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Neil I have one of your Manchester conversions, along with several other items from your wonderful product line. The only thing holding me up from finishing the Manchester is knowing the other wing dihedral. The mating surface on my outer wing panels is a bit ambiguous. Could you give me some numbers?

CF-18s in Baden were 'pooled' assets. Aircraft were allocated to squadrons as needed. If an aircraft went 'hard-down' it was usually passed off to 1 AMS (Air Maintenance Squadron), It often took a long drive to another dispersal to find your aircraft. It would not be uncommon to deploy with aircraft carrying other squadron's markings and not your own. Patrick is correct. The European weather was brutal on our Hornets. Especially the newer aircraft. There was a definite difference in the thickness of the paint on later aircraft, I suppose MacAir was learning how little paint composites needed. The weave pattern was more discernable the younger the aircraft was. As aircraft rotated from Canada it was shocking how much cleaner a 5 year older Hornet looked to a Baden bird. And it wasn't thru lack of proper washing either. The search light was a rare option in Baden. It was mostly a grey blanking plate behind the plexiglass porthole. When we first received the Hornet in Cold Lake we were not to refer to the aircraft as CF-18s nor as the Hornet, apparently not bilingual. Naturally every badge, patch, sticker, ballcap and t-shirt was blazoned with CF-18 Hornet Handler. And for your modelling fun - I parked the 7th Hornet we received direct from St. Louis. They forgot to paint CANADA on one side of the aircraft Dave

I bought two of those Airways Britannias at Fiarford in 1991. One had metal prop blades and landing struts, the other some harlious square plastic pieces you were expected to take the better part of a month whittling down to the appropriate profiles! They will be combined to produce a CC-106 Yukon. The plane I had my first flight in.

About the anniversary tail markings - did they not capture the look of the real thing? I have been hunting for the MA sheet in the hope of building that particular aircraft. I'm just wondering if I should stop my fruitless searches?

I halted work on my 48th scale Paragon conversion because I couldn't find any specs as to Manchester's outer wing dihedral. Paragon's resin wings lacked a definite mating face. Can anyone here provide a definitive answer? I wish to portray a 408 Squadron aircraft.

The raised portion aft of the cockpit is meant to represent the doubled skin installed to prevent ice chucks being flung by the propellors crashing thru the fuselage. It isn't armour - just another layer of aluminum. It would be more appropriate for the Canadian-based USAF C-47. I have not seen a period shot of a D-Day Gooney Bird with it fitted. It should be sanded down a little in any case. Here is a link to a picture of a Czech example showing how subtle it really is. http://www.airliners.net/photo/CSA---Ceskoslovenske/Douglas-DC-3-229/2364920/L/&sid=8ac6975fafd6b958ed9fa5c697acb4c3 out

Don't buy the Historie & Collections book on the Boeing 707 & C-135 or you are liable to end up like me with 43 1/72 C-135s and 13 707s in your collection. Like Jennings says, there are many errors in all of the references I have on the subject and it is important to research your specific aircraft. Airliners.net is a terrific source for outstanding photos on many of the later 135s. Now, Jennings - what is the radome diameter on the Big Crow II? I have begun fabricating one and it would help to have a definitive measurement as a starting point.

I have 14 awaiting take-off. Keep an eye on DMolds website over the summer.

No. Barney was right in giving me a head's up on the Leading Edge decals. Its the neighborly thing to do. I have the complete range in 48th scale so I'm intimately familiar with their quality. Maybe they just had a bum run of paper. Forewarned is forearmed.

Wow! Thanks a ton for the colour photos. Yes, definitive proof of Dark Blue Striping. We are having a new hangar built and I plan of compiling a lobby display case for our visitors to comprend our heritage and history. I will confidently built the 32nd scale Mustang in those PF colours.

Great Job and good luck on that colour photo. I've been in 443 for 21 years now and I don't let a Mustang photo pass me by. Even during our 50th celebrations there were few decent shots. Oh for a 12 Megapixel Digital and a time machine to Sea Island. I still dispute our later PF scheme often shown with blue stripping. I've only come across photos showing them simply black. But then I'm no Patrick Martin.

Brad, stunning result. How did you treat the windscreen. I can't tell by your photos but did you overpaint them?