Biggles87

waste of good gin

FAgree with the above, a very interesting thread and great help for anyone contemplating a 1/48 Mustang. Like @Retired Bob I also bought a Meng Mustang, mostly because it had the correct wheel wells. It turned out quite well, but was a lot of work filling in the rivet divots ( why do they insist on doing it? ) and getting a decent fit with the leading edge gun inserts, which seems to be a common problem with Mustangs. John

I was only following ( page 2 already! Gimme a break. )

Just skipped over from the Gannet. This will bring back memories, the first military aeroplane I flew in and the last one I flew about 15 years later ( unless you count a civilian owned Spitfire ). John

Very nicely done, waiting for the Chipmunk now. John

Looking good. Must get some of those little crocodile clamps, do they come with the extended ‘leg’ or do you need to attach them to something? John

Agreed on the price of paint. Some of the modern all singing, all dancing, self levelling etc paint is over 5 Euros a bottle over here, and as most of it is ready thinned for airbrushing doesn’t go as far as the old tinlets. I think modellers are what the manufacturers call a captive audience.

Not having a LMS any more, all my stuff comes by mail ( usually from France or within EU ) and it seems like some companies have a minimum charge. I recently bought some razor saw blades which must have weighed all of 5 grammes and was charge 10 € for delivery in a slightly padded envelope. We’re off to the UK in June for a family birthday and I reckon I’ll be taking an empty suitcase with me! John

Thanks John, they do look good, as do the colour ones of course. I found some period photos of night intruders when I was building mine ( can’t find them now of course ),which showed quite a lot of wear and tear to the front of the tanks, which is how I did mine, but your ‘new’ looking tanks make a nice contrast. John

I didn’t know about the exhausts being painted, thanks for that. If I come across my old build I might repaint the exhausts. John

I am trying not to buy complete kits any more ( I have about 50 years worth in my stash and I’m in my 7th decade ), just accessories, but as previously mentioned these are getting expensive also. My other hobby is target shooting and the ammunition for two rifles and a pistol is also getting very expensive. Caught between a rock and a hard place as they say. John

Not exactly over my house. We are having a few days away, staying at a Chateau near Cahors. Within 15 minutes of our arrival we had 3 low flyers pass to the south but unfortunately there were some hills between us and them which hid them from view, I would assume from the noise that they were Rafales or possibly Mirage 2000s if there are still any around. Very foggy this morning so nothing happening but if the weather improves I will go up to the top of one of the towers and have a look.

I have the Detail and Scale Tomcat volume, several of the Supercarrier series by Osprey and the excellent Cutting Edge, one of the first A4 photo books which appeared a couple of decades ago. All have good reference photos. Thanks for the heads up @Pajarito I’ll bookmark that. John

I built a night intruder before we moved to France (18 Years ago ) and brought it with us, it’s still in a box somewhere. If I remember correctly I sprayed It first then stippled it with some unstirred black to give the uneven finish often seen on Hurricane night intruders especially on the leading edges. John

Nice free hand camouflage John, I have to use some sort of mask even in 1/32! John

I agree with the other comments, all three look good. I tend to go for ease of build as a priority these days as my manual dexterity declines. I have several Eduard kits, including a Mustang but find them increasingly fiddly. Perhaps I’ll stick to 1/32 in future. John

Very nice, the wing/fuselage fit looks perfect. John

Glad you sorted out the problem and hope your rounders arrive soon. I would recommend Windsor & Newton ‘Galleria’ varnish if you can get it over there, it comes in Matt and gloss and can be mixed to vary the finish. John

Me too. John

Galloping along now, soon be time for paint. i’m Pleased to see that you’ve left the little ‘ windows ‘ in the wheel wells unpainted. A little story if I may: Many years ago I was one of the runway controllers at the Greenham Common and Fairford IAT displays and one year one of the BBMF Hurricanes was parked nearby next to the RAF mobile radar tent so I went to have a look. It was painted as a night intruder ( L-KA I think ) and I was allowed to climb up onto the wing and have a look inside the cockpit and there were the little windows showing the grass below. We were hoping that the rest of the flight would eventually arrive but it wasn’t to be and the Hurricane was removed the next day.

Some very rapid progress there Rob, I’ve only just found you and you’re half way there already.Glad to see that you have closed the airbrakes ‘cos we all know that the ‘104s closed when the wheels made contact with the ground. I’m not completely convinced by 3D transfers either, and some of them are getting ridiculously expensive. I go for Yahu panels if available for the type ( in 1/32 you can actually read the numbers on the dials ) or Brassin/Look if not, or a nicely moulded panel with recesses for individual dial decals. Finished by Sunday? John

Out of my price range for 1/48 I’m afraid but I do have the old Hasegawa version which apparently is not the easiest of builds. John

Very nice cockpit, there seems to be more tubing than in some kits. John PS: I’m used to your use of nails and bolts, but now a hammer! Sounds a bit industrial to me. 😜

Very nice, the NMF is very convincing. There is a Chateau near Beaune which has a large collection of aircraft in the grounds including an SMB2 which is parked next to a Lightning ( another big aircraft ) and there is not much difference in size between them. John

The LP11 looks very nice, my usual ‘go to’ is their Flat Aluminium ( XF 16 ), I usually avoid lacquer paint because of the smell. John