Tiger331

Reggie, First and foremost, great build with your 892 NAS bird. I like the pose, for sure. Funnily enough I have a desire to do the 'reverse' scheme - one of those infamous VMFA-531 'Grey Ghosts' F-4Ns that had to sport 892 NAS tail markings during a cross-deck exercise in order to disguise their presence aboard HMS Ark Royal during a port visit to Malta in the 1970s (At the time the Maltese Government had taken a very Anti-American stance). I may be able to help you out with 29 Sqn decals for your FGR.2. Let me know if I can help

We don't see many 1:48 C-47/DC-3s actually completed so this makes a very nice change. Wonderful job, clearly thoroughly researched, to incorporate even the smallest of details. Well Done, Sir !

Nice one, Nasos.......I remember seeing these flying around Singapore in the 1960s when I was a schoolboy living there. Great job ! Well Done, Sir !

Superb............One of my favourite aircraft and a very attractive colour scheme. Well Done, Sir !

Stepping out of this conversation since a). I have neither the time nor inclination to explain further and b). my points are clearly not well understood. ho hum.

Quite a lot actually, my friend. It's a reference to that determination between absolute accuracy and the affordability of a particular project. In my many years of working in the industry, I have seen individuals (manufacturers (big and small)) that have become so obsessed with accuracy for the few that they have missed the boat in catering for the vast majority. There is no point striving for absolute accuracy over many years if another manufacturer comes along and produces a 95% solution....this will satisfy all but the most fastidious of rivet counters (in other words the 'If it looks right, it probably is right and I'm happy with that' brigade who probably make up most of those interested in a particular subject) and leave that manufacturer striving for the 99-100% solution, blowing around in the wind. Like I also said (if you care to read the post more carefully) Kinetic do not always get it right but they are better than many of the others out there that have quite simply ignored friendly and helpful advice, even when it is so painfully obvious that their project development simply does not look right.

Slightly bemused while reading about all of the fretting over the accuracy (or otherwise) with the 'new' Kinetic F-104G/S issue. Based on personal experience, you can be sure that Kinetic are one of the better companies when it comes to seeking out or taking advice from SMEs during the project development phase. Granted, they do not always get it 100% right but, in general, they take on board a fair amount and then balance this with affordability etc during the production process. I had every confidence that they would get most of the F-104S idiosyncrasies right given that they also had a major hand in the production of the DACO Productions correction/update set for the Hasegawa F-104 Starfighter family and many of us know how fastidious Danny Coremans is when it comes to the accuracy. I also have little doubt we will see more boxings of the Kinetic F-104 to cater for some of the special-to-type equipment fitted to Canadian and Dutch F-104s to name but two.

Yep......I got the Cockpit 3D decals as an unadvertised extra in the kit I received from Russia last month. Very nice and up to the usual Quinta standard. Overall, a surprisingly nice kit too. Yes, I would second that.....I got mine from Ekatsmir (eventually)

I've had a busy couple of months with career transition and relocation etc so only just catching up with the news. I was extremely sad to hear this news. I first met Melvyn almost twenty years ago when he commissioned me to produce a couple of books. During one of our discussions he mentioned his guitar book to me in the context of my deciding whether to take a one-off payment or go for royalties for my own books. By way of warning, He relayed his own tragic story regarding his 'Make Your Electric Guitar' book and I'm sure he will not now mind me repeating it here. Evidently he wrote the book when he was an impoverished student and the publisher 'suggested' that the book may not do very well and given his financial position he should seriously consider the one-off payment. This he did, only to discover years later that the book had sold in the 100's of 1000's and been published in many languages !. I only met him very occasionally after than since I have spent most of the subsequent period working overseas but it was a pleasure to meet him and his enthusiasm for all things aviation was infectious. RIP Melvyn.

Yep..........really looking forward to starting one of these. I have a USAAF P-38H and Armee de l'Air F-5A on my 'to do' list. Having previously wrestled with the Hasegawa and Hobbyboss kits, I am very encouraged with the reviews I have read from both 'professionals' and, perhaps more importantly, individual modellers who are less likely to be under pressure to deliver a slightly biased verdict. This is not to 'knock' bona fide reviewers but if you have personally paid for a kit, one has every right to truly speak their mind. Well Done, Sir !

Another GREAT Job !

Great Job Matthias, Brings back memories of my 1000s of hours on these ! Well Done, Sir !

Avro Shackleton MR.3 (especially South African Air Force)

Hi Folks, I recently purchased a copy of the Images of War - The Hawker Hunter by Martin W. Bowman. The book is sub titled 'Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives' which is, in some ways a bit of a misnomer unless the reader assumes the 'Cold War' is classified as a real War. The book is, nevertheless, a treasure trove of photographs although I was a little disappointed to discover that apart from the covers, all of the photographs in the book are in B&W. I have only completed a cursory look through the book but two queries immediately come to the fore. There is a photo on Page 24 which is captioned as a Mk.6 XG164/H operated by 74(F) Squadron and clearly shows the unit markings on the nose. The aircraft also clearly sports the first iteration of the roundels applied to Royal Rhodesian Air Force Hunters, with the single assegai (spear) superimposed over the standard RAF roundels but there is no reference to this in the caption, which purports to suggest that the aircraft ended its days with the FAA from 1976 (backed up by the information in Francis K.Mason's book 'Hawker Hunter'. So why were RRAF roundels applied to this aircraft ?. The second query relates to the page layout. Chapter 5 'Overseas Customers' starts on Page 77 and there are a nice collection of photos through to Page 119 and then 12 totally blank pages !. A quick glance back through the preceding pages suggests that some of the overseas operators have been omitted although the photos are not actually laid out in alphabetical order which makes referencing difficult. So, the question is, have I received a dud book with a series of missing photographs ? Grateful if anyone can shed light on either of these mysteries ? Thanks

Very doubtful. I have been in direct contact with one of the Russian vendors that sold this kit - I got the distinct impression that Arma seriously underestimated the demand for this conversion kit and I very much doubt any got exported to overseas vendors. He had promised to advise me when it was next in stock but that was over 2 months ago. We may have to wait for another enterprising manufacturer to produce it or maybe Zvedza will oblige us with another re-release of their kit with the necessary parts to produce the AC-130 ?.

Magnificent. truly magnificent. a work of art for sure. I would echo other co-respondents recommendations for the books ("A Separate Little War" and Les Taylor's Banff Strike Wing book - The latter provides some real atmospherics since it includes many photos of life behind the scenes too). Some years ago I had to go to RAF Lossiemouth on business and on the way home to Edinburgh I decided to take an early diversion and drive past Dallachy and Banff. I did not have time to visit either site although I did pay my respects at a memorial that sits on the opposite side of the road from Dallachy (I think ?). Having subsequently spent time working and living on the West Coast of Norway, I have also visited some of the 'targets' which provided an interesting perspective to the whole story. Needless to say, I have several kits (mainly 1:48 scale) in the stash awaiting the day when I can also replicate something from these two Strike Wings. In the meantime, I can only wonder at your handiwork. Well Done, Sir !

Very nice...... The F4U Corsair in a Aeronavale scheme, especially with Suez Campaign stripes is one of my favourite aircraft and you have done a superb job with this one. Well Done, Sir !

GREAT JOB !. I really like the classic Bomber Command scheme and you have got it spot on with this unusual Lancaster. I am particularly impressed with the cowling rings and the weathering that has not been overdone. Well Done, Sir !

Rich, Thank you for posting this and for your open and honest appraisal of the merits (or otherwise) of this kit. Don't get me wrong.........I have seen some very nice builds of this kit but some of the reviewers would have us believe its a shake n' bake kit when I always suspected it was not. I had the same story with the Great Wall Hobby MiG-29 Fulcrum. Granted it all came together in the end but it was certainly not an easy build like those from Tamiya. I appreciate that for many (including myself) half the enjoyment comes from facing and overcoming challenges with a kit but it would help to have more accurate reviews to help with this process. Anyway, your efforts have been rewarded with an excellent build. Well Done, Sir !

Similar thing happened to us going into Little Rock one day in January. We waited for a spare to arrive from Lyneham. When the STC (Special to Type Container) arrived and was opened, it was empty. So we waited another 3-4 days for another.....same thing happened again.....another empty. Then some bright spark 'realised' that Little Rock was a C-130 base and that we could borrow a spare window from the USAF and get on our way to Nellis and Las Vegas. a seven day trip turned into a 18 day epic !.

Brilliant...........Love the P-38 and especially this new Tamiya kit. I have two in the stash (one is earmarked to be a F-5A) and really hope Tamiya follow up with a P-38J since I have a ton of decals for those natural metal examples. Great, great diorama, Sir that has been beautifully executed.

Not a subject that is normally on my radar (although I do remember my Dad enjoyed building the Airfix kit all those years ago). I have a number of GWH fast jets so I know what to expect with the quality but this is very nice.....superbly finished. Well Done, Sir !

GREAT JOB !. A lovely job............very subtle weathering which really sets off this model. Well Done, Sir !

Excellent............A very nice example which just goes to prove that you can produce an interesting model, even with a so-called dull overall grey scheme. Great weathering that looks just right. Well Done, Sir !

Great job..........I just hope my current WIP looks as good as this one. Well Done, Sir !