Rob G

I'll admit to breaking parts off and cracking the odd bit when I forced it too hard, but I have never seen anything like this - are you sure you're not installing parts with a hammer and using nails to fix them in place?

It's a simple kit Col, thank Hasegawa-san, and mostly it fits pretty well. The biggest issue is going to be when I get to the stage of painting, because that's the bit I hate. Which explains the umpty-faarsand built-but-as-yet-unpainted models I have hiding in various boxes and etceteras all over the place. We shall see...

Looking good, but when you put the prop together, don't forget to feather the blades unless you have a pilot in the seat and the engine running. And now, you need to do the new HobbyBoss Super Tucano, to keep this one company.

Glad everyone's posted in this thread, brought it to my attention. Add me in if you would. This will be a good hard kick to get my Berlin Brigade Chieftain out of the deep stash and start (and finish??) it.

Hi Pat There's mostly nothing major in the way of flash, just those little daggy bits that a mould gets when it's high mileage. But they all need cleaning up... And if I'd known, you could've had the decals from this one. Oh well. And yes, I'm sure that it's 34 (or was... at 2030hrs it was still 28C and 74%), no fires needed.

Hey Rick, This may help - Tamiya's mix for their 35th scale version is about 2/3 of the way down, with a single colour suggestion given. A quick check with the IPMS Stockholm colour charts reveals that I can't cross-ref it for you. But at least it's a start... http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/tam/kit_tam_35221.shtml And some more digging (because I'm like that) gives THIS gem. With Humbrol mixes. I'm thinking that it may add to the confusion though. http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/Starmer%20camo.htm

First update - it's been a busy and rewarding afternoon. The first serious modelling I have done in quite a few years. And it's been a real retro trip - an old kit, basic tools and 80s internet radio Just like I'm a kid all over again. :weneedanappyemoticon: My first task was to make sure the airbrakes were going to align, because that's a well known problem with most kits - to that end, a test fit revealed that a couple of bits of Evergreen were needed in the airbrake wells, to be used as spacers (visible in the photo). An initial test fit also showed that the airbrakes themselves are somewhat variably undersize, so some thin Evergreen was glued along the edges so as make them fit a little squarer into the wells. They're still not perfect, and if I was doing this seriously I'd make new ones, but ain't nobody got time fo' dat, as the cool kids say. The fuselage halves and airbrakes were put aside to cure, and I moved on to the wings. Wings were very little problem - a quick run around the outside of the top to remove a bit of flash, and the same for the lower section, and they were glued together. Of course, it was only later, as I was test fitting them to the fuse halves that I realised I had forgotten to fill the pin marks inside the wheel wells... While the main components were drying, I made a start on the overwing tanks - I'm going to add them, I think, because they look so right on F.6s, as well as so wrong to the eye - stuff is supposed to hang under wings, innit? Again, a bit of flash removal, glue together, put aside. Next task, make sure the fuselage halves aligned. Thankfully, a bit of a sanding to remove flash (see a pattern??) and all was ticketty-boo. One of the nicest fits I have ever seen on a kit. A bit of thought resulted in smoke from the ears, and also the adding of the cockpit floor to one half, as that's going to want to set up really well. Fuse halves were taped together while that dried, then I started on fettling the wing to make a good fit. A little bit of sanding and filing here and there and I called it close enough. I took the liberty of removing a small sliver from the inside end of the flaps, at the wing/fuse joint, to give a visual separation. In between times, small components were removed from sprues and cleaned up, ditto the dried bits of glued stuff (apologies for the technical term, but this is serious stuff!). Main bits, progress so far. Filler in the wings will be a PITA to remove, but oh well, and the added bits of styrene are visible in the airbrake wells. [post='Hasegawa Lightning prep 1 by RobG67, on Flickr'][/post] More tomorrow, I hope.

And because I've got (gulp) a week to get this built. So, it's going to be a Mach 1.5 (not Mach 2 because she's an old girl) race to the finish. It's also 34C here, and steamy, so there'll be no hanging about on the threshold while I wait for clearance. Obligatory box and sprue shots, then full afterburner and a vertical climb... Box etc. Sprues. I'm probably going to run with the 11 Sqn variant, in gray and Nat metal. But we'll see what we see... Rob.

Maybe the rozzers knicked 'im while he was lifting some coffee stirrers...

And there were one or two other nations there as well... So in that vein, I may join this with a bit of Aussie armour. Or possibly a Bushranger Huey.

And for those who like it low, there's a tonne of low-flying videos from all the modern conflicts on YouTube - my personal fave is the Puma tearing along at car roof height on a dusty road in Chad, where no-one can complain.

Convinces me. Where's the RAF been hiding them?

Dude... I have no words. Simply superb.

Aaaaand I also just found a decal sheet that I had forgotten about for black Hawks from Brawdy, as well as an aviation magazine with an article on the CIA's VietNam-era stealth modified Hughes 500P. So I'm in like Flynn.

As long as this is going to be held in ooooh... I dunno.... 2025, I'm in! Should have some free time by then.

'Whatever floats your boat'... dang, that would give me incentive to come to grips with my Hasegawa IJN Mikasa.

I'm in. Hopefully with a reasonably logical BAC Sea Lightning, with technical justifications for all design decisions. No promises though - it may end up as a Martin Baker MB-5 in Western Desert colours, depending on time available.

Go on, I dare you!

I'm in. I have Xtradecals for the Black Arrows Hunter as well as Hasegawa's 111Sqn Phantom F.G Mk1. And also Dragon's 48th Josef Jacobs Dr.1. So I'm good to go.

And a lovely little kit, too. I have one in the cupboard of doom which I must finish 'one day'.

Cue 1/9th model of a girl swinging a hula hoop with a nail in it around her hips. I'm in with that! And the Back in Black GB sounds like it could be a blast.

I'd love a 24th kit of the Metro 6R4. Because that thing just screams "I am an animal!". My ex managed the Tamiya Peugeot 205 a long, long time ago, and I do love the sexy little Stratos (I have a couple of those in the stash..) And I think I still have a couple of Celicas and Corollas, as well. Edit: I looked it up, and there is a 24th 6R4 kit available. But it's resin, limited edition, and not very cheap (over Au$200). So I shall qualify my earlier remark with a '24th PLASTIC, AFFORDABLE kit of a Metro 6R4.'

I prevent it by building models, but not finishing them. Seriously, if there's doubt about their integrity, a test run with a dispensable one is advised, and if it cracks, an overcoat of clear varnish, Future or Microscale's Liquid Decal Film on the rest of the sheet and then a close trim *before soaking the decal from the paper* will usually solve the problem. Again, testing your chosen remedy is advised before committing to it wholesale. In other news, I recall an article in (possibly, because it makes the most sense) Tamiya Model Magazine from a decade or more ago, where they went for a tour of Tamiya's factory - the decals were stored in a huge, temperature and humidity controlled room, in drawers. There were no details that I can recall of the actual temp or humidity though. I think a lot has to do with the inks and clear coats used in the decal making process - I too have seen old decals on ratty paper that have worked perfectly well, and newer ones that have gone to seed. I keep kit decals in the boxes they arrive in, as a rule, and any aftermarket ones in their sleeves/bags/envelopes in a box file. Seems to work (so far), and I live in the tropics. (My camera gear, OTOH, is in a dry cabinet, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of worms, innit?)

Nice. I have the old LS Luger PO-8 kit half made up that I should finish, and would if it was even close to legal to own. Seeing as it's not, it stays half built (badly, I've had it a long time) in its box, in the deep stash.

Nice work. And I must agree, very nice lines for a German a/c/. Almost Italian, very Macchi 205 in general shape.