Vanroon

Nice work there Bandy. A paper keel glued on the centerline is my customary method for left/right halves. The paper will split easily to separate halves and will wash away when permanent adhesion is required.

Cheers Bill, having just found this thread and it having an Anson turret question, I had to reply. We had an Avro Anson turret as a parrot cage for decades from the fifties to the early seventies. This turret is extant in a display,more glazed with a mockup gas op Lewis at RAAFA Bull Creek in Western Australia. Dad covered the war surplus frame with galvanised chicken wire to contain a Galah. This captured wild bird had no name that I recall but it was a sociable bird. All of the metal surfaces were finished in earth colour, visible in the museum display.

This it? Deserved better but competition was stiff. Thanks Steve.n

While I have FMs A6Ms my only other Zekes are Hasegawa A6M2 and A6M5. I need to dig them out and make comparisons. Does anyone have an opinion of the Hasegawa Zeke? Grant Link to my A6Ms, if it works

The worst kit I have completed rather than binned was a PM Spitfire Mk.Vb. Possibly the designer used Commando Comics as plans. No wheel wells, clunky attachments and vaguely spitfire like in shape it went together well enough but the upper and lower wings did not match until sanded to misshapen vagueness. However the worst single piece of transparency encountered in my 61 years of building kits was the canopy of this kitset. Discoloured at 1-2mm thick with an ejector pin stalk dead centre on the inside. Inside the bubble sliding bit. Discoloured. Inside. Hilarious. G

I have had success with acrylic art inks over flat aluminium base. No pics at the minute, but it turns out well. Grant

Hi Rob Lyttle, the kinked lower edge of the u/c door precludes hingeing. Grant

I am about to get back to a 1/48 Hasegawa kit. My plan was to mask parallel to the seam and fill to represent the overlap construction. G

I have long used automotive 'glazing' or 'knifing' putty as the last step, find it fills shallow marks and feathers very nicely when sanded. G This is weird, doubled up. I have long used automotive 'glazing' or 'knifing' putty as the last step, find it fills shallow marks and feathers very nicely when sanded. G

That looks a lot more like it Steve. A place to get constructive is a joy. Mine is still half stuffed with storage. Must clear the front of the bookshelves . . . G

That went poorly. Well, back in 2015 I had to rework my hobby space to accommodate a bed for a series of visitors and it was wonderful to have young relatives come to stay. However, a couple of projects went AWOL or were damaged. The the two which concern my participation on B/M, a 1/32 scale E-Type vanished and my in-progress 1/48 scale Toucano lost an undercarriage strut and wheel in a subsequent change of address. Then I retired and we downsized for economy. Unpacking took time so only recently moved them into my new hobby space. The E-Type resurfaced from among some paints and brushes. I was preparing to sacrifice my spare Toucano kit for u/c OR making the doors fit closed for an in-flight desk topper. Though I wanted that model to be in the air show scheme. Sigh, so I went onto something else. When a happy discovery was made while folding the seats in my wagon, the missing u/c parts. Between finding them and reuniting them to the model I managed to separate the wheel from the strut. Sigh. Paper clips. Assessing other damage, the rear cockpit cowl came unglued, several moulded-in antennae were bent but the model was relatively intact. A delivery of very nice resin corrections by AVM Models provide the missing belly pack and accurate rear cockpit cowl. More much sooner than last update.

I had a drink with him last week. G

Yes, the high altitude scheme was widely used on Mk.IXs Here's a 451 Sqn unit.

Naval aircraft were painted. Aluminium paint over the usual corrosion protection and primers. Sometimes with a clear top coat. Grant