StrangewaysTerry

Future (Klear as it's known here) is acrylic based, so it won't dissolve the Humbrol solvents. However make sure the metalcote is fully cured before applying the Klear. Then leave the Klear itself to cure for 24 hours and use low-tack masking such as the post-it notes suggested by Grant, or Para-film is another alternative which won't affect the underlying surface.

Yes, who exactly did first decide (and why?) that they were going to coat their newly painted model with floor cleaner?

Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Matchbox kit is still a fairly accurate Huey Cobra, just a bit basic in the detail department.

Brilliant. Never seen one before but I love those early war bipes.

Yes, I use one of those for dusting, too. Another useful dusting tool is a blower-brush that I bought from a camera shop, it's a squeezable rubber bulb with a hollow tube attached and a soft brush at the end. Squeeze the bulb and it blows air on the model while you brush- very handy. There are a whole range of cosmetics brushes that are useful if you can face the embarrassment of shopping for them. Eyeliner brushes are great for detail work, and I have a small mascara brush that's great for reaming out my airbrush.

MiG 19's aren't a subject that interest me and I nearly passed this posting by- I'm glad I didn't. That's a really nice model, and what I like about it is that your weathering technique isn't formulaic- no patchwork of pre-shaded lines or sludge wash of panel lines. It looks like (gasp!) you've actually studied photos of the real thing! <_< Very nicely done. If I had one small critique it's that the insignia look too bright in comparison to the rest of the model as a whole, but it's also possible that's a result of the photography. Either way, I'm still very impressed. Nice tea cup,

Brave man- that's a lot of ejector-pin holes to fill. Excellent work so far.

That is a great tip, Carbine- thanks. Been using the stuff for years and have always left it for 24 hours before buffing.

If the canopy framing is mostly comprised of straight lines, you can paint decal film and cut it into strips, then apply as decals over your Klear'ed canopy. Beauty of this is you can spray the interior colour first, then the camouflage colour, then apply as decals, so you have some room to maneouvre each strip into place.

It's possible to achieve a super-smooth finish with Polly-Scale paints, they're really excellent quality; in fact I heard somewhere that Aeromaster's defunct range of paints were manufactured by Polly-Scale. I thin mine with isoporopyl alcohol and add a few drops of Klear. As long as the thinning ratio/ air pressure is right, they'll spray beautifully.

Try and avoid scribing over filler, if at all possible. For instance at wing/fuselage joins where you've used filler and need to rescribe the panel line, rescribe it just slightly to one side of the filled seam, so you're scribing virgin plastic. (Yes I know it won't be 100% accurately placed but we're talking fractions of millimetres here). Where you have to scribe a straight line around a complex curve (for instance a panel line that goes all the way around a fuselage profile) scribe the lines on the two fuselage sides first, then join them up by scribing across the top/bottom. It's much ea

I'm not generally a fan of U.S. jets but I must admit I really like your Dart. My only minor crit is that you've got a bit of silvering (yellowing?) on one of your wing decals, that may be because it's an older build though. Nicely done mate.

Nice Phantom, Blackcat. Arrestor hook looks a bit out of scale, though.

Oh puh-leeze. This is starting to sound very similar to the Victor Koh situation- he was always 'just going' to put it right, he just needed a bit more time. Stalling tactics. I think you've had long enough. Here's a suggestion for you. - Find out if Weegie and Richard will accept payment instead of the kits you keep promising them. - If so, go to your Post Office, buy International Money Orders to the full value of your kits (you'd have to spend that money anyway to buy the kits again at the 'model show'). You'll get a traceable receipt from the Post Office. - E-mail copies of the r

Is that the same kit you posted about having being returned on October 8th? So, almost 3 weeks later you still haven't bothered to re-send this person's package? Seems to me like you're not trying too hard to fulfill your part of these trades. I've read your postings and there's no way I'd ever trade with you- too many excuses and too much whining about how frustrating the trades have become for you- although it seems everyone else is waiting for you to complete your end of the deal. I think you've just echoed the sentiments of everyone who's been dealing with you.