Mark Joyce

Thanks for the input, everyone. It appears these photo-etch curtains won't be visible from the outside, so I just painted the interior side a medium-dark grey. I'm a little concerned about how well they will attach to the fuselage, especially considering that I have already painted the interior, so it remains to be seen if I'll even end up using them.

Thanks for the replies. My wife votes for purple, it being her favorite color, but I'm thinking something along the lines of beige might be more accurate! By the way, very nice build, Patrick.

Working slowly on my Italeri Stirling Mk. I. The Eduard photo-etch set for the interior has the window curtains. I'm trying to determine the best colour for these, and if there is a difference between the interior and exterior sides of them. It appears the exterior side is white (which, at least to me, seems counter-intuitive for nighttime operations!) whilst the interior looks darker, at least in the black and white photographs I have...but this could simply be a photographic illusion. Any input? TIA, Mark

Dan Rowan, of "Laugh In" fame, flew P-40s in WWII. He shot down two Japanese aircraft before he was downed and seriously wounded over New Guinea (this per Wikipedia). Interestingly, P-40N s/n 42-104949 is being restored to airworthiness and was flown by Rowan during the war (again, per Wikipedia). I need to check my sources and see if I can find any photographs of it. Mark

I agree with John; they definitely capture the look of the seats more realistically than the kit ones. That being said, I found them so difficult to work with in trying to bend them correctly then glue them once together that I gave up and reverted back to the kit's. I've pretty much only used the Eduard seat belts and instrument panel with its associated pieces on my build.

While working on the interior of my Stirling, a combination of events provided a respite with the painting and gluing. As a result I decided now was as good a time as any to open up the remaining windows in the fuselage. My plan was to match the correct clear part to its corresponding opening, in the hopes that I can provide the Goldilocks size: not too small and not too large, but just right. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that the Italeri instructions pretty much list all windows as "13E," whereas the clear sprue has myriad part numbers for the windows. That being said, can someone who has built the Mk.I tell me the proper numbers for the windows, at least for those not designated in the instructions? Many thanks in advance, Mark

Welcome, Davide! I am new here myself but look forward to your Italian-themed builds. I have an interest in Mediterranean operations during WWII and hope you have or might model the Macchi M 200, 202, and 205, which really gave the P-40 (my favorite airplane) a run for its money! Your English is fine and much better than my Italian, which I have been struggling to learn prior to a vacation my wife, daughter, and I have planned later this year to Italy! Kindest Regards, Mark

It might be even more glacial than my typical build, which proceeds about as fast as molasses flows in January in the Artic. That Italeri photoetch is horrendously thick. I actually broke one of the seatbelts in half trying to get it to bend around the seat contours--a first even for me. I just ordered Eduard's interior set so have to wait for it to arrive. I guess I can work on opening those fuselage windows in the meantime....

I build rather slowly and am not the best at getting around to pictures, but will see what I can do (Or, to put it another way, my work will never look even remotely as nice as yours so it's a little embarrassing 🙂)! I'll look into those pens. Thanks for the tip and, again, outstanding build you did!

I have not used Print Scale decals, but now that you mention it I vaguely recall reading somewhere about how easily they curl up. Thanks for the reminder!

Thanks, John. Yes I did mean 78 but inadvertently typed 75. At least 78 is what I have been using for my Blenheim interior!

No, I haven't seen it. Perhaps me needs to do more Google searches! It looks like a great reference site. Many thanks for the link, Chris!

Greetings all, This is my first ‘official’ post, so my apologies in advance if I’ve picked the wrong specific forum for this one. I recently obtained Italeri’s Stirling Mk.I and was hoping to have a few questions answered before diving into the kit. I did search the forums and believe I have most answered, but was hoping to confirm and clarify some things. First, I must give a shout out especially to Simon, Woody37, and General Melchett for their outstanding builds and excellent build threads, which I have and will continue to use for reference. I am truly impressed by their builds, which put my skills to shame! Regarding the kit, I am certainly aware of the trench-like panel lines and oversized rivets, and probably won’t address those beyond what a good layer (or layers) of primer will cover. Also, mainly due to the time limitations and the fact that mostly only the cockpit is visible, I plan on building the interior simply OOB. In addition, I will either use the kit decals for MacRobert’s Reply or Print Scale’s decals for BU-A of 214 Sqn (I searched for the Xtradecals decals for BU-A with no success). With that in mind, here are the details I was hoping to clarify regardless of which aircraft that I will model (although I have yet to decide which ones I might deal with): The openings for the oil coolers under the nacelles need to be filled; The front window on the port side of the fuselage should not be opened; There should be an oval skylight on top of the fuselage between the spars; The elevator and aileron fabric detail is much too pronounced and should be sanded down or removed completely The upper fuselage profile is slightly too square; The fairing for the FN7A dorsal turret is slightly misshapen; Humbrol 75 is an adequate color for the forward interior color I think that’s it for now, but if there is something else of note that should be brought to my attention, please let me know. Also, whereas I have photographs of MacRobert’s Reply, I have been unable to locate any of BU-A in the many sources and books I have on the Stirling. If anyone knows of any out there, I would appreciate learning about those. TIA for any assistance! Mark

Originally mainly 48th, but recently have gravitated towards 72nd. My display case is limited in size so I need to make the most of it!

Greeting everyone! I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I've been modelling somewhat seriously for most of the past two decades, having returned to the hobby after a long hiatus following building models in my youth. My main area of interest is aviation, especially Allied aircraft of WWII but also Korean and Vietnam war era aircraft, and to a lesser degree armor and real space models. Thanks largely to Airfix's wonderful new releases I've grown to appreciate British aircraft, which is one reason I decided to finally join the Britmodeller forums. It has already become a treasure trove of excellent information from many wonderful people, with too many amazing builds that put my feeble abilities to shame. That being said, I look forward to increasing both my knowledge and my skills from those here who are so kind and willing to share their expertise! Kindest Regards, Mark