Tweener

Out of curiosity, how did you get the 19th Squadron Siskin and Bulldog decals, and what type is the WW1 stringbag by the Mustang?

I have a confession - I'm a bit of a serial starter. I start 2-3 kits at the same time with alarming regularity, only to shelve them once painting is halfway done. As a result, I have about 25 kits currently in progress, most of them closer to done than not. The good news is that I'm currently on break from Uni for the next 3 and a half days, so I have some time to make some progress on completing them. I've selected 4 kits that I most want to make progress on - First, the Airfix 1/71 Hurricane 1 and P-51D: I'd like to be kind to Airfix about these kits, and the P-51 is altogether fine outside of a few parts being mismolded or useless because of sprue gates, but the Hurricane is a wretched kit in a number of places. The fact I've gotten it to this stage, where the Sky undersides and Dark Earth topsides are 99% done, is surprising. My goal for it is to finish those layers and get the first 2 coats of Dark Green done, and to paint the landing gear and it's doors. For the P-51, I only need to paint 1 more coat of Light Steel before adding the anti-glare strip, and then I can add the remaining parts and proceed to decals. Next is the ancient Revell Neiuport 28: This one is being built as a Swiss machine in the early 20's. My only goal for this one is to touch-up the green, paint and attach the prop, and finish marking out where the red panels will go. I've got a more appropriate red on the way, which I'll also be using for that Matchbox Gnat, Lastly, the Arii 1/144 P-40: The painting on this is effectively done, bar the exhausts and prop. I've got the Print Scale sheet for small P-40s, so I'll decide on a scheme and probably have this one done by the end of the night. In addition to these 4, I want to make progress on the Tamiya 1/72 BF-109E, Hasegawa 1/72 FW-190A-3, and to build the interior of a Frog/NOVO Magister. Updates soon, Tweener

Are there any conversions that would allow turning a DC-4 into a Canadair Northstar? Thanks all, Tweener

Hobby Boss has a 1/72 P47M?

I've not yet ordered any - in fact, I've not much touched models for a moment now, having left some needed materials back home when I returned to Uni and because of a few medical affairs. I'm home again on Thursday, so I'll grab the materials and hope it inspires me enough to pull this one through by the end of the month.

This looks an absolute treat, Dave! This is a kit I've been meaning to pick up for some time, and I suspect it'd make a nice break from my attempt at a High Planes MK.V Beau 🤣

I whole-heartedly agree on the need of a DO-23 kit in 72 scale! I may or may not have 2 books on the type and a small collection of photos as well...

No more physical progress yet, but I think I've tracked down the color I need - Humbrol 19. Can any confirm this, and does anyone happen to know if Testors enamel thinner will work with Humbrol?

Perhaps then the Skyraider would have actually looked nice!

Another thought is that if the 20mms are fitted, I'd have to assume one less crew member would be carried as well, further saving weight, and perhaps some of their equipment would be absent as well. Just the same, the Blenheim certainly wasn't well built for the addition of the Hispano, being a fragile airframe even without them from anything I've ever read. It makes me wonder how the HE-111s fitted with MG FF's in the nose didn't tear themselves apart every time they fired.

The guns fitted to the Hurricane and tried on the Australian Beau was the Vickers S, which weighed about 320 pounds. A Hispano Mark V with shortened barrel weighed 80-85 pounds. That means the Beau with 2 x 40's ended up about 300-400 pounds heavier than before whereas a Blenheim with 2 x 20s would only gain 160-200 pounds.

I've realized I may need some thinner card for the bay floor but otherwise I'm glad I made the connection to the fuel tanks! Maybe I can get some proper red paint while I do so and finish the build in a more proper scheme. Judging by the number of entries, I think the truck was empty before it ever finished the journey!

Personally, I can't imagine that much of a CG problem would arise. From what I've read of the Australian experiment of mounting 40mms in the nose of a Beaufighter, there was little change to the CG. Each of those 40mms weighed as much as 4 Hispanos, before either of them were loaded. Perhaps the additional power of the Beau would cancel that out, however.

It may just be my favorite box art of any kit I've yet done, though the Siskin is hard to beat. That said, I'm on my 4th Siskin now, so a change of subject is most welcome! I made a little more progress today concerning that Mustang drop tank. When I looked up shots of the gear wells, I saw one of the electronics bay inside the nose. This is included from the start on Airfix's 1/48 Gnat, but naturally not in their smaller kit, nor this one. The door was at least clearly marked by a fairly deep panel line that made cutting it out of each half a breeze, and part of the drop tank has been cut and shaped to roughly match the shape of the door. Now I just need to shape it a little more, smooth it out, and add the bay details themselves. So much for OOB! The next focus however, will be finishing the actual cockpit bulkheads and finishing the gear bays and intake fairings, which is for tomorrow. One step at a time, Tweener

It's really quite remarkable how nice some of the MB box arts are - the Siskin and Gnat boxes especially. Compare them to the Revell boxes of the late 80's and early 90's and it's a wonder some companies survived at all! I'll never forget the first time I opened a Matchbox kit, the Fury, and came across the Blue and Gray sprues - it made quite the impression compared to the old Hasegawa Lightning I picked up around the same time. Just wait until you see what I have planned for the nose of this one! I hate to imagine what he may have been eating when some of the Siskins were boxed - Dark Green and Silver, those ones. More to follow this afternoon with any luck, and perhaps the Siskin thread as well. Best, Tweener

Well I'm in with my first of a likely 3 builds for this GB, hosted by the always kind @Rabbit Leader and @JOCKNEY. This is PK-15, the Folland Gnat. Normally this is a subject I'd never have grabbed, at least if it wasn't the new Airfix kit, but a good price combined with this GB pushed me to grab it. Inside the very well preserved box were 2 sprues, red and yellow, and of course the canopy alongside a classic MB stand - I meant to build this one OOB, but then before I knew it I had filled some gaps, added some details, bulkheads, panels, extended the floorboard, and detailed the gear bays. I did mean it though, honest! Here's the left side after a first thin coat of some variety of American light grey. Not accurate, sure, but it looks close enough and I wanted to see that things looked halfway in place. Gearbay details are simpler, and I also started to add the inner lip to the intakes. Now, if anyone wants to guess what a Tamiya P-51 Drop Tank has to do with the nose of this one, I'm definitely inviting guesses. Thanks all, Tweener

Well I'm in with one more, I've just gone and bought another Gladiator. May have to add a tail hook to this one! Gnat thread should be up this afternoon.

All I will be doing is adding a little detail to the wheel wells and cockpit of the Gnat, and possibly new wheels from the spares.

Just to clarify, we are not allowed to scratch build, correct?

Between the new Anson, Meteor, and these, Airfix ought have a good year on account of myself alone!

I want to quickly thank the two of you for this GB - the kit that truly got me into kits was the MB Hawker Fury. I've since done a few more but I'm excited to branch out past my typical interwar builds with the Gnat and I may still pick up the Hunter T7, Spit IX, or AH-1G in the next week. My Siskin thread should start tomorrow and the Gnat arrives next week. I'll be finishing mine in a WHIF USAF scheme along the lines of the ones used in Hotshot.

Instead of the Hunter T I picked up a Gnat, set to arrive next week. Work on the Siskin will start once I find a suitable decal scheme, as this will (somehow) be my 4th!

I'm in with a Siskin and I may pick up the Hunter Trainer as well!

This is looking good Tony! The Dark Earth looks especially nice to me - I think the Vallejo I use may be slightly too red. Hopefully you're able to get the engine covers together easily, I've heard many different accounts of how they go together.

@TonyODIt's about 2.5 inches long. I've been thinking about switching to 1/144 for some time but the fact that a lot of kits in that scale are the same price or sometimes more expensive than their equals in 1/72 has kept me from making the switch.