tempestfan

There was a series in gool ol' SAM some 25 ys. ago by Anthony Thornborough called Things under Wings, and I have a dim feeling there may have been a book version of it.

IIRC the CFs had different wheel patterns as compared to a standard G.

There aren't that much panels joint lines (except on the nacelles) as the plywood surface was cloth covered and cloth joints in turn covered with cloth strips, at least on the FB VI (see, I've started reading my new Mossie book !).

Thanks, wasn't aware of that one. Do you have a release date ?

Then this must have been a loooong time ago or you built a really ancient version, as Airfix dropped those printed ratlines when they introduced the T3 headers for the ships (at the latest), and that was some 45 years ago

Well I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition !

Well to be honest, while it's an interesting concept and therefore an eyecatcher, it's one of the least significant aircraft of WW II. I would say the market could take a long-run Hurricane in 32nd, or perhaps a Mosquito, would it ?

Oh, the Maltese connection To be fair, the Minigraph is loooong out of print, and I had to look a bit to find one on ebay; the mini in action is a mini, and Ginter books may not be everyone's cup. I guess this simply is not aimed at the US modeller.

That may well be the case. I bought a bunch in '01 after they were deleted from the range for the first time (?). As Revell policy apparently goes, they will possibly get a rest of one or two years and then get recycled, with new decals and ref.

That compares not unfavourably with postage from the US...

Ah well... I'll wait & see.

Both apparently available, at least in theory. (Sorry for posting that link again) Could make a nice bunlde with the Puky Pucará

Glad you found one. IIRC I bought mine at IAT '93 or '94, when they were ditched at GBP 1.50 or somesuch. While we're at it: Who did the drawings in the old Hercules book ? Mike Keep ?

Touché

As there was some kind of break when Richard Franks left, I thought they may have continued with different draughtsmen as well - which they did. Seems one has to know who drew what before buying if one is keen (primarily) on the drawings.

Why would they want to ? The mould is only some 15 years old.

I have the A-4 booklet - but don't want to get rid of it. But I'd consider a scan if you're interested. In the new series, there were also a couple of Specials, I have one on the P-47, and there was at least another one on the 109. To confuse matters still a bit further, there was at least one "Mini Warpaint" when Alan W. Hall Publications still existed, on the SA Pioneer (or Twin Pin ?), given away with an issue of Av News ca. 1993.

Actually there wasn't any problem. The u/c doors fit backwards completely unproblematically. I think this is the rare "lawn slicer" test version developed for deep turf.

I have Nos 1 through 7. I stopped buying them after receiving the Lightning volume and being quite disappointed in general, though I don't recall with which aspects exactly. As Mark (StephenMG) pointed out he had done the drawings both for the Hunter book and the small Mosquito one, I looked around a bit on ebay and in various other online stores with the idea of some day picking up my 32nd Hunter build stalled 16 years ago, and I found the Hunter book offered at a very attractive price via ebay by SAM Publ. themselves (GBP 9 +1). They also offered said Mossie book (6+3) and International Phantoms (9+3). Log-in, three clicks, off to the payment area and PayPal'ed. After payment, I noted the shipping details said "every additional book ordered sent post-free", which, alas, was not reflected in the invoice. Seems I'll have to mail them. Yesterday, a card envelope arrived. Surprise, surprise - Vol 2 USN versions delivered... not a big deal, basically, as I like the F-4B in particular. But as I wil be writing an e-mail anyway... After quickly going through it, I'm rather disappointed. While the text probably is sound (not read much yet), the pics are all thumbnails (OK, this is customary with MDs), and the captions leave a lot to be desired IMHO. "A Phantom in the air", "a Phantom over the sea", "a Phantom on a carrier deck" - identity, place, date and unit are not so essential, apparently (though of course the BuAer-# is visible in many cases). The caption to a belied Angels J in particular illustrates my point - instead of e.g. "Like all top tier aerobatic teams, the Angels pride themselves of an impeccable safety record. However, mishaps occur, as in the case of 157xxx who crash landed on xx XX 1972 at ZZ NAS after suffering a birdstrike" there is something like "Life isn't always plain sailing even for the Angels." A pair of RF-4Bs are captioned being in Gull Grey over White when I'm quite convinced they are grey overall, as no demarcation line is visible. While I appreciate that the overwing bulges are tricky to portrait in elevation, the drawings of the RF late show no difference to the drawing of the thin wing in this respect (I do not see any difference on the J and S drawings, either). And I also seem to recall the overall length of the -17 (or whatever) exhausts is greater than on the -8, not just the petal length. The drawings have them the same length. The modelling section is a joke - the builds look great, but is there a Hasegawa 1/32 J ? I think not... The 48th builds are all Hasegawa, despite the Monogram and Italeri/ex Esci Js being around at least on the 2nd hand market in good numbers and usually obtainable cheaply. 72nd kits hardly get a mention at all. I hope the Hunter book is better.

I remember the Hasegawa/Academy kit as somewhat "beefier" that e.g. the Airfix - is that just memory playing tricks again, or was the Hasegawa kit originally a "metric" (1/70, perhaps) ?

Forgot to say that your interior looks slightly better than the original How did you manage to not knock off those quarter-rings at the extreme rear of the gunner's station ? They are usually the first to break off and go AWOL, even without building.

And another 14 months later...what has happened to this project ? No undertones in this question, as I haven't finished anything in 17 years... As for angraving fuselages, you may find the clear plastic strips used to stiffen shirt collars etc. useful. That engine (and seat) gave me a sense of déjà vu - it must be the same as in the F8U-1 (not surprising, as both should be J57s I guess), but possibly also used in the Lindberg Hunter...?

I meant the style of reproduction by Airfix.

The Lindberg kit was of a -1 until the tooling was modified some time in the 80s or so. While a really old and undetailed kit, the shapes are not too bad, all in all. It has the bonus of the pilot being ejectable on his F-100-style seat

I'd have expected you to have used your favourite icon here, and very deservedly Compared to the Academy, the ancient Airfix one looks like an accurate and well-detailed kit...