Jon Bryon

I've had two orders from Lucky Model arrive this week, separately, both shipped in January (one on the 16th!!!), with no indication of RM, HMRC or anyone else paying any attention to them. The change to the current VAT situation will definitely dissuade me from ordering from some overseas vendors in the future, but if you're waiting for stuff that's in the mail now, I'd say there's a good chance it will get through. Jon

In November I ordered some 1/48 F9F wing tip tanks from Model Monkey in the USA. Parts were $12, postage was $15. I find it hard to believe that sellers like this are going to have their income seriously affected by the VAT change. There can only be a handful of people like me in the UK willing to stump up $27 for two rather small lumps of resin...aren't there? Jon

I'm quite surprised there's a significant market for buying direct from the USA to the UK. In my experience the postage charges are pretty horrendous plus the pound has been weak against the dollar for a long time. For example, I did order some OOP Two Bobs decals which arrived this week from the USA. Postage was $14.50 - for a single decal sheet! I've wanted to order some Sierra Hotel resin A-10 intakes. These are not large and cost $15, but postage to the UK is $25. Werner Wings, Lone Star Models and Nautilus Models have all been similar experiences for me and so I've only ordered from the U

This. This. So much this. Jon

There have been at least two recent Tailpiece articles by Mr McEvoy. Jon

It was a pretty good year for me, exceeding my current target of 8 finished models per year. All in 1/48 and with extensive build articles and bazillions of photos at https://jonbryon.com/ Hasegawa A-4E in Fights On decals: Hasegawa A-4L: Hasegawa TA-4J: Hasegawa A-4H with ArmyCast decals: Special Hobby G.55A Centauro: Revell SA-10A Catalina with Belcher Bits resin tail, Eduard etched landing gear set, Brassin resin wheels, Quickboost resin engines and all ma

Fortunately that's not a Kinetic kit, but rather Kitty Hawk Cheers Jon

Plus they released it relatively recently in 1/72, so presumably they've got the research material somewhere. Every year I hope (in vain?) to see it on their release schedule. Likewise the Jet Provost... Jon

This is my first one. It was only the second kit they made in 1/48 and I expect things have progressed significantly since 2008. I got most of their 1/48 range in the loft and most of it looks better (in some cases, a lot better) than the F-16. Jon

Thank you all for your comments. Starting today on Hasegawa's Mitsubishi F-2A in 1/48 Jon

Hello all, This is the last kit to make it to the finish line in 2020. It's been a productive year. This is Kinetic's 1/48 F-16B made from the F-16A/B NSAWC Adversary boxing. The decals are from the kit, although I did not like the 'TOPGUN' marking (too wide) so masked and sprayed it. The blues are MRP and the greys are Mr Color. I've really struggled to photograph this one and it's not quite blue enough. The only aftermarket are some Wolfpack resin seats and an Eduard resin nose wheel. The pitot is brass tubing. The kit is a pig that was no fun

In relation to the duplication I have no complaints - these things happen. It was the best issue of SAM for a while (not that there was anything wrong with recent previous issues - just more aligned to my interests in the January edition) and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. But in relation to the accuracy I feel a little less sanguine: it's completely the wrong model! The differences are massive and obvious, not subtle and obscure; one might say as clear as the differences between a Tempest II and V . I have absolutely no problem with the magazine featuring a grossly inaccurate model because

Their website is closed at the moment for the holidays and says it will reopen on 6th Jan. You can order from them direct - I have several times without issue, including the 1/48 version of these decals. I've not seen them stocked by many other places, if any. Jon

It's in Scale Aircraft Modelling. It's not only the repetition that might be disappointing, but as Greg pointed out, the model is inaccurate to the point that really should not be ignored in a magazine. Jon

This has happened before and I wrote to one of the editors about it (I can't remember the magazines or author involved). The response I got was that the magazine would not accept contributions from that author again, and IIRC no more articles did appear by that person. I think editors depend on contributors being honest - I'm not sure there's a realistic mechanism to deconflict articles. Jon