Boywillie

Mis up some Polyfilla (or whatever trade name applies wherever you are) and make it fairly stiff,,,,,clag it all over a piece of board and then bake it in a hot oven, or give it a blast with a very hot hair dryer. It will crack and craze (hopefully, cos that's what it does when I apply it on a wall,,,,Lol). Not sure if it will replicate what you are after exactly,,,,but maybe a little experimentation will provide some results. Otherwise,,,,if you are going with paints,,,,,try not allowing your basecoat to set for too long before you overcoat again, this is the usual cause of crackling/crazi

Hi Mossie,,,,, Can't help with any info regarding 300 Squadron,,,,but I may be able to help with a snippet or two regarding the other bits you were discussing. The enlarged bomb aimer's blister was one of those modifications that was more often than not retrofitted to earlier airframes, sometimes done at Squadron level but mostly done at the factories that repaired the multitude of damaged aircraft, so it was quite common to see a/c on the same Squadron with both styles of blister. As for the props, my understanding is that the broad or paddle blade props were fitted to the more powerful Pa

Those pics of the Halifax engines are spot on due to the fact that the Hercules installation was built as a "power egg" unit, meaning that they were the same for Halifax, Lanc, Beaufighter etc. Best guess would be that the inside of the unit (and the associated mounting) would be British Interior Grey/Green. However, it would depend on whether the manufacter had their own mix for the colour or even whether supplies were available. In the latter case they may have been primed in the dark red oxide. As has already been said, in Squadron use I suspect that the insides (and most of the outside)

Mike,,,,you are the "man" with these tiny offerings,,,,,great work all round once again!!!! Thanks for sharing Willie

Humbrol have been messing around for the last 10 years or so with how the paints are made. The latest foul-up being the swap to Chinese (or wherever it is) manufacture. I've always used their enamels, having been brought up with it I kinda feel like I understand what I can and can't do with it, but recently it's been confusticating the buggery outa me. Some of it won't brush evenly, some of it doesn't dry completely flat and the metallics are the worst of the bunch. They were always difficult to use, but recently I've found that the easiest way of using them is to keep stirring between each br

Hi,,,, I just checked on my Humbrol Colour Chart that is about 20 years old and No.60 is shown as Scarlet. I guess that maybe either the author of the article or the printers have screwed up the number required. As for No.11 it's shown as Silver Fox,,,,and it is quite a bright silver colour and No.56 which is Aluminium/Steel. These two are unchanged numbers (or they were last week when I purchased a couple of tins. In addition there is now a No.191 which is Polished Aluminium. If you can give some indication as to the shade of green you are searching for I can have a squint at the chart and

Try using Zippo lighter fluid on a cotton bud. Works a charm and leaves no residue. Shouldn't attack any finishes either as it evaporates so quickly. Regards Willie

Very nice Mike - these little dioramas/vignettes are wonderful! You have a real talent for them sir!! Regards, as always Willie

Gents, excellent tips and superb modelling by everyone. They all put my feeble efforts to shame. However, I have a couple of tips that may be of use to you concerning rubber roadwheels/tyres and rubber "pad" type tracks. For the tyres, paint them in the usual way using a very dark grey. When thoroughly dried, take a compressed charcoal stick and grind off a little piece to make a dust. Dab a finger into the dust and rub over the contact portion of the tyre, when done blow off the surplus dust. It gives a very realistic rubber effect and if done around the side walls of pneumatic tyres it can

I guess that this is going to be one of those "we'll never know for sure" sagas that rolls on for ever more. My take on it is this (fwiw). The existence of drawings, photos etc. is a given fact so no dispute from me as far as the a/c manufacture is concerned. However, at the Squadron level, Gibson instructed his flight leaders to work out the distances/fuel loads/all-up weight of the a/c etc. as well as (I believe) giving instructions that all non-essential items be removed from the a/c to bring the all important weights/fuel consumption into safer ranges (given that the weight of the "mine"

Many thanks for all the replies chaps,,,,, much appreciated. Regards Willie

Could you gents please explain how you "centre" up the gun barrel, exhaust or whatever else you are drilling. I have had so many failures (and maybe one or two successes) simply because as I start to drill I find that the drill bit hasn't entered the centre of the piece, or as it enters it splits through the sides. I guess poor eyesight and "wobbly" hands don't help, but I kinda wondered if there was a simple "trick" to making this any simpler. Regards, as always Willie

Beautiful...... thank you! Regards Willie

Hi Slick,,,,,in answer to your question about the Elvington NFII flying again,,,,unfortunately the answer is a negative. If I remember correctly the airframe was a total mess when the guy who is building it acquired the thing. It's taken him years of hard slog to get this far and it's not 100% genuine. I believe the fuselage is NFII but the wings came from an FBVI and lots of stuff came from various sources. But he's done a magnificent job on it, especially as most of the work was done single handed. If you are ever in the York area, Elvington (The Yorkshire Air Museum to give it it's proper

Hey Slick, Don't know if these are any help as my photography skills are non-existant, but these were taken of the Mossie NFII composite build at Elvington last year. http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...006/Mossie7.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...006/Mossie6.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...006/Mossie5.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...006/Mossie4.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...6/Mossie3-1.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...6/Mossie2-1.jpg http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/Boy...osquitoNFII.jp