Edge

Great start! Edge

Heather, the only resin Bristol Hercules I know of are made by Vector, available on the Neomega Resin website. They're £7 each, but do look rather nice (he says wondering if they'll fit an Airfix Beaufighter..... https://www.neomega-resin.com/bristol-hercules-172nd-scale-873-p.asp Alternatively Alleycat do a couple of Beaufighter Mk.II conversions, so it's possible someone here may have some spare Airfix Hercules' going spare. I've no connection with either company. Edge

I've just filled the poorly defined & spurious panel lines in some Airfix Beaufighter rockets using superglue & talc and have followed up with a lick of Mr Surfacer 500 (which is currently drying). The superglue/talc mix took around 5 mins to dry and sanded really easily with sanding sticks. It filled most of what I wanted it to, the Mr Surfacer is to check my sanding and fill tiny imperfections. In my pretty limited experience I have found that the less filler used the better. Edge

Lovely job Stix! Edge

Love the neatness of your builds Bill, in particular the paint finish you're able to achieve. Definitely something I can only aspire to emulate! Looking forward to the next instalment. Keep safe Edge

Lovely build, can't wait to see some paint bring it to life. Interestingly there's a memorial to the brave Czech soldiers involved in one of the parks here in Leamington. I see it often and am always reminded of the incredible acts that earlier generations performed. Edge

Lots of hard work and research being paid off there! Edge

Thanks for doing the hard work & sharing the info on the landing gear. Your method has been bookmarked for use when my kira arrive! Edge

Great build again Ed. Desert colours really suit a Hurricane don't they? Dont know about anyone else, but I really hope Arma produce a Navalised Hurricane with hook & catapult spools etc. Edge

Great job & a most unusual aeroplane. Love the shark mouth! Edge

Thanks for the information guys - it's incredibly useful! @Smithy her codes with 411 were DB-R so to now have the later ones when she was with 332 is a real bonus & perhaps offers a choice of markings. Just have to suss out how to produce the presentation lettering......

Hi All I'm hoping to tap into some serious Spitfire knowledge to help me with a planned build. Over the weekend I spotted a Facebook article from a page I follow. Cutting a long story short, the people of my local area (like many, many others) clubbed together to purchase a Spitfire. A little googling turned up some history, but has left me with a few questions that may be unanswerable, but here goes! Firstly I know the serial number - AD292 and that she was built at Castle Bromwich (so also pretty local). Her movements that I can follow are: 6MU 27.09.41 411 Squadron 2.10.41 609 Squadron 19.11.41 Air Service Training 332 Squadron 29.3.43 349 Squadron 19.08.43 She was coded DB-R whilst with 411. While at Digby (presumably with 609 squadron), the wing leader, Howard Blatchford damaged a Do217 whilst flying AD292 on 18.02.42. Unfortunately later the following year AD292 was lost, along with her pilot Flg Off Albrecht Richard Theophiel August, RAFVR in an accident in Acklington. The documentation points to an accident during a training flight caused, in part at least, by poor weather. I am guessing that AD292 was built shortly before arriving at 6MU, so around August/September 1941. This seems to coincide with a change in camouflage, ordered by the Air Ministry from Dark Earth, Dark Green and Sky (or possibly Medium Sea Grey from August 1941) to Ocean Grey, Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey. Both would, I think, have induced a Sky spinner & 18" fuselage band. Markings would be standard 56" B type roundels to upper wings standard 50" A type roundels to the lower wings standard 35" A1 roundels on the fuselage standard 8"x8"x27" fin flash So on to my questions if I may? Can anyone confirm which colour scheme is most likely given the ambiguity in the documentation I can find on-line, along with which colour the squadron markings would be for AD292's first front-line posting to 411 squadron on 2nd October 1941? Below is the only image I can find of the aircraft and appears to show a difference in the colour between the fuselage band & the undersides, leading me to suspect that the lower surfaces are painted Medium Sea Grey. Unfortunately no squadron codes appear visible. and I am not learned enough to fathom out the other colours with any degree of certainty. 100965307_10207580469705947_7295713572502372352_n by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Thanks for any assistance! Edge

She's looking grand, despite the tribulations! Edge

Great info on this new release. Looking forward to following your build. Edge

Very very neat finish. Love the silver. Edge

She's a real beaut Alex. Great modelling & a lovely finish. Best wishes too for a strong recovery. Edge

I'm only a few miles from Cov & didn't hear anything, but that's no guarantee she didn't arrive! Edge

I always think my next model will be a masterpiece & often buy a sackful of aftermarket to help produce a real jewel of a model. Unfortunately, about 2 steps into the build my actual skill level is revealed and it's not on par with some of the sublime artistry I often see here. At that point I often plod on, adding the aftermarket parts where my skill set/eyesight/lack of attention allow or sometimes I put everything back in the box & park it. Most recently I shelved an Italeri Jaguar T2. I'd had lots of help from the BM team and had bodged my way through a set of Armoury resin wheels & Res-Kit exhaust, but the Neomega resin cockpit, which was intended to be the piece de la resistance simply defeated me. It was too short, was cast with an offset and needed more patience, skill and experience than I have to make it fit. Oh and there were no instructions (and in fact, there aren't any to be had). Result - I put it all back in the box and had a break for a week or 2, then started a new-tool Airfix Beaufighter. I also think, in hindsight, that in trying to write a wip for the Jaguar added pressure that I didn't need (stopping to take even poor camera phone pics became a bind in the end) so have decided that I'll just build for myself for now. If the Beaufighter goes well I'll stick a few pics in an RFI post, if not then there's nothing lost! Perhaps a break from building will help you too? Edge

She's looking great! I bought a few of these kits when Hannants had stock, so know just how tiny it is! Top modelling mate. Edge

Simon, I'm also slowly plodding through a build of this kit, to be finished with the kit decals for the Malaya-based aircraft. Don't know about you, but I find it a bit of a curate's egg really, with some really well engineered parts and tight tolerances in some places, along with some soft detail (engines for example) and over-complex components such as the 3-part engine cowlings which simply butt joint together. As the engines are such a strong visual element of the Beaufighter, I really thought there'd be crisper detail in there (even if a lot is buried, the gear casing & front row of cylinders are clear to see). SBS do a set of engines and cowlings for the Airfix Blenheim & I hope they follow-up with similar for the Beaufighter (and perhaps Beaufort if Airfix follow the same path). Anyhow, enjoy your build, hope you sort out the details! Edge

You are probably aware, but just in case..... That blue Seafire was flown by Duncan Hamilton (as mentioned on the box colour profile). He went on to be a successful & larger than life racing driver, wining Le Mans in 1953, driving a Jaguar C Type. 01-duncan-hamilton-gentleman-driver by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Edge

Wow - some great work there Adrian. Especially liking the BE2 and Demon - some great tips on painting CDL and using Solartrim for ribs! Definitely a school day today - thanks!! Edge

Ooh late to the party (same as always!). Hope you've room for a little one Martian? Edge

I'm still avoiding the cockpit & have spent a few hours dealing with some of the smaller items in the kit. I have painted & weathered the external fuel tanks, pylons and the wheels/tyres. The wheels look a little over-done in the images but OK to the naked eye. Some flat varnish may also reduce the starkness. Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr I've also tried my hand at some scratch building. I noted from reviews & looking at images on the walkround section here that the air brakes are not a great representation, with the operating piston incorrectly located among other things. I spent quite a few hours sticking tiny bits of card, 0.2mm wire, 0.4mm rod and 0.6mm tube to my fingers, desk, modelling mat & some to the tiny aperture in the kit. It doesn't look much, but it's the limit of what I can achieve at present. Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Hoping to paint the finished bay today to see how it looks finished. If I'm not happy I can either start again or scrap the kit - it's fighting me every step! Edge

Had a change of mind regarding the RBF tags as the 0.2mm wire looked too thick & would present a problem when attaching to the FOD guards. So I snipped off the wire & replaced with a length of invisible mending thread (clearly not invisible then!). It's springy, wiry stuff, so to keep things neat & give me a single end to locate the tag I smeared a little superglue on the thread & twisted the 2 halves together. Made a bit of a mess of my fingers but it was successful in helping create a loop to hang the tag, leaving a single thread to feed through the FOD guard & secure. That's enough words to describe what most of you are probably doing in your sleep! Onto a pic of the finished FOD guards dry fitted to the umpainted kit intakes: Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Time for a cuppa & to rest my aching eyes! Edge