expositor

Nice models JW !

An old modeler too, but unlike you, not that accomplished. Mitsubishi painted Zero wells the underside color, and the cockpit their shade of green, at least for the -5. Nakajima left the wells aotake, as per online sites.

You might be able to contact him on the Aerodrome forum which he frequents. He's kindly answered many of my questions over the years there.

No expert me, but Humbrol 79 is too dark. USN blue grey is very close to PRU blue, so you can start there. Hope that helps.

Hey Boater, very nice models in that slideshow! Thanx for sharing. Jim

Man, those models are stunning!

I was under the impression that no SBDs had folding wings....

All air forces have been guilty of overclaiming, but the Soviets claimed they destroyed roughly 95,000 German aircraft (according to "Red Stars") with numerous tales of being outnumbered on occasion 10 vs 40, or 15 vs 50; odd since the entire aircraft production run of the Third Reich from 1934 is 100,000 planes of all types. Not denigrating the accomplishments of pilots of either side, but I believe the Allied losses are closer to the German claims than the Allied claims are to German losses; but I could very well be wrong. But there is the fact that many hundreds, maybe more, of German planes were captured intact and lit up in bonfires all over Germany. And I also thought the I-16 was an ugly little thing when I first saw a photo of it when I was a young kid, which was not helped later by Revell's poor rendition. It has grown on me since and I now find it quite appealing....

Troy, thanks for this thread and as usual, sharing your expertise. Jim

Oops; JF! Poor proofreading....

JW, take my opinion with the proverbial salt grain...the Floquil color is very close, but in its absence, PRU Blue is the closest you can get without mixing your own. I wouldn't use Intermediate Blue, but that's me. But hey, what do I know? Good Luck! Jim

JW, that thread was earlier than the one I participated in, but also included the photo I was referring to. My memory is off as the PPI shroud is in front of the gun mount. Thanks for finding and posting it. I blame my Fire tablet for being unable to fine tune a search here as it couldn't be operator error.... Thanks, Jim

Dave, I tried to find an old thread where Tony O and I, among others, discussed the Swordfish PPI, but my search was futile. As I recall, it is in the observer's area for the gunner to look down into it. I remember finding a cockpit photo in a Swordfish paperback; the one with the color photo of a restored plane on the cover, which I don't have to hand right now....As usual, not much help. Maybe the powers that be here can make it easier to find your own posts.... Jim

As a lover of sea birds in land plumage, yours is especially well done! Thanks for sharing.

Dave, not to be contrary, but I believe the flying surfaces were to be semi-gloss, with the leading edge of the wings matte. Jim