Curt B

Thank you, sir.

Hi Jamie, Sorry for the long delay in responding to your request. As you know, the Tamiya instructions include a mixture of Tamiya paints to get the colors they suggest. This is the case whether you do the solid blue top, or the 2 tone medium/dark blue scheme. I don't know if you read my other posts in this thread, but if so, you'll note my recommendation to Bounce to watch the extensive series of 34 (I think) videos that Matt/Doog's models did on his build of this kit. His color recommendations are also mixtures, but his mixtures use MRP lacquer paints, which I happen to think are fantastic paints (no thinning needed, fabulous coverage, etc.), though particularly nasty in terms of smell/vapors. If you need/want details on these mixtures, let me know. I'm guessing that if you are REALLY dead set against mixing colors, you could probably use deep sea blue and intermediate blue, colors used on the F6F Hellcat (US Navy colors). Again, let me know and I'll get you details.

Were any A6M3s used at Pearl Harbor...I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment 🤨

You are most welcome! Doogs has a number of video series, the most recent on a spectacular 1/32 scale Intruder, and another one a dual Flanker build, but the P-47M is perhaps his best.

I shall do my best! Do you have this model? If so, I'd highly recommend the Doog's Modeling 34 part video series (on YouTube). But I'll also try to post some pictures as I go.

HI All, I'm getting stupid with the number of airplanes I'm starting and doing a little bit on then changing to another plane. I have been working on the 1/48 Tamiya A6M5/5a Zero, but I'm at the point where I need to paint the engine, and then let it dry thoroughly, as I'm going to use metallic paint, and then do a black wash. I"m doing a lot of extra detailing, and I need the paint really dry. SO, while waiting to make progress on that, I've pulled out my Tamiya 1/48 P-47M. I know I"m just repeating a lot of things that a million modelers have written before me, but I just have to say that while I've just barely begun, I've pieced and taped together the fuselage, and wings, and OH MY GOODNESS...everything that I've heard or read about this kit being spectacular are all TRUE! The parts go together just by breathing on them, and the detail is just amazing! I'm working on detailing out the cockpit, and I've got the Eduard cockpit set for this specific airplane, and I know I"m going to be thrilled using the preprinted photo etch on the cockpit details. And I've finally obtained a bottle of black Stynylrez primer. I've had some other colors of Stynylrez, but this black stuff seems even more magical. I'm following much of the detail in Doog's series on this very kit, and will next be painting over the primer in MRP equivalent to Dull Dark Green, then will be picking put the details in paint, then the photo etch. I can just tell, as long as I don't do anything to mess this up. this airplane is going to be spectacular!! Just singing its praises. I thought the new P-38F/G went together like a dream (i've completed most of the building on that one, just havent' made it to paint yet...), but this P-47M is every bit as dreamy in terms of fit!! I'm just babbling like a little kid on Christmas morning, but I can't help it. We are definitely living in the golden age of modeling!!

Thanks for the info.

For me, it's the F-15 twin tails. I've always been fascinated with how phenomenally thin those tails are for such large structures. But they also are quite tall, and they have a look of serious authority, to my mind, anyway. I have a GWH 1/48 F-15C in my stash, and have always wondered if they were able to capture the amazing look of those tails...don't know, and I haven't looked at the parts yet! The L-1011 comes close, though!

Hey All, Wondering what anyone can tell me about the recent Airfix Battle of Britain series models, in 1/48 scale. Is Airfix just trying to cash in on the Battle of Britain anniversary, but without doing anything different or better? I just saw in the new FineScale Modeler that they have a Hurricane Mk 1 out in that series, but the MSRP seems awfully steep ($60.50). I just recently completed an AIrfix 1/48 Hurricane Mk 1, the Tropical boxing, and I thought it was a very nice model, but I already have a bunch of aftermarket 1/48 Battle of Britain decals, plus another Airfix Tropical Hurricane (which can be built as the non-Tropical version) and that was the Hurricane I am planning to do as a BoB airplane. Am I missing anything in the BoB Series? It appears Airfix is doing a number of planes, both Brit and German in this series, but just wondering if there is anything more to these kits than just the nice box art and decals.

Thanks, guys. I know that it's hard to go wrong with a Tamiya model, but when I was a kid building models (this was the late '60s/early '70s) Hasegawa kits were the ones I used to like best. I know they still have some great stuff, so I'm thrilled that you have recommended a Has kit for a Pearl Harbor vintage Zero. I appreciate your comments, and so the Hasegawa version in will be!

That's my usual go-to hobby shop these days. The only reason I went with MegHobby was that they were taking pre-orders, something I've not noted Scalehobbyist doing, though they may.

Thanks to all of you who have replied thus far. I honestly will use your responses to explain to my wife that keeping the kits 'factory fresh', so to speak, isn't going to fetch a better price when she goes to sell off the stash to you guys. The points you've made really make a lot of sense, the logic is great. Thanks again for your thoughts on this matter, which I've been thinking about for some time now. Another thing that I think is in favor of having an open box is that ability to put any aftermarket items in the box with the rest of the kit. Granted, sometimes the aftermarket stuff is too bulky to fit into the box, but oftentimes it's not, and being able to put everything together in one place is a benefit, especially if/when it may be years before I get around to actually building the model.

Hey All, I have to say that even though I've been building models for many years now, when I was a youngster, and now as an adult for over 10 years, I still consider myself a newbie/novice in many area of the hobby, and one of those is filling seams and scribing panel lines and making rivets. I've just never been good at this, and it's mostly due to my fears at ruining the wonderful molded detail that many of today's models have. But, I also realize that failure to fill those seams is perhaps worse than the subsequent lack of recreating the lost panel lines after the filling and sanding has taken place. I've been a fan of using acrylic, water based fillers, like Perfect Plastic Putty, which works well for certain things, and I love how you can use water to clean up the residue, which I find ideal for things like wing/fuselage joints, where a damp or wet Q-Tip can clean things up before the putty dries, with no remaining mess. However, the acrylic putty, for me at least, often doesn't do a stellar job of making the joints/seams completely disappear. For that, I've found something that I"m sure many, if not most of you have long been aware of, but I only recently discovered while watching one of Doog's Models P-47M series. It's 3M Acryl-Red Glazing Putty. Though is has ''acryl' in the name, it's not water based, and I've found i tiny bit of Gunze Mr. Leveling Thinner makes the putty a little thinner and more easily applied. But this stuff dries quickly, within 20 minutes, and while it does take a bit more effort to sand and smooth compared to water based putty, it leaves the seams absolutely perfectly filled, with no observable joint at all. Again, this is more than likely no news to most of you, but for me, it's a revelation, and is another thing on my way to being a better modeler.

Hi All, I just added a post to the Tamiya P-38H thread, and I'd noted there that I didn't plan on breaking the box cellophane seal, at least until I plan to begin the build. My question to all of you fellow modelers is this. I have a reasonably significant stash of model kits, somewhere in the vicinity of 100-120, between airplanes, helicopters and armor (mostly tanks). I am 61 years old, and there is no doubt in my mind that I will never, EVER even place much of a dent in that huge number of kits before I head off to the great model bench in the sky. I've promised my wife that at some point, I will do an inventory of all the modeling 'stuff' I have, which would include kits, aftermarket stuff, tools, paints, etc. I figure, presuming I go before she does, which is likely as she is almost 8 years younger than me, that she'll want to divest herself of all the model stuff, and I want to leave her well situated to do that. My question is whether you, as fellow modelers, are, or would be, willing to pay more for a model kit if that kit was 'factory sealed', rather than the factory seal/cellophane being broken or removed. It seems like a lot of kits these days don't come like they used to, that is, completely sealed in cellophane or shrink wrapped plastic. Some kits are just sealed with circular tape seals at 2 or 4 locations, and some not sealed at all. But my wife, love her to death, always gives me good-hearted crap about opening the boxes of fully sealed kits, thinking that somehow, that model will be worth more when she goes to sell it after my demise. What say you, folks? Are factory sealed kits worth more to you in the 'secondary market', or does it not matter to you? I rarely ever open any of the sealed sprue bags, even if I open a kit box, so, does that matter to you? Sealed bags, in the event that the box seal has been broken? I'm just curious about what you have to say, so I can either agree with my wife's good natured cajoling, or tell her it doesn't matter to the folks who are the likely recipients of this mass of plastic? Thanks for your thoughts.

Hey All, JUST this second got my P-38H in the mail from MegaHobby. It is indeed a white box, and the cost breakdown was: Kit - $69.99, Tax - $5.86, Shipping - $9.95. I'm not planning on breaking the seal on the box, at least not until I'm ready to start building it, as I expect the contents will look just like the P-38F/G contents, save for the H variant details.