Work In Progress

Why would you want these - "New rocker covers with the Rolls Royce name on them ……….. Barracuda" - for a Spitfire XVI, which by definition had a Packard engine?

Easily answered here: https://www.eduard.com/store/index.php?stoken=84B12852&force_sid=8071fb433186b9edd4ac3921e3e991c1&lang=1&currency=2&cl=search&listorderby=oxarticles.oxactivefrom&listorder=desc&sendSearchForm=1&searchparam=lysander They produced overtrees and Profis. All ong out of stock, of course.

Notice on that shot that the new vertically-bulged canopy (it's still flat-sided) is a field modification SO new that the frame is either in primer or natural metal, not painted to match the rest of the aeroplane.

What a good answer that was!

Yes: a few years ago I would have waited for the 1/24 Hellcat to be down to half price before stocking up, but as things are now I think that would be a risky strategy.

Am I right in thinking that all Lancastrians were without bomb bay doors, but have a slightly different set of contours to the belly, permanently-skinned? Or have I hallucinated that? (I might have.)

If you want a J in 1/48 then it's the only game in town. It's a terrific kit for its era, based on a 1977 original Monogram tooling, and a genuine classic. Personally I like the early Monogram examples best, as the moulds were extra fresh and the fit was better, but you get better decals on the later Revell boxings. There are loads of build reviews and threads around. Make sure you read them for tips. Getting the fit right is the main thing, it's highly buildable, but not foolproof like a modern Tamiya e.g https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/cleaver25j.htm

You certainly wouldn't if you were leaving it alone, and definitely not if it were raining, but you would leave it opened up at dispersal if you're loafing around nearby at readiness for a scramble, or were leaving it in the care of a ground crew while they re-arm it and you run to the loo and a cup of tea from the NAAFI van. We have a bit of a built-in bias as modellers. Of course we want to see all the interior we've slaved over, and that's fine. Equally we're a bit conditioned to photography. Most decent photography of WW2 combat types taken on the ground is either posed shots organised for press, propaganda or other official purposes, or naughty personal snapshots, often taken by pilots and members of ground crew. And most of the opportunities for pilots and members of ground crew to take those snaps come when you;re either getting an aeroplane ready to fly, or after flight before you've zipped it up and/or put it away. So the times when a photo is most likely to be taken of a WW2 combat type are not representative of how it spends most of its hours parked on the ground - closed up, in a hangar if available, possibly with covers on of it has to be left outdoors in poor weather or for any length of time.

It is very Wallace and Gromit, isn't it? I would be very happy not to be asked to fly it.

I did wonder if it was possibly South New 'ampshire...

It was Martin's question I was answering and to me he looks an awful lot like he's in South 'ampshire. I get mine in Northallerton and we both appreciate that down south is a bit foreign from a North Yorkshire perspective, but even so I'm reasonably sure Lakeland can supply the wild and woolly south coast, even if they have to use Postman Pat to do it.

I can;t vouch for it personally but the movie industry database for these things says it was one of the four used for The Longest Day, but that which one of the four is unknown. The four used in Longest Day were: MH415 ; MH434 ; MK297 and MK923.

The kit comes with doors with and without crowbars, the modeller gets a free choice.

are the aircrew figures really that tiny? I might need some like that.