Pete M.

Looking good Ant...reminds me I'd better get those 'Chook' decals completed for you!! Cheers, Pete M.

I received my kit last week and have been going through my reference material, and the Imperial War Museum's image collection. Trumpeter have made the wheel bay 'hump' a bit larger than it should be, but a few passes with a sanding stick should knock it back a bit. I include a couple of shots from my files to show how it should look. The kit includes both a closed canopy and an open canopy...as for the shape, it's far better than what they did on the Fairey Battle! There is also something slightly wrong with the wing tip shape, but without the navigation lights being fitted, it's hard to tell properly. The worst item to my mind is the mass of knock-out pin marks in very obvious places that will require dealing to!!!!!!!! Overall, mostly superior to the Special Hobby kit, but should be as it's 15 years younger!

One other item that stands out like the proverbial on the Tamiya kit is the battle damage repair patches they have unfortunately moulded into the wings! Now is your chance to eliminate them before you go to the paint shop... Cheers, Pete M.

Hi Ron. Sorry, all I have is the Aerobonus sets which do appear to match plans I have. Cheers, Pete M.

And, thankfully for once, no BLOODY music over the top!!! Cheers, Pete M.

SMS now do a full set of British WWII AFV colours that match Mike Starmers colour chips very closely. Note, they are acrylic lacquers. Cheers, Pete M.

Blue Gray was not the same colour as Intermediate Blue....

Falcon kits are mostly still available from NZ: https://www.falconmodels.co.nz/kits.html

I'm sure I've posted these before, but these are from P-40N-20 NZ3220 'Gloria Lyons'. I have seen samples of the Curtiss Interior Green at AVSPECS at Ardmore from P-40B's to N's and they are all the same dark colour! Nothing like the so called standard US Interior Green. This is used throughout the airframe and it appears to be sprayed over a coating of Yellow Zinc Chromate. Photos by Kerry Carlyle and Damon Edwards of IPMS Auckland Branch. Cheers, Pete M.

Actually in Cornwall, but have you looked at Fantasy Printshop's range? Can't see any in 1:48 scale, but they do have Blue with White outlines in 1:72 scale. https://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/ I have had good service from them here in New Zealand with reasonable postage rates. Cheers, Pete M.

From the repair manual: FB.1 fin and rudder. FB.2,3 and 4 (with small variations). The booms remained the same for all marks. Cheers, Pete M.

Excepting the FG-ID from Goodyear...not one of my fathers photos taken in Japan when he was there with No.14 Squadron RNZAF appears to have an Ns.Sea Blue forward upper cowling! It is hard to spot, but looking carefully at other RNZAF F4U-ID Corsairs does show the matt finished upper cowlings. Cheers, Pete M.

As promised, Dh Goblin pics from the manual to compare to the Ghost. Of note is the intakes on each side, not a single one as per the Ghost. Airfix got this completely wrong in their 1:48 kit...it's more like a Venom intake!!!! Hope these help, Pete M.

Dh Ghost details from the manual. Micro made a reasonable job of both, but much simplified: The Goblin in the Vampire was similar, but different in front and rear. I'll post some for that one tomorrow along with a few more notes on the Venom FB.I Cheers, Pete M.

I have just received my kit, and find there are no fins/rudders for an FB.1 despite the boxart... all parts, instructions and decals are for Mk.4's. Looks like a kit bash using the Aeroclub FB1 in my stash to get my RNZAF leased aircraft in Malaya! Lots of flash as well, but not as bad as a FM kit!!!!! Cheers, Pete M.