Otakar

I just ordered 3 of these AMP kits from ModelsUA. They are now available. It takes about 10 days for me to get these to the US from the Ukraine.

AMP has just released the test shots of their new 1/48 S6B. https://www.facebook.com/mikro.mir.dnepr/posts/pfbid0Tcv9L1cBxdynnFgU6Pkr4WgCwsUF2MMufjxBZtn3KqEShUxTUe1gAjDQc6CYmSTFl?notif_id=1696360707031101&notif_t=notify_me_page&ref=notif

The paragon 1/48 kit I have for the Mk.XII is almost the same but for a few more extra parts in mine. I was thinking of using the Airfix Mk.XII wing (which I have) and mating it with any other accurate spitfire fuselage. Since I am cutting the nose anyways, it shouldn't matter what mark or make kit I use as long as the dimensions are accurate. I have around 20+ 1/48 Spitfire kits of Airfix, Eduard & ICM, so the choice will be academic. Mating the different brands should not be any issue. I did the same thing when working on my Bf109-G12 (Avia C-10) using an early Eduard G kit and a UM wing. The build can be seen here. https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=131002 The reason I did that bash was because I originally started with the UM kit and discovered how inaccurate the Fuselage was. So I got a Dual overtrees kit on eBay which cost me almost nothing for the Eduard parts. It was not hard to do at all. It was only time. I used the UM Wings and tail surfaces. With Eduard Fuselage. .

The conversion kit provides all the blisters and such to make the C wing. I think that I should be able to do any other detail. I think that I may also have one of the Airfix Mk.XII kits somewhere in my stash. I might be able and adapt it to the Mk.V fuse. If need be.

Now that was dumb of me. Why didn't I think of that.🥴

As soon as I finish my 109-G12. Which is being bashed from an early Eduard kit (fuselage) and a UM kit (wing). Using the jays canopy. I have not touched it for a long time since I have been building my RC stuff plus my custom hunting rifles. Here is the link to the G12 build on another website. With pictures. https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=131002&sid=05cdcc61ea1a1aecae65e7aebd244ef4 Thanks for all the replies. I have no way to post pictures here since I can not find the website picture host. Gunny

The Tamiya Mk.V kit has some real dimensional issues especially with the shape of the wing. I buy Eduard kits only when I must , if there is no other good kit available. I like the Airfix Mk.V kit and it is much closer to dimension accuracy than the Tamiya kit. Yes, ALL conversions take some skill to do. I am aware of that. I have 3 of the Airfix Mk.V kits so I figured using one of those. The Paragon Mk.XII conversion looks very nice. Since the nose is split into halves, mating it to the fuselage should not be that difficult. If the firewall section does not match exactly. Gunny

I know this is a very old thread but maybe someone can still help me with a question. I just today got my hands on a mint, Paragon Mk.XII conversion intended for the awful Tamiya Mk.V kit. Has anyone attempted to use this conversion with the fantastic Airfix Mk.V kit? That was my intention for this conversion.

I got my PE instrument panels from Yahu. They are as beautiful as expected. Got five sets from Jadar, one for each kit I own. Now I think I might make a plug for a new vac canopy for the kit. The one that comes with the kit is absolutely horrible and completely wrong shape. I did invest in a very nice vac machine. I am surprised that no large scale manufacturer has not noticed this deficiency and already made a new canopy for the kit.

Interesting how this aircraft had so many versions. It will give Mikromir some good opportunities. Military and civil versions.

I just received notification fro Urszula at Yahu that the instrument panels are ready. I will be ordering five sets (one for each of my kits) right away from Jadar in Poland. The part number of the new product is YMA4894.

I hope that at some point someone like Zvezda, ICM, MikroMir, come out with an all new kit. Coming out with a new LaGG would not be a bad idea either. After all, we have very nice kits of the La-5, La-5FN, La-9 and La-11, why not a new La-7. After all, the only three significant aircraft were the LaGG-3, La-5/5FN and La-7. God knows we have enough of the Yak fighters. Even though we are still missing one.

Most likely all Mk.s and yes 1/48. They are coming out with Spits Mk.I/II & Mk.V shortly. Not sure why, the Airfix kits I find fantastic.

Actually, the Airfix hurricane is quite good. You cant avoid all mistakes after all. Eduard is going to come out with a new hurricane also sometime in the future. I would say two years. But; there is a building article that I saw on the web about a year ago that shows how to mate the two fuselage halves together.. The LaGG wing is not too hard to make thicker by inserting a strip of plastic into the leading edge. Wing thickness and profile problems re a part of many models. To really notice the issue on the La-7 just lay the La-7 fuselage half on a La-5 opposite half from Zvezda. It will jump out at you. Just like putting a Airfix Spit. Mk.XII fuselage on a Mk.V fuselage to see the difference. In that case it is the exact opposite. It is too fat. The La-7 looks like it spent too long with "Jenny Craig". I just wish that I would not have put so much time, effort and money into the Gavia kit I started. What a waste. It just looks "SO WRONG" from profile. More like a Spitfire shape than a Lavochkin shape. Unless you wish to make the effort to mate the two kits together (besides the extra money) don't bother. If you buy the La-5 from ModelsUA it might be worth it. My price from him is $12, normally it is $17. I am a long time customer and once you establish a preferred customer status the prices are outstanding. I buy everything that is manufactured east of Poland from him. BTW, ICM and UM made the exact same mistakes with their Bf-109-F & -G respectively, that Gavia did with the La-7 Just Sooooooo skinny from the profile. Virtually impossible to fix. On the other hand, the ICM spitfire mistakes are super easy to fix and are very much worth doing because of the price, $9.50. I just received an order from ModelsUA last Friday. Spent $250 on a vast myriad of 1/48 kits including ICM He-111s, Ju-88s (2x), AMP Supermarine S-5s (3x), Zvezda Bf-109G-6s (6x) and a myriad of other etch and small parts. I always buy a minimum of two of each sometime three. I am using them for all of my Czech variant conversions such as the CS-99, CS-199 and S-199 projects. I find that I save a HUGE amount of money buying from Ivan even with the postage in comparison to what it would cost me here in the US. Now that every mail order business must collect individual state tax on all mail order purchases that saves another 7% here in Illinois. I find that I save on the average about 40% or more ordering from Ivan. If you don't mind waiting for your stuff. In most cases about two weeks some three. By the way the reason Fly is re-releasing the kit is because that is one tool that is passed from manufacturer to manufacturer in the Czech republic. It went from Gavia-Eduard-Hasegawa (injected by Eduard for exchange)-Fly. The kit is now 20 years old and REALLY showing it's age. Much more so than many other kits.

What no one is mentioning (or I'm not seeing it) is "the belly of the beast" it is much too flat. It should have a much more pronounced droop. it is actually very visible in the first two pictures. In the third picture it is seen even more if you take a look at the nose section vs . the tail section below the horizontal stabilizer. The rudder section is also completely the wrong shape (not the fin) just the rudder. It should be much wider and curved more in the upper half and not so pointy at the tip. I spent literal months studying why my model does not look right. It is just too skinny in the balk two thirds of the fuselage. The remaining semi built model I have will be used to marry to a Zvezda back fuselage at some point. Even with all the work I did on the model and the large amount of time I spent on it, I will not spare it. https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=127381 see the attempted build.