Bstarr3

Thanks for the tips. I did get an extra needle and nozzle, as well as a grex qd with mac valve. I did not know abour the triple seal kit though. Is that something normally only on the infinity?

I like the aluminum one,but since I was already exceeding my budget, I didnt think I could spend the extra money on aesthetics. And, since I'm a pinko commie thug who hates America and ought to go back where I came from, I don't think I was on the Donald's Christmas card list anyway

Well, after a week of reading every possible review, youtube video, and opinion I could find, I realized that I just had to choose one and go with it. I've ordered an H&S Evolution Silverline from Paul (thanks for your offline responses, btw), along with an extra 5mL color cup, spare needle, and the two pronged needle cap of the Infinity style. Very excited to receive it and start using it! Thanks for all who weighed in here.

I'm still on the fence between H&S and Iwata or Mr Hobby. People who have used the GSI Mr Hobby brush, are needles and nozzles interchangeable with Iwata, or just similar? Would that cool little wrench work for the GSI nozzle as well?

How easy is the Gunze brush to clean compared to iwata. Does it have a self centering nozzle or screw in?

I've only seen evolutions going for about $220 on us based retailers, and infinities for over $300. Can you recommend a specific site where I could find that proce? Also, wouldn't 0.2 be a little small for spraying anything other than fine detail? Alright, another vote for Iwata. Thanks

Good to know about increased resilience with the H&S. Thank you. But I still think they're more expensive than I would like to spend. I work with 1/48 and 1/32 planes, and I want to start working on dioramas. I brushpaint the figures that I've used in the couple of vignettes that I've done. I'm thinking I'll save my Badger to spray primers and clears with the 0.5 needle/nozzle combo, and would like to be able to use my new brush for everything else, including freehand camo and mottling. So in other words, I would be happy to err towards the side of more of a detail brush, but not too small. After reading a little bit about the Mr Hobby brush above, I must say that I'm adding that to the list of consideration, especially at the price point. Any time one asks for options of A vs B, it always ends up as A vs B vs C vs D!

I've been using a Badger Patriot 105 for a few years. It's a fine brush - adequate for most jobs and certainly my skill level. But I think I've gotten good enough that I'd like to try a better tool. In the $150-175 range I am looking at the Iwata HP-CS and the Grex xGi3 (or xSi - any opinions on side feed vs traditional gravity feed?). For slightly cheaper the Badger Krome also seems to get good marks. Both the Grex and the Krome have an adjustable trigger stop, which seems like it would be helpful for fine line detail, while the Iwata doesn't. Any opinions on these brushes? I'm really not wanting to jump up in price to the H&S brushes, and I've heard that they are very fragile as far as the needles. I'm also interested in easy cleaning, as keeping your brush thoroughly clean is really one of the keys to having it perform as it should. How are these products to clean, in general, or compared to the Patriot? Thanks

Got some washes on, placard decals from the Barracuda set, a little touch up painting, and a final dull coat. My Yahu IP is on backorder, so this is as far as we go on the cockpit for now. Mar on the starboard sidewall is where I had the oxygen hose attached, but realized with test fitting that it needs to go on after attached to that fuselage side. [/url]

As I've done more research, I've settled on a theme for this project. I'll definitely be doing UM-C, modeled as an engine maintenance diorama at a Burmese airfield in 1945. My first inclination for a pacific airfield diorama was to aim for something like this: However, it looks from further research like the airfields in Burma were pretty clearcut, with their defining feature being mud and standing water in the wet season. I've also found some good up close images of ships from this squadron, which will help for accurate weathering and detailing. Also, although decal sets include a leaping panther for both sides, a definitive photo showing that it was painted on the port fuselage only I'm thinking of a base of celluclay, with some PSP, mud/sand effects, and maybe a few tufts of grass for effect, but it doesn't look like palm trees are in the offing for this one. I might set up a tent in the corner just to create some more visual interest. I had also envisioned perhaps one of the gun bays open, with the Hispano completely uninstalled and sitting on a table to the side. There are no commercially produced Spitfire gun bays or full 20mm cannons in this scale, and I think that would be beyond my scratchbuilding skills. I may save that idea for doing in 1/48 scale sometime. I'm looking for some 1/32 (or maybe 1/35?) figures in hot weather gear for ground crew. Any suggestions? I think maybe one of the Tamiya tank maintenance kits could be good for tables, tools, ladders, etc.

Nice work. I ended up making the exact same decision when I did this kit, except I struggled and cursed with the wires cockpit for a long time before finally giving up and just using bits and pieces of it to augment the kit. You've saved yourself a lot of trouble

Hello again, all. After a couple of non LSP kits, I decided I'd get back to the Master Scale. My lovely wife bought me the MkVIII Spit for Father's Day, so I thought I'd get right to it. I just have to say, this is, as we all expect from Tamiya LSPs, a beautiful kit. It could be built straight out of the box and look fantastic. So, naturally, I bought a bunch of after market . Actually, as I'll discuss later, I think I may have actually bought too much aftermarket (is such a thing even possible?) I went with HGW seat belts, Barracuda decals and cockpit upgrades, the Eduard exterior photoetch set, and a Yahu IP. My first attempt at HGW belts had been frustrating, so I have left that part for now. I do, however, want to talk about the interior resin upgrade set. It is of course, beautiful work from Roy as always. However, more to the praise of Tamiya than to the detriment of Barracuda, I'm not sure that it is that much better than the kit parts. I've posted below some comparison photos of the relevant parts. The seat is the one clear winner for me. Fortunately it's sold as a separate piece. Tamiya elected not to mold the very prominent backrest cushion, which Barracuda has corrected. The other thing I do love about these particular parts is that they're made to be drop in replacements to the kit parts, complete with attachement points of the correct shape to fit to the sidewall. (I have since removed the flare rack from the front of the seat, which to my understanding is not correct for this mark. The compass is nearly identical. I honestly can't even tell you which is which in this photo The throttle quadrant does show a couple of nice additional details, but the kit part is very good on its own. As you can see, I still struggle with cleanly separating parts from the casting block. That handle is askance because I had to glue it back on after breaking it during sawing. Undercarriage controls. Again, a few nice details, but not a stark contrast as there is with some kits. The control column. The barracuda part comes with wire and asks you to drill three tiny holes to accommodate them. I used a #80 drill bit but still managed to break the part. I ended up using the kit part, with the resin handpiece, which does add some nice detail where the lines attach. Sidewall painted up with paint scraped away for the bulkhead attachments. Rather than try to drill again and ruin my only remaining control stick, I used lead wire and just cut it where it's meant to be going through, picking it back up on the other side. Some solder added for the hydraulic lines from the undercarriage lever. For some unknown reason, Tamiya have chosen to leave very prominent defects in this door. After trying unsucessfully to fill and sand them, I scraped away the detail, smoothed it over with some Bondo, and re-added the detail by scratch. The open door below shows that in progress. I deviated from the instructions and added the sidewalls to the fuselage halves so that I could add some wiring. I just noticed on the second picture that I'm missing a couple of bits that still need to be glued down on the starboard side. These upclose photos also unfortunately are demonstrating my sloppy painting. I usually brush paint Model Master Acryl semi gloss black for these parts, but have been unable to get it appropriately thinned - it either runs everywhere or goes on too thick, as below. I'm expecting a bottle of UMP universal thinner, which I'm going to try on it before switching brands entirely, but does anyone else have a favored paint for this? I prefer not to try to mask and spray all these little parts, so brush painting is a must. Control column and rudder pedals. There is a trick of the light, here, the starboard pedal has not suffered from green overspray. I added straps to the rudder pedals from Tamiya tape. Here's my door. Need to clean it up a little still. Waiting on a new bottle of MRP RAF interior green. The crowbar has yet to be built, but I am thinking that I'll whittle it out of styrene strip. While waiting for my Yahu panel to arrive, I decided to paint up the kit part. It has the usual coke bottle effect on the instrument glass, due to the way Tamiya engineers them, but looks pretty good. The Barracuda set also comes with placard decals. I will add those as well, and may save this pre-made panel for the next 1/32 spit I do (there will definitely be another, as I love Spits and this kit - probably Skalski's MkIX). I just realized looking at this that I somehow lost the bottom three instrument decals! D'oh! And the Barracuda resin seat. First with a base coat of MRP ochre wood, then dabbed and swirled with some burnt siena and burnt umber oils for the Bakelite effect. I was going to give this a top coat with MRP clear red brown, but I think it looks pretty good as is. Thoughts? Anyway, I'm about to go away for the holiday weekend, so I'll leave these oils to dry for a few days and hopefully my IP will be in the mail when I return! Gloss, decals, washes, and seatbelts still to go before I can close up the fuselage halves. Thanks for looking - as always comments criticisms are welcome!

Just got caught up to this topic, and I must say it's an amazing build! I have a Tamiya 1/32 mk VIII in my stash so I will definitely refer to your build for reference when I get to it

Cheers!

Thanks. I was thinking of scratching up some more stowage on the back, so I didnt secure the Jerry cans yet Thanks. I definitely still prefer planes, but I loved no canopy masking!