FG2Si

This website has a list of the colour call outs from the Bandai instructions translated to English. http://www.mech9.com/2015/04/112-r2-d2-r5-d4-construction-manual.html?m=1 If you scroll down a bit there's a chart with various paint lines. Hope that helps. Carl

I found this at my LHS today. It's not quite a Grail kit for me but definitely one that I've kept my eye out for. It was about a 1/3 of what they go for on eBay so I'm happy. The LHS must have gotten a collection in recently as there was a number of old Otaki 1/12 car kits in for a decent price. Carl

My son's have built a number of these Zvezda kits. They're nicely detailed for the scale and go together well. Sadly, they don't last long in the hands of a 5 year old. Carl

I'm not sure what I was thinking but I picked up the Falken BMW M6 kit with the corresponding detail set. Looks like it should be a nice kit at least. Carl

I've got the same aribrush Mike and have to agree with your review. It is a wonderful piece of equipment. I've heard that it's actually made by Iwata and is compatible with their Custom Micron line as far as parts are concerned. They certainly look similar. https://www.iwata-airbrush.com/icm-4502-custom-micron-cp2.html Carl

Thanks Steve! I did post the rest of the build over there. I think it got might have been moved out of the GB section as I didn't finish it in time. Carl

Thanks! I used their VIII kit as a starting point as it is more suitable. I used that book as a reference. I was hoping that Barracuda would have come out with a conversion but they didn't so I did the best I could scratch building it. Here's a couple pics from the build which I did concurrent with the XVI. With the XVI and an VIII on my bench. The one bit that wasn't covered in the book was the deeper rear canopy section and the hardest part of the build. Carl

Here's the one I finished last year. I used the Lifelike decals for some of the markings while others were custom paint masks. In addition to the Barracuda details others have mentioned, I used fabric belts from either Wako or HGW, Master brass barrels and PE rad screens from RB. Carl

That's great news! Thanks. Carl

Dave, since you were able to make a set of the stripes from vinyl, would you consider upscaling these to 1/32 for the Academy kit? Carl

Maketar make paint masks for the red boxes and HGW do wet transfers for the same. If you want to stick with decals, Aviaeology make a stencil set that includes them and they're part of the Eagle Editions sheets. If you just want the boxes with the Keep off markings, I have a spare set you can have. Carl

I had to make a deal with my wife to get one. She knew I had the 1/350 Refit Enterprise in the stash but felt it was too big so if I got rid of that, I could get the PG Falcon. Thankfully it didn't take long to sell the Enterprise and I got my copies to go with the Fine Molds one. Carl

The VIII set will come with the retractable tailwheel instead of the fixed one but is otherwise the same. I've used both sets. Carl

I checked and don't see any sets for the XVI. The kit ones are strong enough if you're worried about that. In fact, I spliced two of thr kit ones together to make gear legs for the Revell 22/24 kit. Carl

The G Factor legs are bronze. As for the SAC ones, generally they can be pretty soft as others have mentioned. In the case of the Tamiya ones though, I used them on two of mine and they're fine. There's no bending or collapse and one has a resin nose on it which I finished about 6 years ago. One thing you may want to check is if the BBMF Spitfire uses the postwar gear legs with the modified wheel angle. If it does, you may want to see if you can find the optional leg parts from a XVI kit as it has the correct angle. Carl