tempestfan

I will ping him. Something like 1350km would be about right across Germany north to south, but if you say it's not too far, it's just as well

I can top that - Academy once issued a couple of limited "Zodiac" boxings. Apparently they didn't sell well, and were ditched at DEM 10... I got a couple A chap on another forum I frequent is from Calgary, and there is a shop there that has taken in a huge load of old/second hand kits over the past couple years. I have no idea what the name of the shop is, but it may be worth a try, even if it's not exactly next door (looking up maps, I confess I thought the Jets had a lot less distance to travel to play the Flames...)

Squadron had an in action booklet.

Not only that - the covers of the early ones are incredibly prone to rubbing, just like the good old red Profiles.

I am surprised no one has thrown in the Prien/Rodeike F/G/K book. May still be bought for around 30 € incl. shipping. Certainly better value for money than the so-called "ultimate look" books on US bombers by a certain author also published by Schiffer...

GRM's details made me curious - I assume you know this, respectively the pic(s) included? Regrettably most of it behind a paywall... An aspect that may have to be considered is whether the plane in question had the MG FF-capable A-Stand or not, if there are pics of the nose.

Thanks for the details - yes, the Maru is very old, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's less accurate than newer ones. Gakken 52 is rather expensive, with just one seller seeming to have it at the mo.

Thanks a lot Graham - SW-900 is given on the box end, but then possibly that’s just the price? The same lot had a mostly empty box of the Kamikaze class, which is W14 on the box, has SW-1200 also on the box end, and 700-043 on the transfer sheet. The Naval Base is #9, the Landing Craft Set #8, according to the box sides. Obviously in a different range/series. Nothing makes life more rewarding for a kit collector than a confusing kit numbering system Or to quote the Kamikaze instructions: „Enjoy your model life“...

For some reason (don't ask me which... I try to justify myself that I had some other lots from the same seller, and adding another one would spread international shipping cost), I bought a batch of 1/700 Waterline kits. In this batch was also a box for the Naval Base. Inside the box with unstapled bag was one sprue, while the box would easily hold two and possibly three. So, just for my curiosity: Was there indeed just a lone sprue in the box, or is my kit incomplete? Any elucidation appreciated!

@taly01: May I ask which Gakken book you used- from the Mook (I think) series? It's pretty hard to search for them in my experience, as on e.g Amazon an English title will usually not yield results. Did you happen to have access to the Maru Mechanic?

The old Verlinden Lock On is also very good (and very similar in concept), but rather hard to find and probably more expensive than the DaCo book. The DaCo books in general benefit from some 35 years of technological evolution regarding photography and processing, and they are definitely hugely impressive.

Indeed!

The Defender kit (which this is - the original 1972 Islander kit had three styles of interior, two of which were deleted in favour of the Defender's tanks and gun pods in 1978) had both a three-piece civilian pilot and a 70s standard issue Airfix jet pilot. The two are just visible on the instructions. The pods with one blunt end are MG pods, but no MGs are really apparent with them. The Defender artwork gave some impression. I think I have never actually seen an Islander kit built, probably because they were so scarce for 20+ years - so I look forward to the result! I

The -4 and especially the B appears not to be the best documented version in the world - the Aero Detail drawings explicitly were called „provisional“ IIRC. Maybe that had an impact. If it’s any consolation, I have a couple stashed away too...never opened yet. The Revell kit appears to suffer from wanting too much out of a base core. If all the inserts fit reasonably, people will still complain, cf. 1/48 Eduard 190 1.0. If they don’t as apparently on the Revell. people will bin it. A lot of the negative feedback on the kit seems due to suboptimal mould cutting, not to the basic de

Your post has prompted me to look at the title pic on F40 #36, Giorgio. Revell it's not... The "shelf" for the tailplane actuators starts almost in line with the fin leading edge, which is quite wrong, very visible and will not be easy to correct. The hump behind the canopy is definitely short. A rather clear profile shot on p.17 of that publications suggest the fuselage in the tailpipe area may just be a tad too long in relation to the "wedge" which constitutes the extreme end of the fuselage, but the end of the fuselage in the tailpipe area is almost perpendicular to the ground, not that exa