TallBlondJohn

Proper job. I've done the 1/100 Me262/Me163 combo kit, its not bad at all. Only issue was it just too small for airbrushing the fine camo, though an expert could probably do it.

Tribals - best looking destroyers ever? And something very Russian about those bows, perhaps they inspired someone. Beautiful build.

You get this scheme in the T3 boxing, for 2 Training School RAF Gaydon, 1967. But sadly not the yellow striped one I had as a kid.

I've got the Black Mike boxing and some warping is visible but its not as bad as yours - the big fuselage parts look OK so fingers crossed. Thanks for the warning!

Glances nervously at the Airfix FGR2 kit on the shelf which was going to be Christmas relaxation.... Sure it will be fine...

Nicely done - are the slats separate in the kit or did you have to cut them out?

Regular gun troughs - check. But I'm certain that's not a shadow - the edge is too hard and straight, and the white edging of the marking does not dim. If it is the old scheme its a strange place to stop, half way across the chevron. Maybe they are in the actual process of re-painting - which would explain the ground crew and recording the event with a picture. But I think the hose wielded by the bald chap is just refueling.

I hope its OK to revive this old thread... but I have a few ME109 camo questions (in bold).The rest is my thinking aloud, so what's its worth. Airfix ME109E-3/E-4 starter kit, which they identify as III./JG 51 from the badge. But its probably JG20, which which became the III Gruppe of JG51 on 4 July 1940 and kept the badge. http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/articles/color/color_europe.htm has this to say: "Another of Pichon-Kalau vom Hofe's aircraft, this time an E-4 flown while he was with I./JG20 during the Battle of Britain. A number of decal sheets feature this aircraft, but none so far call out the painted cowl gun troughs; this was presumably a decorative feature, and was quite common on prewar and early-war Emils in the overall 70/71/65 scheme. This machine still carries the earlier uppersurface colors but features the updated marking schema." Yes it does look very like 70/71, so OK... What colour would the gun troughs be - red? and the big one - what is going on under the forward tactical marking? It looks like a board stripe of dark green/grey - a remnant of the 1939 scheme maybe? I've never seen anything like it on any other 109. Any ideas? One possible answer is just ignore it - here's another photo: Either the same aircraft at a later date or more likely a replacement machine. I think this is still JG20, March 1940 based on another photo of the gruppe commander's aircraft with a similar camo net to the nearest place, the French aircraft in the background and and the black cat on the nearer aircraft is 2 Staffel. If so, its I Gruppe, which means no marking behind the cross. The only part of the fuselage not visible. Sigh. A bit more contrast in the scheme so is it RLM 65/02/71 now? Thanks for any help

Lovely - what set did you use for the scuttles?

Lovely build. I might have a few (cough) of these in the stash...

Other modelling genres maybe? I've just built an Argos cabinet with various after-market mods that may be of interest/usefulness to others, so thought I'd do a WIP/RFI.

I had a similar Hermes experience with some cocoa powder I ordered (for hot chocolate, honest). Major incident, late arrival, damaged packaging has caused some product to leak. I made a complaint, heard nothing. But then I once worked in a warehouse where the nightshift would play cricket with whatever came to hand and had a TV hidden in a crate. Until a director drove by one night and the lights were on so he could see in.

I've never got Metalcote to work on large areas, even 1/200 scale bombers was too much. Its very good for small areas and details. For a large area like this I'd use AK XTreme Metals which are superb and really easy to spray. AK insist they are enamels but if they are, they are very 'hot' so treat them like lacquers.

Beautiful stuff and the base too. How did you do the louvers?

Great build - I have this one on my workbench, currently stalled by mojo issues. Glad to see the decals are workable!

Sorry about the hijack but what did you think of the book? It looks fascinating but quite pricey when its printed on demand and, according to reviews, not very well. Great build so far BTW - I like the way you can see the genesis of the Eagle in the design. Maybe make the landing pads square to provide another hint?

Correct, the Demon prop is OK. My bad. Now if anybody wants to print a corrected propellor for the Bulldog...

I have this in the stash - any chance you might bundle up your upgrades and sell a few? I think there are sites were one can post files for others to print and get a cut of the proceeds. Also as you are probably aware the propeller is wrong - IIRC the blades are reversed.

Sounds like you are planning a few 1:1 builds. It will be interesting to see how this will go, the Astute design would seem to be the logical starting point.

Does anybody know if any extra goodies are available or planned? yes I'm making up an order for you-know-where and need to get to the free postage limit. Some glazing masks and fiddly resin bits would be nice. Are the Arctic decals still available? Thanks

Lets face it, Airfix think this one's been done and won't re-tool. But is there any chance somebody else will produce a competing TSR-2? Pit Road did a 1/144 and I bought most of them - how were sales outside the UK?

Paddle wheel day tripper/minesweeper - interesting wee tale https://www.deeside.com/discovery-of-world-war-ii-minesweeper-ship-aided-by-bangor-university/

Marconi in Edinburgh (I think it was) had an EE Lightning on a pedestal as a gate guard. I was unaware of this until meeting it one foggy night at 2 in the morning, which made me think that I'd definitely had too many light ales and also, time appeared to have stopped. Most perturbing.

Because they both topped the hard FAI definition of 100km - they had to, or the Soviet Union would have died laughing. In fact they did 100 miles just to be safe OK there is debate about where space physically starts, but spaceflight is 100km. Unless you are the US Air Force, for the usual political and parochial reasons (and the X-15 is one of my all time favorites, I have the books and models to prove it). I have slightly less issues with Virgin/Branson than Amazon/Bezos as businesses and human beings, but if I was to take one of their flights (and yes, I can afford one - but just one) it would be Blue Origin simply because they go into space, no arguing. If VG could top 100 miles with passengers they would.

Very nice - just the right amount of gloss too. I've built the same kit, same boxing and it was a bit of a battle, not helped by blue-tack masking pulling off the Xtracrylic paint. The tooling is ancient, 1960. Maybe they tweaked it in 1983. My decals had better register but were just as bad. Still, its a Hunter. The Revell kit is much better I hear - so little chance of Airfix retooling anytime soon .