Rob G

Ah sorry, I can't help. I have an 888, an MHR and a pair of 916s still in the stash. Never had a 900SS. Good luck with the hunt!

412 I think (looking at it on the phone.) Seems to have a searchlight under the nose, so SAR or Police?

Superb work, very nicely detail painted indeed. I have to echo the comments re the glossy skin. If she's undead, one would imagine that her skin would be dead (no pun intended) flat. As it is, she looks like one of Gieger's aliens has been drooling on her for a few days. Even an athlete who's been working it hard doesn't have that level of gloss. But that's just my opinion, not fact; I've never met a vampire(ss). (My opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it, BTW.)

@trickyrich FS-595 is actually not that difficult once you understand that it's nothing more than a list of paint colours approved for use, arranged by almost arbitrary 'major colour groups'. Once that's in your head, it's easy - the hard part is finding out exactly what the hex for each real paint colour is. My monitor is calibrated regularly via ColorMunki Photo. Hardcore wouldn't describe me, but I'm pretty serious about colour. (I keep looking at Eizo monitors and coveting them.) I wouldn't dare to compare unless I was calibrated (part-time photo nut here, even if I'm currently camera-less due to a certain toerag who is now resident at the local watchhouse.) (also, see my frequent not-quite-but-almost-rants on BM about the folly of using photos of unknown provenance as references for painting model aircraft). e-paint is one of the suspects above (the right hand side one). Second left is from a site that actually sells FS colour chips (www.fed-std-595.com) Both sites mention that the RGB values given are approximations of the real colours for displaying via monitors... 'approximation' - not wrong there, eh. If I'd had close-ish matches between any 2, I would have used one of them, but as you can see, there's no agreement. My idea was that using a (reasonably) accurate colour swatch done in Ps from RGB values, printed via a (reasonably) accurate printer (the local Camera House does a pretty good job as a rule - certainly I've been happy with what they provide for photographs, and they'll print uncorrected if you say so) then matching that to painted patches of actual model paint (modified if required, but hopefully not) would result in something (reasonably) close to the 3 colours I need. If the final print drifted a bit from the Ps RGB, that'd be OK - if I really needed to, I could run the Munki over test prints to get a reading, but all I'm really after right now is a decent starting place (which I can't find, apparently.) That's the issue... I can't get any sort of agreement on the initial starting colour, which negates profilled monitors, RGB swatches and accurate printing. It's not just 6118 that I need - it's all 3 colours on the aircraft (Nothing by halves.) I'm thinking that I may have to do a brush out comparison on the whole of Gunze's range, which are my preferred paints - I can get them locally, and I happen to really like the paint itself. Those posh brands are too much effort to get hold of, and I don't believe that they'd be any closer in colour anyway. The only reason I'm being fussy is that F-16s do have different greys on them, and it'd be nice to be showing that difference between the nations' choices (I have a few to build). Besides, boring grey aircraft need all the help they can get to stand out a bit. I may have to just bite the bullet and shell out for a proper FS deck... or possibly go back to cars, which can be any colour I like! As for Emerald - still stuck there, eh? Sucks to be you (although I do envy you your upcoming sea voyage). Thanks for the thoughts, it's always good to have second opinions. @PhantomBigStu - they claim that their colours are close, but I'm sceptical (because I'm a bit of a colour nerd, even if I don't always get too worried with 'exacts' for most things). Seeing as I've never seen any FS colours up close and personal, I'm not in any sort of shape to say yay or nay; certainly there's a huge variance between brands, even those who claim to be matched to various standards. As I wrote above, I'd like to be able to portray the different colour schemes worn by different F-16s. Yes, I could do it 'by eye', and if it was only one or two schemes, I could fake something up and most likely get away with it. However, if you're meant to have different greys spread over a number of aircraft, you need to (at least) make sure that your initial starting point is right, otherwise you'll end up in a real mess, unable to fit the right colours into the gaps that are left. And then you don't have a full spread of schemes. I like Gunze paints, and I'll most likely end up working with what they offer (can't get Revell locally at all).

Very nice Jens. For future reference, Tamiya do an excellent Pearl White in their TS spray can range. Which Ducati is your Dad looking for?

Fluoros are horrible. Go LED. I must agree re the twin lenses though - I sit at the bench and put my 'eyes' on, don't take them off until I stand up. They're small enough that I can look over or under them as required.

Careful there young Edward, you'll have the Tamiya fanboi police after your scalp with that sort of talk. Besides, there's nowt wrong with 🐧 🐧 🐧, except for the reek of fish.

Ah man.... F-16s, FS-595 and model paints. I hate the lot of them... I'd planned to have a really good crack at this this weekend, seeing as it's bucketing rain and I have nothing else on (ooh err Matron). Heck, I've got a month... So I duly started some colour research, which has led me into a place that I don't like - FS hell Too much research is the enemy of progress, as I think I may have mentioned once before in connection with an F-16. I've looked at 4 different FS-595 colour charts to get the colour values, and have now got 4 very different colour patches on display in Photoshop... It's quite annoying. So, can anyone put me onto a reliable, consistent, accurate FS-595 to RGB, Lab, CMYK, whatever conversion chart so that I can get some swatches printed off to match to model paints. (Yes, I'm aware, very aware of the limitations of printing, but it'll have to be closer than Revell's callouts converted to Gunze Sangyo acrylics... I trust my local photo print shop to keep their stuff in pretty good nick.) Here's that colour swatch... all these are allegedly FS36118. Yep. They may not look the same to you as they do to me, but I'm sure you'll agree that they're all very different. It actually makes me question how accurate my Danish F-16 (referenced above, and still not quite finished) colours are. I'm not starting this until I can get some sort of consistency. If it drags on, I might just say "Ah bugg'rit", and use whatever I can find in the paint drawer that looks like it might be 'TLAR'. (I could buy an FS fan deck, but them things are expensive.)

Many, many years ago, I bought one of those cheap magnifying lamps, the ones with a bulb and a single (large) lens, all supported on a long spring-balanced steel arm whatsit. The lens had so much chromatic aberration and distortion that I only ever used it once. It's still around somewhere, possibly in the shed, in a box that's been colonised by a new spider empire. The lamp bit of it worked reasonably well, but the lens... I'd recommend buying a good one from the start. Saves time, money, frustration and guilt.

Eh, it's just a Spitfire. Build it, be done with it, move on to something more (dare I say it?) interesting. Enjoy the build Tony, it should be relatively painless (unless you start messing it about with aftermarket and cutting bits off and all that guff).

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/squadron-of-american-lockheed-p-38-lightning-fighter-planes-news-photo/53315688#squadron-of-american-lockheed-p38-lightning-fighter-planes-in-flight-picture-id53315688 Doesn't help with the colour, but there's some unit details.

That's the conclusion that much searching had resulted in for me, too. Because I have spare money to throw away... :eyeroll: :sigh: Oh well. Anyone want to buy a set of 4/5 stack Mosquito exhausts? (That's a joke, Mr Mod.)

Anyone?

If we're going to exclude the 146 (and I'm not really worried either way), we should also drop the Trident and 125 off the list too, seeing as dH had ceased to exist as a company by the time these designs were close to approval/production. Hairs could be split about design teams, production facilities, marketing names etc, but Hawker Siddeley bought dH in 1960, which effectively ended dH's existence. I'm cool either way, I just wanted an excuse to start another model instead of finishing off the several dozen that I have on the shelf.

We're allowing the 146? My Mossie is stalled until some bits arrive (and I find some exhausts) so I may make a start on one of the half dozen Revell 146s that I have in the stash. Better order some decal sheets...

The cough was to signal my scepticism about the official reason. Sadly, verbal/visual cues don't always translate well to text:) And yes, Brown's book on the topic is quite a read.

That sounds like a pretty good reason to me <cough>

I can but echo what's written above... nice work indeed.

If by 'provenance' you mean its origin and production history, it's all Veeday https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=993091&p=timeline And good luck finding a Matchbox Flycatcher or Gamecock...

'Personages'? That's a wee bit too grand a description for the creatures hereabouts; most are still dragging their knuckles, and some have yet to come down from the trees. One or two of them have learned not to throw poo at each other, but it was a real struggle getting them to that stage. Welcome to the madhouse Lee. Don't be shy, sign up for a group build or three and get right into it!

Love it!

You're most welcome to join in. Sadly, there's a bit of a wait until it kicks off, but that will give you time to gather references and extra bits.

Very nice indeed. The aircraft that should have given the Brits the supersonic crown, but its development was umm.... mysteriously stopped after the war. Let's not mention the X-1...

Ain't that purty? A very nice model indeed. Seeing as you seem to like them, I'll tell you about the Flying Boats Group Build that we have starting later in the year (September); you're welcome to join in (and so is everyone else, btw.) All the information is here and if you have any questions about the GB that's the place to ask them. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Well you silly lads will build tanks. Try airyplanes, nary a track t'be seen.