stever219

TheTamiya rear fuselage is too deep and the tailplane and elevators are a mix of two different production/modification states that results in them having about a scale foot too much chord. @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies devised corrections for both of these but I can't find them on here at present; hopefully someone who's more IT-literate than I will be along with them shortly.

You're quite correct: the "chop here" markings were introduced post-war, but did take a little while to appear universally. I've got happy memories of building an ESCI Dak in Coastal Command colours (Dark Sea Grey with White upper fuselage) which unfortunately was written off in a house move and I'd verta8nly welcome the opportunity to build another.

And me too as well also please!

"Government" and "joined up"; not a well-matched pairing.

I'd settle for a decent 1/72th P-2V5/ MR. 1 please if you could bang one of those together.

Please, RAF units are not 1st, 323rd, 617th Squadron, etc, they're No. 1 Squadron, No. 4 Squadron or, more commonly 2 Squadron, 1435 Flight, etc. Some squadrons use a role identifier in their title, e.g. 1(F) Squadron, 12(B) Squadron, (fighter and bomber respectvely). Others have been permitted to use Roman numerals, e.g. IV (AC) (Army Co-operation) Squadron or XV (B) Squadron. Other squadrons are named, e.g. 92 (East India) Squadron, 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, 249 (Gold Coast) Squadron to reflect association with a country or organisation. A very few have used their nicknames, notably 14 "Crusaders" and 617 "Dam Busters". Many squadrons with "low" numbers had their origins with RFC units, those with 200-series numbers generally had their origins with the RNAS units. During World War II both of these ranges were topped up with "hostilities only" squadrons but furthe squadrons were formed as personnel wee recruited from countries overrun by the Germans in the 300 range and from Commonwealth and Dominion states in the 400s. Pre-war squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force had been formed in the 500 and 600 ranges, e.g. 500 (County of Kent) Squadron and 601 (City of London) Squadron. Many of these squadrons had front-line experience with the associated casualties and many second line and training units suffered similarly, so please name them correctly as a mark of respect. "For our todays they gave their tomorrows."

@woody37it's a lovely kit, but the fit of the windows in the bomb bay area are is very tight and some sanding and filing to fit is mandatory. I actually cracked one of mine trying to get it in sans adjustment and had to fit a blanking plate instead, "just like the real thing?".

Both marks of Victor went on to serve as AAR tankers, the Mk. 2s for almost 2 decades. Yes they had to be careful about fatigue, the slightly reduced span and uprigged ailerons were two measures introduced to address this. There was one account from a former Victor pilot of a ballistic launch of Blue Steel from low altitude where he says that during the pull up "you could hear the club foot fittings at the wing roots crack".

I've just come across this thread and I have a couple of comments/observations. Firstly the ventral gun position, a hangover from the Manchester, had been deleted from production aircraft from somewhere around the end of the early production batches (L7xxx and R5xxx serials) with the wellfor the turret simply being plated over, so no guns to remove but there are some images suggesting the at least one of the Type r64 provisioning Lancasters (ED825?) had a weapon in this position. This position would have been almost ideal for the aft spotlight; some of the illustrations showing the light in the bomb bay area put it so close to the bomb itself that the latter might actually interfere with the illumination. Secondly some of the aircraft, notably ED932 and '937 were delivered within a very few days of the raid; '937 arrived on the Squadron on the morning of May 16th and had around 7 hours flying time at the time of her loss, so if modelling these two at least there would be very little degradation of the external paintwork.

The real one didn't last long enough to get dirty!

@Selwynthe Airfix kit isn't bad, but the intake ducts are pure fiction, as are the gun troughs. I don't have the Xtrakit kit to compare it with though (somewhere I do have an unbuilt CMR resin kit), but I believe that both kits have undersized and mis-shapen belly tanks.

@anders1970 how about drawing along the panel lines with a very sharp H or HB pencil? It'sld need sealing in with your favourite clear finish, but as you're going to do that anyway.......

@CedB my apologies; I thought that on the bubble top Typhoons the step was linked to the canopy and retracted when the canopy closed, as in the (much later) Harrier. I'm off to see if my local pie shop has any humble left.....

Rule 1 "Never trust a profile without supporting evidence, photo or written"!

A bit like mould or warts?

I'm more surprised that someone has now mentioned it.

Whatever medication you're on you need to stop taking them now!

@TEMPESTMK5what a beautifully simple model! Lovely, understated colour scheme and fuss-free finish. I'd love to have that in my display cabinet.

We have a low-budget homewares shop that moved into a closed-down department store in Bedford: their closing down sale has lasted longer that their opening offers (both were/are 50%off).

On RAF aircraft the invasion stripes were not only hastily applied but little or no surface prep was undertaken and water soluble paints (distemper) was used, so ragged, tatty, grubby stripes would be quite likely.

Like you I had a flight (two actually; from Cottesmore to North Luffenham and return the same day) courtesy of 115 Squadron in one of their E. Mk. 1s still wearing the Transport Command colour scheme. It's one of their aeroplanes that I want to replicate, having also succumbed to the lure of Mach 2's plastic and a set of Amory wheels. My biggest problem will be replicating the squadron emblem on the front fusealage just behind the cockpit

Really nice to see a model that's not had the dangly bits weathered off it! Beautiful job, and I now know where to rob the bombs from for mine.

No such thing as a Griffon-engined Mosquito. Have a look at images of PR. 34s and B. 35s, that might give you a starter for 10 re the canopy framing, much of which was internal with countersunk screws drive n in from the outside to hold perspex to frame.

Sadly Canadia is probably locked into a contract for the F-35 that will make it far more expensive to cancel the order than to continue, even under the current unfavourable trading conditions, a bit like the way BAe Systems stitched up the last Labour government in the UK over the QE-class carriers.

It's nice to see a model that hasn't had the spheroids weathered off of it, lovely job. Thanks for the warning about the liquid gravity: I've filled both of the boxes that Airfix provide with LG, and I'm sizing up the forward cowling to ram some more into so I don't have a tail-sitter.