darson

Hi Antoine, The Hase Spitfire Mk.Vb certainly does not suffer from the same dimension problems as their Mk.VIII/IX series did, it's accurately a very nice kit. IIRC there is nothing really of any import that re separates the Hasegawa or Tamiya or offering when it comes to the Mk.V series. I have built both numerous times and they are both delightful. Cheers

Very nice work, I love the finish you've put on the kit it looks awesome By the way did you lengthen the front landing gear strut or leave it box stock? Cheers

Steve the images of the Chally II with the bar armour upgrade that I have seen all have the green and black camo finish and I think they entered service in 2005 but wouldn't swear on it.

Looks like, here's the LINK to Dragons site

For the types of things you are talking about Gunze's Mr Surfacer (500, 1000 & 1200) does a great job and any excess can be wiped away with Windex while it's drying leaving sanding to a minimum. Cheers

Hobbyeasy is selling the 1/32 AV-8B Harrier II Plus for GBP55 so I would imagine the GR.7 will be about the same price

I'm in with a Spec Hobby Mk.VC

G'day Bruce, I know this is a slight variation on the themes already talked about but here's what I use for rubber band (vinyl) tracks. 1. Prime the tracks with Tamiya Fine white lacquer based primer. Provides something for the following acrylic coats to bite into. 2. Air brush Tamiya, Gunze (whatever) acrylic black over tracks 3. Enamel or oil wash of red brown & a little black. 4. Dry brush steel & black over metal track parts subjected to wear, steel on its own is too stark. 5. For the Leo with rubber track pads dry brush a very dark grey/black mix on the rubber parts 6. Weather with pigments as required. Cheers

Lovely work Paul & a very striking colour scheme, nice job.

Great work and as Andy said, welcome to the dark side.

Great looking work there and those indie link tracks are really time consuming to assemble aren't they, but definitely worth it in the end. Thanks for the tip with the testors cement, I have tried that before with other products and have never gotten anywhere near the results you have. One thing, check the Tamiya drive sprocket with the AFV Club tracks. I had to insert a spacer between the drive sprocket halves on my TAM M-60 in order for the AFV Club tracks to fit. Cheers

Well it's been a little while since I've done an update on this build so I thought I had better post something to show work is continuing on albeit at a slower pace than when I was on holidays. Construction is now complete with the exception of the jack block and some wooden handled tools which I will add last. The kit received a coat of Tamiya fine white surface primer particularly the metal muffler guard and the Kwk 30. As the white primer is lacquer based it gives subsequent coats of acrylic paint something to bite into. The white primer was followed by a couple of thin coats of Tamiya NATO black which I use to create shadows in any places the main camo colors might not reach properly. The turret is mounted on an old bog role covered in plumbers tape by the way so the I can handle it and paint it without having to touch anything. The only thing I've added to the hull is an antenna made from thin brass wire which sits in the antenna tray, you can sort of see in on the left side of the shot below Sorry about the crap light with this last one but now it's off to the paint shop proper and correct the paint scheme that Tamiya recommends. Cheers

Lovely work Paul, I'm just waiting on the Pavla bits & pieces to arrive before I kick my FRS1 off. Cheers

Nice work Mark congrats

First of all to the forum Now as to the Wellington go for the Trumpy or the Italeri kits as either will provide a very trouble free build and are relatively inexpensive. Don't get yourself too tied up in knots over the accuracy of the fabric detail or other things at this stage just build and have fun. The Airfix kit dates back to the 60's I think so if it were me I would leave that one to the collectors market. Cheers

Fantastic looking work so far and those after market barrels make such a difference don't they. Keep the updates coming

With the Humbrol thinner give it a try and see how it goes, mix up a bit and see how applies with a brush to some scrap plastic. If it looks ok and doesn't turn to gloop you should be fine. If using White Spirit to wash out your Air brush just go hardware store variety, if using it to thin paint then definitely use artist quality white spirit that you can pick up cheaply from any arts supply store. Cheers

G'day Tony I'm with you in loving the MM RAF interior green, I've used it many times and I think it looks fantastic. On to the questions then: 1. The best thing to thin MM enamels for painting is Testors own thinner. I only use white spirits to clean the air brush up once I have finished painting. It's up to you, but I find a small bottle of Testors thinner lasts ages this way. 2. If you are painting with enamels you will have to put an acrylic barrier (a coat of Future or equivalent) over the enamels prior to applying an oil wash or any filters. You can apply a sludge wash with acrylics over enamels but IMHO you do not have the same level of control that comes with an oil paint pin wash. MM RAF interior green enamel goes on flat by the way. I must admit I have moved away from MM enamels but the old method was: Base coat Base coat darkened used in recessed areas Base coat lightened used in highlighted areas Clear coat (Future) Oil pin washes (Windsor & Newton) Touch ups Flat coat Looking forward to seeing your Spitfire. Cheers

Another factor to take into account there Sean is that the RAN only operated 18 A-4G and 2 TA-4G airframes in total. So 9 aircraft lost in carrier operations over a period 16 years is not bad going, this compares to the US Navy who lost 271 A-4s during the Vietnam (combat losses included) period alone. So a raw percentage doesn't give you the whole picture unless you know how many airframes that percentage is made up of. Cheers

Not a lot to ring my bell there I'm afraid. The SR-71 looks nice but only if it's a new tool which it won't be.

Bloody hell Darren I think that looks stunning, superb job

Great looking progress so far Pompeo, the cockpit looks great.

Dates sound just fine to me Mish, it'll give me a chance to hunt down some OIF decals for my AV-8B

Whatever compressor you end up getting just make sure it has a good regulator and a moisture trap and most importantly can operate at low pressure. Spray painting a model is usually done (depending on paint and desired finish) between 12 - 20 psi and a lot of these garage compressors are not that gentle. Also with the moisture trap I have two, one fitted to the compressor and the other fitted to my AB, it does make a lot of difference. Cheers

Thanks Madmonk, I've just ordered all the Doctors, the Master and Amy Pond. Cheers for the heads up