tbell

Looking good. I used the injection molded ignition harness on mine and wish I had taken the time to replace it with solder. As you may already be aware, the openings on the engine cowls are too small. They should be 3/4" in diameter (the real thing was exactly 3'). A few minutes work with some rolled up 400 grit sandpaper should do the trick. It's more accurate and you'll be able to see more of that nifty engine work. Cheers, Tony

Stellar work as usual, Yves. I hope you'll be able to make it to Hamilton with it so I can see it in person. Cheers, Tony Bell

I have the AFV Club F-5E/F-5N Sundowners kit that I would like to trade for the Kinetic F-5A/CF-5A/NF-5A Freedon Fighter. Both parties to pay postage. I'll also throw in a Falcon vacuform canopy (designed for the old Monogram F-5E, but it might be made to fit). Let me know if you're interested! Cheers, Tony Bell

Hi Yves, I'm a little late to this thread, but if you're still stuck for the camera pod "X", I can cut you a mask so you can simply paint it. Lemme know... Cheers, Tony Bell

The Falcon vacuform triple-conversion (which includes fuselages for the PR.XI, Mk.XII and bubbletop Mk.XVI) is a great starting point. You can use any decent Mk.IX (Eduard, ICM) as the basis, fill & rescribe the wings and graft the nose of the Falcon fuselage. If you want a truly accurate PR.XI though, you will need to form your own windscreen. The windscreen in the Falcon conversion is more appropriate for the PR.XIX in that it has a curved front whereas for the XI it needs to be flat (picture a Mk.I windscreen but without the external armoured glass). I did mine using the Falcon convers

Hey folks, I just picked up the new Avant Garde Models Kfir, but I really like the scheme offered in the Italeri kit for A/C no. 882. If anyone has the aircraft specific markings left over, I'll gladly take 'em off your hands. Located in Canada near Toronto... Cheers, Tony Bell

Hi Ken, Great! I'll go ahead and order the decals, but I won't ask you for money until I'm ready to send them off to you. Drop me a PM with your mailing address... Cheers, Tony

I have achieved decent results using Gunze Mr Surfacer 1000 as a primer for the "regular" shades of Alclad. I thin the Surfacer with Tamiya Lacquer thinner and airbrush it on. Once dry I wet sand it with 2000 and 3600 grit cloths and then buff with an old tee shirt. For the Highly Polished Aluminum, Krylon Fusion gloss black works well. Krylon is a bit hot, so I prefer to apply it over a coat of Mr. Surfacer applied as described above. Also, in order to control the paint flow better I decant the Krylon and airbrush it, as opposed to spraying straight from the can. As with the Mr. Surfacer, I

Hi Dak, The main goal is to apply decals over a glossy finish in order to prevent "silvering" (i.e. minute quantities of air trapped beneath) of the clear carrier film. You can either paint your model with gloss colours in the first place , or you can paint your model in flat colours and apply a clear gloss over top. The former is not usually an option as most hobby paint military colours are flat. For the latter, you have several options. Future is a popular clear gloss, as is Testors Glosscote (careful with paint compatibility, though). Tamiya X22 clear gloss acrylic works well, as does Ta

I'm looking to get my hands on the 3rd scheme, but I doubt I'll be building more than one Skyray: So how 'bout this: I buy the decals from Furball's eBay store, you then pay me half the total cost and I mail you all the decals except for scheme #3. Total cost to you would be $13.50 Any takers? Cheers, Tony

The Bandy Papers (Three Cheers for Me, That's Me in the Middle, It's Me Again) by Donald Jack.

I use artists' oils over acrylics. I start by spraying Tamiya Flesh (a pinkish tan). Next I mix up a suitable brown shade of oil paints using Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Mars Brown, black, etc. No two mixes are ever the same. I add some Japan Dryer to speed up the drying time and then brush a thin layer of the oils over the Tamiya, working it until I get a colour density that looks good. Again it's never the same way twice. The final step is to take a couple of broad, soft brushes and start stippling and working the oil paint to smooth it out and subtly remove it from the high points for a wor

Krylon is best decanted from the spray bomb and airbrushed on for two reasons: one, as mentioned above, it's a bit hot and best results are achieved over a coat of primer (I use Mr. Surfacer 1000), and two, it goes on too heavy out of the can.

How about The Dawn Patrol? Also in the WWI vein, I thought Der Rote Baron (The Red Baron) was pretty good, especially when compared to Flyboys.

If it's being judged to IPMS rules, then the accuracy of the finish is not (or at least should not be) a factor. The quality and consistency of the finish are what the judges should be considering. The only way accuracy would be taken into account is if two entries are equivalent in every other aspect of workmanship.

Very, very nice! Question for you: did you glue the cowlings on, or did you manage to get that excellent fit and yet still leave them removable? Any tips on getting them so tight? Cheers, Tony

On NMF models I apply a "filter" (to use the armour modelling term) of a greyish brown over the decals. I'll fill my airbrush cup about 2/3 with pure rubbing alcohol, dip a paintbrush in Tamiya dark grey, clean it in the airbrush cup and repeat with Tamiya brown. I'll then spray the resulting mix over the decals in a fairly tight pattern (but not too concerned about overspray) over the decals. I also use the same mix for random post shading, dirt and streaks to break up the uniformity of the NMF. In addition, I'll use MiG pigments applied with a damp Q-tip and manipulated with both moist (wate

Hawker Typhoon. My cousin's room mate's brother-in-law's char lady's sister works in the Tamiya cafeteria and says it's true.

Yet another vote for the opening of Star Wars (I refuse to recognize episodes I thru III by referring to it as Episode IV) My other favourites are: Dr. Floyd's voyage to the space station in 2001 (An der schönen blauen Donau is still one of my favourite pieces of music due to its association with the scene) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Q3X5Gw5I4&feature=related and The opening scene of Blade Runner as the camera flies over a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019 set to Vangelis' awesome score.

Hi Mark, I've been following your thread (I plan to do LMM some day before I die), and came across the following pic that may give you some diorama inspiration/ideas: The Flickr photostream it came from is a goldmine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/18532986@N07/with/4533289004/ Cheers, Tony

Super Solvent from Lee Valley tools is the best debonder I know of. being alcohol based it will not attack styrene. I use it all the time to remove excess superglue when I'm filling seams, etc. Wonderful stuff. It's also particularly effective for removing acrylic and lacquer paints without harming the plastic. Cheers, Tony

Stunning. Just stunning. Aside from all the impressive detail, you've absolutely nailed the distressed look of the exterior surfaces. I was fortunate enough to get a close look at Friendship 7 when it was at the JSC visitor's centre and you are spot on. Love the heat shield. I've downloaded you .pd file and can't wait to read it. Thanks for posting! Cheers, Tony Edit: It was actually Liberty Bell 7 that I saw at JSC. Nonetheless, my comment still stands!

Built this straight OOB as a little palate cleanser between more ambitious projects. I decided to forgo the decals for the orange areas and instead experiment with the "hairspray" chipping method used by armour modellers. After spraying the grey, I masked for the orange areas and airbrushed on some cheap, generic brand hairspray. After this dried, I sprayed the orange (Vallejo acrylic) and removed the masking. As soon as the orange was dry to the touch, I moistened the paint with water and gently scraped away at it with a sharp toothpick, creating the chipped look. I used the kit decals as a

I'm interested in the Laser. How much for postage to Brampton ON? Cheers, Tony

Minor wear on the cover, no missing, dogeared or damaged pages. Asking $30 (Canadian or US) plus postage at cost from Brampton, Ontario, Canada (L6S2W7). PayPal (preferred), postal money orders or cash (at your own risk!). I can also accept personal cheques from Canadian banks. Cheers, Tony Bell