The Keeper

Good point. A decade ago when you searched 'images' you could come up with dozens of photos. Now most of what we get are game shots and artwork depicting the aircraft at different points in time; some without the red surround. As Hooter pointed out, the Spitfires and Hurricanes certainly used red patches over the ports (as well as repairing bullet holes!) but we don't see them much on P-47's or P-51's and certainly not on Navy A/C. Begs the question: was that tape or doped fabric? Came in handy for keeping birds from nesting! There's a book on Urban (Ben) Drew: https://www.abebooks.com/si

The one photo I looked at with the gun port surrounds looks red. Compare the tonality with the bomb background of "Detroit Miss." They usually patched over the gun ports with red tape after servicing to keep insects and debris out of the barrels. hth

Yeah, those look handy for a lot of applications. I wasn't real successful with these: https://www.tptools.com/VISE-GRIP-Locking-Metal-Bender,603.html Mirth intended,

Usually good experiences, some retailers "overpack" ; they got so much styro and bubble wrap they have to sit on the box like Lucy and Ethel packing a suitcase! Regular retailers know what they're doing, I've only had one ebayer throw several models in a box without proper insulation. Phoned in an order to The New Squadron Shop which I've done since 1972, arrived quickly no problems. It's a great era! hth

Yup, you need a good set of cross action tweezers where they grip the part for you and you apply pressure to release the part. The rubber gripping surface is also a good idea, it just has to be thin and you have to practice with it. I coat mine with aquarium sealer but any vinyl caulk will do the trick. Additionally I can recommend stamp/ decal tweezers with broad flat blades, they come in handy for a lot of applications. Every time I go to a swap meet there's usually a tool vendor there and always a new tool to buy. hth

!!Amazing! A website preserved in situ for historians. Tanks 4 the elucidation

They're still there: https://flightdecs.ca/about.htm

It sounds like you're working with an unnecessarily fragile product. Improving the gloss coat is definitely a step in the right direction. You don't want to be using the MicroSol initially, use the MicroSet which initiates adhesion. After an hour you then apply by dropper the Microsol and the chemical reaction starts and you get the wrinkling and (hopefully) the eventual laying down into all the conformations. Which is why I recommend having your surface horizontal. If it's curling on you after the decal film application it may be a matter of 'soak time.' Some manufacturers advise dr

I took a look at the decals. I'd brush paint the Microscale decal film and let dry overnight. Cut the 'Hughes' separate from the 'airwest' so it's not a major wrestling match and hold the backing paper right next to your placement while you push the decal into position with a brush. You want to be working in a horizontal plane so that your application surface is parallel to your table top. Take a cardboard box and cut a hole so that your wing fits in it with the fuselage resting on the top of the box. You can put some cloth between the plane and box if you think the cardboard might scuff your

I can't really tell from the photo; are you saying the paint didn't grip in the crevices? Sounds like maybe there was mold release still in the crevices, did you wash the part before application? I would imagine that a quick rinse in alcohol and a light over spray at this point would fix the problem. hope that helps

Quite an eloquent rendering of the history. Too bad the formulation didn't hold up. I've got containers of Pactra "international" and Humbrol 'authentics' purchased in the seventies that are still quite use-able! Ah, the good old daze. Here's a link to a more protracted discussion w/ photo: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/what-old-paint-is-this-t523145.html Tanks a lot!

I've got a Paasche around here, I think it's the VL. That's the one that's double action similar to the Badger 150, right? Both companies have done things to remain competitive in today's market but it's obviously a hard road. I'd return it and maybe get one of the many varieties of Iwata clones, most of which are manufactured by Fuso Seiki. You could also do a search for 'airbrush recommendations ' and see what develops. hth

Looking through old magazines (1967) and saw and ad for Official Paint by Official Products of West Orange New Jersey. Looks like a great line of paint with Luftwaffe, Japanese, US, and Britain well represented. They've even got USN Blue Gray which no one else produced till Floquil in the nineties! Anybody use this or have a dried out bottle in their paint museum? I did a search but nothing came up due to their rather generic company name and they've been out of business for decades. I can post the ad if anyone's interested. Tanks,

AX 365, thanx for the pix. This link https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/85-AF-78-Me-410-420430.pdf indicates it's Not unrestored, it's last paint job probably 1986. That being said, paint certainly looks prototypical. The fuselage bay, interior, and cockpit framing look the right shade of farbton 66. Using this color looks too dark in scale so I would go with something lighter that gives a good representation of scale color. Most aircraft coming out of the factory in WW II usually show factory preservative paint like zinc chromate, RLM 02, etc. When the aircraft went in

Looks sufficiently elegant and the paint emulates the camo scheme quite well. Whose paint did you use? Was there too many parts and should I stick with my Revell and Heller units that have been begging for attention for multiple decades? Nice to see one finished,

Well THAT will certainly limit my bench time... 🦄 lol! Maybe I should finish my Monogram P-38 that has remained untouched for multiple decades. That has restrained rivetage. We modelers campaigned for manufacturers to stop using off scale details and now we've turned the corner and are utilizing scale upgrade details. For me, I'd like to see the return of retractable landing gear! I was the only kid on my block that could get those Monogram (and others) working features to function. Ahh, for the dayz of dive bombing the pets! Cheers,

Use tinfoil (or other suitable strata) that will form over your model. Use an indelible marker to note your demarcation points. Cut it to size and use it as a master to cut your tapes. I usually cut on a sheet of clean glass and don't use the edge of the tape as it's usually fuzzy. When doing 'scallops' or other bilateral designs you can flip your foil or make a cardstock duplicate and then just flip it to produce your masks. HTH Keeper

For protecting parts like antenna, gear, etc. I wrap tinfoil around them and leave a bit of a trailing edge. When you're working on the kit and your finger gets too close the foil will give you a clue to retract before you hit the actual part. You can shape the foil however you want to protect it. HTH Keeper

Well they did it, wackiest airboat in Soviet airspace is now available: https://www.kitlinx.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=MSVIT72041 Now in Divine Scale, I'll stick with my unfinished Blohm und Voss 141 for now. Cheers!

Hannant's has some generic Modeldecal sheets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?search=modeldecal&setPerPage=25&search_direction=asc&pageID=2 but you've probably already been there; none to fit your needs. You may have to cut masks and paint the size you want or settle for the 100 inch variety. HTH

I'm with Bob, any free box works great. Even if you're building Monogram's B-36, just find an appropriate sized box and cut a hole in it. You'll want it deep enough so the wing tip doesn't grind against the bottom of the box. HTH

Here's a review with a suitable pic. https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/b-29-enola-gay-bocks-car Looks like things fit allright. A 'short shot' is technically where a piece doesn't get enough plastic and the part is incompletely molded. It sounds like your part suffered excessive shrinkage which is always the bane of mold designers. This can vary during the course of a mold run. Best procedure would be to tape the parts together and see how things fit and if you need another vac set. Hope that helps,

ESCI has the nose decal on one of their 1/72 scale sheets. You would have to enlarge and print it. Let me look through my collection and find the number. HTH K It's on sheet #30 Bristol Beaufighter. It also has some RAF pennants and badges on it. ESCI did a credible job (for the era) on these sheets; looks like they're screen printed as opposed to other manufacturer's dot/matrix jobs. They threw fine nose art in on sheets that had nothing to do with the main theme and it was up to you to research and find the proper codes etc. Had big dreams of building many of them but the proj

Couldn't resist replying to this vintage post. Airfix's Douglas A-26 Invader (1971) had the rivet treatment; I sanded them off and rescribed the panel lines, won awards at shows. Airfix in 1973 did their Martin B-26 Marauder and dispensed with rivets, did petite panel lines, included decent interior components (including bomb bay!) and it sufficiently supplanted the previous efforts by Revell and Matchbox and Frog. Airfix is still a fine kit, the Hasegawa kit may be slightly better but unless you're looking to win first place at the Nats, you might be better off with Airfix and aftermarket as

Received the Aeromaster Japanese Aces set. Real nice! Thanks loads!