Pat C

THere was a thread on here in March when it was stated that the red/white/red flash used on the 55 Sqd black Baltimore was the flight identifier (I think it was supposed to be "A" flight). Pat

I fear you are pretty much talking totally new kit for the AEW version. IIRC only the tail unit would be similar plus there was no German Navy AEW version so I guess of less interest to RoG. We can dream!!

Trumpeter - pah! The ex-Frog mould is perfectly acceptable and can be made into a stunning replica with a blowtorch and a chisel. For extra hairy-chested modelling pick one of the no-name sub-Novo mouldings that look like someone extracted the sprues with a claw hammer and have the decals printed on an old copy of Pravda! Seriously I wonder how much of a financial headache to Revell was having Trumpeter beat them to market. I have wondered if Revell were planning to delay release of the kit until all the Trumpeter Gannet stock has sold out so long has been the wait. Pat

...wow..I don't know what to say....these are real people and you have Rick Moranis in your cellar shrinking them all down to 1/72nd?? Have you done any helicopters? Be interested to see how they look with rotors in motion. Pat

Very funny - if only it was not so plausible!!!! You forgot to add that in order to cover the gap in lift capability that ensues with the late delivery of an inadequate number of C130s, we end up leasing some A400s at vast expense. Given parts of the aircraft are to be built in the UK, I would have thought cancelling the order would be a seriously risky thing to do. Pat

Tim Jaw-droppingly awesome stuff if I may say so. Any chance of a close-up of one of your pilots? I like to have my aircraft "crewed-up" and always like to see how others paint 1/72 pilots. Have you used vac-canopies on the likes of the Firefly? Pat

You will probably get as many answers as there are brands!! Personally I like the Gunze Sangyo "Mr Hobby" water based acrylics - I have found they rarely clog the airbrush tip and have a semi-gloss finish so you can apply decals without silvering. Xtracrylix also have a very good range matched to the proper colours. My gripe with Tamiya is that they dry flat, seem more prone to tip clogging (oo-er!) and certainly for Brit subjects, don't have many "proper" colours in the range. I have always thinned the Gunze range with distilled water and never had any problems. Pat

As Gary says below, most problems like this can be fixed. Can you sand down the area affected with P1200 grade and re-spray? Micro sol I have found to be fairly harmless but I have had the problem you describe with Gunze Mark Softer which is a stronger decal setting solution. Accidently touched wet decal and left great big thumbprint in paint and decal!!! As for removing decals, you can try leaving it to dry then putting some masking tape over and tearing it off. Hopefully it will rip off the decal and none of the paint. Possible problems are that it will rip off the paint or, if you have used a decal setting solution, the decal stays stubbornly in place and you just have to sand it off and repaint. Pat

No but it does have under-fuselage strakes that are about one scale foot thick!! Thanks everyone for their kind comments. Pat

Wow! Where do you keep them normally???!! Love the Valiants - that kit is supposed to be a bit of a beast isn't it? Pat

Thanks Jonathan - indeed my 7 year old wanted to build his own after seeing this one and did a very creditable job also on the Matchbox kit. Getting all the wheels to sit on the ground was a struggle - but then it was for me too!! Pat

I think the aircraft have got onto the wrong poles during storage have they not I remember building the Airfix Bf110 a few years ago and being seriously disapointed. For some reason Airfix had you painting it in a one colour grey top surface Pat

Thought I would share of few pics of the Matchbox Sea Harrier. This kit is renowned as offering unparelleled fidelity and detail in 1/72 scale ho ho ho. Actually there was something appealing about the simplicity of this kit. Obviously given the manufacturer what detail there is rather crudely represented. The blow-in doors in the intakes are in the wrong position meaning that the roundel is pierced by two rather than one of the doors. The wings were the real problem area. To get the dihedral right you are left with a massive gap between the wing/ fuselage join. Despite multiple sandings and fillings I still had the mother of all ghost seams - I was on the verge of sprinkling holy water on the model such was the persistance of the haunting!! It's still not right but I have come to terms with the imperfection!! My other mistake was lightening the Extra Dark Sea Grey a little too much. In artificial light it looked fine but in natural light I feel it is a little too washed out. The pitot was made from stretched sprue and a few aerials were added from scrap sprue. Decals came from Modeldecal except the red lines on the engine compartment which had to be robbed from the Esci kit. I know, why I chose to build this one with the Esci kit in my stash I don't know but its my stash ner-ner !! I remember building the Matchbox GR1 as a kid and I wouldn't mind trying my hand at that again sometime. Pat

Thanks MODeller - I have PM'ed you. Pat

Was thinking of building the Revell/ Italeri Wessex HAS3 kit without the "beak" on the nose but the front end looks rather strange to me. It seems to have a downward droop to it (no jokes please!) and look rather squashed when compared with pictures. Does anyone know whether the nose of the HAS3 differed materially from the shape of the HAS1 which is what I expected the HAS3 nose to look like? Pat

Do you remember the back-story Johnny? It was set on the Eastern front wasn't it? I seem to recall Panzer G-Man might have fallen foul of the authorities somehow and it was one of those nothing-to-lose type characters that the writers loved (a la "D-Day Dawson"). Certainly no mercy was shown to the Ivan in that strip. One of the early Viz's had a parody of the Battle/ Victor type strips which was very funny. There is an airman protecting a convoy and the stalking U-boat elevates its nose out of the water 45 degress to fire a torpedo at him. Despite then having a wing hanging off he dives his Hurricane under the water and gives the U-boat a good squirt from his mgs destroying it. He then makes it back to his carrier but crashlands on the deck and the ensuing fire sinks the carrier. Pat

Interesting field modification on the Mossie - what looks like 4 * .50 cals pinched from a B25 or B26 mounted on the sides of the nose!! Did Battle have the "Panzer G-Man" strip? Something ever so slightly dodgy about having a strip with a German hero but doubtless he was not a member of the Nazi party! Oh and whatever happened to KP Griddles?? Mmmmmmm!! Pat

The going rate on E-bay for the Fujimi Spey Phantoms seems to be around £15-25 depending on the version. The "Yellow Bird" boxing seems to be the least popular. Pat

Thanks Damien I'm doing XX901 but have not found any in service pics showing the roundel position but am inclining to the mid wing roundel given a couple of pics of other in service GW Buccs I have now found. It goes without saying that I have already decalled and clear-coated in the wing tip position!!! Thanks Jonathan - yes definately out with the sticky tape and failing that the sandpaper Pat

....but according to Model Alliance and SAM they are outboard of the bullet fairing

Does anyone have a pic of a Gulf War Buccaneer showing the upper wing roundel position please? I have references that show it either about half way down the folding wing section inboard of the RWR bullet, or fairly close to the wing tip, outboard of the RWR bullet. I think the Hendon Bucc has the roundel halfway down the wing (but it has doubtless been repainted) so where do the references get the idea of the roundel near the wing tip from?? Pat

Thanks Tony - Looks like I can order it as a back issue from the SAM website - is there a strong possibility that I may find myself using a hammer to effect the conversion or was it fairly straightforward? Pat

Dave - thanks for your response on this. It looks like you should cut in between the two strakes on the fuselage side which I think are glare guards? Does that ring any bells? Also it looks like you need to remove a section from the front of the kit lower wing assembly in order to fit it to the bottom of the Aeroclub fuselage. The instructions don't mention that mind! Pat

Koen Looking through my copy of "The Reich Intruders" by Martin Bowman I have some basic details of some of the aircraft on the raid. The Mosquito that was lost was - DZ371 "A" - crashed crew KIA. There are a couple of pics of Boston III AL754 "D" of 107 Sqd which crashed on return - crew safe. Other Bostons listed are W8286 "F", Z2261 "W", W8337 "H", Z2295 (FTR), AL678 "R" from 226. AH740 (FTR), AL737 (FTR) from 107. AL693 "U" from 88 You were asking on the other site about the fate of the 464 Sqd FTRs. Sadly the crews of AE945 "E" and AE702 "Q" were all KIA. Pat

Is there anyone out there who has attempted the Aeroclub injection moulded Skyraider AEW conversion in 1/72? I am poised with razor saw over the Hasegawa kit but am puzzling over exactly what needs to be cut off and where. The instructions are not totally clear. Pat