Giorgio N

For next year I'll propose a GB titled "none of the above"! A good way to intercept votes from those who aren't interested in any of the above. None of the above: build a model of something that doesn't fit in any of the other GBs...

Very nice model! I've planned a similar model (same kit and armament) but in the older markings, may I ask what colour you suggest for the airframe?

Eduard only offer the wide blister in their Spitfire IX early, the Mk.VIII only comes with the narrow blister. At least in 1/72, I haven't looked at their 1/48 kits

It's not necessarily the subject with less competition that is the most profitable. What matters is that modellers buy as many kits of the new kit as possible. The Tornado may well end up being more profitable even with the Revell kit already on the market just because it's likely that more people would be attracted to the better know type. Always better to have a 10% share of a 100,000 units market than the whole 100% of a 1,000 units market

I would consider Sword a short-run manufacturer. Not only they did a Seafire III, they covered other variants too: IIc, XV and XVII. The Mk.XV was reissued this year so the moulds are still useable. I believe the last time the III appeared was as part of the set they issued in 2020, that included a IIc, a III, two XV (early and late) and a XVII. Currently KP offers a Seafire Ib that includes a new fuselage to go with their Spitfire Vb kit. As a manufacturer IMHO they stand somewhere in between mainstream and short run as some of their kits do not differ from the ones coming from the "big" companies while others are definitly from short-run moulds. AZ had earlier issued a series of proper short-run Seafires too as had High Planes. In 1/48 there have been the Special Hobby kits, some also reboxed by Revell. Again, short run or mainstream or something in between ? The same SH also has 1/72 kits but again I'd consider them short runs Speaking of other Seafire kits, I believe the only true mainstream Seafire kit to be issued was Airfix own Mk.46/47 in 1/48 scale. Then there was Revell's 1/32 Seafire Ib, that was a Mk.Vb with a part for the hook

Good to know it's one of their nicest kit! My favourite online shop has had the kit for sale for a few months and I haven't bought one yet. The Whitley is not really a type that interests me much but for €20 I should maybe buy it anyway. A Spitfire is still a Spitfire so even a less known variant would still carry one of the most famous names in aviation History. Maybe if the kit was sold as a Lancaster Mk.IV/V it would attract more interest... Regarding the Seafire, how many Seafire kits have been produced by "mainstream" manufacturers ??? A couple ?

I promise I will not add any final pun to this post since it's more serious... I'm a bit disappointed to see that the SEAC/CBI proposal languished through the whole bunfight and it's very unlikely it will happen in 2026. True that we had a PTO GB a few years ago where a good number of SEAC based subjects appeared but I was hoping to see more interest. Looks like even 80 years later the events in that theatre are mostly forgotten by most

Yes, the same kind of wash can be used on the decals. As actually can most washes. On this model no marking is crossing the panel lines otherwise I'd have used probably a dark blue-grey on top of them, This is particularly useful with markings that have large white areas, for example US stars. On these I always run a wash or some pastel dust where they cross a panel line. Decals are one thing that often modellers forget when it comes to weathering. Of course each of us will do what he or she likes but personally I feel that a weathered model with bright, brand-new markings doesn't look right. Unless the original subject had this combination. Weathering the markings is unfortunately something that my personal technique doesn't do too well, mainly because I'm not as good as I should with the airbrush. As long as I have something like a large B type roundel it's easy for me to add variations, with smaller markings I struggle. Of course there are other techniques that can be used for this

We sure could, afterall the most modelled ships seem to be Titanic and Bismarck, both ships that sank on their first operational outing... But this is a big part of what made them famous and in the end it's not much success but "fame" that makes a subject desirable to the mass of modellers. In this respect both Manchester and Lincoln have very little to offer. Speaking of fame for the most casual modellers here, not what we enthusiast may consider well known. Most of us here know aircraft types (or tanks or ships) that many customers of Airfix or Italeri probably never even heard of. They may have never been kitted before but how many modellers would buy a Lincoln over a similarly priced Lancaster ? Sure the answer may be "those who already have a Lancaster".. but really with the Lincoln being little more than an upgraded Lancaster, how many would want another less famous and much less legendary variant of the same aircraft? The answer is all those who are into the Lancaster and want to model its successor and all those who are into '50s RAF, even better if early '50s RAF. Are these modellers enough in number to make the investment into a completely new tool worth the effort from a mainstream company ? In the end this is always the matter with any subject, it doesn't matter if no other kits exist, what must exist is a number of potential purchasers high enough to warrant the money needed to design, manufacture and sell the model. It is interesting to see that the Lincoln and Manchester have never even been touched by those companies that usually offer us the lesser known subjects. Nothing from say Special Hobby/MPM or Valom. I can buy a Bristol Bombay and a HP Harrow, I can buy a DH Albatross or speaking of bombers from other countries a Piaggio P-108 or a Me.264 but not a Lincoln. Only old vacforms and conversions. Gues it's the type heritage again: since the Lincoln is a variant of the Lancaster, why issue a totally new kit when a conversion set will suffice ? Conversion set that most here would use on an Airfix Lancaster so double win for Airfix, as those who want a Lincoln will buy a kit they already have in the catalogue without the need from their side to invest in a new kit. (of course Airfix may well prove me wrong by announcing a new 1/72 Lincoln next January)

Thanks folks, glad you like the finish ! Some more progress... most decals are on, just have to add a couple of stencils and it will be time for the final clear coat I would sprayed the final coat earlier but I encountered an unexpected problem: the paint on the radiator started to peel off! It was not lifted by the masks, as this area was never masked, it just peeled off the primer. Very strange, more so as the rest of the model had been sprayed at the same time. The only reason I can think of is that maybe I had spilled some solvent on the table and I placed the model onto it. It's been resprayed now, hopefully the paint will now stay in its place! I have also had a small issue with the decal liquid damaging part of the gloss coat around a roundel, this has happened to me before and in general a further coat of Klear sorts the matter. Fingers crossed.... Almost forgot to mention that I also added a pin wash on the white bands. For this I thinned a light grey from the Vallejo range using their Glaze medium, a very useful product! I always follow the same rules when doing a wash: the wash must be in a darker variant of the base colour ! So light grey for white, medium grey for light grey and so on. Only exceptions are certain camouflage colours, for which a mix of raw umber and Payne's grey usually works pretty well; moving surfaces, for which I tend to use black; interior areas, where depending on the colour I may use a dark grey or dark sepia depending on the colour.

One more vote for Plaza Japan here ! I ordered from them before and always had a great service. All the kits I ordered were new and in perfect conditions. They also always included a small present, like candies. Packaging is great as well. As others have said, check the delivery costs as they are now not the cheapest (used to be much cheaper a couple years ago). And of course, keep in minid that you will have to pay whatever your country will charge... Now since you're in italy as myself I can tell you that you'll be asked to pay VAT on top of the price of both kit and postage. Postage is easy to find as the website will show a number of options with different costs for the weight of your order. You can add or remove items and postage cost will be updated automatically (a great feature). Add the postage to the cost of the kits, then add 22% for the IVA (the Italian VAT for those not in our country) on top and you'll have what you're going to pay. May end up a bit more as the exchange rate used by your credit card may not be as good as the official one.. In general even with the added postage and IVA the kits generally cost a good deal less than in Italy. I have to say however that some Czech shops are today very comparable in price and they have lower postage costs. I bought most of my latest Japanese kits from MN Modelar and ended up paying even less overall than by ordering in Japan. Ordering in the EU also means not having to deal with the postman... now nothing against postmen but every time I have pay VAT at the postman I have a problem: you must have the exact cost! They do not have a POS so paying by card is not possible. At the same time they say that since they are not allowed to carry money, they can't give you change if you don't have the exact figure. Always a frustrating experience!

A quick check showed that I should have in the stash kits for every group build that is currently leading the race. Not that I will build models in every GB, I'd like but it may not be easy. This is one advantage of having a decently sized stash. Of course there are drawbacks too! In my case one of the reasons I can have a largish stash is that I don't have a partner that may complain (or as most partners would say, someone who keeps me from wasting too much money). Not having a partner of course is something that sometime I regret and sometime I do think about those times in the past when things may have ended differently. Just a few months ago I had met a woman that I really liked and tried my best! Unfortunately I found out that she only really considered six-foot men and I realised I had no chance, I only have two feet!

Thanks, I had missed the post about decals from the stash. While I have kits and decal sheets that put together would cost less than a tenner, I'd prefer to keep closer to what I understood to be the spirit of the GB. For this reason I'll build a kit that would cost less than £10 if bought new now but at the same time I'd like to be able to choose a colour scheme I like. One possibility is a KP Bf.109F, that in its Clubline issue costs around €8 but comes with decals for a subject I find uninspiring while I could build something more interesting robbing the individual codes and insignia from the many options that Eduard include in their dual combo boxes.. or I may end up making my own markings.

Maybe it's already been asked, in any case what's the rule for decals coming from the stash ? I mean decals that were in other kits, not aftermarket sheets. Should I give them a value to see if my subject fits in the under £10 rule ?

So if I understand right this GB will go ahead in 2027! That gives me a few months to decide on a subject... although I think I have one. What about an aircraft with codes 20-20 ?