jckspratt1

Superb! Very imaginative and very well done.

Well, I'd have given up - and thrown the mangled remains in the bin - after about the second fold. I avoid any PE like the plague, so I have nothing but the utmost respect for those of you that work such wonders with it. This is wonderful work.

I've used some of the German WWI set (airbrush), and they worked very well. The little brush painting that I had to do was also successful although I didn't have to cover any real area.

Bugger it mate - looks near enough to me, and if you enjoyed building it and the m-in-l enjoyed receiving it, then what else matters?

Very nice - it's a lovely little kit, too. I normally don't build this scale, but was drawn to the single-seater and very much enjoyed it. Lovely detail for such a small thing. I wonder if there is an inherent flaw (or, more likely, just a trickier than usual bit!) with the intake on this family of Ed kits because I struggled to fit mine too.

Thanks Gary - I use Micro-Sol/Set too, and would have thought it would be ideal for exactly the use you put it to - I've previously used it for lozenges on 1?48 with great results. I wonder why WNW make the suggestion they do - but regardless, thanks for putting my mind at ease. It's going to be about 40C here for the next couple of days, and air-conditioning sometimes impacts on decal setting, so I'll tackle the Pfalz in a couple of days. SAS

Thanks guys - my thoughts exactly. Cartograf has always worked brilliantly with Micro Sol and Set (some decals are too delicate for Set, but not Cartograf), so I am curious as to why WNW warn specifically against using solutions. BTW GrzeM, the detail on that PZL wing is great (particularly if it's for a 1/72, which is Arma's scale I believe), and yes, the decaling has conformed precisely.

These look wonderful, and full credit to you for all of the work you've put in. From your sprue shots, these look like very nicely detailed kits, particularly for the scale - which is unfortunately too small for me. if you ever scale up, I'd be very keen on this kit.

Just trying to plumb the experience of some more experienced modellers here: I'm currently approaching the decaling stage of a WNW Pfalz DIIIa, my first. I figured this one would be a gentle start rather than attempt the other dozen WNW kits which I have gathering dust in my ever expanding stash, and I was correct - it's gone together very nicely (and any and all mistakes are solely my own!). My question is this: I realise that WNW themselves advise against using any setting solutions in favour of using a hair-dryer, but is that entirely necessary? I used Micro- family solutions for the smaller decals - cockpit etc. - without any adverse effects (so as a very limited test there seems to be no issue), and I have never found Cartograf decals to be anything but tolerant of these solutions (with aircraft of other eras). Frankly I'd feel more comfortable using these solutions instead of risking using a hair-dryer (risk being relative, but I've never used the WNW recommended method before). Has anyone else gone rogue and used my proposed technique, or will it all end in tears if I push on? Any suggestions or cautionary tales are eagerly sought. SAS

Dolphins will fight sharks if they have to - I've seen a pod go a Great White.

Thanks for the heads up GrahamB - I probably wouldn't haven't considered even checking out the WNW site until the new year, and would have missed this until then. Now, I should have one before Christmas.

robgizlu: I'm currently building the old Academy Blazer with the roller. The kit roller is pretty basic, so I'm using the Def Model IDF KMT-4 Mine Roller wheel set (DM35036), which is much better - but it uses the kit arms/mounts/whatever, so is probably useless to you. I'll be watching you with interest (I have the HB Doghouse II, yet to be built, which I bought for precisely the same reason as you did yours, it seems).

Mate, I'm not a fan of Soviet armour, but by God I'm a fan of this! You are doing incredible work here, and I'm watching with interest.

Then he is being flexible with the truth - 'WD' = 'water damaged". WNW were quite forthcoming about the reason for sale. Under our local consumer law, I'd be quite happy to pursue him for misrepresentation.

Yeah Beardie - whopping great 'WD' scrawled across the box. I bought an AEG G.IV (Late) and even the box was only slightly damaged - enough to be noticeable, but not enough to affect even the integrity of the box itself. I took a punt on the fact that WNW stuff is so well packaged and sealed internally that there was little chance of any real damage - and I was right for a change. Anyone selling this stock on eBay is a crook though - are they warranting the quality of the contents, or just selling 'as is' without specifics? I should probably also say that I actually think that WNW kits are worth the retail price anyway, but I personally wasn't quite prepared to pay full tote for this particular kit because I know that it will probably take years - if ever - to be built. If I never get around to it, so what?

I love watching you guys in fits over this subject. The whole area bemuses me - we pay nothing extra here in Oz - but I must agree that it seems somewhat extortionate to me. Every now and then some pollie declares that he/she wants to levy the GST (same as VAT) on imports, but even then the mooted lower limit tends to be higher than the value of any model kit. Frankly, I wouldn't like to pay GST on goods that weren't even provided in this country, but would accept the imposition. I don't really follow the PF angle - Australia Post has it's own parcel delivery arm, and foreign post is included under that and under the auspices of various international agreements AP has with foreign postal services. As an example, the British firm The Book Depository (now Amazon owned, I know) has long earned the particular ire of various local pollies by using aspects of those agreements to 'compel' AP to deliver their books for free.

I remember as a schoolkid visiting Parafield Airport in the mid-80s to see the flight-worthy replica being built (that now lives up in Qld). Very impressive - as is your somewhat smaller scale replica!

I quite like your second attempt.

I can't access any resources at the moment, but from memory the FK shoots through a window in the floor (perhaps being mounted on the port side facing down).

Pretty sure that I paid at least 25 pounds for the Pike decals when I bought them, so it's no surprise. I've just checked fantasyprintshop.co.uk, and did a search showing 'only in stock' - looks like you/we are in luck, as they have both Pike and Croc. They are the same OH brand as the Pike's I already have, which appear to be good quality.

Beardie: I've just managed to dig the kit and decals out, and can confirm that they are OH - and that I bought them through an outfit called Littlecars (not Smallcars, but I was close!). Littlecars' service was excellent, albeit unintelligible on the phone! My recollection is that I managed to grab the last 1/32 Pike that they had at the time. If you can confirm that the Croc scheme is available in 1/32, please let me know - I have the Eduard 1/48 version sitting here, but rather like the idea of using the WnW kit instead. I have built the Ed kit in the Pike scheme, and am fairly happy with it but still want to upscale, which will happen one day. Thanks for your tips on building the WnW Bristol - always nice to slipstream on someone else's experiences, and your WnW builds on here give you a lot of cred in this area. The Ed kit is actually pretty good (from memory - it's been a while), and the undercarriage was fairly well done in the scale but I seem to recall having to shave the wheel struts to get them to fit through the wings correctly. I've also done the Roden 1/72 in AFC livery, and that was pretty tricky. Like most Roden kits - in my experience - the decals were dodgy and it was over-engineered, particularly for the scale. I finished it cowls off, because although the donk was very finely detailed I just couldn't get everything to fit - and I'd spent so much effort putting the fiddly bloody engine together I really wanted to be able to see it.

Oh, I'll build them - eventually - but thanks for your kind offer to rehome one of them! I purchased the initial one because I intend to do it in the pike scheme - someone has done decals in 32, and I have them, but it'd be a bit tricky to dig them out right now (maybe something like OH Decals?). I'll let you know within a couple days who produced them. I do recall that I got them via Smallcars (or something like that) in the UK, who had a pretty unfriendly website at the time, so I rang the from Oz to place the order. Accent hilarity ensued - I couldn't understand a word the guy who answered said (to my ear, his accent was bloody thick as) and he probably struggled with my accent. So I just kept repeating the name of the proprietor (who had asked me via email to ring through the order) until he was put on. Luckily we understood one another! Just to be crystal clear: their website was dodgy (primitive), but their service was excellent.

Great I've got two - the wartime and post-war versions. I've been putting them off because - from previous experience in both 72 and 48 - I know what a pain the lower wing always is. Now I'll prevaricate a bit longer.

I realise that this is tantamount to teasing, but the WnW Albatros trio arrived at my doorstep at 10:00 this morning (I often work from home and got lucky). They were only posted two days ago! I'm glad I didn't bother paying twice as much for courier delivery! More to the point for those of you eagerly awaiting yours: very large box (about 36 x 52 x 9 cm), not as tightly packed as most WnW boxings, and all present and correct inside. That is: no shortcuts on quality as far as I can tell without tearing open bags.

Well Duncan, you really do seem to offer your UK customers excellent service. I wish you and your business all the best - you appear to deserve it. I didn't know that this boxing was going to be 'limited', so I'm glad I ordered mine when I did - I tend to prevaricate on WNW lately, because I never actually do anything with them when I get them.