Edge

I'd had both Valom's TF.4 and TF.5 on order with Hannants until seeing this thread. No disrespect to Valom but all of their kits need work to build whereas the Clearprop Gloster E.38 has received some glowing reviews. I know it's risky to base any judgement on such little evidence, so I can always pick the Valom offerings later. Or build the 4 CMR kits I've got somewhere. Might also have the Aki kit (not too sure, but definitely have their Sea Fury). Edge

Great news! 1/72 for me please!! Edge

Alan Please count me in for one of your VC-10s.

I'm definitely up for VC-10, Voyager, Belfast & Tristar. Plus Beverley too! One thought though, these are likely to be expensive kits so it would be handy to have some notice of release dates to allow purchasers to save up their modelling tokens. Believe me, that's not a criticism of anyone's pricing structure, just a simple reality for me, where big ticket items have to be budgeted & saved for. I'd hate to miss out & disappoint Alan @Icelandic Fine Art by saying I'll buy one then not following through. Edge

Thanks Jan. What a shame. I'll still get one in the hope that selling lots of kits will encourage Arma to roll that Navalised fuselage!

Does anyone know if a Sea Hurricanr IIc is likely from Arma Hobby? Edge

Thanks! Not sure where I nicked the idea from, but it's quite effective. Edge

A little more time & experimentation (for me at least) on the Hurricane today. Having messed up the camouflage last time, I masked with blue-tac & copydex before spraying the RAF Dark Green Xtracrylix. I stuck with the Night Black as to darken the green as I thought the green could cope better, being darker than the earth tones. I added white to lighten selected panels. Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Removing the masking, always a nervous time revealed a not too bad result. A little bit of an edge on one wing where paint has seeped beneath the blue-tac and a couple of areas where the brown has lifted. All in all, I'm quite pleased. Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Edge

I've just bought a set of Artool FX masks (which appear similar) to use as a method of breaking up single colours by spraying varied shades of the base colour through. I found them useful, although the material they're made from is a little stiff, making Fitting them closely to tight radii, such as small fuselages quite a fiddle. Also bear in mind that it's another thing to hold when spraying (airbrush, stencil & model). None of these things stop me recommending them but forewarned is forearmed I guess! Edge

Having messed up the painting earlier this week, I wet flatted with micromesh to lose the steps between the paint colours & re-applied the RAF Dark Earth using my go-to Xtracrylix. One of the things I learned on my first attempt at shading is that Xtracrylix & Tamiya paints aren't a perfect blend, with some separation of the Tamiya white and Xtracrylix dark earth when mixed with Xtracrylix thinner. This time I used a newly purchesed Xtracrylix white to lighten some panels in a fairly random fashion, with panel lines picked out with the same dark earth with a drop of Xtracrylix Night Black added. I found the black to be a very strong colour, so much that I had to add oodles more dark earth to bring it even relatively close to a darker shade of the base colour. Next time I'll try a mid to dark grey. Anyhow, here's where I'm up to so far: Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Untitled by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr I'm quite happy with this as a first attempt. Next I forsee some blue tac sausage making, followed by some RAF dark green. Edge

Thanks! I am slowly getting back into things - I've spent an hour or so today tinkering. Part of the problem is that I try too many new things on one model and am then disappointed that it doesn't look as I'd like. I guess I need to practice more! It is a lovely kit - it's me that's the issue!! Edge

Enjoy fellas! Edge

Yes I paid around £16. I have done a bit of googling since buying them& it seems there are plenty out there, it's just a case of choosing those with suitably sized patterns. One thing to add is that mine are made of a relatively stiff material which made it difficult to use on the radius of the fuselage. The mask would flex a little but it's not particularly 'rubbery.' Hope that makes sense? Edge

Thanks for the tip Paul. It never occurred to me to use thin strips of tape -doh! Edge

Sounds like you boys are having a great time! Hope you'll find time to visit the Midland Air Museum in Baggington during your time in Coventry? More Vulcan action if you do (inc the possibility of a cockpit tour) as well as Argosy, Canberra, Lightning et al. Ooh and lots of lovely models on display in the museum & for sale in the shop. Edge who lives minutes from Baggington in Royal Leamington Spa! what what old chap!

Hi John It's not. It's called Artool FX and came in a set of 3 from Airbrushes.com (I've no connection to them). It was a little fiddly to try to hold model, mask and airbrush at the same time, particularly on the fuselage. Edge

Mojo at least partially restored, I did a little more on the Hurricane today. Well, what I actually did was prove that I don't have the skills or patience to paint camouflage freehand.... Perhaos with a lot of practice I'll get there, but I have some flatting and re-painting in my future! Edge

Well after having a rotten time career-wise and generally losing any motivation for anything, I've returned to the Hurricane for a few moments. In an attempt to try something completely new, I bought a set of airbrush templates and set about the Earth topside with a lightened shade. Aiming for a random pattern, this is the outcome of my 1st attempt: IMG_3143 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr IMG_3144 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr And this is the template I used for to achieve the mottling: IMG_3145 by Gavin Edgerton, on Flickr Til next time Edge

Is it my wishful thinking or do the images hint at a Sea Hurricane friendly arrest or hook section? Edge

Eduard have,somewhat confusingly, released both Academy and Hasegawa B-24 kits. Academy came 1st with the D boxing called 'Mission Centenarians' and the J being 'Liberating Beauties'. The Hasegawa re-boxes focused on Coastal Command with the D kit labelled 'Riders in the Sky 1944' and the J 'Riders in the Sky 1945'. Eduard also offered their usual selection of overtrees for the Hasegawa too. Edge

Watching with interest. Edge

What lovely builds and a great family pic too! Edge

Is this a re-box of the MPM kit? Edge

Unfortunately the success of any aircraft type has little correspondence to the sales success of it's scaled down representation. If it were, we would have had plenty of options to build numerous Canberra, Meteor, Vampire and Venom. And that's just sticking with British 1940's -'50's designs. All were built in a bewildering variety of subtypes and were operated around the globe in a huge variety of colour schemes. Yes, all of these can be found as scale kits, but few made by the more familiar mainstream companies, which is a huge pity. Here's hoping 2020 will see at least one of these picked up by Airfix. Edge

Set reserved through Facebook. Thanks Colin!