PeterB

Hi Tony, I have an Macchi 205 I may be able to build - I used the prop/spinner on another kit but could probably sort something out. If all else fails I have some Italeri Italian tanks so count me in. Cheers Pete

Well, that did not take long. The fit is pretty good though the lower wing to fuselage joint will need a little smear of filler. I have removed the mounting for the drop tank/bomb from the underside and re-shaped the bulges over the MG 131 breeches which were wrong though they need a bit more work. Although shown in the painting/decal instructions Airfix have provided neither the pitot tube or the D/F loop so I will have to supply them and the aerial (?) under the fuselage near the wing root and also the armoured glass behind the pilot. This really is a bit of a half-hearted update by Airfix for some reason! Time for paint I guess. Cheers Pete

Hi Stu, I have built 2 of these and AFAIK it builds up well. You had me a bit puzzled with the title but I guess it is a typo - I do as lot of them myself these days though I blame a sticking keyboard for at least some of them! Pete

As I mentioned earlier there is no cockpit other than a seat so I have tarted it up a bit. Basic, but better than nothing and not going to be visible anyway. Pete

Looking good Charlie, but I think you are right about a thin dark wash on the panels. Pete

Thanks guys. As it is supposedly in 1948 colours I guess the grey is right for the night fighter version, but I have done a bit more digging and found this. Apparently in 1947 it was still carrying the shark mouth as a day fighter and the spinner was green and white rather than the black and white shown by Airfix. Other profiles suggest that the night fighters were perhaps repainted in a grey camo scheme more like wartime Luftwaffe planes. Pete

Ok, this is the scheme Airfix suggest for the Finnish version. Hu 116 "US Dark Green" and Hu 33 Black uppers sounds about right though I might use a slightly more "olive" green and perhaps NATO Black. The underside looks blue as I expected but they suggest Hu 145 "Medium Grey" which does not sound quite right to me - anybody got any thoughts on the correct colours, including the cockpit interior? Cheers Pete

This GB seems to have caught a lot of people out, including me! I probably could have finished my Beaufort but for the last couple of weeks I have been unwell and have no energy. Still waiting for the test results to find out what it is - I know there is a flu/covid like bug doing the rounds but it could be something a bit more serious - time will tell. Anyway I have still enjoyed the GB so thanks to the organisers, and see you in the KUTA I guess. Cheers Pete

Some of you may have seen this on the BBC News website today. A plaque has been unveiled in memory of an RAF pilot who is said to have have steered his crashing plane away from a school in Gloucestershire - sadly he died but his two crew survived. The article says he was flying a Blenheim - if so I fear somebody did not do their research very well, which is a pity, but then it is still a nice memorial to a brave man! I suppose in some respects it sums up the Blenheim and its crews - they seldom really get the credit they should for all those almost suicidal missions they carried out long after the plane was obsolete. RIP Pete

I have re-instated most of the pics at the request of Jeroen - hope they may be of use but there are several better builds out there in this GB, though mostly other makes of kit or other scales. I added the extra actuators under the wing and modified the fins on the belly tank - I should probably also have modified the intakes where they mount onto the fuselage as there is a strut on the real thing. I added a little weight though it may not have been needed, and as my fuselage was a bit "wobbly" I added locating tabs at the bottom which seem to be a good idea. Otherwise pretty much OOB. the tail pipe/thrust reverser petals would benefit from some work or maybe AM. There was quite a lot of resin addons available at the time, but like the decs from Moose Republic the Maestro parts were rather expensive. Pete

That reminds me - 40 years ago I was buying a lot of kits from H.J Walker (Hackney) Ltd and got quite friendly with Tony Walker. He was finding it both difficult and expensive to get Japanese kits and I provided him with some info that perhaps helped him make a large order (200 kits or maybe more) and import them direct in a container - both planes and 1/700 ships. Not the fastest way of getting them but as you say - the savings more than compensated for the shipping costs and I managed to get some kits from him that were not normally available at a decent price as a result! Pete

Unfortunately, unless we happen to get an extension, I rather think I will not manage to complete this one before the deadline. For the last week I have been unwell and although the Covid 19 test has come back negative. it will be at least another week before I have had all other the tests the doctor has got lined up for me In the meantime I am rather like a zombie - totally knackered and prone to just switching off for quite long periods. I may improve in a few days and start working on the kit again, but I do not intend to rush it - I have been waiting a good few years for this to finally arrive and I don't want to make a mess of it! Pete

Hi Ash, Yes, I eventually found several explanations for the gold film including the one you mention. Another was to reduce the glare from a nuclear explosion. It seems that the "stealth" part was more of a side effect! Cheers Pete

No problem Rob - just glad I am not building it as I don't have as much patience as when I was younger - it would probably end up in the bin. Pete

The Mallard seems to have been a post war sort of "half way" development between the Goose and the much larger Albatross. It was a turbo conversion of a Mallard belonging to Chalks Ocean Airways that crashed in 2005 taking off from Miami to Bimini in the Bahamas when the wing came off due to fatigue. As I have a bit of a thing about flying boats I have almost bought this kit several times with a view to building it as a FAA Gosling aka Widgeon, but decided that it was not likely to be worth the trouble - but good luck to you anyway. Pete