Eivind Lunde

Military Aviation History has a "Inside the cockpit/Walk around" video on the Sea Fury out: Lot's of good close ups and trivia.

Ah, I see. Thanks.

Stunning, ambitious and hugely expensive.

This was a very pleasant surprise as I've always thought the Buccaneer has been one of the prettiest jet fighters, with its dolphin like graceful elegance. And while I agree the price issue has been discussed to death, I'd just like to add that the price is also based on estimated sales. So while the Buccaneer may be much loved by some, it doesn't have the broad appeal of a Mustang or a 109 and the unit price goes up to recover the costs. But I can't say I know much about the different versions of the banana jet (what a horrible nickname), but I seem to remember the 1/72 Airfix kit I built when I was a kid came in a two tone dark blue/white? Would that be an earlier version, like an S1?

Tail and nose sprayed black and decals completed. If there are any raised eyebrows because of the black nose it was my choice based on a picture posted in the Aerodrome forum, as mentioned in the beginning of this thread. I think I will try an over spray with very thin grey to sort of blend the decals in and reduce the shine. But the worst part is yet to come since I still have to cover the lower wing with the lozenge decals from Techmod, and a brief test of them showed that they are breaking up pretty easily. I bought some Microscale liquid decal film that should hopefully help keeping them together, but I'm still very nervous about this step...

I decided to just keep it as is. There's still plenty of work left and time to mess up other parts of this build, so better just finish it to the best of my abilities.

So, I jumped into it and did the decals. But even if I went through it in my mind many times I still screwed it up! I mean, the wing is fine. The decals were good and reacted well to decal softener and even if the two part balkenkreuz on the wing was slightly nerve wrecking to get aligned, it was easy. But the fuselage decal is in the wrong place. The last black band should be just behind the cockpit opening, not noticeably behind where it ended up. I was so super busy trying to make sure that the stripes are vertical and also not lopsided across the fuselage that I didn't notice before it was too late. It certainly didn't help that the Aeromaster decal instructions are not correct either. They have the last black band slightly touching the wing root while it actually should wrap around it. Not only that, but following them I also put the weight table on the other side in the wrong place to high up on the fuselage. But of course I should have checked references before I did this, so this just boils down to me being stupid. *sigh* Well, after yelling and punching some pillows I have come down to two choices: Either just live with it (if possible) or respray the fuselage and use the decals for the Glencoe model that was supplied on a separate sheet. But why was there a separate sheet for that I wonder? The Glencoe is very old but should be 1/48 as well, but maybe it is slightly different, like 1/50? Anyone know?

More than 6 months have passed with embarrassing little work being completed. But I have scratch built what I assume is the fuel filler neck on the upper wing and the rear view mirror that Holtzem had on his plane. I have also hollowed out the nostril like air intakes in the nose of the plane using my Dremel and, after some researching of the colour, spray painted all the major components: The colour comes off all wrong here thanks to the camera in my Samsung, but it seems that Pfalz Silbergrau was something close the RAF's High Speed Silver, light silver gray, so that's what it is. While not at all impressive progress, it does lay the groundwork for some visual quick wins (or failures) since I now only need to give it a clear coat to protect the extremely fragile paint before I can start with the decals. And boy do I need to cross my fingers then, because they are big and complex and I get only one chance to get it right. When the decals are on I will spray the nose and tail black, as I need to align the black tail with the decals.

Yeah, that's too bad. They seem to be pretty close in the colour profiles in the instructions, guess someone has messed up along the way. Is something like this easy/cheap to fix?

Very tempted to buy this as I've always liked the Bronco and I see they have added the rivets. And I do hope that including the rivets is the way forward for ICM. I know there is a discussion on whether you would be able to see rivets in 1/48 scale, but I don't care as I think models look more detailed and real with them.

As the title says. I'm about to paint a WWI airplane before I add the lozenge decals to the lower wings. Can I just mask off the lower wings and add the decals straight onto the plastic after painting the fuselage, as that should provide a very glossy surface, or would I need to spray paint it gloss first to make the decals adhere better?

Great work so far! Looks like the kit fits pretty well together?

I'm a bit surprised that Peter Jackson allowed WnW to go bankrupt as I thought it was his hobby project? I understand he lost money on other projects as well, but if he dreamt about building a 1/32 Supermarine Nighthawk in his spare time, he should be aware that he would need to subsidise the development.

Very pleased to see a RNoAF version, this is a must buy for me even if I've never found the Vampire attractive. Just need to correct the text a little bit, the RNoAF was founded in 1944, not after the wars end.

Very happy for this as well. Norway had some F.III's, I'm sure we'll get some decals for them soon.

Agreed. What worries me a bit is that it seems the surface could be rough, but I guess that depends on the printer and resin. But I'm sure it will improve quickly as new printers are released.

My god. I can understand why this is back on the shelf of doom, but I admire your guts taking it on in the first place. Hope you find the time and energy to continue this!

I guess I should have written that differently. Of course Revell wouldn't release it if they didn't think they'd make money on it, but R&D and projected sales plays a part in the unit price, and I am sure that some of it in this case is because it won't be a big seller. But these molds are in use for many years, and over time I'm sure they will make a tidy profit, perhaps even lower the price to stimulate more sales when they have recouped the initial cost. That said, this is only a guess on my part. I will certainly buy one if it is a good kit, but life has taught me again and again that I am usually in the minority when it comes to the subjects that interest me.

Good point. People often forget that R&D is a huge cost, it's not just the price of production and packaging that needs to be reclaimed. And also, the SR71 will never sell many copies, both due to the size and price, but also because it is not as popular as other more mainstream subjects. So you end up with fewer kits sold to get all your monies back, which of course means a higher price for each kit.

This isn't black and white, so you have both valid points. But when you see the work done by people making shareware programs or do modding for PC games, then you know that people are willing to put down hundreds of hours just because they enjoy what they do and want others to enjoy it as well. Have a look at the www.nexusmods.com site to see how big this actually is in PC gaming. These days many people ask for a small donation if you want to give them some money via PayPal or other services, but otherwise you are free to use their programs for free if you want to. So this could also be a way to get something back as an appreciation of the hard work you have put into it. Also, not all things require hundreds of hours of research. Wheels of correct size, a smaller rudder to change a kit into the prototype, correct struts, things like that can be done quite quickly and could be helpful for other modellers.

Nothing happening here for a very long time due to me getting a cat, and also because of Covid draining me of all will to do anything but watch TV. So to celebrate the resurrection of this thread I have renamed it to something a bit more kind towards the design of the Pfalz, it has indeed grown on me a bit. The engine is complete and added to the fuselage, took quite a bit of sanding and testing to get it to sit right and be able to close the fuselage without gaps. The cockpit has been completed, added a few bits and bobs like a proper compass made from sprue and Airscale instruments to replace the decal on the floor solution in the Kit, and a seat harness from an old Dragon Nieuport kit. The latter doesn't really fit as it is way too short, but it is much better than nothing. Cockpit looks pleasantly busy, my attempt at reproducing light wood being acceptable. I have no idea why I forced the acrylic paint route though, proper oil paints would likely have been both cheaper and easier to work with. I guess I could have a go at painting more interesting leather seats with oil paint as well, the lack of colour shift and nuances really bugs me.

Your point number 3, update the tooling, has been somewhat of a mystery to me as well. One would think a reissued B-29 or B-58 with engraved panel lines could sell enough to be worth it.

What's wrong with the Ju-88? The cockpit floor issue?

Yeah, sort of wish I had tried some WnW kits before the company went down the drain.