Troy Smith

and , way back in 2010... A chap from Trumpeter did ask received many replies, had honest critique of observed problems, was sent information by the late Edgar Brooks etc etc.... end result for all this. Nothing, kit made matched initial CAD shots, no corrections made. Now, I read somewhere that Song left Trumpeter and now works for another company, and I don't know if this was a case that Song was ignored by the higher ups running the sausage factory, but it is certainly possible for the company to get information, and it would not take someone long to track down subject matter experts (HK Models did this with their 1/32nd B-17) http://www.modelingmadness.com/spl/hk17.htm When Trumpeter get the right information, they have made accurate kits, but in the famed good British subjects section (Sea Hawk, Wyvern, 1/24 Hurricane) the research was external to the company. We don't now who does Trumpys design work, there was a thread recently about who did a load of Revell design work, and it was an external CAD company, OK here which is this company http://www.brazmodels.com/3d-design-01.html so they are responsible for the mistakes on the Revell Lanc, B-17, 1/48th Mosquito. I have read comments on Hyperscale by Lynn Ritgter, who helped with the revell 1/32nd Bf109G, and how a couple of errors got missed, and how being involved had taught him a lot about the whole design process. Trumpeter would really benefit from even reading forums, as then they might have had the sense to a Defiant Mk.II (as opposed to another Mk.I) and a different version of the Sea Vixen to Airfix, but who knows who makes the decisions. Just meant to add some observations about kit research, and how different companies approach it which I hope maybe of use in the general discussion.

for ease of reference. ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE FAR EAST, 1941-1945.. © IWM (CI 1144) IWM Non Commercial License

Hi Pip STUNNING WORK on the UC legs! hi Stefano the observations are good for Typhoons, natural metal I doubt, painted Aluminium dope was common, but not on Tempests. There are late 44 factory photos that show a mid grey tone for wheel wells, and other internals, note that aluminium dope usually appears near white in BW photos. note in this 1945 colour shot painted aluminium gear legs, and grey-green inside the doors A lot more information about UK interior colours has become available in the last few years, for a long time the main idea was everything was grey-green. (certainly the case in the 1970's/80's when I first got interested) If anything, certainly until mid-war, all internals parts were painted aluminium apart from cockpits, and in the case of Hurricanes and Typhoons the interior included the interior framework. There are plenty of threads on this on here. HTH T

yes, but the Photobucket Embed Fix does get around this, just google it, it works, I have it here on Firefox. there have been made several photobucket image downloaders , as getting the pics of photobucket is a pain. They weren't free, but were cheap, $2 IIRC, and saved a lot of bother as PB were/are playing silly sods about downlaoding pics/albums. But, yes, re-doing it is a pain PB must have gambled on the small amount of business users who had a lot of pics working out it was worth the money to keep using PB instead of the hassle and time switching and reuploading, which is not the case for hobby users.... I hope the $400 service is ad free and easy to use! the free PB service had become a pain in the backside when Iast used i! Though they might well have got as much cash if they had said to free users we want say $12 or even $24 a years for image hosting, even as a climbdown from the $400 a years, as a dollar or two a month for a reliable ad free service would be reasonable...

leave them up, and keep the free option, as they are viewable using a "photobucket embed fix" for those that have that add-on installed in Firefox or Chrome, and it keeps using up PB bandwidth....

good question. internal bits, grey green, externaly visible, outside colour? The reason for the ? is I'm now wondering about desert scheme planes, as Middle Stone usually runs through the cockpit area. Hmm, ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER COMMAND, 1939-1945.. © IWM (CH 1934) IWM Non Commercial License looks lighter than the Dark Green... Hmm. I'll have a look at some books later, as I have stuff to do now ....

as far as I know if you hover the mouse pointer over the abbrevation it says this BTW. (or it should do) The kit answer is a good one, but there are many variations of Ju-88, so if you just want a 'Ju-88' then any of the 3 listed, otherwise you'll need to some research .....I know enough about Ju-88's to know I don't know much about them!

bear in mind that is a museum example, and may not be typical, off hand I'mnot os how the UC legs worked, but it's a good observation and question. It's late, (so not going on long search) and period shots usually have the UC in shadow.... not really clear enough, but maybe of general use.

Hi Bruce there is a review of the set here by Nick Millman, with info what the colours resemble. http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2017/04/vallejo-ijn-colors-set-visual-appraisal.html looks to be a mixed bag, but of use depending on what you want to use them for. FWIW a better set is the AK Interactive, https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=1451 IIRC the greys according to Nick are a bit dark. I can search up the links if you need. HTH T

The mock up cannon was made of wood, as can be seen in the photo, I have never heard of a wooden wing being planned, but would be interested to know more. FWIW, I remember when the Monogram book I linked was about the best information on the K series available...I found the K series of particular interest as the final German Bf109, and so I have greatly enjoyed all the new photos that become available in the last 35 since then! (the linked book has most of the known pics known then BTW)

there were plans for internal wing cannon fittings in some of the planned K versions, K-6, K-8 and K-14 according to the old Monogram close up scanned here https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Modeling-References/Monogram-Close-up/16-Bf109K-Messerschmitt eg though while googling I found this which I'd not see before though there has never been any evidence that any K other than the K-4 being built in any quantity or seeing service.

Right, A quick search for the Print Scale sheet http://www.printscale.org/product_31.html shows why Print Scale are not highly regarded.... they make way to many sheets to have researched them properly, as this one shows, down to the basic errors in stating which Mark is which, and the SEAC planes (no-one here has seen the 'red elephant' A-A photo, it's from an old profile booklet) see The Egyptian plane is shown in desert colours, but has a Sky band, see here So I'd be inclined to dismiss the Print Scale as Dodgy stuff derived from pretty profiles, the Berna sheet seems better, though they says BG707 is a Mk.I..... it's a IIB.. There are photos of most of the Berna sheets subject floating around the web, some are above. HTH T

I was writing this earlier.... Blenheim google image 'croix de lorraine' show mostly red, but other colours turn up. Work from a photo, without any reference to rudder stripes or roundels (and as the Hurricanes show that not easy) , it hard to say for sure.

in this case, blue, as the cross matches the rudder stripes and this is harder to judge, also note the difference in underside colour of the Z4434 compared to plane behind, as well as the difference between faded and fresh uppersurface colours.. from as the centre of the upperwing roundel matches the cross and fin stripe, and the blue is at the front, as any colour pics of French aircraft will confirm my thoughts on profiles are my sig line... I'm sure there are both, and judging from BW photos is always based on other factors HTH

as kits, or accuracy wise? Tamiya make verygood kits in general, the proverbial shake and bake. Accuracy wise, the new tool 1/48th Spitfires stomp all over the Tamiya, and I believe the 72nd Tamiya are the same. Not really awful, but a bit slab sided and short, with too broad a wing chord. a few years back @PlaStix did a side by side build http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968337-two-148-mkvb-spitfires-tamiya-and-airfix-new-spitfire-collection-expansion-project-finished-photos-now-in-the-rfi-section-080615/ which should answers many questions, and there is discussion of the Tamiya faults and some fixes. The Airfix kit can be tricky to build due to very tight tolerances, and bad UC leg attachment method, also discussed. Steve Zumbach's plane was the subject of a series of colour pics Spitfire Mk.Vc by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr which are a rare treat