David Mooney

Thank you All the paints used are the same as the previous build (linked in the original post)

its a great kit with some great detail, if you get it out into day light it looks even more impressive imo Thank you for all the kind comments on this one :-)

Hello all, This is the final build of the year, and i've just got it over the line. Not much to add on this one as i said it all in my last build two weeks ago of the same kit https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235133931-132-kotare-kiwi-spitfire/#comment-4845706 So, i dont think i've done a bad job getting this done in under two weeks. Happy new year to you all All comments welcome

I must apologise, but I don't think I'm up for a 56 drop mix....im not that worried haha! Hope you feel better soon, and thanks again for the insight on this subject

Thats some great information Troy, and very much appreciated as its a tricky subject. I wouldn't knock anyone's research on this subject and certainly not Kotare's hard work on the subject and ultimately maybe correct on the colour. I do wonder though with some of these re-coloured pictures and if they are actually correct, but thats my speculation. But, as a few have said, the decal colour just looks 'off' and the MSG imo looks more in keeping with many other subjects of the day, and ultimately as the modeller....it's in the modellers own hands 🙂 Thank you again for a very good and constructive comment

Good spot on the article, but they still look more of a dark sea grey to me, but I'm no history aficionado and happy I went with MSG in the end I agree, I think its unlikely they got it wrong but the blue looked poor in my eyes. I looked at it for a while on the kit and couldn't accept it, it was too stark imo. Thanks for the feedback and comments

Thank you for the comment. The decals aren't even close to sky, I know later on in the war they indeed were painted sky but the decals are almost a baby blue. Sky, is a strange colour, almost a creamy green, and as other Kotare kits have medium sea gray decals....im guessing this is an error, but hopefully some will come with comments on it. Thanks again

Hello all, i think this will be the last one of the year for me. There isn't a lot that can be said that hasn't been said by others, the parts are great and clean with a great deal of detail. One thing that hasn't been mentioned (to my knowledge) is the issue with the decals, they're not almost blue rather than the Medium Sea Gray which most of the WW2 serials were. I manged to get around this by cutting masks for the offending decals.....maybe i'm right to have done it, maybe i'm not but i think they look much better and realistic in Medium Sea Gray (XF-83). The paints used were Mr Colour C369 Dark Earth, C316 White (i never tend to use a pure white) C33 Black (with a drop or two of Brown) and Tamiya XF-81 Dark Green. I'll add this picture to show the what i mean about the decal colour for you to make your own minds up on the issue. As ever, all comments are welcome. Merry Christmas everyone.

I didnt know there was a book, so maybe I'll investigate that, thanks for the info. Yep, it's pretty much a focal point of the Phantom and thats why I devolved the mask to make it easier....work smart, not work hard haha Thank you everyone

I know, its such a cool aircraft but even better when it's a hauling luggage Thanks Eng, I was quite pleased with the result....the mask helped quite a lot in that section

Hello all, carrying the Robin Olds theme on from SCAT II i thought i'd take a shot at SCAT XXVII. I have used Tamiya's F-4 C/D kit as a base. 1/32 Trumpeter P-38L 'Scat II' - Ready for Inspection - Aircraft - Britmodeller.com What i believe Tamiya did was base this kit on the aircraft at the National museum, but this had a few issues in the paint work, but i think i have managed to cover most of the issue off. One of the biggest issues with the original and museum versions is the size of the stars, they seem to be a 1/3 too big, so i corrected those. I use the Master AoA sensors to add the probe just behind the nose Radome. I took an attempt at the rippled look metal's behind the afterburner cans with i couple of masks, and i was pretty pleased with the effect in the end. Most of the decals were replaced using my mask set, DEF Models weighted wheels, Quickboost seats and Red Fox Studios set. extra's used to build this it are: Thanks for looking, all question and critique are welcome

There are three big issues with this kit and many smaller ones that are easy to sort out with just filler and super glue and sanding. The canopy parts come up slightly short when assembling them, so you have to be careful with placement. I placed the rear and mid sections and then slightly re-shaped the frontal section which closed the canopy sections up but leaves a gap between the canopy and gun bay doors, this can then be filled, sanded and re-scribed and re-riveted. The wing span of the P-38 is quite considerable and trumpeter didnt add any reinforcement spars to prevent the wing bending, the wings flex quite considerably when the build is finished, and that mostly because the masses of weight needed in the nose to prevent it being a tail sitter. So, when i build another i will certainly add some sort of structure working its way across from the inboard section to the outboard. Ok, this flex might not sound like too much of an issue but the issue is that if you want the u/c to be vertical it may bow in/out at the final stages and obviously put more strain on the wing joints. The final issue is that i wanted to build the kit with the gun bays open, this is a real issue and i still dont know how you can do it and one i'd really need to test. The issue comes in the fact that the majority of the nose bay is full of ballast, i had to leave a fair few parts out to fit the weight in so currently i cant answer this one. Thank you to everyone on their kind comments

I I've had this kit sitting about for a while and thought i'd have ago at it, after a bit of research i found that a lot said its bit of a pig to build........and they're right. But, there is a great reward if you can pull the thing around. The fit is 'iffy' and if i built it again (which i will) i'd certainly attack it differently, but thats the learning process of modelling. So here is the Trumpeter&HobbyBoss 1/32 P-38L 'Scat II' Kit additions: Red Fox Studio set, Aires wheels, MASTER gun set. Hope you like it, i am quite happy with it considering how difficult it was to get made. All Comments and questions welcome

Here we go....Zoukei-mura Bf109 G14 This kit deserves a lot of praise in fit and detail, so much detail that most is lost unless you're going to do a stripped down maintenance scene. This aircraft is from 9./JG300 and was flown by Pilot Ofhr. Klaus Grothues. Items used are my own masks (DM scale models), some scavenged seat belts and Gunze C117 (RLM76), C37 (RLM75), C36 (RLM74), C123 (RLM 83). For the prop and spinner C18 (RLM70) Couple of points i wasnt aware of in regards to the 109 is that the yellow pipe has in fact a clear centre section which is the drop tank fuel gauge...well who knew! The u/c legs are notification that this aircrafts engine needed an high octane fuel....again, something i wasnt aware of so this made this build a good project to find these items out. So, here are some of the pictures of 'Yellow 1' 'Kristin'

The base is just an old insulation foam (xps) tile which I tend to use a lot for my outdoor pictures. It's covered in tile grout (brown) and some static grass which I then air brushed to give a more realistic look. Hope that helps.

Thank you everyone for the kind comments, it was a nice build and pretty easy fit-wise. Highly recommend kit for sure.

Hello all and i hope everyone is well This is the my Tamiya Spitfire which was going to be Johnny Johnson's Triple X beer barrel bomber but it......didnt. The issue arose that i was going to try and have the barrels and pylons removable as i do like the clean lines of the Spit, but the magnets that i had installed werent strong enough to hold the resin barrels and pylons flush to the wing surface, so i ditched the idea in the end. This kit build nice and easily, i add the Red Fox Studio IP set, painted with Tamiya paints plus used my own mask sets for the camo and all the insignia and serials. All comments welcome :-)

Oh, i didnt know that, i wonder if you have any pictures of it to confirm the serial type?

Hello all, i.m trying to find out a bit of information on project XXX, i'm using the Tamiya Spitfire kit and notice an oddity in a few versions of the decals out there and the ones provided. The aim here is to do Johnnie Johnson's aircraft, the decals provided in the tamiya kit are EN398 and have the more curved style serial JE-J, whilst other kits have the squarer JE-J and an aircraft code of MK828. So, did Johnnie Johnson lose EN398 at some point and then was assigned MK823? I have tried to find evidence of the codes and making but so far.......zip

I've added a couple of more pictures with it now on its base, this was intended to be done ready when the aircraft was completed for the demonstration pics for my masking sets, but things got in the way.

No big issues at all, as Alan P said the biggest issue is the upper wing/fuse joints...but there is an easy to fix this. The instructions get you to put the two wing halves together, but the better way to do it is to glue the top fuse to the top wing section as this gives you a nice clean joint. It's all about test fitting to see which works best, but my way worked for me. Thanks for all the kind comments, they're much appreciated

Hello all, this is my effort to do a Lakenheath F-15C from the Tamiya kit. I choose to do 84-0027 as it had an odd 'camo splat' on the horizontal stabilisers and it had quite a hard edged camouflage, the F-15C's seem to have a mix of soft-edged and hard-edged schemes. So to do this scheme i made my own mask set for it, which made it a lot easier. The add-ons to the basic kit were Red Fox Studios cockpit set, Reskit AMRAAM's and burner cans plus i used PK Productions 'BIG USAFE MOD EAGLES' decals.....all three are excellent products, plus my own masks DM Scale Models Camo and Canopy set. Hope you all like it, it was a nice build and turned out well i think.

No, not really, there are a few bit thats would've great if it was just a bit revelly...i.e. injection pin marks in ridiculous places like the seat upright and the side walls of the cockpit. Decals looked a bit thick, but i didnt use them (i use my mask set) so i can comment on them, For £40 its well worth it thats for sure and i would certainly recommend it at that price, no massive hurdles to get over in the build but as ever....dry fitting and testing is your friend here.

There is going to be a sea hurricane for sure as there is a lower fuse section that has the recess in it for the arrester hook Thanks Chris, this was really a test bed for those masks and i was pleased with the result, they certainly help to get that 'real' feel rather than having to use lots of decal softener and even then they dont nessercerily end up with crisp corners. Thank you everyone for the kind words on this build, its very much appreciated .

This is the new Hawker Hurricane by Revell, its an ok kit but it could have been soooo much better. I'm sure there will be a few after market sets to come out later on to address a few issues, but at £40 its value for money. I built this to to test out a new set of masks i made to replace the kit decals on the aircraft, the aircraft was painted with Gunze 361,368 and 369. 'Glamour shot first' Hope you all like it as i was quite pleased with it and the masks (if you're interested in them, DM me) worked out well.