k5054nz

Bah, orange-suited crew should be mandatory for any Blackbird - they just fit so well! Great progress!

I'm keen to follow this! The Bucc has long been a favourite of mine, from watching Test Pilot endlessly as a child. Dad built me a later version of this boxing - with, I think, C batteries in the bomb bay as nose weight! - that I had hours of fun playing with. Good luck and bring on the updates!

Fantastic Keith, thank you very, very much for sharing! Crystal clear! Saving for my future 1/48 attempt, which will probably be 3/4 done when a new conversion kit is announced. I hope you don't mind me posting these: I recently found some (unfortunately poor quality) video on YouTube of the Enforcers during this same testing period. It was amazing to finally hear what one sounded like. You'll note the company men are very insistent that these are not P-51s!

Thanks Dave, that really is very useful! I've been pleased to see how dull the original was when compared to Jim Wright's version. That will make a nice contrast between the two models and, selfishly, an easier build. Apparently the red wing started with a contemporary newspaper article. But practically everything says blue. Howard was a notorious meddler and perfectionist but surely even he wouldn't paint it red, change his mind and then fly the record?!

15 years later, in fact. And they've been going ever since I thought I'd seen a Beguine kit but I must have confused it with the Hasegawa ramjet Mustang. All that's on Scalemates for her is a Red Pegasus sheet. But I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to do.

One of the AMG 1/48 kits is in fact this machine, complete with super-short wings. Here's the thread in Rumourmonger: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235015631-148-172-bell-p-63ac-e-kingcobra-by-arsenal-model-group-amg-3d-rendersdecalssprues-148-release-in-2017/&do=findComment&comment=2611259

One tiny thing - the UH-1 was and is designed and built by Bell, not Hughes.

And that Mr PR Arnold is by all accounts THE man to talk to about Spitfires and Seafires. He's a walking, talking, photographing, internet-posting encyclopedia on the subject. I think he posts here from time to time, too, as Mark12 (he has one of those too ;-) ). If you've ever seen the photo/meme of a man with a Griffon Spit fuselage poking out of his single-car garage, that's Peter. Apologies if I'm going over previously-covered ground but I've only read up to page four (beautiful build, Crisp!) and had to chime in.

SO MUCH detail! It's gorgeous! Cracking work, David. I'm sorry to hear about that fit issue - not one where too much/any paint is the problem?

Hear hear! That's the attitude I love to see. Good luck and I'm excited to follow along.

Thanks Mike, that's helpful. I'm waiting on the CMR kit and plan on building the short wing as it was before the record attempt, and the long wing as Jim Wright's 2002 replica.

Hi all, This is one that I've found a bit of conflicting info on over the years: was the H-1's wing red or blue when Howard flew the speed record run in September 1935? Pretty much everything I've seen and read indicates blue, but there are sources which say it was red. The long wing - as on the aircraft today - I'm pretty sure has always been blue. George J Marrett has written about seeing the aircraft in its storage hut in 1975 with the extra wings against the wall...it'd be great if he's still around to ask!

Going by the stocks in every Airfix retailer I visit, we should be due a new DH.88 Comet as they are consistently restocked. I'd rather 1/48 or bigger, but that's just me.

I'm not sure. The not-too-nice Airfix 1/48 kit from a decade ago has it as an option, and in 1/72 there's a (AZ?) kit of the G-ASJV civil scheme as Jo NZ noted. And yes, Ray was flying 434 for Piece of Cake ;-)

No mockage here, only envy. I'd love a copy of that kit! I know a guy who's restoring a Vincent (very similar) with his family and I'd love to build a model of it. jimmaas' point about trailing edges is right, my first vac was a Rareplanes Supermarine 224 when I was 19 and that was my biggest error. It may mean more work but that work pays off. Otherwise my tips are do your research and gather the detail bits you need, read a bit online about the tricks to sanding evenly, and please share your build with us!