Garry c

Airfix Kate and Zero Banzai ! Garry c

Thank you for the reply. I have started the upper wing of the Matchbox kit ,never finished . The ribs are overdone ,airfoil too flat, and the leading-edge slats are missing. The nose looks wrong, the air intakes need to be opened up for that Fairey Seafox look. The oil cooler on the top of the engine looks a lot like the one on the Swordfish. Google Fairey Seafox images, there are some hi-res pictures available. I hope you finish yours, Garry c

The article you want is here. http://s197.photobucket.com/user/JJELLIS_PHOTO/library/Fairey Seafox?sort=3&page=1 The pilots cockpit most resembles the Fairey Swordfish at least to me. Garry c

Photo from the US National Archives taken Dec. 7 1941 over Hickam Field. Sure is awful bright under that canopy ! 😎 No idea what the colour is. Garry c

Perhaps, in the 1st photo the exhaust ring and gills are are unpainted stainless steel, and in the 2nd photo they have been painted with the only hi-heat paint available, stove enamel black. Wild speculation, Garry c

Beautiful work, the colours look great ! One minor point, the door to the bomb bay is not all glass, only the window in the top half. photo with the door open Lovely work, Garry c

Regarding point #4 , the bizarre weathering, on the inside of the wing at this location is the float retraction mechanism. The mechanism is a screw jack operating at 3000 r.p.m. it probably slings a lot of grease which seeps through the panel seams due to the low pressure above the wing. Just a guess, Garry c

When i was building the I-153, seatbelt photos were very hard to find. The photos show the seatbelts arranged like an inverted letter "T" attached to the bracket on the inside of the seat at lower center. The vertical strap splits into 2 shoulder straps at the top of seat . Wire cables attach the top of seatbelt to the fuselage frame. The bracket that all the belts attach to is seen in The illustration in Post #2. There is an unarmored and armored seat , the latter having a full back and integral headrest , in the last illustration the upper part can be seen. Of course the Type 24 has the armored seat. In the photo in Post #2, the unarmored seat is present and the attachment bracket is just out of sight. If I remember correctly, the only good photo of the seatbelt and buckles that I found was from a wrecked I-153 on a Russian forum, I doubt that I could find it again. The Eduard I-16 steel seatbelt for the ICM kit looks correct. If you go to their website and click on the Instruction Sheet this will explain the layout far better than I can. Garry c

If you look at the 2nd photo on post #15, looking up at the bomb rack facing toward the rear of the plane, the center line of the plane is between the 2nd and 3rd row of lighting holes on the right. Just past the bomb rack above the row of cables, you can see where 2 diagonal frame tubes meet a horizontal frame tube, this is the center line and the bomb rack is offset to the left when looking rearward. As for the rear gunners compartment , three photos of post #17 are in the rear compartment . The top photo is looking back toward the bomb bay, from behind the copilot's seat(right seat). Photo #2 is from the same spot looking toward the left wing, the area behind the pilot's seat (left seat). The window on the far right is the cockpit window. Photo #3 is from the center of the compartment, looking up diagonally to the right (note the copilot's seat and the cockpit windows). Photo #4 is from the bottom of the bomb bay looking forward and up, note the cluster of frame tubes meeting at the aircraft center line and the bomb rack offset to the right. I wish the photographer had used a wide angle lens so that the photos would overlap, it would be much easier to make sense of the layout. Garry c

Apparently the left door on the P-39 can be jettisoned, I have seen photos of P-39s in the Pacific landing with no left door. The text with the photo stated "It was standard practice to jettison the door before an emergency landing in case of fire." Garry c

Rob, are you are referring to the bulkhead between the bomb bay and the cockpit in line with the rear main wing spar on the illustration in post #5? If this is the case than the bulkhead you are looking for is not a bulkhead at all, it is a narrow divider open at both sides. In the top photo of post #15, the person with black pants is standing inside the cockpit with the narrow grey wall between him and the bomb racks in the bomb bay. This is where the you would stand to fire the machine gun over the bomb bay, I think? In the top photo of post #17 this divider is seen from the cockpit looking toward the bomb bay, the bomb rack can be just seen in the top left. The bottom right photo of post #17 shows the same divider from the bomb bay looking forward. It looks like that this particular bomb bay does not have bomb tubes installed, the bombs containers (thanks Giorigo N) probably hang from the brass coloured latches seen in both photos of post #15. I hope I have not misunderstood the question. Garry c

Have you seen this? http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2010/02/aotake-part-one.html http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2010/02/aotake-part-2.html This is Nick Millman's website, his knowledge of WW2 paint composition and how the different components shift colour over time is the stuff of legends. He also has a guide for painting the early Zeros. I also use a silver base coat then Tamiya clear acrylic blue or a blue/yellow mix.. Garry c

Domo arigato gozaimasu ! Thank you! I am thrilled to finally see a photo of one of the kit options. It appears to have the starter crank handle inserted ready to go. Definitely the narrow blades(part #8?) they look dark and shiny, perhaps the blades are Blue black? Again, thank you Jure, Garry c

You seem to have the same set of instructions as I have: do they make any comments on the use of the two different types of propeller for the various subjects chosen, or indeed, any comments relating to the two different propeller types?  The instructions on step #5 say "Fit either propeller 8 or 12." The painting instructions say Model Colors are numbered #1 - #62 "The both sides of the propeller were painted in dark brown, or blue black, with a yellow stripe on each blade tip." Upper surface, #15 Dark green Under surface, #35 Light grey Antenna strut, #41 Red brown Exhaust pipe, #50 Rust Leading edge, #58 Orange yellow Pittot tube end, silver Anti glare, #5+#33 Blue black at a ratio of 3:1 Wing tip light left, #47 Clear red Wing tip light right, #50 Clear blue The individual instructions for each: 1. 3D-153, both sides of propeller blade #42 Mahogany, spinner also. 2. 3D-1195, propeller#42 Mahogany, Spinner #35 Dark green. 3. __-101 propeller #42 Mahogany, spinner #35 Dark green Apparently paint #35 is either Dark green or Light grey and #50 is either Rust or Clear blue.🤔 Garry c

The L2D was a license built copy of the DC-3, however, it has longer cockpit windows and Japanese engines. Before the war, the Japanese acquired manufacturing rights to a number of products. The Zero"s Sumitomo propeller is a licensed from Hamilton Standard, the radios from Fairchild, and the wing cannons are Oerlikon. By the way Atsugi Naval Air Base was located near Tokyo to the south west so paddle bladed props to intercept high flying B-29s makes sense. Garry c

I just realized that there was several releases of this kit. My kit has a blue label and instructions in English. Subjects 1 and 2 are 302nd Air Wing (Atsugi Base); tail numbers prefix ED (the E is reversed) tail numbers 153 and 1195. Subject 3 is Tainan Air Wing, the Second; tail number prefix two characters in Japanese(vaguely resembling the number 7 and the letter T ) tail number 101. Garry c

Ihave never found pictures of the three aircraft in the Hasegawa instructions. Of the few pictures that I have seen of the 302 Air Group at Atsugi airbase, they all seem to have the paddle bladed prop. I have this kit, it was about 80% finished before I got distracted. Maybe someday I will finish it. Hope this helps Garry c

On some of the F3F/F4F Wildcats, black landing gear doors can be seen. The spare doors are black and were sometimes installed without repainting. Perhaps the replacement supercharger grill was shipped in blue/grey colour? Garry c

A6M Zero, exceptional maneuverability, outstanding roll rate(at low speed only), cannons in the wings from the beginning Just a thought, Garry c.

Thanks, I recently built this kit here; Mine also had the one bent gear and a blob of plastic for part 19, the antenna. Look forward to breaking the control stick! The fit of this kit is excellent, a real joy to build. Garry c

Be careful with hot water, try with a piece of sprue first. The thinner landing gear will need much less time than the thicker sprue. I am working on the Airfix Do17z and the front half of the fuselage was warped, the left side was twisted slightly, the right side was much more deformed. I dipped the front of the fuselage in a cup of water just poured from an electric kettle. In less than 30 seconds, the left side was soft and straightened easily, the highly stressed right side shrank and warped badly and lost almost .1 mm of length along the bottom edge much less along the top. On the left side the wing and hatches are a slightly tighter fit than before but they still fit. So what have I learned? 1. Thick parts are much more forgiving than long thin parts. 2. Many short cycles of dip and straighten are much safer than one long dip. 3. Badly warped parts may have stresses in the plastic that will relax with heat in unexpected directions. 4. Trying to straighten a part cold before using hot water may stress the plastic causing problems. 5. Long thin parts shrink. 6. If you smell hot plastic remove from the water immediately! I still think hot water is safer than a candle, just be aware that things happen very quickly. Garry c

I hate to say it, but, The head rest/rollover bar is not present on the Rufe. I am happy to say beautiful work! Garry c

For clear plastic, I use the package material found on so many products such as batteries. The Nintendo figures had a clear plastic box that was perfect for molding canopies. The price is right as people are throwing the stuff away! Garry c

I just remembered that the landing gear problem is due to the gear well being very shallow while the landing gear struts are the normal length. Your choices are deepen the gear well or shorten the struts. Garry c

Like the drivers seat! I did this kit a couple of years ago. Found a restoration here http://memorial.flight.free.fr/He162photouk.html based on this , i shortened the gear like this I also opened the intake and added a short section of 1/4" styrene tube(6.3mm outer dia. 4.8 inner) A splash of paint and a little weight and it sits like this. I hope I did not offend by posting my pics on your WIP Whit apologies, Garry c