lesthegringo

I see where you are coming from - after all it seems the manufacturers all seem to have their own versions of each colour, but if the guys doing the research are able to say 'this one is pretty close' it always helps simplify. Also, go to the different comparison charts, and you can guarantee that they never agree on what colour is an equivalent! Cheers

Pretty picky I know, but any chance of some Tamiya / Gunze etc equivalencies on those paint charts? Cheers, I look forward to it appearing here in Aus Les

Use a slow dry enamel paint then sprinkle a fine layer of either flour (if you want it rough) or corn / rice flour if you want a smoother finish. Let it dry then spray the colour you want on it. Because you can mask where you don't want the coating it makes it easy to control, plus the finish is very even. I used rough flour to recreate suede covered seats and steering wheels for car models this way, and with a matt paint it looks really convincing Les

I've used lead fishing weights for years with no problems. Don't use cyano to hold them in though, it reacts with the lead - use epoxy Never used tungsten paste though, seems expensive for what it is. If you are putting the model on a base, ever considered micro magnets in the nosewheel? Les

Mineshima do a range of superfine files, they are not cheap but they are really good quality. They also do some very fine shaped chisels, and their sprue cutters knock Tamiya's effort into a cocked hat Les

I have heard people using hot water or steam to warm the resin, then it can be bent back to the right shape. Use a cone shaped former to make them circular. Warped resin bits are not uncommon, from reading other peoples reports Les

Thanks dnl42 - it turns out it was a slightly loose needle nozzle. When I put it on I obviously thought I had tightened it properly, and when checking the airbrush over, when I looked at it, it appeared to be fully seated. After trying a couple of times, I decided to check tighten, and by a simple quarter turn more it all came good. just goes to show, always check even if it appears to be correct.

Guys, need a bit of advice troubleshooting a strange airbrush problem. It's a double action cheapie, which has performed sterling service up to now, but after a thorough clean yesterday it now is acting up. At full paint flow, only a very small amount of paint comes out, but if you keep moving the paint needle back and forth it will paint more reliably and flow more paint. The paint is thinned correctly, it is the Gunze flat black lacquer type which is normally really good in airbrushes. If you let the airbrush sit for a couple of moment then use it again, it will spatter a bit of paint eve

My three versions (MF, Bis and PFM) all sit fine on the gear, even with the nosecose stuffed full of lead. You'll be fine Les

Thanks, hope to be able to get it here in Australia reasonably quickly Good luck with the other kits, I look forward to the details when they emerge

Will the kit be available to Asia Pacific retailers immediately or will we only initially be able to get it from US retailers? Cheers

Sorry, also forgot to ask, is that set designed for any particular kit? Eduard? Cheers

I think that the scheme is fantastic, and I would give that a go. What are the decals like to use, do they go down well, prone to silvering, very fragile, that sort of problem? Cheers

I have to be honest and say that this would not have been my number one selection for a new kit, but a really applaud you for bringing out some interesting and varied subjects. The mrking options alone will make this worth getting, and I am going to have to insist on one of those Portuguese Tigers being in the box! Muito giro Cheers

I have to say that those weapons and pylons look sensational. Shame about the limitations of injection moulding for the grid tails of one of the types (definitely not a criticism of AMK's efforts ) but I'm sure that one of the clever aftermarket companies will come up with a way of reproducing that. A couple of quick questions if I may, how will the cockpit be rendered, just using injection moulded styrene or will you be offering any photo etch, and also will there be any multimedia parts in the box for other details? Cheers

One other way that I've used to get rid of those slightly furry edges that can be left is to dilute one part acetone with two parts isopropyl alcohol and let it wick along the scribed lines. The small amount of acetone just disolves the very fine edges without doing any more, and the alcohol tones it down and stops it from evaporating too fast. Don't use pure acetone though

I am certainly in favour of being made aware of new products that are being made available, but I am of the opinion that unless you have actual photos of the bits themselves, there should be a note to point out that the pictures that accompany the article are actually CAD renders or promotional pictures. Eduards Brassin bits ARE very good, but the CAD renders you get accompanying the articles are really rather utopian, with no mismatches, steps, join lines etc. If you were to believe the CAD renders they fit absolutely perfectly and the photo etched stuff is too good to be true - which of cour

Months after writing this first post, I am back to report what I can only describe as a deteriorating relationship with PE. Stuff in the cockpit is still more or less OK, but I have to say that I have had it with a set for Russian weapons. This came with a set of stuff so was not a specific purchase. Following on from the previous discussion, I bought some Gators Grip glue, which I have to say is much nicer to use than cyano, and I have a PE folding tool. Even so, who is trying to fool who? The bits look like slabs of metal blobbed onto the outside and are a significant proportion of the thi

Thanks guys. For info, how have you guys that built it deal with the intake trunking?

Fair enough, just wondered if there was a way to salvage the MiG-25 kit. Looks like we'll have to wait for AMK to decide to do one

I'll start off with the disclaimer that 1) I'm not a rivet counter so 100% accuracy isn't my whole life and 2) my in depth knowledge of Russian aircraft is the thickness of a page So, hopefully having headed off a lot of caustic replies with that, the question I want to ask is whether the forthcoming AMK MiG-31 kit could potentially be used to help produce a correction set for the generally panned Kinetic MiG-25 kit. As I understand it one of the biggest criticisms was the totally absent intake trunking and ramps, and the exhausts. Would the parts from the AMK kit be similar enough to the Mi

Thanks for all your answers guys, I suppose I was thinking along those lines. I think that we are now very spoilt with the models that are already available and especially so seeing what is in the pipeline. However there's always room for simple improvements on a lot of kits due to the limitations imposed by cost and styrene moulding technology and Eduard in particular play a canny game by bringing out their multimedia kits. With a particular eye on the AMK MiG 31 and their announced F14, I'm hoping that they are working with the aftermarket guys. Eduard's resin parts for their own kits are

Got to say I thought the GWH version was a fantastic kit to build, apart from the photo etched seat belts..... made a right dogs breakfast of that. The rest goes together beautifully, even though it is puzzling to include two lovely engines that you'll never see, but with a bit of creativity it would form a great diorama.

I have both Humbrol Clear and Future and can confirm that they are not the same. Future is better, not that Clear is bad. As for the silvering, recently I have found that the ones most prone to it are ones from Tamiya kits. A couple of 1/48 mossies I recently built, then painted with Gunze lacquers (a fine satin finish), and even flooding with future before and after has not prevented the silvering from occurring especially on the smaller stencils. Trumpeter get a bad name for the kits, but even on a poor matt finish I was able to get the decals to snuggle down nice and tight. I am sure tha

It really is a brutal looking aircraft, guaranteed to be a showpiece when finished. Despite my desire for colour, that blue scheme is a bit, errrr, naff... it reminds me of the colour AeroPostal painted the insides of their 727's back in the late 90's. Can't get an eastern European scheme out of my head