Greenshirt

True, I wasn’t thinking about Isreali use. Tim

D0.2 and 0.3 could be anything larger than most single engined fighters of the 1939 production period. Heavy fighter, light bomber, attack bomber, heavy or medium bomber, etc. D1.1 is interesting…does it have to be a fighter? Some bombers also scored aerial victories. D1.2 4+ roundels could be Armie de l’Air, Aeronavale, Luftwaffe, RAF, Romania, etc. but there are only 7 continents last I checked. Europe and Africa are easy choices. Asia infers SEA under French use. Japan or Thailand may have interred and “operated” the aircraft with their markings. China was also scooping up as many aircraft as it could get at the time. Antarctica can be eliminated (?), so that leaves Australia and the 2 Americas. Australia would mean an aircraft taken by UK and then transferred, likely low probability. NA could be either Canada or US, which is more likely, SA would mean one of the Latin American air forces, some of which were fighting each other in the 50s and 60s. It’s hard to imagine an aircraft with enough production to be somewhat significant (Spitfire XII only had ~100), aerial victories, and somewhat wide service not being molded at least short run injected. Especially in 72nd. Heller produced most of the aircraft that would fit the clues in 72nd. Unfortunately I’m not seeing any kits under the FFROM label in other scales. Azur yes, FFROM no, so are they expanding? When is the next clue drop? Tim

Not that I know of for resin but I suspect someone is working on it. A handful of filament printers can do multiple colors and that population is growing. Tim

I saw those tips. if IBG are going to the great expense of making molds that support 5 fuselage variants and 11 wing variants, they can likely do a PR family. Especially coupled with their obvious engineering (CAD) skills. This is a guessing game. I’ve put my guess on the table. I hope I’m right but if I’m wrong I may buy the kit anyway (if a subject I’m interested in) and probably forget the game once the thread is closed. It’s fun to think it’s possible. Tim

PR Spitfire Family: - A-G, X, XI, XIX -- 11 wings (lots of minor detail differences, but variation none the less) - Early Merlin, Late Merlin, Griffon, HF and 2 XIX variants -- 5 fuselages again small/subtle variations - Rotol & DH 3 blade (3 variants), PR IV 4 blade, PR X/XI 4 blade, Rotol 5 blade for PR XIX, there is likely a prop I'm missing I'm sure I'm missing something. Tim

I’ve given up trying to predict what Airfix will release as I’m always wrong. Therefore I shall dutifully provide a wishlist: 1/72 TBF/M Avenger — I want a -1c but they’re more likely to do a TBM-3, their existing kit is long in the tooth, potentially lots of marking options. With folding wings. TBD Devastator — more a hope than likely — it would start to fill in their short list of early US Pacific Theater subjects. With folding wings. SBD Dauntless — with the Devastator would complete their early way Pacific Navy set. USN, USMC, USAAF, French markings. D3A Val — Zero, Kate, Val is the trio for the early Pacific Theater. Just the one missing and the previous best kit is 40 years old now (Cyber Hobby/Dragon from 2012 has its issues and forces a bit of aftermarket to complete a model). Folding wing tips. Ju-88A-1/5 — They should complete the BoB bomber set. P-47D Thunderbolt — lots of marking options. Likely first release is a CBI Thunderbolt Mk II. F4U Corsair — FAA as well as USN/USMC, New Zealand, and of course post war use by South / Central America. With folding and clipped wing options. Bonus if engineered for later variants (I know this is hard). Firefly, with folding wings Mustang Mk I/II — plus the P-51A. A-36 might be too much but I can dream. Whirlwind Mk I (WW2) — even though its marking options are limited, it is a nice looking aircraft. Liberator GRVI — with all the rockets and other unique CC details. Halifax III — need to replace the vintage kit. Hudson Bader’s Spitfire Mk Va or post war Mk XVI. Mosquito NF30 — why not? Me-410B-5/6 — Maritime strike variants would be nice. RAF Bomb set — we need more bombs for those bombers, but not more vehicles. Yak-9 — for John Thompson More post war jets — Javelin, Hunter, Seahawk, Jaguar 1/24: F4U Corsair IV — Lots of options. Gladiator — with parts for a Sea Gladiator Any prewar FAA biplane Tim

LionHeart Hobby is in Kyle. Tim

From my notes: Wing configuration of guns, where I used ”similar”, means the difference to my eye was minor enough not to be noticeable in 1/72, for my tastes. I’m not a fan of rivets in 1/72 and panels can easily be represented with decals. Based on Jumpei’s drawings he shows the P-36A has no wing guns, only in the fuselage and the P-36C began with 1 in each wing and was later expanded to 2. If Arma used his drawings, their sprue layouts so far (eg Hurricane), AND they wanted to cover all the variants, they’d need 4 sets of wings. I don’t think separate leading edge inserts would be their solution. The Cyclone and Twin Wasp were different enough to require different geometry forward of bulkhead #1. Jumpei’s drawings clearly show the differences in not only the diameter, but length of the nose forward of bulkhead #1. Additionally the fixed gear versions have a deeper nose. The detail differences just forward of the windscreen could be done either with that area in clear and part of the windscreen, or as a separate part that is dropped in once the fuselage halves are joined. I would not expect Arma would do more than 2 fuselage sprues — one for each engine type, and provide 3 different noses for the engine differences, with the 3rd one specific to the fixed gear versions. I can see Arma addressing all variants of the H-75, even though Clear Prop has the fixed gear versions already. This would only be a bit more than their Hurricane sets in terms of complexity. I could be wrong but I hope not. Tim

My annual Airfix list: TBF/M Avenger — I want a -1c but they’re more likely to do a TBM-3, their existing kit is long in the tooth, potentially lots of marking options — Hobby Boss is beating them to the punch. TBD Devastator — more a hope than likely — it would start to fill in their short list of early US Pacific Theater subjects. D3A Val — Zero, Kate, Val is the trio for the early Pacific Theater. Just the one missing and the previous best kit is 40 years old now (Cyber Hobby/Dragon from 2012 has its issues and forces a bit of aftermarket to complete a model). Ju-88A-1/5 — Airfix need to complete the BoB bomber set. Battle — unlikely with the SH/FFROM offering, but it should be in Airfix’s catalog P-51B Mustang — if they get the shapes right to their current kit standards it would be a moneymaker. Yak-9 — for John Thompson Plus a few repops w new decals adds for 2025: Thunderbolt — Tamiya is still the standard but it’s not Airfix’s Hellcat — they have the data and Eduard’s molds are aging. Corsair — FAA specific variant followed by USN and foreign use later. Quite a few marking opportunities. Hampden — sorely needed and it fills in a gap in their twin engined fleet Halifax III — Revell’s offering requires too much to fix. Engineer it properly (like their Lanc) and the Merlin variants are in the catalog as well. Jaguar — Yes it’s an obvious Cold War hole in their catalog. All 1/72 of course. I don’t see another 1/24 offering in 2025 unless it’s a repop. In 1/48: • Post WW2 RAF/FAA jet. • Plus a few repops w new decals

Photos of PB4Y in flight. Not all are in color nor 4 -tone, but there is enough to get a feel for how they appeared. PBJ on a flight deck. PB2Y in flight PV-1 in flight That’s just a few minutes of googlefu.

Have you tried Reddit? They have a 3D Printing sub that has a sticky for help in determining which printer best meets your needs. Tim

From information I’d received from @Nick Millman a few years ago I went with Ameiro as an overall color, but with flaking green on the upper surfaces for Kates between December 1941 and June 1942. Nick’s reasoning, supported by documentation, was that pre-war all carrier aircraft were overall Ameiro (variations between manufacturers notwithstanding) and any attack aircraft generally used for lower level missions like the Kates, were to be painted a dark green color on the upper surfaces if/when war began. Those onboard carriers were painted at sea from 7 December and all others as quickly as possible. It wasn’t until sometime in 1942 that factory painting of green upper surfaces began. If it were me I’d paint an October 1942 Kate in factory applied (resilient finish) Dark Green upper surfaces over an Ameiro under surface. Link to my Midway Kate build. Tim

If a precut mask is not available, I use Tamiya tape cut to 1mm width to outline the panel, then fill with either more tape or liquid mask (if a large area). If I need more than one of a subject I’ll draw the shapes and then use my Silhouette Portrait to cut as many as I need. Tim

That aircraft would be overall glossy sea blue, not black. Tim

Yes, I did read it. I quoted some excerpts of the formulas in a reply post and was ready to run with it but others replied those formulas were for the Ki-43-II only and other aircraft had differing rules. Apparently there was significant variation in size and position, so I’m either going to trust model/decal manufacturers or wait to build a model until after I get photo evidence and measure the Hinomaru from those photos. Okay that last bit is a little tongue in cheek, but the variation does exist not only between aircraft types but even within aircraft types and units. Even the Ki-43-I used a different set of formulas for factory application and maintenance units seemed to have freedom to change the size and location. Confirmed by Nick Millman in an email earlier today. I don’t want to hope I can find photo evidence for a particular subject that’s suitable for measuring as it’s not often they are measurable and I’m not as young as I once was so I’m likely going to use approximate sizes and locations based on kit instructions/ decals. Not optimal but it’s what I can achieve. Tim