MikeC

Don't want to derail the thread, but the short answer is that reconnaissance aircraft, usually operating singly, did not tend to get over here, get the pictures, then make it back to base without being intercepted. Between about 1941 and 1944, when Me262 recce aircraft were sent over London to assess V2 damage, practically no effective sustained reconnaissance took place. That being the case, even if the Germans did see a large concentration of troops and materiel, they had no way of knowing whether this was normal or a build-up. You need several sorties over a sustained period to compare i

I built the HiPM kit and thoroughly enjoyed it. The chord of the wing is a bit short, but I decided I could live with that, and in hindsight I could have improved the fin fillet a bit more. It was a bit bothersome to fit the windscreen part, but I did it without scratching the clear bits!! The kit does provide a small sheet of photo-etch, and when finished it looks the part, particularly contrasted with a D/K. Re the decals, two ANG and two post-war USAAF versions provided, but the stars on the national markings are out of proportion, so these need replacing, not exactly hard to find repla

For a "significant" birthday a few years ago, MrsC :wub: bought me a trip in a Tiger; on a lovely August day I enjoyed a trip in G-APFU, including (as I have experience) flying it most of the time. That's me in the front, the airfield is Goodwood, better known in WWII as Westhampnett

Hannants still have some stock of ATP http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?product_category_id=&product_division_id=&manufacturer_id=7924&code=&product_type_id=&scale_id=&keyword_search=&setPerPage=25&currency_id=

I've just had a look at the instruction sheet, the decal options are quite something in themselves. If the RAF roundels really are wrong, there are Israeli, French, US and other options as well. There is, however, one essential item of aftermarket for the glass.

Does a glider count? Mine was simple: "Well, you've got it up, now you've got to get it down in one piece", overlaid on top of of the realization that the aircraft was, indeed, lighter and a bit more of a handful without the instructor, plus the sheer exhilaration. Not forgetting, of course, the 45-degree rule, speed on finals, whether to use spoilersor not, and did I really get 1100 ft off the (winch) launch??

Yes, I like that - imaginative! :thumbsup:/> You could always see if 617 may be interested http://www.raf.mod.uk/raflossiemouth/aboutus/617sqn.cfm http://www.raf.mod.uk/raflossiemouth/contactus.cfm

I don't usually use a polish on the main model, but I do on canopies: I use a product called "Bare Metal" plastic polish. It comes in a bottle which is the same size and style as the Micro Sol/Set solutions, and one of those lasts me literally years; but it brings canopies up to a lovely finish to the extent that I've been asked whether they're been dipped in floor polish. If you can find some, recommended.

You may also find this link useful http://www.paint4models.com/

We really need a new tooling of the <insert your favourite aircraft here>

Special Hobby. Much better than the Hobbycraft, but does need work to complete.

Hi Big Daddy, and thanks, no problem re mentioning the exhaust staining. I was working from a number of photos including some this book and came to the conclusion that it could appear, although it was certainly less - you'll notice I've tried to make it less than on the other areas. But fair comment. :)

Thanks for the kind words guys. Falcon20driver, it is certainly big. When you say "Tamiya", and most people think of a kit that falls together almost perfectly. And whilst many Tamiya kits are like that (notably their P-51s) this is not one of them. The fit is not bad, but not up to the usual Tamiya standard in places. Most of the problems are around the engine nacelles. The instructions specify fitting the main undercarriage units early on in the build, and I could not work out a way to leave them until later; this makes them a bit vulnerable. The fit of the engines is the worst part.

My latest finish, hot off the workbench. It represents a slightly unusual Lanc, TW669 of the Central Photographic Establishment at Benson in the late 1940s. It's slightly unusual in that it apparently received a photographic fit, but was never converted to the full PR standard - as you see, it retained the turrets. It's the Tamiya 1:48 kit with Belcher engines, and some Eduard detail, notably seat harnesses. Decals were kit decals for stencils, "generics", and the large underwing serials were done with custom-ordered (and recommended) Miracle Masks. Walkway lines masked and sprayed.

I made a bit of a resolution to finish more when I once had seven on the go, and I now manage to keep it down to three or four. Trouble is, I use acrylics, and when you spray these they tend to need two or three days curing before you can safely handle them to mask up for the next colour. So I have another one on the go, then I get to gluing a bit that needs time, to set, so need something else to keep occupied. I also try and keep things at various stages, so if I get fed up with painting I can do some building or sanding for a change. And like one the guys above, I tend to spray more tha

True: you can guess how I know ... Good advice. In fact they are cheap enough (here in the UK at least) to invest in a handle for each blade shape, to avoid having to change blades. I use three: 10, 11 and 15T. Talking of changing blades, use extreme care to avoid finding out how sharp even a used blade can be! Swann Morton do make a blade remover, but I don't have one. http://www.swann-morton.com/product_range/13.php

Me too, I remember when the most specialised items were the sloping bricks to make a pitched roof. Now my grandson is very much into Lego, particularly the Star Wars sets, and the Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones Wii games. Incidentally, I do still have some - I use it to make jigs for building my aircraft models, it's very adaptable for that purpose for anything from WWI to modern jets.

I'll agree with Curt, buy the Superfine. I use it all the time, (except on Tamiya P-51s - no filler needed :-) ) As you probably know, Milliputcomes as two sticks which need mixing. The trick is to mix exactly the same amounts of filler and hardener - how I achieve that is to roll out a small "sausage" of each part, making sure they're the same diameter, then use equal lengths. HTH

Without wishing to hi-jack the thread, and certainly no criticism of the OP's model, a pony with black and white D-Day stripes looks even better imo. :)

Thanks Jennings. Given this, the Airfix PR19 and the AZ PRXI, 2013 is definitely going to be "Year of the Spitfire" for me. Mind you I'll probably have a MiG-21R at some point as well.

That's rather nice! In particular, a nice tidy paint job. Was the camo masked or freehand? Couple of small points, though, if you don't mind. Firstly, I'd query the paint chipping on the trailing edge of one prop blade - the 11 o'clock blade looked at from the front. Secondly, more a query than a crit: RAF Mustangs generally extended the white nose back from the spinner in the same way that the 8th Air Force P-51 groups did. Did you have a photo that showed it the way you've depicted it? But aside from those, a super job, well done.

I understand they are printed by Microscale/Superscale, or at least they were. Whoever prints them, they are nice and thin and work well with Sol/Set in my experience. I did get an out-of-register Xtradecal sheet once: Hannants replaced it FOC. Fantasy Printshop are also worth a look and, again in my experience, are very good.

I haven't looked at sizes, but perhaps these may be worth a look? http://www.rafmuseumshop.com/node/8934 http://www.rafmuseumshop.com/shop/CL/Children http://www.fleetairarm.com/shop/childrens-collection/12.aspx HTH

MrsC and I went to see it a couple of days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The only problem was that having got to the cinema relatively late - a quarter of an hour before "curtain-up" - we were obliged to sit only a couple of rows from the front, which meant that it was difficult o follow the camera-work in places. But it was a great film, we liked it. The Kingdon under the Mountain was superb, far richer than I'd ever conceived it when I read the book. The Troll scene was spot-on - they had exactly the accents I'd imagined from the book. I even liked Radagast. As for the prosthetic arm