Graham T

Yea, I truly suck at weathering & have ruined a few models over the years

Thanks Paul!

Great shots there. In my dreams, I AM that bearded FAA Hellcat pilot! Very rakish!

Ambulance chasers, payday loan companies, bingo.......

Finished I think unless I discover any other pieces I missed off, such as parts D03 & D04 which I had to fit with the model basically finished meaning that I had to cut them short. For this reason, they actually go nowhere once they disappear inside the engine but let's not mention that! OOB with kit decals - the only parts I added were the rocket pig-tails which I fabricated from fuse wire. The first impression on opening the box is frankly terror, which gets worse the more you study the weighty tome that is the instruction booklet (229 stages!). However if you take your time & follow the logical process that Airfix suggest the model poses no real problems for any reasonably competent modeller. However I have to say that the way Airfix try to differentiate & explain to the builder which engine parts etc. need to be omitted for a fully or partially closed up model were a bit lost on me. As my detail painting skills are not brilliant, I would have preferred to build it with the engine only partially exposed but decided to play safe & build totally exposed. No, you'd never have seen a fully armed combat aircraft in this state of near total strip-down but let's just call it a display model rather then an accurate rendition of a wartime scene! All in all, thoroughly enjoyable & impressive. I'll definitely build another, probably a car-door version to allow more of the beautiful cockpit to be visible. 35425492406_fcf59e2eee_c.jpg 34655681653_f3b663da66_c.jpg 35425489246_529295f195_c.jpg 34624023364_b93c73e3e0_c.jpg 34624022094_c02c2ce44f_c.jpg 35425483336_7617636ac0_c.jpg

Well they're enamels so I guess white spirit is the way to go. I usually use Xtracolour paints where white spirit is the recommended thinner/cleaner. I'm almost sure that I read somewhere that Xtracolour & Colourcoats are made by the same people but I could be wrong.

I've ruined TWO models (one of them a Tamiya 1/32 Spifire VIII!) with Humbrol Matt coat so I'd no longer touch it with a 40' barge pole. It leaves an awful grainy surface. Graham & sapperasto above claim good results with a brush whereas I spray so perhaps that's a factor. My usual choice is Xtracolour flat varnish & I've recently discovered Microscale Micro flat - great because it's airbrush & brush ready, requires no thinning & cleans up with water!

Gimp! I omitted parts F29 & 30. Managed to squeeze them into place & it looks a lot better! As for part D01, well.............

Working my way through this which is generally a pleasure & virtually "flying together" with care (fitting some of the engine ancillaries is akin to papering your hall, stairs & landing through the front door letter box!) However I have hit a serious snag. I've dry fitted the wheel bay roofs & find large gaps. It's hard to see how & where I might have gone wrong as the side walls are all correctly fitted & hard to screw up with their positive locations. I'm sure I can "patch" the gaps but has anyone else encountered this? Photobucket is playing up so I can't post images!

Found the old article I posted in 2008! And see what I mean about the booms. They are handed & if you assemble as per the instructions, the horizontal connecting plane does NOT fit as the short stubs on the boom halves are NOT the same length, being slightly longer on the outsides (where the short outer parts are attached) than on the insides. Look at the parts & it should be obvoius.

Personally, I found the CA kits to be pretty good. It's a while since I built one but I seem to recall that there is an issue with the boom part numbers & best not to follow the instructions but go with what fits!

Thanks for the replies, I'll work through the options!

Nice job, which is strange because I found the kit a complete DOG! One of the very few builds that I've binned without completion. I've got the IX which I HOPE is better

Got a couple of Italian subjects to do but my stock of Italian paints is, well, nil. I've found this: lifecolor-wwii-italian-royal-air-force-set-1-22ml-lc-cs19.html but it doesn't contain all the necessary colours which are: Verde Mimetico 2 Bruno Mimetico 2 Grigio Mimetico Verde Mimetico 3 Giallo Mimetico 3 Verde Olivia Scuro 2 Nocciola Chiaro 4 Any ideas? I'd prefer enamels but understand that my choice will probably be limited to Acrylics. As an aside, what do the numbers 2,3 & 4 relate too?

Used to get this problem with Alclad. Just used AK Interactive product & it seems much better in this regard.