John @ WEM

Modern (post-WW2) USN (all color references are in White Ensign Models Colourcoats enamels, accurately matched to original specs): All vertical surfaces—Haze Gray (M 03); Decks—Deck Gray (M 04); Flight Decks—Flight Deck Gray (M 05); Underwater Hulls—Antifouling Red (M 06); Boot-topping—Black (C 02).

Should be good with any British aircraft that carry the 1,000-pounders, but I'll certainly defer to those with more RAF/FAA knowledge!

We've finally begun our own in-house casting! First into production are our 1/72 RAF 1,000-Pound GP Bombs: These will be offered in packs of 2 as Pro 7205, priced at £2.99 including VAT, and in packs of 7 as Pro 7206, priced at £8.35. Pro 7206 is intended for use with the 1/72 scale Vulcan; each pack will fill one internal bomb rack on the Airfix 1/72 Vulcan kit. Each Vulcan has 3 racks, so a full bomb load consists of three packs of Pro 7206. Both items are now shipping, so place your order and get those aircraft armed!

During WW2, some US aircraft manufacturers used US ANA paints as equivalents for British paints on British-ordered aircraft. These differed enough to be noticeable. Question: is there enough interest for us to produce these ANA colors in our Colourcoats for RAF/FAA modellers? Cheers, John Snyder White Ensign Models

It's a Dunkirk Tractor, but that's about all I can tell you at the moment. My cousin informs me it was featured fairly recently in the US model railroad magazine, Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. I haven't bothered to Google it, but I'm sure there's info out there.

Here's a shot from my collection that's been mislaid since about 2009. I could have posted it in the Diorama section, but figured more people were likely to enjoy it here:

Sorry, 1/350 is as large as we go with kits. There ARE resin kit makers who do 1/72, so you might want to make your suggestion to them. I can't imagine a chunk of resin the size of a 1/35 scale Nasty!

So, we noticed when Trumpeter announced their 1/350 HMS Kent (Type 23 kit) that it had the original Mod.0 turret. Since Kent--and all the Type 23s--now carry the angular Mod.1 turret, we planned to release that turret separately as a Pro 350 item. Now that Trumpeter have announced the HMS Montrose kit with the Mod.1 turret for release next February, we're having second thoughts. However, anyone wanting to build Kent as she is now will need that turret, and Trumpeter is unlikely to offer it as a separate item. So, the question is: is there enough market to justify our releasing Pro 3531, 1/350

Want a good read AND great photos for detailing your USS Independence model? Try John G. Lambert's "USS Independence CVL-22: A War Diary of the Nation's First Dedicated Night Carrier." Available from Amazon. I've just gotten off the phone with the author. This book began as a labor of love for the ship's veterans, but is also of high interest and usefulness to the naval historian and ship modeller. A good read.

In WW2, USN kapok lifejackets were blue, roughly the same color as 20-B Deck Blue.

The light gray is #5 Standard Navy Gray (not to be confused with Haze Gray, which did not come into use until 1941). Steel decks were painted #20 Standard Deck Gray, and wood decks were natural teak. The boot topping was black, and the underwater hull was Norfolk 65-A Antifouling Red. You'll find the USN colors accurately matched here: https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/Pre1945+US+Navy+Colours/46/1/

The Silver Wings 1/32 Siskin Has just been released. Place your orders now to ensure you get one from the first batch when they arrive with us: https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/Silver+Wings+132+Resin+Kits/530/1/ Cheers, John Snyder White Ensign Models http://WhiteEnsignModels.com

Our chief designer, Peter Hall has wrapped up the design of PE 7248, 1/72 Stirling Interior Details: He's currently working on the instructions, and this one should be shipping in 3 - 4 weeks, priced at £20.83 ex-VAT. We had originally planned 3 PE sets for the Stirling: this one, plus an exterior detail set and a bomb bay set. Peter will now be combining the last two into one set (PE 7249), and will be doing a separate Pro 72 set of flaps consisting of resin and PE parts. More on that later. When he finishes the instructions for PE 7248 he'll move on to a couple of higher-priority war

Hi Jack, The answer is: it varied. While there was officially only one gray, in practice the four main IJN shipyards--Sasebo, Kure, Maizuru, and Yokosuka--each produced and used a slightly different variant of the basic gray. So you need to know what period you're modelling, and where a given ship was based or where she last repainted. I've done the research, and cover virtually the entire IJN in "Imperial Japanese Navy Greys: A Ship-by-Ship Compilation", available here: https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/FleetSchemes+Warship+camouflage+notes/249/1/