MikeC

In a word, YES!! So I feel your pain, but I am making progress, the beast is almost ready for the first coat of primer. It will not be perfect, but I figure that the model is just so impressive on account of size and subject that nobody will be looking to see whether there are any imperfections (there are!) hidden by the black paintwork, and it is going nowhere near any competitions. I've been fascinated by the Blackbird since my friend, we were both aged 10, built the old Revell 1/72 YF12A. A few years later I saw it at Farnborough in 1974 and biked to Mildenhall (near where I lived)

I'd say NMF, the differing colour due to the way the light falls on, and reflects off, the curved surface. Compare the after portion of the turret with the fuselage adjacent (almost identical) and the front, brightest, part with the panel above the first window and level with the "scoreboard". Others may know more though ...

Sounds like time to make a start on my Bentwaters F-16 Aggressor, or maybe an A-10, or then again perhaps an Alconbury RF-4 in the early "Navy" scheme ... Decisions decisions ...

Many thanks Terry, that's great. The Widow's box is already open, just got a 109 to finish then off we go! Thanks again, Mike

Less than a week to go folks until the Avon Show, hope to see you there ...

Hi Terry, thanks for starting this thread, some very useful info in here. I'm just about to start on my Widow, which is going to be "Little Audrey", a 9th AF bird in France - a later attrition replacements I believe, and as such rare in the ETO in having the top turret. Anyway, regarding the earlier question about aftermarket sheets, I have this one by Kits-World - nose art only, you'll still need everything else. Question: the rocket installation for night intruder ops appears to be standard HVARs, but where are they positioned? Are there any plans or dimensions at all? I just have a han

I had a couple of the Koster sets, I've used one on my D some years back and the other one is patiently waiting for me to start the J I've had in the stash since the late 90s! (No, not for sale before anyone asks.) My sets were both purely clear parts, although I do believe there were other sets which included other bits. The Ford nose may well have been in one of these, and I seem to recollect that there was also a PB4Y-2 from both Koster and Meteor, but others may know more. The Koster turrets are very clear and a definite improvement on the kit ones, however the plastic is very thin as t

Why, is that your stash? :P :D

A Brigadier or any flavour of General :lol: In all seriousness, that is one excellent Tornado, very well done. @toadwbg and Dondy, I have a Revell 1:48 in my stash in a German ECR boxing - I heard good reports about this one, but I'll have to build it before I can comment further.

Thanks Guys. I'm not surprised there was a Cutting Edge set, but I'm really not prepared to remortgage my house (as I suspect I'll need to) in the unlikely event that one ever appears on e-Bay Looking at the Italeri Herc, it's a lot of work anyway, so a bit more won't hurt! I do have "form" in this area having once done the RAF's one and only W2 (XV208) from the Airfix 1:72 kit - iirc the basis of the nose was a Lightning overwing tank, and the radome was from the old Revell 1:32 P-40, alas I no longer have the model. But I digress - I'll leave the Herc in the stash right now, it sounds l

Hi All, I have an Italeri 1:48 C-130 in my stash, and I have a hankering to do a Fulton STARS equipped Herc, the reasons being that I want to do a Woodbridge-based example, and a wish to do a STARS system one ever since I saw a live pickup demo at a Lakenheath (iirc) Open House many years ago. Question is, before I break out the Milliput and dust off the rusty scratch-building skills (such as they are), did anyone ever do a 1:48 conversion, and if so what are the chances of picking one up? TIA people

I've been "bitten" by that too - I would really like a 1:48 Huskie, and when I saw what I thought was exactly that at a model show last year I bought it. Back to the IPMS Avon stand for a look in the box and a fondle of the plastic, and I thought it looked a bit big. My colleague who works in 1:32 confirmed it was just that. Fortunately the trader was happy to refund my hard-earned (I only do 1:48). However, out of that I learned a quick tip - if in doubt and particularly if you don't know the type a look at the seats usually points you towards the correct scale.

:clap2: :clap2: Very nice.

Yes, indeed, and if I ever do build this kit of course I'll fix it, as the man said a coat or two of Mr Surfacer and they're probably gone. But but the point is they shouldn't be there in the first place. Only the current trend for rivets everywhere explains it, as all Tamiya had to do was what they did for their excellent 1:48 kit which is my 2nd favourite kit of all time, their P-51B being my 1st. (edited for typo)

Rivets on a Pony's wing - oh the horror!!! :crying: :crying:

Equally surprised there's no Bentwaters (relatively near Hannants) options such as 234 Sqn. @ Mungo1974 - just curious, I'm more of a Suffolk boy myself but know Norwich fairly well. Glad to find a fellow 356th fan. To perhaps generate inspiration for the 1:32 decal people, here's one of my many 1:48 Mustangs ... Photo © Phil Jones IPMS Avon

My dear Sir, it still IS Mighty Eighth Country. ;) Checked out your further posts and I think we agree, let's see some of the less well known aircraft - there are plenty to choose from. Some of the Bottisham birds, perhaps (not the usual suspects), or my favourites, the red nose and blue diamonds of the 356th. Or how about the Fowlmere-based 339th or the 353rd at Metfield/Raydon? Don't see too many of them ... Incidentally, whereabouts in Norwich are you?

Good job on my second favourite kit (the first being Tamiya's P-51B)

Never mind Jennings, nobody's perfect (but I'm biased, being a native of Eighth Country).

I just looked at the other thread using the link in the post above, then came back to this one - Deja Vue ...

F-86D, 512th FIS, RAF Bentwaters, to fit the Revell kit - like this - please, please, please.

Well if anything is going to tempt me into 1:32nd then this is it, but at the price expected here in England I will probably conclude that my 1:48 stash is plenty to keep me going. Mind you, whilst I appreciate that there is probably an element of scaling up existing artwork to save a few Yen on the production costs ("Petie 2nd" and "Blondie" are both in Tamiya 1:48 boxings), it would have been nice to see some alternative never-before-kitted markings. I'm convinced that many people in the "casual buyer" market must think the Mighty Eighth's entire Mustang force consisted of "Petie 2nd", "Ol

Ooops, what's happened? Finger trouble and not being used to the new Board perhaps ... Would a passing mod please delete the surplus duplicate? Thanks.

And @ AlanM, thanks for posting the drawings, right-clicked for personal use, is that OK? (Edited because my keyboard can't spell )