Torbjorn

I haven’t forgotten but the paintinf takes time. A main difference between building from scratch and kit is that I tend to require more filling and fixing than with kits, which ruins paint. Therefore I add as much as possible before starting to paint. Which in turn makes masking more demanding. 1.First primed with grey 2.Painted the cowling and undercarriage with grey-green. I haven’t found a specific source, but I believe Thulin used the same grey-green primer as the Germans, inherited from Albatros. Thulin C was a reverse-engineered Albatros B.II and I suspect he liked the paint scheme because he seems to have painted all his following types in similar manner. The Thulin D replica in Finland has this colour, as does Thulin’s last, the type NA which is preserved in original colours, which can be seen here covered in dust: https://www.google.no/amp/s/aeronavium.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/enoch-thulin-pa-landskrona-museum/amp/ I used the primer from AK’s German WWI set. 3. masked (2) and painted the rest wood 4. Masked the wooden panels and sprayed linen 5. Masked linen to spray the black lines along the edges and national insignia. This is where I am halfway through now: 7. will be to unmask and paint grain on the wood with oil, 8 to paint aluminium and brass details.

Thanks rich, colours are coming. Slowly at first, as I have to paint a gazillion layers of yellow. Even on a white base the two yellows I’ve tried (Vallejo and Hataka) need at least 3-4 layers. But we’re getting there. The black will be a very dark grey, I’ve yet to sort of the best match for the green and underside gray. edit: this is the trget by the way: There QR code for more information is a neat idea, but the link isn’t working.

Tripled - two pairs of skis for the crew

Glad to this - one of the options I considered. I intended to scratch-build the skis, since the shape is relatively simple and attached to the existing undercarriage. Another addition I would suggest are the skis for the crew that were attached on the fuselage:these allowed crews to return to base after being shot down or crashed on a few occasions. The preserved Hart at the airforce museum is refurbished to look like the F19 M and has the skis attached: http://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/hawker-hart-in-detail/ edit: some of their photos nicely show difference in reflectance between the original matt green and over-sprayed aluminium dope.

Thanks Ian. It’s actually not much more difficult than the ”normal” skin-cover-a-solid-base wing method, but has it’s downsides: the wing is a bit flimsy, prone to warping, and making holes for struts or wires going through the wing is tricky. I don’t think I’d try with a biplane.

Yeah, you’ll get an urge to do something with the gazillion spare parts, including 14 propellers, 10 pairs of wheels, numerous radiators and extra engines and fuselages. But seriously, no, it’s simply a great kit - just check twice to be sure you’re using the right parts, as indicated there’s plenty options. The one annoying thing is to fill the seams around the underside ”stitch” part without ruining the stitch pattern.

Ehrm, I got one of the Fly kits. I started on it but only painted the resin cockpit before getting side-trackef. It’s a very nice kit based on the sprues but can’t comment on the fit yet. The Lion of St Mark decal is quite nicely resolved for the scale.

I haven’t built it yet, but I have a Choroszy Berg D.I lying around. I can take a peek if there’s anything you want to know about it. Otherwise I have Special Hobby’ss Lloyd C.V, which is nicely detailed and will certainly make a nice model. I have built both HR Model’s and Choroszy’s Phönix C.1. Both required relatively extensive surgery to get in the shape of the versions I wanted to built, but are otherwise nice* and easily buildable kits. * as ”nice” as resin can be that is - I don’t particularly fancy the material

That is quickly done, because I have only one. A model of the prettiest flying boat ever built, the Macchi M5. I’m afraid I never finished the base...

I have to say I too am inclined to prefer starting the new calendar year with blank sheets and would prefer if all GBs ended before New Year. To counter the empty calender, couldn’t it be possible to have more GBs running in parallel the last months? That is, as Enzo’s suggestion except that GBs 6&7 and STGB9 are pushed back x weeks so they all end around New Year?

I’m always up for Something completely different. Not sure what to built, but the idea is intriguing.

Snapped the pieces together. A bit filler needed in places but nothing major. The mentioned hatch is white from putty. Note to self: 1.wheel bay walls need trimning before wings go on 2. the triangular tube frame thing is easier to add after the fuselage is glued together 3. glue upper and lower wing parts together, and sand and putty the leading edge before adding the stick and pedals Almost ready for painting. The little antenna mast on the rudder looks stubby to me, I think I will replace it with metal rod.

As a kid I used to go to the library and read and reread the two books they had on WWII aircraft: profiles of axis respectively allied aircraft. I particularly liked the Finnish Hurricanes and always wanted to build one, so this one feels nostalgic to me even if the kit is quite new.

Thanks Troy. I shall see if I have one - I have a few kits of early Spitfires, at least one Airfix. The hatch is a bit annoying - the instructions do tell me to fill it with putty, but the pattern of the stringers is flattened around the hatch so it will show anyway. Recreating the stringers would be difficult without removing the entire side and start over. Maybe I can try making some artificial shadows.

I think it makes perfect sense, quite in line with their previous releases (F-W, Spitfires, Hellcats, Mustangs, Me:s - the Zero is really the obvious missing link here, along with maybe some Soviet subjects). Let’s hope they make boatloads of money that they can spend on esoteric pet projects!