bilkeau

Those barber's shop photos are fantastically atmospheric, excellent captures! Photography is the reason I hardly even fondle a sprue or stroke a decal sheet any more, because I rather enjoy shooting people in the streets. So, to keep the BW theme going: My Flickr page Nick

Hey Dave, thought you might like a photo too. Nick

*discrete cough* No, you want to leave off the upperwing bulges: they didn't appear until the G-3/G-4 series, when the tyre size was increased from 650x160mm to 660x160mm. The G-2 tailwheel was 290x110mm, the G-6 was 350x135mm. Nick

Hi Kevin, I've not seen THIS book, (I've got the original Japanese language that publication it is apparently based upon), but as far as I know this is the only Tony book in English. Schiffer may have done a softback monograph, but if it's like any of their others, it's going to be horrible. Nick

Hi there Patrick, Decent English language refs for Japanese subjects can take some hunting down. In the past I've ordered the Aero Detail "Oscar" and "George" books from Christian Schmidt in Germany. Japanese language Gakken and Model Art titles (I like these!) have been obtained from Arawasi in Japan, which Johnsan gave you the URL for. Kagero do Polish/English monographs on the Nate and Frank, which should ba available in Blighty. The Hannants search engine is, at best, frustrating, and I don't know if you discovered that it's more productive to search by type, eg:Ki-84. Searching for Ki84

Yeah, the Alclad may well eat straight through, but don't use Micro Mask anyway. It takes forever to dry properly, won't cut the way they claim, and then it's nearly impossible to remove, especially from canopies. I'd strongly recommend the traditional method of masking with tape or Parafilm. Nick

Fairy Power Spray. Shifts everything, but you might need a couple of applications for five coats. Nick

Fairy Power Spray. The best paint stripper you can get. Nick

Or at least let them use it in your JG 300 book! Thanks for clearing that one up for me, I thought that the fabled "other photo" may have been the one in the book. Nick

Thanks for that Jes, but I've had a hard look at the photo from Broken Eagles, and I'm pretty certain that the obscured markings are not due to some light aberration, leaving us with the conundrum as to why anyone would bother painting over the swastika on either the airframe or the picture. I had assumed that "the other photo" shows the markings as described by Eagle Cals, as Mr. Crandall tends not to make things up! Does your picture show the same or the other side of the aircraft? Nick

It looks like the swastika was painted over on the aircraft, but why I couldn't even hazard a guess, and it seems unlikely that the US troops would bother. Also, the shield on the nose supposedly containing a boar's head seems to be overpainted too. It's all a bit baffling really, which is why I always prefer books and decal sheets to do my thinking for me! Watch out for the blemish on the film between the cockpit and the numeral, making that area a little lighter than it should be. Nick

Hi Mike, Well, for what it's worth, here's the picture from "Broken Eagles 2", as referenced on the instruction sheet. As far as I'm aware this is the only published photo of the machine, although Jerry Crandall has another one in his collection. As for its location, Broken Eagles only states that it was found by the 2nd Armored Division "en route to Berlin"! The Eagle Cals instructions note that the a/c had a tall tail wheel, no external trim tabs on the tail, and the aerial attaches directly to the fuselage behind the canopy. Sorry, but that seems to be the sum of human knowledge on the sub

Asd you've got paint already drying in mid-air, adding "more of the stuff that evaporates really quickly" probably isn't going to solve your problems. As Triarius said, reduce pressure/get closer, (words we could all live by!), should sort you out. Nick

It's the old but nice Monogram job. Nick

65, 02 and 70 were popular colours for Luftwaffe bombs. Personally, I don't get too hung up on ordnance (geddit?), but here's a handy little page that should guide you through this particular minefield. And a couple of pics: Note the camo on the bomb dolly! Nick

I've mixed Tamiya with other acrylics with no problems. Just try it - as I see it the only downside is that you waste two brushfuls of paint! Nick

In the Japo Bf 109K camouflage and Marking (sic) book they have a profile, photo of the airframe and somewhat more extensive notes on the camo. If you're interested, shoot me your email address, and I'll scan 'em for you. Nick

T'other side: And the actual decal sheet: The tulip-nosed beastie has white bands running chordwise on its horizontal stabs, which ES have missed, and according to Eagle Cals, the "4" should be green and not black. Nick

Here you go, Dave. Is this enough or do you need the other side too? Happy New Year, Nick

For anybody else who might be interested, the Luftwaffe font (by noted aviation artist Ronnie Olsthoorn) can be downloaded here There are also some USAAF fonts on these pages Nick

Cobrahistorian, sorry for the thread hijack, but I hope that this may be of some interest. All pics and info are from the Schiffer book I referenced in my previous post. V18 (W.Nr 0040) was previously used in the Hohenjager programme, and with its huge belly mounted turbo-supercharger, was nicknamed "Kangaroo". This project came to nothing, and it was decided to convert the airframe to Ta 152H standard as part of the H-series prototype "family", but it only left the prototype shop as series production was starting, and was not used in any testing. It was used instead for pilot familiarisat

The photo is pretty well known, and appears in several publications. In Hikoki's Luftwaffe camouflage and markings book by Michael Ullman, it's captioned as a JG 301 machine found at Leck, although it lacks their red and yellow RVT bands. However, in Schiffer's "Ta 152" by Dietmar Harmann, two different pictures of the same a/c show that it's Fw 190V 18/U2, CF+OY, found at Reinsehlen. Always quickens the pulse to see a Ta 152 pic, though! Nick

Hmmm, that could be interesting. I'll have to check to see whether there are any 109s in the stash. Nick

I'm pretty sure that the pics I posted are of a Russian 'Cobra, but stupidly I didn't record the specific details. From what I remember of the discussions on HS, you're on the money with your "Bell Green" comments, but also it was not uncommon for the wing and nose wheelbays to be painted different colours. Nick

Do a search for "Bell Green" over on HS, there have been a number of debates about P-39 interior colours over the years. But it does seem to be an olivey green... Nick