lasermonkey

Yet another Eduard 1/72 MiG-21, this time the PFM (Weekend Edition). I really wanted that Vietnamese aircraft in the dark/light brown scheme. I got it from the same seller as the PF and was offered it at a very good price. That’s thirteen Eduard MiG-21s now! Forgot to mention- I snagged three Zvezda 1/72 MiG-21 Bis kits second-hand off eBay over the last couple of weeks, all for bargain prices.

Another new for year butterfly- an orange-tip was nectaring in our garden this morning. That’s eight different species so far this year.

Just saw my first holly blue butterfly of the year. Such lovely, little beasties!

Wow. Threats of physical violence in print. Not the smartest move, it has to be said. Here's hoping that all those who have had these threats report them to Bedfordshire Police. Nothing will change otherwise.

A Coliseum Complex Museum by The Besnard Lakes. The guitars at the end of this one!

I think the main issue is the overly thick trailing edges. They really do let the kit down and the time taken scraping and sanding is very much well spent, imo. The wing stripe decals which are indicated for use on both marking options are wrong for the No. 486 Sqn machine. This should have the type identification markings used on Typhoons and early Tempests (I can’t remember the stripe widths). Personally, I wouldn’t use decals for the wing stripes anyway, as I just don’t trust them. I didn’t like the instrument panel decal either. They still look cartoon-like in comparison with other manufacturers. A bit more effort here from Airfix could make the world of difference. I guess you wouldn’t use that anyway. I remember reading some reservations about the hub size for the later wheels, but I don’t think anything was settled definitively. Eyeballing the parts against photos, they didn’t look too bad to me. Not a scientific approach, I know. The plastic used is much better than in the past, but from other reports I think that thorough dry-fitting is a must. I found that apart from the radiator assembly, which was a touch too wide, everything fitted very nicely. I attached the upper wing assembly to the fuselage first and when dry, added the lower wing assembly to that. That worked well for me and might be worth trying. Other than that, my kit pretty much flew together. So far!

An Eduard 1/72 MiG-21PF (Weekend edition) from eBay. I was sent an offer that was too good to turn down. I’m a big fan of the Eduard MiGs.

A de Havilland Puss Moth, Bucker Bu 133 and a Piper Cub. Not bad for a five minute slot. Also a ruby tiger moth (the wee creature, not a red aeroplane) which I found on the footpath and moved to a safer place. Apparently bang-on for their flight period in this area.

Another one that springs to mind is the Airspeed Courier, a delightful, little aeroplane that has, as far as I know, only been done in resin by Rugrat Resin/Aircraft In Miniature. An injection moulded kit in 1/72 would be most welcome and would go well with the Envoy and Oxford kits. edit: oh, and the Percival Q6 Petrel. Another pretty aeroplane that’s crying out for an IM kit.

You raise a good point about the decals. The only one i have used thus far is the instrument panel, and that seemed cartoon-like to me. If they could do away with those stupid, heavy, white lines, it wouldn’t be so bad. The option I’m going with is the No. 486 Sqn machine, and the wing stripes are incorrect for that. I was going to paint them anyway, as I don’t trust decals for such things. Bad memories *shudder*. I probably ought to check the transparent parts a bit closer.

I have only read a very small amount about these aircraft, both from the Action Stations No. 1 book and the Bentwaters Cold War Museum website. I think there was a profile in the Scale Aircraft Modelling issue that was about The USAF in the UK from 1948 onwards. Sadly, my SAMs are now packed away for an impending house move, coincidentally to the Woodbridge area.

A Percival Proctor, heading north. Sadly, I only heard it, looked up on one of those ADS-B thingies. I don’t think I have ever seen one flying.

Shuttleworth's Spitfire Vc AR501 is currently flying around on a test flight. It came close enough to see the squadron markings. Earlier on I had to go to the local farm produce shop to re-stock on bird food, and that's even closer to Old Warden. While I was there, a Percival Mew Gull was putting on a spirited display, whilst A Miles Hawk Speed Six took off. Damn, I'll miss all this when I move house!

IIRC, Humbrol No. 96 is a reasonable match for the RAF uniform blue-grey, but definitely not No. 633 RAF Blue Grey, which is considerably darker. Colourcoats by Sovereign Hobbies has it in their range and as it's matched by spectrophotometry, you're unlikely to find a better enamel. If you're looking for a single paint you could buy from you local model shop, I wonder whether Humbrol No. 77 Navy Blue might be a better match, or at least a good starting point.

A Chinook just went over (not squawking) and was really low. I barely heard it until it was right on top of us and just caught it as it disappeared over the rooftops. Also I forgot to mention that I saw a formation of a Tiger Moth and two Magisters the other day. I guess they’re practicing for the first Shuttleworth display of the year.

I’m following this, as I have the Italeri B and C which I’ll be using for Bentwaters based machines. It’s an aeroplane I know next to nothing about, but I’m eager to learn.

My mum was called Madeleine, so it’s a thumbs up from me. As for second names, I have one but I never use it. In fact I never let anyone know what it is. If there was an easy way to divest myself of it, I truly would. It’s not even a silly name, I just hate it! I’m not even sure if I know anyone who likes theirs.

A few things from The Big H. I noticed that the Model Maker Bulgarian MiG-21 decals were back in stock and seeing as the camouflage schemes are well funky (that's a technical term, by the way), I had to get them. I can't imagine myself building anything with a red star on the side for a while, so having some alternatives gets me around that obstacle. That brings me to the next item, which is the Hi Decal sheet for MiG-17Fs. My build of the Airfix kit had stalled as I needed the colour call outs to proceed any further. I think I'll be doing the Egyptian "Nile scheme" option. Another build that ground to a halt is my Airfix Lancaster (Dambuster). A set of Eduard masks means that I can hopefully get some more done before everything gets packed away for the house move. Once that's done, I suspect it'll be quite some time before I get to do any kit building again. I'm not looking forward to that, but the prospect of having huge swathes of open access heathland within a five minute walk, plus the sea being nearby is something I'm sure will make up for it. That reminds me, the Airfix Tempest I bought recently is mostly together now. Apart from those trailing edges, I think it's a pretty decent kit and with luck and a following wind, I might just get it finished before the move!

Just be aware that Kits World has a well-deserved reputation for shoddy research and inaccuracies. You're right to question their colour call outs.

A most attractive aeroplane. I can see me getting a couple of these.

Well, the plan to attach the upper wing assembly to the fuselage first worked a treat. I ended up with a near flawless fit in the end. Very happy with how that turned out! Apart from having to take a sanding stick to the rad assembly (it was a touch too wide) I have been most impressed with the fit on this model so far. The time spent on reducing the trailing edge thickness was well worth it. I’d go so far as to say it’s the only thing that lets the kit down for me. Cheers, Mark.

If I omitted the photo etched parts, I'd end up with an empty gear bay, amongst other things, as I'm sure you well know. My point is that it could have been done in plastic, leaving the modeller the choice of that or the PE parts. Other manufacturers seem to manage this. As supplied, it's a kit that doesn't appeal. I wish I'd seen the reliance on PE before I bought the kit and not wasted my money, but c'est la vie. It's perfectly OK to have differing opinions on this.

Not to me, it’s not. It’s a material I cannot get on with.

I have to admit, I’m pretty gutted about the reliance on photo-etch on this model. I bought one, but I’m going to sell it on. I hate etched brass even more than I hate Marmite, and that’s a lot!

A new house, providing everything goes to plan. Exciting times!