rossm

Thanks for the info. That built one looks nice, very nice. I was hoping the 45TRS 'Polkadots' option was one flown as part of Able Mable so I could have a silver (natural metal ?) aircraft in my Vietnam collection but it's not easy to find information on that detachment (even worse than Patricia Lynn). I'm going to have camouflage on an F-4, B-57G, F-100, F-105 and F-111 to go with the black RB-57 and O-2 so a different finish would stand out. Some searching around more obscure parts of my bookshelves and the web has got me as far as...... Camouflage seems to have been introduced around 1964/65 (?) and the KA-45 panoramic camera was fitted about the same time. There were 16 aircraft in the Able Mable in August 1964 so maybe I can get away with the 'Polkadots' option in silver if I leave off the panoramic camera. Any more information gratefully received, Ross

I know it got a terrible review from Mike McEvoy in Scale Aircraft Modelling and Wooksta obviously doesn't like it much but I got on quite well with mine. Ross

I want to build one of these in 1/72 and just got the Hasegawa kit (the only game in town ?). I got the box with 'Kathy's Clown' on the front but none of the options gives a location for where they were based and I would like to do a Vietnam one to go next to my 'Patricia Lynn' RB-57E. I've got the Warpaint and the Osprey Air Combat books on the Voodoo but they're short of details. Please can anyone help with the following:- Base locations (and dates ?) for 'Kathy's Clown' 45th TRS, 460th TRW, SEA camo; 66th TRW, silver; 'Polkadots' 45TRS, silver. Detail photos for the nose cameras and sensors, also details of mission equipment - e.g. I know ECM pods were sometimes carried but how often and where were they mounted, were drop tanks usually carried ....??? Thoughts on what needs to be done to update the kit - I plan to scribe the panel lines and I'm happy with decals for the instruments but does it need a new seat ? Thanks in advance for all help, Ross

The Airfix fuselage is a bit undernourished, the engines are a (bad) joke and the oil coolers are too small. It's only advantage is that it gives you tailplanes the right size for the horizontal ones on a Mk1, although you need to remove the dihedral ! It also is the donor of choice for the Magna Mk2 conversion which removes the problem of the engines and makes a reasonable model. For a reasonably priced model from the box I'd go Matchbox but if you start to think about adding Aeroclub engines, Aires interior... then i) take more water with it and ii) pay out £25 for the Hasegawa version!

Thanks for that Nick, I don't have that book but I'll get it. I did find this photo in Flight (on page 96) which shows one unidentified a/c at Culdrose, captioned as having three homing torpedos but the quality doesn't really let you see them. Wooksta, thanks for the info, RH746 was an ATDU airframe at some time in its life.

I have been trying to ignore the Brigand 'cos I didn't think it fitted into my RAF and Cornwall theme but I did buy the recent Warpaint on Brigand, Buckmaster and Buckingham ('cos there was a Buckmaster at Chivenor). This thread got me looking at that again and I found some Brigands went to Culdrose with the ATDU (which also had a Lincoln there). So now I'm looking forward to the Valom kit and wondering what other books (except the Putnam on Bristols) cover the Brigand in any detail ? Obviously I'm very interested in the ATDU which used the TF1 which, seeminlgy, will be one of the variants offered by Valom. Any pointers to help me with a model of a Culdrose based Brigand much appreciated, Ross

The photo in Morgan & Shacklady - Spitfire The History - shows an aluminium (?) fin and a camoufalged rudder and states :- Prototype Spiteful, NN664, flew for the first time on 8 January 1945 with the normal Spitfire large chord fin and rudder. The larger unit was installed in April/May. Note Royal Navy legend on fuselage. PM me an email address and I'll try a scan but the print quality isn't that great, Ross

I've used the Joe's decals sheet and didn't get on with it - they just seemed not to want to stick or conform to surfaces. I've since bought some of these but haven't tried them yet.

Battle scans sent - lots of versions to choose from, some would be easier than others, Cheers, Ross

PM sent re Wellington scans. Looks like Walrus has the Lancaster/Lincoln covered. I can also do some stuff on the Battle if you like. What are you going to build first ? Ross

The Putnam is a bit disappointing - it says at least 15 types of jet engines were evaluated in two Wellington test beds but only gives one picture with a rear mounted Whittle, also one with RR Dart turboprops. They're small and not easy to scan 'cos of the spine of the book. Wellington Special (pub Ian Allan) has a double page of photos with a rear mounted Whittle - again not easy to scan and poor print quality to start with. If you can't get them any other way I'll try scanner or digital camera - too short of time just now, Ross

The MkIV is the old Frog kit (probably from the Novo era and with a spare Airfix canopy from a MkI conversion replacing a green or blue tinted kit one). Having seen the price of the MPM one I'll probably try to get another Frog one if I 'need' one (about £5 on evilbay) and add a bit of detail. If you rescribed the raised lines they'd look the same from a couple of feet. It's one of my favourite 'oldies' for sure. Ross

Looking again at the photo Profile it is likely that the colours of the C roundel and fin flash are the dull ones. If you're generous they even drew the colour 3-view that way. It does seem to make sense following your explanation. Even so I'm not going back and changing mine now (at least I don't think so, mutter, mutter ). The photo also shows aircraft with large and small upperwing type A roundels - a real mixture. It was a Flight magazine photo from a 1951 issue and is on This page of their Website PR10 photo - your wish is my command so here's one showing the side with the A.N code the right way round, the other side (also A.N and I'm now pretty sure it should be N.A) is another mistake I've found since corresponding with you on Meteors ! The mid-blue probably came from a Humbrol pot with the number 14 on the (blue) lid.

The old Profile has photos and a 3-view for one with 600 Sqdn red/white triangle markings and a weird roundel combination. I built mine in 1/72 using the old ESCI sheet (intended for the F8?) I note I went for bright colours for the wing roundels, probably interpreted the B+W photos that way, Ross

Some early PR Spitfire variants Havoc Intruders and Turbinlites (yes, I know about the High Planes ones, might, just might, get one finished "real soon now") RAF Trainers - Prentice, Balliol, Athena, Provost, early JP, Anson, Varsity, Oxford etc..... Some of the Century series are unavailable/need updating e.g. RF-101C, F-102, F-106 That would keep me busy for a while, Ross

Another of my hobby horses - why not preserve aircraft as what they were, rather than something they were not ! I actually want to build some target tug models and was overjoyed when I found Cosford had a Mosquito TT35 but when I went there on my way to the Nationals last year I found they've painted it as a bomber and the bits relevant to the TT role are missing - the unique cut-out and bumps are there but painted black and my camera struggled to capture them in the prevailing gloom.

It takes two to make a contract - in my case MA offered a decal sheet for a price and I thought 'it's pricey but I'll pay that price for a Polish F-16 plus a German Phantom plus...' so that's my acceptance of the contract (I'm at liberty to decide not to buy) but MA didn't fulfill their part by delivering an accurate Polish F-16 'black codes, not grey as clearly visible in many photos'. Therefore I feel unhappy and to prevent others feeling unhappy I would like to warn them to check for errors before handing over money. If that's whingeing then so be it ! Ross

WJ776 is listed on strength of 139 and 6 Squadrons in the Air Britain serials book and the Delve/Green/Clemons book. I can find no reference to cold weather testing in the latter, nor in the Putnam on English Electric (both of which are pretty comprehensive). RAF Flying Training and Support Units (Sturtivant, Air Britain) doesn't even list WEE but it does show up in Flying Units of the RAF (Lake, Airlife). Winterisation Experimental Establishment seems to have been an RCAF unit with an RAF Section attached until October 1949 after which A&AEE took over responsibility for RAF trials. WEE became the Canadian Experimental Proving Establishment in November 1951. Needs a 'Cranberry' expert to take this further !

Trouble with this sort of post is it brings out the worst in everyone - and I'm no exception. We all tend to remember the bad things long after the good ones are forgotten - but then with something like a decal sheet we expect to have a good experience. In my case I bought an MA sheet for European Air Arms Update and the aircraft that was top of my list to build from it has, to me, a major problem in that the codes (which are in a unique style) are printed in black instead of mid grey. There's also at least one error in the instructions where the same FS number is quoted for two of the camouflage colours on one aircraft - at least that's easy to get round. MA/Aviation Workshop seem prone to these small but important errors - remember the errata sheet for the (expensive) Lightning book ? I'm going to think very hard before buying any more of their stuff as that's two disappointments in four purchases and I haven't tried using the decals yet ! Ross

I used it on another model that's happening in parallel and couldn't even get air throught it after I'd cleaned up. I just don't trust it. It's a problem that will have to be solved but the 1/8" flat brush works well with Xtracrylix and the finish is more than ok once the proverbial flat varnish top coat is on.

Another alternative is the SMER Hurricane IV. It's the old Heller kit (with wing planform issues ?) plus resin rockets, rocket rails and radiator. That seems to have disappeared off Hannants list but I've one in my 'For Sale' pile. I'm not quite feeling like giving it away but £4 would get it posted to the UK, Ross

The cow being, of course, a Friesian (Black and white patches). I wasn't brave enough to mask the wraparound camouflage so I'm brush painting it - as I did my Harrier quite succesfully. It's early days and it'll need at least two coats but at least it's progress. The light grey (FS36628) is Xtracolour X260 - RAL7035 - given as an equivalent by David H Klaus IPMS Colour Cross Reference. The otherwise excellent instructions missed this possibility.

Spitfire at War Vol.3 Has a rear view of a VII at Harrowbeer (one of Pete Brother's Wing, actually Don Nicholson's aircraft NX.L MD172 of which there are many photos) showing narrow bulges and the horn elevators very clearly. Must finish my 1/72 version (so near yet so far for a decade or so !), Also, a page or two on, one at Skeabrae with narrow bulges. Another detail to watch out for is the number of spokes in the undercarriage wheels - 4 on Nicholson's machine. Ross

Hmmm, Wouldn't that be Light Slate Grey/Medium Sea Grey as per early Canberra and some FR9s ? I can find overall silver and Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey over PRU blue. Also a B+W photo with very high contrast between dark and light colours and pale (white ?) walkway markings. It also has drop tanks which would be a nice addition (also in some of the photos of silver ones - both early and late canopy styles). Wouldn't like to commit on what the colours are - could almost be nightfighter Dark Green/Medium Sea Grey or maybe your Dark Slate Grey/Medium Sea Grey ???????????? It's too blown out to tell if there's any demarcation for the undersides on the pale colour. The demarcation is low down though which is consistent with a standard 'Fighter' scheme. Getting warmer......... Pages 112/113 of the Crowood book - p113 has a better print of a similar shot to the high contrast one noted above and the contrast is much lower. The roundels look faded but they'd have to be very faded if the 'grey' was Medium Sea Grey. Walkways are still pale though - does anyone have any more to say about pale walkway markings on camouflaged Meteors as they are new to me ? Sorry, run out of books with nothing definite to show for it - how about silver, early canopy, drop tanks ? Ross

The RAF Museum guide British Aviation Colours of WWII only has one Dark Green paint chip but bear in mind there was probably more than one manufacturer and the formulation may have changed due to shortages or better materials being found. For instance Paul Lucas in 'RAF Fighters UK based 1945-50' quotes stores numbers for both cellulose and synthetic versions of all camouflage colours. He also gives only one BS381 and FS595 equivalent for Dark Green for the period 1930 to date lasting through a number of BS381 updates, so it appears only one official shade existed. The primer used, age and weathering will play a part. American aircraft often came in US equivalents to RAF colours as well. So which model paint is right ? Well, get in your Tardis, track down the exact aircraft you want to model on the day you wish to represent and get a paint chip. Preserve it well then deal with the thorny topic of 'scale colour' and you'll have something to match to. Me, I'll use whatever I feel like on the day - usually Xtracrylix but if I want a more robust finish and can face the additional hassle of cleaning up the airbrush then Xtracolour. In the past I've also used Humbrol and Tamiya but a gloss finish from the outset seems easier. Doubtless I'll now have the 'experts' telling me unless I use some almost unattainable paint I'm wrong but until my modelling skills meet the gold standard a paint shade that's a tad off ain't going to worry me. PS - Definition of an expert - an 'ex' is a has-been and a 'spurt' is a drip under pressure ! Fortunately not true for many of the amazing models seen on this forum, how they do it I'll never even know, let alone emulate them.