Steve Coombs

For curiosity, where did the kit fight you?

Recently I completed an Airfix Beaufighter and a Lightning (I used the Alleycat conversion to make an F1). I now have the Meteor on the workbench, to be done as an F/TT.8. We may build the same kits, but I build mine one at a time!

http://images.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fplane-crazy.k-hosting.co.uk%2FAircraft%2FJets%2FLightning%2FLightning-F53%2B2.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fplane-crazy.k-hosting.co.uk%2FAircraft%2FJets%2FLightning%2Flightning.htm&h=500&w=667&tbnid=73b50RClIyckJM%3A&vet=1&docid=W056SDsMYZt6kM&ei=Sr5mWJA2h-nAApuJtpAN&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=2009&page=3&start=130&ndsp=41&ved=0ahUKEwiQg9Po25zRAhWHNFAKHZuEDdI4ZBAzCDsoOTA5&bih=950&biw=1920 Any help? Cheers, Steve

One advantage of the European operation for me is that I won't have to take half a day off work to pick up the kits from the customs house in Heidelberg! If the Camel doesn't make it in time for Christmas, chances are that it will in time for my birthday. I can be patient.

Oh, that's nice. And having the open roof section kills two birds with one stone; it lets you see into the cockpit, and removes the risk of a gap between the rear frame and the fuselage. For the latter, please don't ask me how I am aware it can be an issue...

Hello there. I am in the mood to build an Airfix Beaufighter TF Mk X in the Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/PRU blue scheme presented on Xtradecal X72244. The question is this: Should I use the white stencils or the black ones from the Airfix sheet? The underwing serials are black, which may be a clue, but I thought I'd better ask just in case. Thanks in advance for any help. Steve

Dunno if that's just a quirk of the photo, but the raised rings on the wheel hubs that the pins on the undercarriage units fit into look well off-centre. That could be awkward later during construction.

Got a couple of them at the Inspiration Modellbau show just outside Mainz at the weekend, so the kits have made it across the Channel already. Nice!

I picked up a fresh jar of Gunze H21 today in eager anticipation of starting work on the Airfix MR2 in the stash. Some fine inspiration in this thread.

You're being far too modest. This is fine work. I have the 1/72nd version of the B1 in the stash and would be most pleased if it turns out half as good as this.

Lüdemann also makes a 1/72nd scale kit. You might enquire at http://www.plastic-plane.com/. I've not been to the store in several years (it's in Essen, which is a bit out-of-area for me) but it's got lots of interesting goodies, including a good variety of WW1 stuff. The proprietor researches and casts his own short-run models.

Ardpol does one in resin, with photoetch. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/208020-ardpol-72-047-halberstadt-cl-ii

dubster72, F4u wants the paints for a Starfighter (info gleaned from another thread). They wouldn't have been painted in RLM colours (though possibly in their direct successors), unless you want to build a Whiffer. That could be fun!

You don't get haze if you protect your clear parts with Future or its local equivalent. That was the reason for suggesting dipping the clear parts in the stuff to begin with.

Vallejo is very nice but needs an undercoat to key into, or at least that's my experience of it.

All the GR3 pictures I have from the period show Harriers in wraparound camouflage. I suspect the Xtradecal instruction sheet designer took a shortcut by omitting the dark sea grey from a template for an earlier Harrier. I used Gunze H21 on my Harrier, which looks to have done the job nicely - not too glaringly white, not too far off to be taken for grey.

Revell Aqua Color is in the ballpark with these paints: RAL 7012 - Revell 77 RAL 6014 - Revell 42 RAL 9006 - Revell 99 (plus light grey to taste) RAL 2005 - Revell 25 There are some German manufacturers who produce pots of the stuff to specification, but the Revell paints have the advantage of being readily available. OK?

Enlightenment here? http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/35680-lightning-f2a-xn781-19-squadron/

I should have pointed this out earlier, but the trick of avoiding paint incidents on the mating surfaces is NOT to use solvent-based adhesives.

Dry fit finished assemblies 5 and 19, as shown in section 28 of the instructions, then see how the doors fit to see if the pin lengths and positions play any importance.

Just built the Revell kit, and it looks the part, not trouble with assembly (though I did have the bomb bay open). The Airfix one is in the stash, ready for me to build it as one of the machines my Uncle Alan worked on at St Eval while he was doing National Service in the mid-50s.

How about doing this? 1. Dip the canopy in Future. Let it dry well. 2. Carefully (and I mean carefully) paint the mating surface of the canopy black, or aluminium or whatever, to match the inside of the frame you ultimately want to attach it to. Leave it to dry for a good long time. 3. Seal the mating surface with more Future. 4. Use white glue or CA to attach the canopy to the frame. The Future coating means you won't get fogging, which is otherwise a risk. Worth a try?

I asked because I've built three of them without too much grief. I encountered a mismatch at the wingtips between the upper/lower wings, and learned the hard way to install the gas cylinder thingy (I think that's what it is) in the undercarriage bay at an early stage. It was useful to install the ventral wedge before attaching the wing assembly to the fuselage, and a bit of delicate scraping/sanding of the fuselage by the leading edge gave me a decent wing fit. I would have described the undercarriage assembly as pleasantly robust. Luck of the draw, I suppose. Don't get me started on my somewhat agricultural canopy framing, though. A fair bit of toothpick action was required...