Scott Hemsley

This is great, thanks guys! PhantomBigStu: Checking out AK's paints, I only found Strong Dark Blue listed under "Standard Orange Label 3rd Generation Acrylics" so I assume this is the colour you were referring to? As you point out Strong Dark Blue (at least by the digital colour chip) is too dark, but I found another that according to the digital chip, looks like a good match for the decal I'll be fixing - Imperial Blue. It looks tempting, but I've never used the AK 3rd Generation Acrylics. I've some experience with AK's Real Colours and I've found that in many cases, the Real Colours brush out much darker than when they're sprayed. Is this the case with the 3rd Generation Acrylics or do they match, regardless if they're brushed out (for touch-ups) or sprayed? Giorgio: I knew I wasn't imagining things when I said Humbrol produced an Insignia Blue. Unfortunately, it's no more. 🙂 I rarely use OOTB decals unless they appear accurate & well printed for the subject I'm doing. Since we've had to move, most of our stuff is in storage (including my stash, references, AM, etc.) so I'm working with a much reduced version of the room. I though Arma's boxing of the Hurricane IIb with the 402 Sqn. markings, fit the bill perfectly and I could do it OOTB. Don't get me wrong, the decals are well printed & researched for that particular a/c , plus the colours look right, but other than that I'm not impressed with how they behave. I find them too brittle, thick and very reluctant to conform to surface detail, plus in this case, they tore/chipped rather easily. Maybe I should've treated them like Modeldecal - just use water, no setting solutions of any kind. In hindsight, if I had access to my after-market decals, I would've swapped the RAF national markings for those off the various ModelDecal generic RAF roundel sheets without hesitation. Hopefully, the Xtradecal equivalent sheets that I intend to order in the near future will give me the flexibility to avoid any issues like this. As I've stated, the Vallejo Model Air 71-091 is way too dark (almost black) for touching up the odd tear in these decals. Scott

Thanks guys, for all your input. Troy: That's what I'm lookin for! The blue in the "B" roundel in the photo is very close if not bang on the roundel blue specifically used in Arma's Hurricane IIb decals and I like you analysis of the paint options I gave. The blue in the "C1" fuselage roundel looks more like the Vallejo Air "Signal Blue" (71-091) suggested by Black Knight which may prove too dark for what I need now. It sounds as if Humbrol 104 is the prime candidate. :) Steve: I'm fully prepared to mix n' match, but the scope of paints on my improvised model table, isn't what it was when I had my full model-room at my disposal. Having an art student for a grandchild certainly will help with her resources when it comes to getting that elusive mix. Thanks. Finn: I love that tip about painting a sample of the mixed colour on a bit of clear plastic & comparing it directly with what I'm trying to match. I know that'll be used often. Thanks!! Casey: I've never thought of that, but I guess it's because finding a ready-mix blue is near impossible. I'm pretty sure that at one point in the distant past, Humbrol did an "Insignia Blue" or "Roundel Blue", but all they have currently listed is an "Insignia Red" (153) and "Insignia Yellow" (154). Scott

An easy question, I'd like to get your opinions on a suitable blue for painting RAF roundels, or touching-up chipped decals, Closest I've found so far (I prefer matt enamels, but whatever works I guess), is Vallejo Model Colour "Oxford Blue" #049 and judging by the lid colour, Humbrol #96 "RAF Blue" or #104 "Oxford Blue". Opinions? The paint brands that are relatively accessible to me are AK, Vallejo, Humbrol and Tamyia without having to resort to mail order expenses for 1 jar of paint ... so if responses could be limited to those brands, it'd be appreciated. Scott

I also have Carl's book, but unfortunately, it's in storage with 99% of my former model-room, so thanks Don, for pointing out that some RCAF Libs were fitted with the filters. However, I did some more digging and agree with everyone, so I'll probably get the QuickBoost B-24 filters to have when I rescue my kit stash, including my 2 Academy B-24's (a "D" and a "J"). If I eventually manage to get to my stash, I get to my books - including Carl's. Thanks guys and considering the date (I'm in Canada so midnight hasn't hit here yet) ... Happy New Year and may everyone find it better than the last two! Scott

I've also got two of Academy-Minicraft's B-24's - both a "D" and a "J", that I intend to do as a Liberator GR.V and a VI. Thus, in a somewhat related question would Coastal Command aircraft on convoy duty and operating from Canada's east coast, be equipped with these filters or would they just be seen on aircraft operating in areas subject to dusty conditions? Scott

Personally, I haven't been able to contact Aviaeology or Terry since the COVID-thing & he's posted nothing new on his web site for some time. Anyone know the current status of Aviaeology? Scott

Thank-you gentlemen. I think I have what I need, even if it is in a kind of 'back-handed' way. Jure: Thanks for including that link. It was new to me. The tell-tale sign came from that one photo that showed the fwd fuselage, early in LL 636's service career. You could make out the square navigator's window, but the small window that would normally be fwd of that, was not there (no glare like the nav's window, either) I've come to accept that's a sure sign that the small oval fuselage windows were not present on that airframe, either painted over or just not installed at the factory. The vast majority of photos I have for 408 Sqn B.II's clearly show no windows, but I confess I didn't pay much attention to the serials. Maybe given Geoffrey's information, I should go back and re-visit those photos. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do it, but as it stands right now ... it looks like I'll be puttying those windows. Again, thanks! Scott

Finding a photo of 408 Sqn's. Lancaster B.II "Miss Kingsville" (EQ-G; sn. LL636) nose art is easy enough, but does anyone have a profile photo of this aircraft? I'm curious to find out of this aircraft had the small fuselage windows installed or not. The little bit the nose photo shows can be interpreted either way. From all the 6Grp photos I found online, it almost appears a 50-50 thing to have these windows. Scott

PM sent explaining the codes should be the standard RAF dull red & the original issue of that decal sheet was incorrect. I know that, at least in 1/72, Zotz revised the sheet with corrections to not only "Sugar's Blues" (they omitted the stbd nose art all-together), but to "Picadilly Princess" as well. I was one half of the pair that alerted Zotz to the sheet's errors - at least when it came to the two featured RCAF aircraft. Scott

It may sound cynical and I'm far from an expert of WZ*T, but scrutinizing the photo, I'd place my vote for it being overpainted on the aircraft. IMO, it's far too neat for a wartime censor. Usually in all the censored photos I've come across, anything they wanted to censor was basically scratched out on the negative. This definitely looks painted directly on the airframe. Maybe others more familiar with this particular airframe, at this particular time .... will chime in soon. Scott

AK make a post-war Luft. colour ... Silver-Grey (RAL 7001) with the ID number RC210 (AK Real Colours), that may be what you're looking for. While the last 3 photos in the original posting, appear more silver, the first two (a/c 240 and 757) appear much closer to the AK paint when sprayed. Scott

Back when Modeldecal enjoyed a percentage of the hobby market, the staff at my LHS mentioned that they had staunch 48th modellers come in & buy the Modeldecal sheets (they were exclusively 72nd) just for the references. Like Moggy said, "Modeldecals have the most complete instructions I have ever seen" and IMO, that still holds in today's market. Scott

I've got remnants of several of their generic RAF roundel and code letter/number sheets (purchased back in the 70's and 80's) still in my decal stash and have had no issues with them after all these years. I must admit, thought ... contrary to Black Knight's mention of decal setting solution, I've never found one that works on them ... but what I did find is just plain 'warm' H2O - the stuff you just used to separate them off the backing sheet. Once in position, just add a drop or two onto the decal, let it sit for a moment & then press down with a soft tissue. The process may have to be repeated a couple of times, but so far, I've not encountered any surface detail, raised or scribed, that the decals didn't conform to. Scott

Really well done! Scott

Intakes were black, including the splitter plate while the l/e of the splitter plate was silver. Even though the photo is in shadow (the last photo in Ron's [f111guru] last posting, above), you can make out the colouring of the intakes. The angle of that photo also clearly shows how far down the intake the black went. Scott

I've never seen it re-issued nor heard the rumour that it would be., but I always could use another one if it did re-appear at a price that didn't require a mortgage. Scott

I can only echo Scooby's words, so if you do decide to sell them as a set, I'll certainly take a pair. Scott

A beautiful recovery, Alistair! I have one in the stash and I can only hope my finished results turn out half as good as yours did. Scott

Going by the photos in Slogin57's reply, it looks as if the intakes on the Javelin F(AW) Mk.9R are indeed larger than the early Javelin Mk.1 delivery photo. It may be just me, but if you set aside the actual dimensions of the nacelles, etc., the illusion(?) of a larger intake may be caused by the reduced thickness of the intake lips. Those on the F(AW) Mk.9R do appear to be much thinner than intake lips of the early Mk.1 Scott

All in 1/72 .... an accurate Britannia 'accurate' being the key word here. The Mach 2 kit has some dimensional issues (I've seen data showing the span is too short which may through off cowling placement & wheelbase dimensions. an accurate CL-44/CC-106 Yukon (not the AIM resin conversion & the Mach 2 Britannia) an accurate CP-107 Canadair Argus. (same comment as for the Yukon) an accurate 1/72 DHC-Otter covering wheels/skies/floats & the amphibious floats (the Hobbycraft kit is total mash-up - being a mix of 1/72 & 1/76 dimensions) DHC-3 Caribou (the Hobbycraft kit can build into a nice kit, but it needs a fair bit of TLC ... assuming you can even find one) DHC-5 Buffalo CF-100 Mk.3/4/5 ... with options for the -5C & -5D (Hobbycraft? ... Really? There's the much superior Astra Models vac, but like Hobbycraft, it's long-time OOP) CT-114 Canadair Tutor (same comment as for the CF-100) a buildable & accurate Dassault Falcon 20 (ever tried the Mach 2 kit?) Canadair Sabre Mk.2 - a dedicated kit ... one not requiring 2 separate conversion packages mated to a base kit & a lot of additional TLC. Canadair North Star/Argonaut - a dedicated kit .... not the OOP Revell C-54 with the AIM resin Merlin engine conversions. Scott

Very nicely done! Scott

Tbolt ... i agree with you. I'm starting to think that by the time I can get my proposed PR.XVI conversion (Hasegawa and CMK) out of storage with the rest of my stash, we may well have a choice of PR's in 72nd. Both Special Hobby and AZ have made such an announcement, some time back. Question now is, will we even see a PR.XVI from either of them? Priorities could change between then and now. 🙂 Scott

John.... in my experience, never brush out AK colours with the goal to compare them to a colour chip ... airbrush them! You'll find the results quite different and much closer to what is advertised. Unfortunately, I've found that they're only one of the paint mfgrs I've tried over the years that I've been modelling (some 55+) that have a problem with colour matching of their paints ... brushed vs sprayed. Maybe I should try 'lightening' them and matching to the adjacent sprayed portions, prior to any touch-up work up with a brush? Case in point, I've a jar of RAF Ocean Grey (RC288). In the jar, it looks to my eye, more like Dark Sea Grey or 'seaweed green' as I sometimes refer to it. It brushed out like that to the point where I thought I got a mislabelled jar. Upon spraying it onto a paint mule, my opinion of the AK Ocean Grey changed dramatically. At this point in time, it's the best flat RAF Ocean Grey I've come across (your opinion and that of the colour police, may vary). Either way, it just looks right to me To a lesser extent, I've made a similar discovery with their RAF Dark Green (RC286). Some may claim the brushed colour is much closer to the RAFM chip that many here are familiar with, but when brushed ... it is decidedly darker than the sprayed version. I've a RFI that features a Sabre Mk.6 here on BM (A look back - A tail of two Swords - Ready for Inspection - Aircraft - Britmodeller.com). If you look on the extreme front of the port side nose of the Mk.6, you'll see where I had to touch up the Dark Green with a brush after I finished decaling, so spraying wasn't an option. Moral of story? I now withhold judgement of my AK paints until I test them out with the airbrush because what it looks like in the jar (or how it brushes) isn't necessarily how it dries when sprayed. Scott BTW, since we're discussing colour, the Sabre 5 is Model Master's RAF Dark Green and Compucolour (old but still perfectly good) or Model Master's Extra Dark Sea Grey - I forget which with AeroMaster PRU undersides. The Sabre 6 is done up in AK's RAF Dark Green, Compucolour (old but still perfectly good) or Model Master's Extra Dark Sea Grey - I forget which and Model Master PRU Blue.

Very nice!! Scott

Lovely collection. All done to a pleasing standard. Great work! What kit is the HS.125? I wasn't aware of a 1/48 kit ... or is that scratched? Scott