkjet printer and simple photo editing software you could buy decal film and print your own. Not tried it personally, but I've heard others have.

Not too fussy as to which brand although I have a soft spot for Gunze products, any brand is fine it's the colour accuracy I'm more concerned with. Probably best to go with factory fresh, then I can fade/weather as required.

Probably been covered before, but can anyone suggest acrylic paint codes for RAF roundels circa 1944

Beautiful model James, I've never "warmed" to the Dora, but after seeing this, one is now on my wishlist. By the way where did the resin display base originate from ??

I'm assuming Artful that your looking at a TFX in RAF Coastal Command colours. Recently I finished a Tamiya 1/48 example in 404 Sqdn RCAF stationed in Cornwall UK at the time of the D Day landings. I really wanted to build the Revell 1/32 example but on opening the box found the kit a bit too basic in detail, so chose the Tamiya route. that's not to say that the Revell kit can't be built into a fine model by someone with better scratch building skills than mine !! Here is my wish list if I did consider the Revell option. 1. Resin cockpit and rear gunners station (not the whole cabin) - around 20 to 30 GBP 2. Undercarriage bays and oleos - 20 GBP 3. Resin 3" RP,s with the High Explosive heads not the AP heads. -10 to 15 GBP 4. Revised dihedral tail planes - 10 to 15 GBP 5. Revised front and rear canopies - 10 GBP 6. Resin Bristol Hercules engine(s) - 20 GBP I've no idea how much these items would cost to produce, but my quotes are based on what I would be willing to pay for those items. I believe that resin wheels are already available in 1/32. Hope this helps......

Chris, Truly jaw dropping !! I have just started my build and would really appreciate it if you could talk us through how you built the rockets, especially the mounting brackets. In my opinion, the kit examples are not too good for this scale. Thanks ajaycad