Wild Bill Horton

I am doing some photo research on my Dragonfly and I have a bunch of interior photos. However, the shade of grey appears to differ between photos, and I'm guessing the production birds were painted one color; could anyone enlighten me to what it is, or if you've built one a reference to a hobby paint shade would be appreciated. BTW, this is the Trumpy kit, and the fit of the major parts, mocked up, is excellent. I bought a lot of extras for this kit; Quickboost seats, Eduard color PE, True Details drop tanks....I can't wait! WH

A few years ago I built Trumpy's 1/32 Stuka for a friend. Unlike several other 1/32 kits of theirs, this one was a dream. If I had to bet, I would be that at least part of the design team came from Tamiya; the engine was 100% as good as the one in Tamiya's Mustang/Spitfire etc. And I love 1/32 scale subjects, but having just built the Kitty Hawk OV10 which was just like an old Trumpy kit, I don't want that frustration. What I'm looking for is feedback on which other Trumpy kits are as good, with respect to engineering and fit, as the Stuka. Subject doesn't matter (and jets are fine, too),

When I got back into the hobby in 1986, the first kit I built was Monogram's P38. So its been a while. I've been thinking and would like to build a P38 again, either in 1/48 or 1/32 scale. I wish that Tamiya had done this in 1/32, but not yet (at least). Given the configuration, I'm looking for a kit that fits well most of all. I'm finally finishing Kittyhawk's Bronco and let me tell you, it has been no walk in the park! What I'd like to hear is what kit(s) fit, and what their weakest points are and how they can possibly be addressed. I thank you for your help and opinion. Bill

Hi. I was lucky enough to pick up this amazing kit at a very good price, and I plan on starting it soon. I'm considering an OOB build but have two questions (temptations, as it were) 1) I'm thinking of replacing the seat with a resin one with molded belts. I would like a direct replacement that will slide in on the rails provided in the kit. I can't tell if, for exmaple, the Quickboost seat does this. Can anyone give me some guidance? 2) I'm debating painting the cockpit vs. Eduard colored PE for same. I love the colored etch for 1/48 but in 1/32 the lack of 3D makes me wonder. Again,

I just built Tamiya's wonderful Stormovik. I'm not an expert on the plane, and had a few detail questions I was wondering if someone could answer: 1) Just inboard of the cannon barrels are two very thin tubes that almost look like machine gun barrels, but I don't think they are. Can someone tell me what they're for? 2) On the left wing, there's a small triangular indicator which has some numbers painted next to it; I'm guessing this is a very rudimentary gas gauge; am I warm? 3) In the center of the prop spinner, there's a metal fitting. I'm not sure if its a cannon barrel, or a fastener

great job, love the camo, love the figures

This is a mostly OOB flying tank. I added Eduard PE, and also replaced the cannon barrels with stainless tubing. The paint is Tamiya and are the decals. I used a number of different washes for the panel lines and interior/uc. IMHO this kit did live up to the hype; I had really relished building it and wasn't disappointed. Mine didn't turn out as well as Marcus Nicholls version, but then again I can only dream of building something that might compare to the boy's.

This is a box-stock build, down to the pilot figure. This is a very easy kit with very good fit. Its not as detailed as others in this series but it doesn't really distract from a colorful and unusual model. I would highly recommend this kit, especially to a newer builder.

I want to buy that kit now. How was the fit compared to other mainstream manufacturers? You did a great job, and thanks for sharing.

Toad: There is a topside panel wash; apparent on the light green, not so much the dark (and its a black wash). Jordan, yes, thanks to Eduard Express Masks, don't go to the spray bench without them!

Great finish; very realistic.

Well, I'm no F15 expert myself but I think you did a great job. Love the paint/finish.

great build. it looks like a volkswagen with a rudder.

great job, especially the cans.

I was told to re-post this to this part of the forum; sorry for any duplication. This is the new Trumpy tool, out of the box except for Eduard belts. This was a wonderful kit, more like a Tamiya kits and less like any other Trumpy planes I built; I hope to build more like this; fit and surface engraving is wonderful. The gelb is MM; the other paints are Tamiya rattle can (not decanted) AS5/23/24. The Trumpy decals were very good, by the way; not sure who is making them but they were high class. I highly recommend this kit to any builder.

This is the new Trumpy tool, out of the box except for Eduard seatbelts. This was a GREAT kit; miles above any prior Trumpy kit i've done and close to the quality of a Tamiya kit. I can highly recommend this one. Only criticism is the decal instrument panel; I would invest in an Eduard Zoom kit for that piece; the sidewalls and rest of the cockpit are pretty good. I built this for my friend Chris Fraleigh, an armor modeler who got me into contest modeling and wanted a Stuka for his new home's 'war room'; I'm guessing he's going to be happy with his new toy. Paint, by the way, is Tamiya r

Great job on your Vigi, Nick. I'm pretty proud of mine, too; its a beautiful bird, but I'll complain anyway....it amazes me in this day and age that a major company can't make a fuselage that has a reasonably straight join. But Trumpy has improved; I'm almost done with their Stuka and the result is stunning; can't wait to share it with you guys.

I wanted to build this for years; the chrome was damaged on the helmet so I stripped it and went black.

This was one of the most challenging (read worst) kits I ever made. The fuselage seam was laughable; I reinforced it with plastic strip and filled it the best I could, but its far from perfect. I did add to the basic kit with aftermarket decals (Scalemaster,I think), Eduard color PE for the cockpit, and Steel Beach FOD covers (there is NO intake trunking, kids). That being said, this is one big, attractive bird. It was pretty much worth the effort, but I can't recommend the kit unless its to an experienced modeler with lots of time and skill. And I'm building Trumpy's Stuka now, and that

I enjoyed building this model more than any other airplane model I've ever built. Tamiya did a wonderful job with this kit; the fit was just about perfect, especially wing to fuselage. If you use any filler in building this kit, you've made a building error! I used Eaglecal decals, which I must say were the best I ever used. They found every rivet and snuggled down in. The silver is AS12 right from the can; it is bulletproof as I masked over it for the rest of the colors. After seeing Redtails I was dying to build a Tuskegee bird and this one sure fit the bill!

I love reading build reviews of Tamiya planes; its amazing to me that no other manufacturer can match what Tamiya does. While I still have my AM IL2, I know I will build this one as well. Not so much for the subject matter (I would have picked something else) but for the fact building Tamiya airplane kits creates, at least for me, about the perfect modeling karma, and I think that is what it is all about.

Hi Nerdling and Otto: I hate to say it but my advice would be leave the kit in your stash and wait for Hobby Boss to make one that fits. Oh, where to start. First, the instructions suck. They are so vague in the interior section you simply cannot tell how stuff is supposed to go together. The entire interior is very fiddly, and then the BIG problem is that it doesn't fit into the fuselage; you basically have to put the whole thing in a vise to make it fit. The whole 10 lbs of sh** in a five lb bag routine. The fuselage seams on lower top/bottom are horrible. Fit of the wing to the fuse

Hi Don: The panel lines were done with a sludge wash (XF1, water & Lemon Joy)

Hi everyone: After much torture and trepidation I finished my AM Vindicator. As has probably been discussed on this forum, this kit does NOT fit very well (understatement) but it is a pretty neat airplane and from what I heard on another forum I'm probably one of not many to actually complete one without throwing it at the wall! I did use the Eduard cockpit detail set which was nicely done. The paint is xf18 lightened with xf12 ijn grey, which worked well. So here it is with its many warts, so please enjoy!

Hi, everyone. I was lucky enough to find one of my Holy Grails last weekend at the Wings and Wheels show, a 1/32 Tamiya F15. The one I got was the F15J. It was $80/mint/opened, so I think I did pretty well. Looking through the instructions makes me want to drop all that I'm doing and start it, but I want to do it right. I have some initial questions: 1) All the Eduard stuff I can find is for an F15C or F15E. I want to buy some color PE for the cockpit, and also canopy masks. Which of the sets will be most accurate? Another question; do the masks accomodate the copper color borders al