Jump to content
ARC Discussion Forums

MikeC

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    479

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by MikeC

  1. Posted

    ... Xtradecals look great I beleive.

    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. :thumbsup:

    Fantasy Printshop are also worth a look and, again in my experience, are very good.

  3. Posted

    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 ... :woot.gif:

    As for the Dwarves - excellent set of characters.

    Looking forward to the next one.

  4. Posted

    No doubt the 1:72 MiG-21s will be very good if they are the same quality as their 1:48 stablemates, but I will not be buying any as I don't do 1:72 any more.

    But I will most certainly be buying the 1:48 Spitfire IX, along with the Airfix Spitfire XIX - I can see that 2013 will be the "Year of the Spitfire" for me. :yahoo:

  5. Posted · Edited by MikeC

    Personally I'm quite happy to do the work needed on the Monogram kits of those types mentioned above. I'd like to see manufacturers use their resources on some stuff that afaik has never been done in an injection-moulded kit in 1:48 like:

    Another vote here for the Cougar, to include a Cougar-with-cameras, the F9F-8P (contender for the ugliest-nose-ever award);

    Swift FR5;

    EB-66/RB-66;

    RB-45.

    Yes, I know I'm biased in favour of reconnaissance types, as SIG leader one has to set an example ;)

  6. Posted

    This decal sheet http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ESP48270 has markings for another MX*A - it's a B not a D, but this would at least give you the red tail stripes and codes.

    As for Mustangs in 1:48, what are you looking for? The choice is basically:

    Monogram - an oldie but can still be built into a good model with a bit of work;

    Hasegawa - a bit over-engineered imo, and wheel wells too shallow, but still good, in fact some say the shape is better than Tamiya;

    Tamiya - simpler construction than Hasegawa, the legendary Tamiya fit, and separate flaps for that drooped look.

    Airfix/Arii/Otaki - forget it, not a patch on the others above;

    ICM - never done one, so can't comment.

    My favourite is the Tamiya.

  7. Posted

    Important point to note with this boxing: whilst one of the options in the box is a hi-backed XVIe, the cannon bay covers for the e wing are not included in the box.

    It's a useful source of good "c" wings to match with an Aeroclub fuselage though. I'm also wondering if I'll be able to use the wings with the Airfix PRXIX fuselage, when it comes out, to produce a XIVc.

  9. Posted

    ... have you successfully packed it in with a model and then returned to finish it? Or does it sit in a state of limbo or purgatory for all eternity....

    Both, but 90% of the time they get finished. Recently completed Testors' 1:48 SR-71 after 2.5 years on and off.

    Nah . . . walk away from it. Get a Tamiya Viper or a Mustang and just enjoy a stress-free build. Then you'll muster up the courage and fortitude to tackle the Fulcrum again.

    Put it aside. If you still feel up to building get a build that is low stress like a nice newer Tamiya kit and have that recharge your motivational batteries...

    Works for me - I always have a Tamiya Mustang or two in the loft for such an eventuality.

    But also remember: if it really is sucking the life blood from you, and you cannot scrape up any enthusiasm, you do not have to finish it. You will not be drummed out of IPMS with ignominy (if you are a member), and the model police will not arrive at your house at 3am to confiscate your stash and haul you off to a dark dungeon in the basement of a hobby store somewhere. Funnily enough, giving myself that permission to bin a stalled build means that whilst I have thrown one or two in the bin - an Academy MiG-21 with a bunch of resin went exactly that way - I am more relaxed about it and actually do continue because I don't feel I HAVE to finish it; hope that makes sense.

  10. Posted · Edited by MikeC

    We have to PAY for the kits! The language just gets chucked at us for nothing.

    Mind you, I tried join the local Pedantry Society, but was declined when I mentioned that it should be 'Pedant's Society'... :evil-laughter:

    Surely, unless it only has one member, that should be 'Pedants' Society'? :whistle: :)

  11. Posted

    There's more than just the blower intake to do, the XIX has a different canopy installation from the XIV or 21 so you can't make anything else directly from the fuselage as all options require a canopy replacement and fuselage mods, the fuselage is unique to the XIX due to the canopy installation.

    But you should be able to cross-kit with the IX/XVI kit and get a XIV (e or c depending on wing chosen) along with an IX, XVI or PR.XI from the remaining bits. Some fettling required.

    Perhaps this will work with the Hasegawa IX wings?

    In any case, I have a whole bunch of 19s to build when it does come out: wartime with stripes, post-war, non-RAF (Swedish perhaps?) - that's just for starters.

    Now all we need is for Eduard's forthcoming IX to contain XI bits and my happiness will be complete - ah well, a chap can dream ...

  12. Posted

    This thread says, in general, exactly what I think. My pet hate is the stream of lowercase letters with no punctuation, no upper case and no paragraphs that some people seem to find acceptable on the net.

    I'd suggest that you just ignore it. Otherwise you'll go crazy.

    to, too, two

    there, they're their

    your, you're

    brake, break

    seam, seem

    sprue, spruce

    breech, breach

    heel, heal

    course, coarse

    I doubt you can find a single thread on any message board with more that five posts that doesn't use the incorrect version of a word on that list at least once.

    I could add: color, colour; tire, tyre... but that would just be mean. :sarcasm_on:

    You could add compliment/complement, a mistake made by many including a certain now-defunct decal manufacturer.

  14. Posted

    I like the AMT kits, despite the fact that the last one I bought - second-hand at a model show - had a P-40B canopy in the box instead of the original parts - but hopefully that's a problem unique to me.

    Here's one I did earlier with their N kit and Sky decals: http://www.arcair.com/Gal4/3301-3400/gal3311_P-40_Chilestone/00.shtm

    Someone mentioned the Arii/Otaki/Airfix P-40E - the wing leading edges have a sweep-back that was not there on the original. I think I did a reasonable job on my model of a 49th FG E which I made some years ago, but I don't display it next to any others as the difference is all too apparent. Sorry, I don't have any pics.

  17. Posted

    ... shocking that there is not more hollywood movies with airforce jets...

    How about "The Jet Pilot" starring John Wayne, Janet Leigh, F-86s, a T-33 painted black as a Soviet jet, B-36, F-94, F-89 et al; or "The Hunters" starring Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner and a lot of F-86s in Korea.

    As to the OP, I like F-4s which handily covers both USN, USAF and many other countries, and the F-86 which, with the FJ Fury, does the same. Apart from those if I have a bias it's probably towards USAF - all those Century series jets plus my local connection as I grew up near Mildenhall and Lakenheath, and have family near Bentwaters/Woodbridge.

  18. Posted

    Many people - including me - are wary of the FM kit, as they have a reputation for being pricey with very poor fit. However, it can be made to scrub up well, as this example I snapped at the IPMS Scale Modelworld last year shows.

    IMG_1014.jpg

    IMG_1016.jpg

    No, it's not my work, it's by one Bill Allan from IPMS Salisbury.

  19. Posted

    Today is the 70th anniversary of the first Bomber operation by the Mighty Eighth, when 18 B-17s of the 97th BG were dispatched to Rouen-Souetteville and other secondary targets. Casualties were light with two aircraft sustaining superficial damage.

    One of the pilots on the mission was one major Paul W Tibbetts, later to achieve fame halfway across the world less than three years later.

    :salute:

  21. Posted

    Brampton Grange is a historic building in Brampton, England, which has had many uses over the years, notably as HQ 1st Air Division of the US Eighth Air Force in World War II.

    Since its closure as a hotel a few years ago it has been sadly neglected; now a small dedicated local group is campaigning to get it listed by English Heritage and thus ensure its preservation as a historic building and monument.

    Please take a few moments to look at the website and the Facebook page (link via the website) and consider lending some support to the campaign - thanks.

    http://historicbramptongrange.webs.com/

  23. Posted · Edited by MikeC

    Crossing to the other side of the herring pond for a moment ... I don't believe there's ever been an injection-moulded 1/48 Gloster Javelin, Supermarine Swift or Supermarine Scimitar...

    Yes, add these to my wishlist with the Swift before the Javelin (FR5 of course, see the SIG in my sig as it were). There have been vacforms of these at least - Dynavector Javelin, Ventura (or was it Falcon?) Swift and Dynavector Scimitar iirc ...

    ...

    There have been IM kits of the F9F-8, F11F-1 (both Fonderie Miniature) and P-63 (MPM), though I wouldn't want to claim any of them was top of the range.

    Never seen an FM kit, but I've not heard good things about them and the prices need to be considerably lower before I think about having the "Are you a modeller or a mouse?" conversation with myself. :D Sooner do a vacform tbh.

    Things on my 1/48 wish list:

    FJ-2/3 Fury (Esci's prototype doesn't quite count IMHO)

    F-86H

    Folland Gnat (Aeroclub did a multi-media one, but it is very tough to find)

    These as well - I'm going to be very busy if all these come to fruition.

×
×
  • Create New...