Seahawk

Top of my list too for airframe details. However I haven/t seen the Wingleader book yet which may trump it. The WL won't have the scale drawings of the 4+ book.

Do you have Shipcraft 1 German Pocket Battleships by Roger Chesneau? It includes 2 sets of 1/700 drawings showing Scheer appearance changes 1939-40 and 1940-43. The good news is that Scheer is closer to Graf Spee than Luetzow/Deutschland was.

If they used the old cheap soft plastic, I reckon even a new Airfix kit would come an expensive second to the very crisply moulded Heller kit. With the harder, dark grey plastic they've been using more recently (eg on the Me 410), I reckon those corrugations could look stunning.

One of the most interesting posts I have seen on Britmodeller for a long time. Despite the Martlet/Wildcat being a subject of special interest to me, there was much that was new and interesting to me. Information also well presented and assertions well supported by evidence. Well done!

Long ago I downloaded fom the internet an Excel spreadsheet by a chap called John Loughman. It looks a bit clunky to modern eyes but it was obviously a real labour of love. It covers at least aircraft, AFVs, warships, possibly more. Its particular strength is that it goes back way into the 1970s and possibly earlier. It's no longer kept current probably because the guy who compiled it is no longer with us. A google search on "John Loughman modelling index" will pull it up. HTH.

Great to see a familiar name from the past reappear. Great work on the 3D printing: some excellent results. I had a model railway, well, train set, long before I started building kits and every now and again still feel the draw, though my ambitions go no further than superdetailing the old Airfix kits with all the wonderful accessories available nowadays.

I think it is more likely to be one for Airfix’s future releases. The lower wing already has flashed-over location holes for the wing-root bomb racks of the bomber variant so in my crystal ball I foresee another boxing (or two) with different bomb-bay parts for the bomber and PR variants.

Someone recently recommended cigarette papers to me. I have tried them once so far and was very pleased with results: thinner with finer “weave” than tissue, more conformable than thin polythene. A bit of water to help them conform and thinned PVA glue to stick in place and fix folds. Try it - a quid’s worth of paper will last you a lifetime!

With area-ruling like that, she’d have to be a Buccaneer.

The flip-side of quick-drying paints is that they try to skin over very quickly in the pallette so I do keep some water handy in a dropper bottle to thin them as required. i think you'd have the same issue with any modern model acylic paint.

Found it thank you, exactly as described. Unfortunately I arrived at 4.03pm on Friday and despite the stated opening hours, he'd already shut up for the day. Can't blame him as things were pretty dead around there on a wet Friday. A shame as from the window displays he has some unusual stuff.

Are there any model shops someone might accidentally stumble across while visiting Armagh or Belfast?

What? Leaving doors open unnecessarily where they might be spotted by the baleful eye of the captain or first lieutenant?

Looking at Ian’s photo, it seems to me that the top of the fuselage forward of the pilot and the cowling top are in black too. They certainly look darker than the TSS on the wing upper surfaces.

Having had the chance to examine Ross's 6th IWM photo under magnification, I judge that it and the ROYAL NAVY titles are in fact present, just a bit faint. I see no reason why the aircraft code would not be in red.